It’s good to be here this morning. I am thankful for another opportunity. God is so good to us. Let me greet everyone here this morning, and all our friends who are listening in, here and around the world. If you would, turn with me to Romans chapter 5, and I am going to pick up reading from verse 1, down to verse 11.
Romans 5
King James Version
5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
Let me pray. Lord, as we turn to the scripture this morning, I pray that you help us to understand the words that we read. Help us to be drawn closer to you. Help us to know you and see you more clearly. Show us the truth, because the truth will set us free. We ask it in Jesus’ name, amen.
As we look at these verses we read this morning, I am kind of picking up my thought from where I left off before. In my last message, we looked at the first five verses. And if you recall, Paul is making a transition here in chapter 5. He has finished arguing all his points and proving to his readers, to establish the fact that we are justified by faith.
And, as he deeply explained in the last two chapters, when he says we are justified by faith, the faith is like a pipe. It’s the pipe that connects us to God. And when we say we are justified by faith, that is true. But there is more to the story of justification than just faith. By itself, a pipe is not worth too much. But what flows through the pipe is what it is for. And our faith is like a pipe. We are justified by what Jesus did through his death, burial, and resurrection. And what he did allows water to flow through the pipe of our faith. Our faith is what lets us connect to the source of the flow. And when Paul says we are justified by faith, that is the correct way to understand that. He made that clear back in the fourth chapter.
But as we transition here to chapter 5, he is no longer trying to prove to us that we are justified by faith. He has already proved it beyond a shadow of a doubt. And now, in chapter five, he is beginning to talk about the benefits, the promises, the things we now have access to as a result of being justified—not as a result of being sanctified, not as a result of understanding mysteries, not as a result of our works, but as a result of being justified.
In the last message, we looked at the first five verses. We have peace with God—that is the number one benefit. The second thing is we have hope of the glory of God—glorification. That is the finished work of our lives: glorified, in a glorified body, standing in the presence of God, beholding the glory of God. Our justification brings us peace with God, and it assures us that we will reach completion. Because we are justified, we can rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Because we are justified, one day we will realize the actuality of the hope and obtain what we hope for.
And that is an amazing truth. You can rejoice in the hope of the glory because you have been justified. Because you have saving faith in Jesus Christ’s work to save you through his death, burial, and resurrection. And because of that faith, and because of what he did, you are going to one day be fully glorified. I love how Paul makes that jump. I love how he makes glorification a result of our justification. Glorification is not a result of sanctification. But glorification will come as a result of our justification.
What Paul is doing here is he is really talking about eternal security. He is talking about an assurance we can have of both our immediate salvation and our final glorification. As we look at the next several verses, that is the main thing Paul is pointing to.
And let me read those verses again, starting at verse 6.
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Now Paul is making an argument here for eternal security—an argument that, once we have been saved through faith in Christ, we can have total assurance that God is going to see us through to the end. Our justification does not just start us out walking with Christ, but it also guarantees we will reach the end, and we will be saved from wrath when that day comes. And let’s just see if we can follow the logic of Paul’s argument here.
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
When we were sinners, when we were lost without hope, God sent His Son to die for our sins. That is a fact, we know that is true. Now in verse 7, Paul reasons using the facts he knows. Let’s read verse 7.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
It is amazing, isn’t it? Paul is saying, when Jesus died for us—He was not dying to save a good, righteous person. Jesus died to save bad people. Jesus died to save unrighteous people. Jesus died to save sinners. You know the song, “When He reached down His hand for me, He had to reach way down for me”? That is true. God had to reach way, way down. Jesus had to come way, way down. The Bible says Jesus humbled Himself to bear the cross. Jesus died to save sinners. Jesus died to save the wicked and the unrighteous.
Paul looks at that here in verses 7 and 8, and he makes a deduction from that: God loved us so much that while we were still vile sinners, He sent His Son to die for our sins. That is a hugely incredible act because, in this life, no one would die for the wicked or the evil. No one would take a bullet for Harvey Weinstein. No one would take a bullet for Bernie Madoff. No one would take a bullet for bad people like that. But Jesus did. Jesus took the bullet for all the bad people who would come to faith in Him. Jesus hung on a cross and died to pay for the sins of every bad, wicked, sinful person who would be saved from their sins. Paul looks at that fact, and he marvels, and he says:
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
And if that is true, and it is an amazing fact, Paul uses that to make a deduction. And let’s look at the next two verses to see what Paul can draw from analyzing that fact.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Amazing. Let me paraphrase what Paul is saying, perhaps: Sending Jesus, sacrificing His Son for us—that was the hard part. That was the difficult thing. That is an astoundingly amazing thing. And if God would do that, then in verse 9, “much more then,” if He would do that very hard thing, then this easier thing, this simpler thing, this far less difficult thing—He will surely do it too. God wouldn’t have done the hard part if He was not going to see this thing through to completion. He would not have started something He was not going to finish. And this second part is easy compared to the first part.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Because we are justified, we will be saved from wrath.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
These are arguments for eternal security. These are statements that give us assurance that once we have come to saving faith in Christ, God is going to finish what He started in our lives. And this fits with all the other verses in the Scripture that tell us once we are saved, we cannot be lost. Once we are saved, we are always saved, and we stay saved. And this is throughout the Scripture.
Let me just take a few words of Jesus to put with it.
Go to John chapter 10, verse 27.
John 10:27-28, King James Version:
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
We cannot be plucked out of His hand. Jesus said, all the Father hath given me, I have kept, and I have lost none, save the son of perdition. Judas is the only one Jesus ever lost. He is the only one Jesus will ever lose, and that was so that the scripture could be fulfilled. When He gives us eternal life, we will never perish, and no one can pluck us from His hand.
That is why we are here today, singing praises to God, reading from the Bible. Despite all the evil that people have done to us, here we are, loving God, praising Jesus. Why? Because no one can pluck us from His hand. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. We are sealed till the day of redemption. We are eternally secure. Being justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath. Whether or not we believe in a so-called endtime message, whether or not we slip up and make a mistake here or there, whether or not we are accepted by certain people or certain groups, being justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath.
And you know, you can read this Bible very carefully, and the truth is, this is actually the only thing that will save us from the wrath to come. And if my hope in being saved from wrath was in something besides being justified by His blood, I think I would be pretty worried. Because it is entirely possible that belief is just make-believe. And anyone sitting here, anyone listening online, the only thing that will save you from the wrath to come is being justified by the blood of Jesus. And all your hope in other things to save you from the wrath to come—that is a vain hope, it is vain faith. And one day, you are all going to be very disappointed that you did not put your faith in what Jesus did on the cross as the thing that would save you from the wrath to come.
Turn over to First Thessalonians, chapter 1 with me, and Paul mentions this same thing in that letter. Let me read it, starting at verse 9.
1 Thessalonians 1, King James Version:
9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, (this is connected to the second coming) whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Notice there, Paul says the same thing as in Romans, and he says this in other places too. Our salvation from the wrath to come is because Jesus died for our sins. Paul does not make it dependent on anything else, and nowhere in scripture is it made dependent on anything else. Our initial justification contains everything we need to be delivered from the wrath to come. And this verse 10, I think, makes it very clear that Paul has the second coming in mind when he is talking about the wrath to come that we will be delivered from. I am going to be saved from the wrath to come—that includes whatever judgments come at the time of His second coming—because Jesus was raised from the dead, and because I am justified. Justification contains everything I need to escape the wrath to come.
Someone might say, “Without holiness no one shall see the Lord.” But the holiness of Christ is imputed to me through justification. Paul just explained that in the last two chapters. It is very sad, but most people where we come from have never had anyone actually explain to them the mechanics of justification and sanctification. We have the capacity to grow in holiness and sanctification in this life, but the sanctification, the righteousness, the holiness imputed to me at the moment of justification is already enough for me to escape the wrath to come and to obtain glory in the world to come. And there are many scriptures that tell us that, and this is one of them, right here. But everything we need to be fully and totally saved is contained in our initial justification.
So take this back to Romans chapter 5, verse 9.
Romans 5:9:
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Being justified by His blood, that is enough to be saved from the wrath to come. These very simple verses, by themselves, they tear to pieces the entire concept that you need a special end-time message to escape the wrath to come. The idea that you need a special endtime message to escape the coming wrath—the very premise of that idea is unscriptural. That very idea is heresy. That very idea is a denial that what Jesus did is enough. Friends, we were once in a system of heresy, and many of our friends are still in that same system of heresy today. And it is bondage. When you cannot put all your faith and hope in Jesus, that is bondage. Because nothing but Jesus can save. Nothing but Jesus can deliver you from the wrath to come. Seven thunders cannot deliver you from the wrath to come, but Jesus can. And the means through which He does it is what He did on the cross at Calvary.
Romans 5:9:
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Because I am justified now, then I shall, in the future, be saved from wrath—not through an end-time message, but through Him, through His blood. Period. End of story. And anyone who adds more to that, as Paul said, “If someone brings another gospel, let him be accursed.” You cannot interpret the symbolism of prophecy in such a way that you contradict the plainly written doctrines of the Christian faith. You do not use the symbolism to interpret the doctrine. You use the doctrine to interpret the symbolism. People do it backwards, though. Just like the Pharisees, they get so lost in the symbols, they end up forgetting what the symbols were pointing to. The symbolism of end-time prophecy has become a yoke around their necks, just like the law became a yoke to the Pharisees. It has caused them to totally lose sight of the Messiah. It has caused them to totally lose sight of Jesus Christ. May the living God wake them from their slumber—that is my prayer.
Let me finish by looking at verse 11.
Romans 5:11:
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
Amen. That is what we are doing today. We are taking joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We are rejoicing and happy. It is all finished. Jesus said it was finished on the cross. There is not something else we are waiting for. We are not waiting for seven thunders to come open the way to the rapture. We are not waiting for some special anointing that will let us escape the wrath to come. We are not waiting on some special message to allow us to escape the wrath to come. We are rejoicing in Jesus Christ because we already have received the atonement—the atonement that will save us in all things and in all ways.
And let me say one last time, very clearly before I bring this to a close. Where we come from does not believe in this. They do not believe that what Jesus did on the cross is enough to save a person in total. They do not believe it is enough to save a person from the wrath to come. They do not believe it is enough to go in the rapture. And that false belief is right at the heart of their message. Their message begins with the belief that Jesus is not enough. You cannot believe their message without also believing Jesus is not enough. Believing what Jesus did on the cross is enough to fully and totally save a person is incompatible with the message of William Branham. And this is the greatest sin of the message—they have belittled Jesus Christ. And thanks be to God that He has shown us the truth.
Romans 5:9:
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Thank you, Lord Jesus. Let us close in prayer.