Romans 5:1

An amazing difference of opinion among commentators as to what constituted Paul's subject matter in this chapter must be noted.

Greathouse suggested:

Paul rounds out his doctrine of justification by putting this truth in its eschatological context.[1]

Greathouse cited "the hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:2), and "final salvation" (Romans 5:9-10) as supporting his analysis. Lenski favored the view that writings in this chapter

Undoubtedly describe the blessed effects of God's righteousness through faith.[2]

Stiffler noted that:

Many commentators have entitled this chapter, "The Fruits of Justification."[3]

Griffith Thomas saw in this chapter:

Will this new method of salvation really last; will it continue to the end? Is it safe for all the varied and complex needs of human life? Is it a foundation sufficiently strong to stand the wear and tear of human needs?[4]

James Macknight wrote that

In the beginning of this chapter, Paul enumerated the privileges which belong to believers in general.[5]

This commentator believes that such confusion as regards even the subject of what Paul was writing about is due to the preoccupation of scholars with what Thomas called "this new method of salvation," which, of course, means the wonderful proposition that people are justified by faith alone! It is apparently a lost fact so many are unaware of, that there is no "new method" of salvation, but only one, namely, justification through obedient faith, a truth Paul went to great lengths to demonstrate in his appeal to the example of Abraham, showing at last that we too are saved just like Abraham was (though through meeting DIFFERENT tests), by WALKING "in the steps of Abraham's faith" (Romans 5:4:12); in short, by believing, and proving it by obedience as he did. Paul's subject matter in the entire epistle to the Romans is not any new method of salvation, but the inherent righteousness of God, as noted under Romans 5:1:17. It is, thus, the failure of scholars to identify properly Paul's subject matter in Romans 4 that leaves them confused and contradictory as to what Paul had under discussion in Romans 5. God's eternal rectitude continues to be the theme here, as appears from the import of Romans 5:12-21, where the question of God's righteousness in causing death to pass upon all people as a result of the sin of only one man is the problem discussed. The same problem of how God can be righteous in allowing the tribulations and death that are the badge of all mortality is also within the focus of the first paragraph (Romans 5:1-11), where the true answer to the enigma lies in the fact that people may yet achieve eternal life through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[1] William M. Greathouse, Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press, 1969), p. 106.

[2] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1963), p. 330.

[3] J. M. Stiffler, The Epistle to the Romans, p. 87.

[4] W. H. Griffith Thomas, St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 146.

[5] James Macknight, Apostolical Epistles (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1960), p. 78.

Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)

Justified by faith ... has invariably the meaning of "justified by an obedient faith," as in the case of Abraham. See the preceding chapter. Also, for further explanation of this synecdoche, see under Romans 3:22. Both at the beginning and ending of Romans, Paul defined "faith" in the sense of its being "the obedience of faith"; and although this has been cited before, the extravagant and vociferous claims to the effect that Paul really meant "faith only" require repeated attention to the truth. Note:

Through whom we received grace and apostleship, unto obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name's sake (Romans 1:5).

But now is manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known unto all nations unto obedience of faith (Romans 16:26).

It would be impossible to overestimate the significance of Paul's placement of these two verses, situated like the lions on each side of the throne of Solomon, standing as the Alpha and the Omega, guarding the portals of this great treatise of God's righteousness, but necessarily dealing with justification by faith, and making sure that "he who runs may read" and not be deceived as to the degree of faith Paul was discussing. One may not enter or leave this epistle without confronting the fact that it was "the obedience of faith" which summed up the end and all of Paul's apostleship (Romans 5:1:5), and that it is "the obedience of faith" of all nations which enables them to participate in redemption (Romans 16:26). Thus, "obedience of faith" must be understood as included in Paul's salvation "by faith." The following example from Paul's writings shows how and when faith makes one a child of God:

For ye are all sons of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ (Galatians 3:26,27).

Thus, faith saves one by leading him to accept forgiveness of sins in God's appointed institution, the spiritual body of Christ; and salvation is accomplished when faith becomes obedient to the degree of causing him to be baptized into Christ, and to put on Christ. As Lipscomb expressed it:

To be saved through faith in Christ Jesus, to be baptized unto the remission of sins, to be baptized into Christ, and to put on Christ, all mean exactly the same thing.[6]

Even in the very epistle we are studying, and where so many allegations to the contrary are allegedly grounded, Paul went so far as to define exactly the point in the time sequence of the believer's obedient actions when his salvation actually occurs. Thus:

But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being THEN made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness (Romans 6:17,18 KJV).

The omission of "then" in some of the translations does not remove the meaning, for it is implied anyway; and even Phillips retained it in his rendition. Thus, a man is saved "by faith" WHEN he obeys the gospel, and not before. It is not amiss, then, to declare unequivocally that baptism for the remission of sins on the part of a true and penitent believer is salvation "by faith." If that is not true, how could Christ have said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16)?

We have peace with God ... should read "Let us have peace with God," according to many scholars; and that rendition is given as an alternate reading in the English Revised Version (1885) margin. The difference turns upon two very similar Greek words, [@echomen] and [@echoomen], the latter meaning "we have," and the other meaning "let us have." The scholars assure us that the preponderance of manuscript authority favors the first, "let us have"; and Lenski went so far as to say:

The assertion that textual authority for "we have" is also good is not true. ... A number of expedients are advanced in order to justify the use of the indicative ("we have"), such as that, when speaking, Paul had in mind the short vowel, but that his amanuensis Tertius wrote the long vowel by mistake. "The sense must conquer the letter," we are told; but the letter alone conveys the sense, and we change the sense when we change the letter.[7]

Lenski's comment is introduced here because of the clear and forceful way in which he emphasized that what the holy writers said, the actual letter of what we have received from them, must take precedence over what any man thinks they might have meant! The application of this principle will resolve the question of "faith" vs. "faith only," since it was of "faith" that Paul wrote, and never of "faith only," the latter being urged as Paul's "meaning," even by Lenski!

The decision of whether "we have" or "let us have" is correct cannot logically be attempted by this writer. In any event, the difference is of no consequence either way; and thus. after noting what appears to be a valid objection against the rendition in both KJV and English Revised Version (1885) in this instance, the sentence will be discussed as it stands in those versions, since that is the text which most people have.

Peace with God ... means that the fierce rebellion against God is no longer within the heart; the war is over, and man has submitted to his Maker; and the ensuing new status changes everything. God is angry with the wicked every day; and Paul described the Gentiles in their state of rebellion as "children of wrath." That wrath pertains to every man who has not come into the inheritance of peace with God in Christ. It was to that peace which Augustine referred when he said, "Thou, O God, hast touched me and translated me into thy peace!"

CHRIST AND MAN'S PEACE

Peace is the great legacy of Christ to them that love and obey him. In the annunciation, the angels brought word of "peace on earth to men of good will" (Luke 2:10); Zacharias prophesied of the Dayspring from on high who would "guide our feet into the way of peace" (Luke 1:79); and Paul spoke of the "joy and peace in believing" (Romans 15:13). Jesus said:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).

This peace, like every other spiritual blessing, is in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), a thought also expressed thus:

And the peace of God that passeth understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).

This marvelous peace is exactly the blessing which troubled man most needs and so incessantly seeks, even if his seeking is but an unfulfilled subconscious longing after it. The insatiable desire for that heavenly peace is never abated until people rest in Christ. In the great invitation (Matthew 11:28-30), Jesus spoke of the rest people would find and of the rest that he would give; and both are what Paul referred to here (Romans 5:1). Despite the eternal truth that no worthwhile peace may be procured by means of any human device, people are, nevertheless, in constant pursuit of it, employing all kinds of strategies in their sad efforts to possess it; and, no matter how frequently time has demonstrated the ineffectiveness of one device or another, people still strive in the same old discredited ways to establish their peace, overlooking the availability of this dearest of all possessions as a free gift from God in Christ.

Note the various ways in which people strive vainly for that peace, a peace which God is willing and ready to give them when they turn to him: (1) People seek peace by moving to the suburbs, planting a garden, and building a hedge, only to discover that peace is not a commodity that any realtor can sell. (2) Some seek it by going to a psychiatrist, only to learn that no psychiatrist can convey to another the peace that he does not himself possess. (3) Some seek peace through the ardent advocacy of this or that social system, or by participation in campaigns for the alleviation of alleged human woes; but it would be just as reasonable to suppose that one could cure twenty cases of measles by putting them all in the same room, as it is to suppose that any scheme for better housing, for example, could cure the agony of human beings whose wretchedness is due to their sin and not to their circumstances. The savage tides which swell and flow in the hearts of millions of unregenerated people will never yield to the magic of some political solution, nor disappear through any readjustment of earth's material wealth. (4) Others seek peace by means of the bottle, the needle, and the pillbox; but the reliance upon such pitiful devices cannot evoke some miraculous genie, as in Moslem mythology, that can pour the oil of peace upon the turbulent waters of the raging storms that trouble the hearts of people. Alcohol, narcotics, and drugs produce death instead of life, hell instead of heaven, agony instead of peace. (5) Still others seek peace through the pursuit of the pleasures of life, only to find as sage, philosopher, and poet alike have found, that peace comes not from pleasures.

But pleasures are like poppies spread, You seize the flower, its bloom is shed; Or like the snow falls in the river, A moment white, then melts forever.[8]

Alexander Maclaren said:

Sooner or later, the mad, whirling dervish of life will slow down, falter, and grind to an irresistible stop, where the facts of unrest and soul disquietude must inevitably be faced.[9]

(6) And some even think to find peace by means of human achievement; but efficacy for the impartation of peace to the. human soul is not found in any such device. Alexander of Macedon found only dust and ashes at the end of that rainbow, and so will any other who follows that illusion to its wretched end. (7) Yet another device has commended itself, throughout history as being a source of peace for troubled people. It is a sacerdotal arrangement, in which a human contemporary is given a special kind of education, a special kind of garb, and a special kind of dignity in which such a one is elevated to a position of alleged sanctity, and then commissioned as an agent to procure peace and grant it to his fellow mortals. Thousands of years of the use of this elaborate device have demonstrated, alas, that sacerdotal man is no holier than ourselves and no more able to procure peace than others. It is time that people should be reminded again that:

There is one God and one mediator between God and men, himself also man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all (1 Timothy 2:5).

As for the old superstition that any man can absolve another of his sins and impart any peace worth having, it is hereby affirmed in the light of that Word that liveth for ever and ever, that the scriptures teach no such thing. "Only God can forgive sins"! (Mark 2:5).

Through our Lord Jesus Christ ... The way of receiving that peace is plain. The source is Jesus Christ. It may not be procured, therefore, through people. Inscribed upon the north facade of the impressive tomb of William Rockefeller in Tarrytown cemetery, Tarrytown, New York, are these words of Augustine:

OUR HEARTS; O GOD; WERE MADE FOR THEE; AND NEVER SHALL THEY REST UNTIL THEY REST IN THEE.

How may people possess that peace of God through Christ? By means of the obedience of faith so perfectly expounded by Paul in Romans. Atheism is no refuge for the soul. Even the great achievers among the ranks of atheists, such as H. G. Wells, have confessed that peace is no part of their endowment. Wells declared:

I cannot adjust my life to secure any fruitful peace. ... Here I am at sixty-five still seeking for peace ... that dignified peace is just a hopeless dream.[10]

Wilbur M. Smith, in the summation of a remarkable chapter on the subject of peace and joy in believing, said,

In skepticism and unbelief, there has always been, there cannot help but be, despair in the place of hope, a miserable unceasing restlessness in the place of peace, and either an ever-deepening sorrow or a chilling stoicism instead of true and abiding joy. For all who have come to know and love the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter what their previous life was, no matter what their circumstances in life, there is available a peace that passeth all understanding and a joy the world can never take away. There is peace and joy in believing; there is neither in unbelief.[11]

By faith ... The emphasis in this commentary on "the obedience of faith" is not intended to diminish in any manner or degree the true necessity of wholehearted, unreserved faith in God and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is still the strong man that carries the little child Reason upon his shoulders. Faith is part of the foundation of Christianity; and without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Whenever and wherever in human hearts there is enough faith to lead one to walk in all the light he has and strive for more, there, it may be presumed, is enough faith to save. The reason for insisting throughout this work that "faith only" is a sinful addition to the word of God, and in fact a denial of it, stems from two reasons, the first being that God's word nowhere says that justification is by faith only, and the second being that it is impossible to define faith as automatically including obedience. When pressed, the advocates of the "faith only" position will often fall back upon the presumption that if one truly believes, he will also obey. Opposed to that presumption is this statement from the New Testament.

Even of the rulers many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees, they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the glory that is of men more than the glory that is of God (John 12:42,43).

The Lutheran error of supposing salvation to be by faith only, sprang from overlooking the biblically stated truth that many people did "believe on" the Lord Jesus Christ but, through love of the world, refused to follow him. As to the thesis, then, that true faith automatically includes obedience, it is utterly disproved by the lives of millions in every age, including those cited in John 12:42,43. In this context, it is interesting to note that Christ said, "If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments" (John 14:15); but he did not say, "If ye have faith in me, ye will keep my commandments," the latter being categorically untrue. Precisely in this, then, is the outrage of teaching that salvation is "by faith alone." Far from leading people to obey the gospel, that false doctrine is actually made the ground and excuse of millions for not obeying it!

[6] David Lipscomb, Commentary on the New Testament Epistles (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1969), p. 92.

[7] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 333.

[8] Robert Burns, Tam O'Shanter, stanza 7.

[9] Alexander Maclaren, origin of this quotation unknown.

[10] H. G. Wells, quoted by Wilbur M. Smith, Therefore Stand (Boston: W. A. Wilde Company, 1945), p. 197.

[11] Wilbur M. Smith, op. cit., p. 477.