Justification by Faith

Romans 5: 1-5 (January 11, 2009)

1) The Text

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

2) The Context

Romans is the first epistle in the New Testament, although not the first to be written. Paul wrote it to the church at Rome, which included both Jews and Gentiles. His primary theme is the basics of the good news of Christ, salvation for all people. The book was probably written in 57 AD, when Paul was near the end of his third missionary journey around the Eastern Mediterranean. It is unusual in that it was written to a church that Paul had not visited.

Paul has been trying, since Romans 3, to make one of the most difficult arguments in his letters. He is attempting to explain in Romans how it is that Christianity is completely consistent with central Biblical principles but that the Jews, the supposed custodians of Biblical faith, by and large didn't accept Jesus as Savior. That is, the custodians didn't accept the one who is now interpreted to be the culmination of the faith. This is a real problem for Paul and for the early Christian movement in general. But he will argue that the Jews, even though they had gifts of the covenant, the promises, the Law and other things, pursued a sort of "human righteousness," while Christ gives us a "divine" righteousness. More specifically, he will argue in Romans 3-4 that the central principle of Biblical religion is naked faith in God--but that the Jews have missed the boat on that one. They have substituted a righteousness based on law for the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ. But the root principle of Biblical religion, for Paul, is faith. Romans 4 tells the story of the "founding father" of the religion--Abraham--and how he was "justified by faith." Faith, then, was the foundational principle of Abraham's life and, by extension, Jewish religion. When we get to Romans 5, we are already at the end of the argument.

3) Interpretation

In this short passage are two key concepts. First, Paul makes an original argument about justification by faith, which began in chapter 3 and culminates in this passage. Here Paul takes one side of the spectrum of NT beliefs regarding the interplay of faith and works for salvation. There is a puzzling relationship between these two ideas. The simple answer is that they are related as smoke and fire; that one "justified" by faith will certainly want to live a servant life; that works "flow" from faith. But that doesn't answer the question that often is insistently pressed: "Is faith 'enough'"? There is a spectrum of answers in the NT, from the statements in John 3:16 or Acts 16:31 ("Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved") that faith is all you need to those statements in the Apocalypse or in James that "faith without works is dead" or that one will be judged according to one's works. The tension runs through Paul, too. In Romans 5 (this week’s passage) we have the impression that justification is by faith--by faith alone.

Second, suffering is one of the most persistent enigmas of faith and of life. Why do the good suffer? Or, why is pain so much a part of our existences when the Scriptures are replete with promises of the joy that should characterize the Christian life? But suffering is a companion for many, both individually and collectively. Suffering can erode trust in the world, life and God. Yet, if we are willing to trust the message of suffering, to learn from its lashes, so to speak, then the gifts that suffering brings into our lives are of incredible richness. Many who have suffered significantly will say that they would never have chosen the life of suffering if the choice had been available to them, but now that they have endured the trial, they are a better or more complete person for it. Not everyone will say this, to be sure, but many will. And I think that is what Paul is getting at in these last few verses. Suffering can deepen us, giving us words, feelings, friends, and an attitude towards life that is at once grateful and humble. It, in fact, can counteract that very spirit of boasting that so much characterizes this passage.

So in 5:3-5 he celebrates the fact that life is hard on the path of discipleship. Paul sees beyond suffering to hope and that keeps him going. But it is not a hope focused on personal relief and reward, as though salvation is about his future happiness. Rather 5:5 brings us back to what counts: the love which comes from God has flooded into our lives, to flow out through us to others. The love which is the foundation of being set right with God flows onward and outward seeking to bring wholeness (peace) to all. Paul's spirituality sees love as the fruit of the Spirit. The sign of the Spirit is not great escapes, but great love. And the sign of that love is the cross. That is the story that carries the hope of resurrection in its fulfillment, because such loving participates in the life of God.

Thus we end with Paul in the place where he often brings us--a paradox. Regardless of whether faith or works is central--we are loved by God and in a community of people who share that sentiment. And this love leads to service, to study, to insight that will be helpful for others.

4) Thought Exercise

How do you see the relationship between living a life of faith and a life of good works?

How can faith help us deal with our own suffering and that of others?