In this chapter, the Apostle opens by showing some of the immediate blessings which arise out of the state of being justified before God, in Christ Jesus. He has already fully and completely established the doctrine and answered every objection; and now he begins this chapter by stating the blessedness of it. First, he speaks of peace with God; second, of access to the throne of grace; third, of a rejoicing in the hope and assurance of glory; fourth, of the sanctified use of all afflictions; and fifth, of the enjoyment of the love of God, the influences of the Holy Spirit, and communion in all the blessed effects of Christ’s grace.
It is important to observe that the righteousness of God in Christ is the sole cause of justification and faith, by which that righteousness is enjoyed. We must emphasize the fact that a sinner is not justified by his faith; for if he was, that would be a justification that was based upon a person doing an action of his own in order to be saved. The Apostle, in one of the preceding chapters, has clearly stated the difference between the righteousness of God which justifies, and the faith of the believer who enjoys that justification. It is the righteousness of God which justifies; faith comes from it, and is not the cause of it. Faith, as well as every other grace, is received entirely from Christ; it can constitute no part – not even an atom – of our justification, for this is solely in and by our Lord Jesus.
Dear brother or sister! Pause a minute and contemplate this boundless mercy! We have peace with God! We have peace in the blood of the cross. We who were enemies to God by wicked works have now been reconciled through Jesus’ death, so that He might present us holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in His sight (Col. 1:20-22). O the blessedness of a justified state in Christ! O what comfort the soul enjoys by faith in Christ! And we also have access, by Christ’s justification, to the throne of grace. And since we are now adopted into the family of God, we have the privilege of being the sons and daughters of the Father! In Christ, we enjoy a holy boldness and familiarity in the heavenly court, as those who are well-known and well-beloved there.
Do you personally know the blessedness of this state? Are you in the daily habit of using it? Oh! It is a very blessed way of maintaining fellowship with the Father, and with His Son Jesus, when – by virtue of a conscious justified state in Christ – we go often into the presence of our heavenly King and feel ourselves to be at home, as children in our Father’s own house. O that every child of God may enjoy this blessing! Has not Jesus opened this new and living way by His own blood? And does He not dwell in the midst of the throne, to keep it open by His intercession? Oh! If you know the Lord, and if you are in a justified state in Christ, then make use of your high privilege! “Let us enter into his gates with thanksgiving,” invites the Psalmist, “and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations!” (Ps. 100:4-5)
But we must not stop here! Paul also says that we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. This is a third blessed effect which springs out of a justified state before God, in Christ. Let us consider the vast importance of this high privilege! Paul himself, in another place, calls it blessed. Speaking to Titus, he says, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). But it could not be blessed if it was not sure! If any guilt remained on our conscience, fear would dampen and extinguish our hope. Hence the justification here described by the Apostle is considered by him as being full, perfect, and complete. We have peace with God! We have access, by faith, into this grace wherein we stand. And as a result, we rejoice in hope of the glory of God which shall be revealed. “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:4).
Before we conclude our study of this portion of the chapter, we must not overlook one other blessed property which arises from our justified state – namely, the sanctified use of all our afflictions. A child of God – when, by faith, he is brought into the knowledge of his adoption – receives all his afflictions with a different aspect than that which is displayed by the people of this world. No matter what trials they may be – when they pass through the Covenant, they come out in an altered manner. They are like waters of the earth, which – by running over certain minerals – take with them certain qualities that they do not have in their natural state. No afflictions or chastenings are joyous in the present; yet when they are sanctified by grace, they afterwards yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness to those persons who are afflicted thereby (Heb. 12:11). Only God’s children, who are justified in Christ, are able to not simply endure tribulations, but also to glory in them. And this forms a blessed fruit of a justified state! The Holy Spirit, in His gracious work, directs the heart into the love of God and the patient waiting for Christ (2 Thess. 3:5).
In verses 6-11, the Apostle enters upon another sweet view of Divine love, as instanced in the great work of redemption. The act itself is astonishingly great and unexampled, but the time when it was shown enhances the mercy; for it was not simply when we were without anything to recommend us to God’s favor, but it was when we had everything to render us odious in God’s sight! We were not merely undeserving, but we were hell-deserving creatures. Surely it stands on record without a parallel! For although in the common circumstances of life, we might find – here and there – a few noble and generous persons who would venture their life as a substitute for a friend; yet for a righteous man, who simply does what is right between man and man, such instances would rarely be found. But what magnifies the riches of grace even more, and renders the case of the death of Christ even more illustrious, is the consideration that it was done for a set of people who were sinners – whose sins were committed against Him Who died for them! It was thus that the Lord showed His love and mercy to us. If some generous prince had decided to pardon his rebellious subjects, upon the condition that they returned to their allegiance; if he had purchased their freedom with an immense sum, when they were in slavery; if he had taken them into his favor, and brought them near himself – these would have been gracious acts which manifested his benevolence and love! But what would we have said if this prince had done as Christ – the Prince of the kings of the earth – had done, by giving himself as a ransom for them, dying for them, shedding his blood for them, washing them from their sins in his own blood, and making them kings and priests unto his father? What shall we call this? And yet it is in this manner that God commends – that is, bids the Church to take notice of – His love toward us! O that we may always learn to accept the Father’s gift, and Jesus’ grace, in this most sweet and precious way!
The Apostle has now raised his subject to the highest pitch of excellency, by showing the blessed state of the soul in being freely, fully, and everlastingly justified by Christ. Now, in verses 12-21, he is directed and led by the Holy Spirit to trace back the wonderful subject – even to the very Fall of man – which involved our whole nature in one mass of ruin, and which none except Christ could deliver us from.
Paul begins this part of the subject by drawing the parallel of the two Adams – thus called in Scripture (as in 1 Cor. 15:45), in order to represent them as Covenant-heads of their people. By the sin of the first Adam, the whole human race was equally involved in the guilt and punishment due to original corruption – although they had no hand in actual transgression. And in the same manner, the whole Church became partakers in the righteousness of the second Adam (that is, the Lord Jesus), even though they had no part in the vast work – either by personal holiness in themselves, or by obedience to the Law of God.
It is very blessed to follow the Apostle through the various parts of this section, wherein he has stated the results of things, by virtue of the Church’s union and interest with Christ. He puts the subject under various illustrations; and in a very beautiful manner, he goes over it again and again – as if he would have no child of God remain ignorant on a point of so much importance. He describes the reign of death in Adam, and the reign of life in Christ, under their different heads; and he shows the awful consequence of the former, and the blessed effects of the latter, as set forth in all the circumstances of mankind. “Death,” said he, “reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression.” He then argues – with irresistible force – that if such were the sure events which followed the original apostacy of our human nature, in which thousands played no physical part; then ought not those blissful effects which are promised to the obedience and blood-shedding of Jesus be equally the privilege of His redeemed ones – to which obedience, none of them have contributed? If so much evil followed the transgression of one sinner, must it not be equally right that so much good should be the result from the righteousness of one Almighty Savior – especially since both the person and the sin of Adam carry with them no proportion to the greatness and glory of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ? The one is a finite creature; the other is Infinite. The offence of the one lasts only for the time that the Church exists on earth; the righteousness of the other is everlasting. The sin of Adam is of the earth; the holiness of Christ is from heaven. O brother or sister! Ponder this subject well; and see whether, under Divine teaching, your conclusion will not join with the Apostle’s – that if such is the reign of sin unto death, arising from the apostacy of our Adam-nature; then how much greater must be the reign of grace through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord!
Lord Jesus, we ascribe praises to You, for Your Suretyship-righteousness has redeemed and recovered our poor nature from the ruin of the Fall; Your righteousness has done more for us than all our original and actual transgressions have done to cast us down! Amen.
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