Another Great "OUN" Romans 5

5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The greek word for "Therefore" is "OUN"- And Paul uses it like no other. It brings weight to the truth of God- "This is true, THEREFORE... WE HAVE OR WE DO THIS"- If you were to go through all of Paul's writings and just take the "Oun" statements- you would have enough to chew on for a lifetime.

The phrase 'we have peace' is a military context...THE WAR IS OVER. Look down to verse 10 "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son".

As enemies- we were deserving God's wrath, but he was patient, providing an access to God through the sacrificial death of Christ. Lay down your arms and run into God's arms- the conflict is over and you can find peace!

2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

There is a saving grace and a sustaining grace- we are saved by grace and we stand by grace. It is all a gift from Him!

"the glory of God"

We have talked about this before but the glory of God is the greek word "doxa' where we have the root of doxology. It represents a shining on God, giving him a reverent 'weightiness', and honoring His name. In the Old Testament we see God's glory in creation, in the shekinah glory of the tabernacle and later the temple. In the New Testament, we see the glory of God in Jesus- where is God's glory today- Paul says in Colossians "Christ is you is the hope of glory".

3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

"This is an awesome passage- Christ is our example of rejoicing in suffering. Hebrews 12 says that Christ endured the cross- 'for the joy set before him'. Have you walked with Christ long enough, in hard times, that you have seen this full cycle? rejoicing in suffering- God is in control- and we get endurance- and we find strength of character- and we latch onto hope- and we discover the vast ocean of God's love... our hearts are full. We often want to protect ourselves and loved ones from pain- but pain is a tool in the hands of a beautiful surgeon!

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

This is God's 'agape' love. Who can understand it? Jesus did not die for sanitized, good, law abiding citizens- He died for the lowly criminals. In the times in my life that I hated God... he loved me... and He died for me!

Oh My- WHAT a reconciliation... How can we ignore this gospel?