Therefore having been justified on the principle of faith, we have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
by whom we have also access by faith into this favour in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God.
Paul has just said that justification brings peace with God. Now he adds two more gifts that come through the same Lord Jesus Christ: a place we stand in today, and a glory we wait for. So what is this "grace"? And how can people who once fell short of God's glory now be glad at the thought of it?
"Access" here means a right of entry that someone else gives. Paul's wording also shows how long that right lasts.
The right of admittance to this favour we have by Christ Jesus. What we could not have in ourselves He has secured to us, so that no one can take it away. The form of the phrase used implies that the access is ours all the time, not now and then, as it well might be if it depended on ourselves. And He is our Introducer.
One writer draws a sharp line between where a believer stands and how a believer feels.
This is not experience, but the position into which every believer is brought in Christ Jesus — a position of perfect acceptance, in which the full favour of God rests on him. It does not rest on what he is in himself, or on any experience he may have, or any progress he has made. It rests only on what Christ is and has done for him.
Ask what this favour is, and one writer answers with a name.
What is this favour in which we stand? The answer is, in one word — Christ. Christ has gone back to God as the risen Man. He glorified God on the earth and finished the work God gave Him to do. Now He is before God in the most perfect acceptance and favour, and we, as believers, are brought into the same place — "my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." (John 20:17.) His place is ours... God never hides His face from a true believer, because He never hides His face from Christ.
Standing in this favour is one thing. Entering into it is another.
Not only do we stand in favour, but we have access by faith into it. That is, by faith we enter now into what is our unchanging standing before God in Christ. We do not have to wait until we reach glory to enjoy it; we enter into it now by faith.
One writer describes the air we breathe in this place of favour, and what it would mean to leave it for law.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ we also have the title of access into this favour in which we stand. It is a permanent blessing, already given to us... Blessed be God! it is grace that reigns there. Not a breath is there except of favour toward us. Sad to say, we deserved to be cast out and despised for our unworthy ways, even since He brought us to God. We do not stand under law. That would be to fall from grace. Such a fall is the sure forerunner of falling into sin. It also denies the Saviour, His precious redemption, and our own blessing.
One word in the original lies behind three different English words here.
It is well known that the words "rejoice," "glory," and "joy," in these verses represent the same word in the original. The true rendering is "boast." The needless change our translators made disturbs the beautiful connection in the apostle's argument, to say the least... So the apostle adds, "and 'boast' in the hope of the glory of God." We are not in it yet, but having the sure and certain hope of having it, we can boast of it as a prospect.
The same glory of God appeared earlier in the letter, and there it did the opposite work.
But who could have imagined this? The glory of God, whose light convicts us as sinners in Romans 3, has become the hope of the believer in Romans 5:2. We may well say of ourselves, even more than of Jacob and Israel long ago, "What has God wrought!" (Num. 23:23)
The word "hope" here does not mean doubt. It marks what we do not yet have.
Although we have all these blessings now, we still have these lowly bodies... still there is something bright ahead — the glory of God, and we rejoice in hope of that... It is not a hope in the sense that there is any uncertainty about it; but when Scripture speaks of something future that we do not yet have, it calls it a hope. We do not hope to be justified, for we are justified; but we hope for the glory, because we have not got it yet.
- Through Him — we do not let ourselves in. Christ is the Introducer, and what He secures cannot be taken away.
- Into grace — He brings us into God's settled favour. That favour is Christ's own accepted place before God.
- We stand — this is position, not feeling. It rests on what Christ has done, never on progress we make, and by faith we enjoy it now.
- Not law — to step off grace onto law is to fall from grace, and that fall leads to sin.
- We boast — the word behind "rejoice" is "boast." We boast in the very glory that once convicted us. It is certain, though we do not have it yet.