Romans 5:1

"Therefore" signals that what follows rests on what has preceded. Paul now put the question of whether justification is by faith or by works behind him. He had proved that it comes to us by faith.

"We must note at once that the Greek form of this verb ’declared righteous,’ or ’justified,’ is not the present participle, ’being declared righteous,’ but rather the aorist participle, ’having been declared righteous,’ or ’justified.’ You say, What is the difference? The answer is, ’being declared righteous’ looks to a state you are in; ’having been declared righteous’ looks back to a fact that happened. ’Being in a justified state’ of course is incorrect, confusing, as it does, justification and sanctification." [Note: Ibid., p. 163.]

Some important Greek manuscripts read, "Let us have peace with God." If this is the correct reading, the meaning is, "Let us keep on having (and enjoying) peace with God." [Note: Robertson, 4:354; Witmer, p. 456. See also Verlyn D. Verbrugge, "The Grammatical Internal Evidence for ’EXOMEN in Romans 5:1," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 54:3 (September 2011):559-72.]

The second of the blessings "that came spilling out of the cornucopia of justification," [Note: Harrison, p. 55.] after justification itself, is peace (cf. Romans 1:7; Romans 2:10). However this is peace with God (i.e., reconciliation), not just a subjective feeling of tranquillity that is the peace of God (Philippians 4:7). Paul had been speaking of God’s wrath being poured out on sinners (Romans 1:18). Those who stand justified need not fear God’s wrath since Jesus Christ has made peace between them and God by His death (cf. Colossians 1:20; Ephesians 2:14). Note that references to peace and reconciliation frame this pericope (Romans 5:1; Romans 5:11).

"Peace and joy are twin blessings of the gospel: as an old preacher put it, ’peace is joy resting; joy is peace dancing.’" [Note: Bruce, p. 114.]

"Our peace with God is not as between two nations before at war; but as between a king and rebellious and guilty subjects." [Note: Newell, p. 165.]

"It is well known that Romans lacks any extended christological discussion per se, but Paul’s repeated insistence in these chapters [5-8] that all the believer experiences of God’s blessings comes only through Christ develops a very significant christological focus in its own right. Christology, we might say, is not the topic of any part of Romans 5-8, but it is the basis for everything in these chapters." [Note: Moo, p. 300.]