In the first four chapters of Romans we have been talking about the amazing reality that the God of the universe, perfectly holy in His being and in all His actions righteous and just, with a right and good wrath against our unrighteousness, chooses to pour out His grace and mercy on those whom He saves by sending His Son to stand in our place. The verdict of heaven against our sin is “guilty” but the verdict of heaven when it sees us through the merciful sacrifice of Jesus is "righteous by faith!” What a gracious and merciful verdict from the judge of the cosmos to declare! And for these four chapters Paul has been saying that we are not made righteous by our own good works because they still fall short of the glorious perfection of God in whose presence we were created to be; rather we are saved out of the judgement of God only by faith that Jesus has paid all of our debt to God. Faith that God’s chosen sacrifice on behalf of His people is enough. The wrath of God that once rested on us has been taken away for all who accept Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. This is what is called the doctrine of justification by faith alone. But doctrine should always lead us to deeper praise, to deeper worship. So, in our chapter this morning, Romans 5, comes the “so what?” of all of that truth. What does it mean for us? It gives us peace to know that we can stand before God justified—judicially, legally, and forensically not guilty anymore by His grace and by our faith in Christ. But is that it? Does the judge of the universe free us from the penalty and guilt of sin but still look at us with contempt, suspicion or disgust? Or does the sacrifice of Christ show us something more about our relationship with God?
