Mar 24, 2017
Paul has been talking about justification by faith. Men are made right with God, not by works, but by belief in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The result of their faith is justification, an undeserved restoration into a right standing with God. But several times in the first eleven verses of chapter five, Paul will say, “not only that.” As if a right standing with a holy God was not enough, Paul says we also have peace with Him. We have gone from enemies to sons and daughters. We have moved from foes to family members. And not only that, we can rejoice even in suffering, because we know that God is going to use it to produce in us endurance, character and hope. And God did all of this for us when we were weak, undeserving, mired in our sins, and deserving of His wrath. Our justification has had unbelievable ramifications.