No. 20. >> Romans 5:1 through 11 has always been one of my favorite sections. Although justification is mentioned here again, the word for salvation that really seems to stand out is reconciliation. Could you comment on this? >>PROFESSOR DAVID I. M. LEWIS: Yes, Josh. As we go on from Chapter 4 we come to a section of Scripture that is actually one of my favorite passages, too. Romans 5:1 through 11 is a passage that I often return to in my own personal devotional life because this is a passage that I find really grounding into reality what God has done for us in Jesus Christ that is mentioned again at the end of Chapter 4, how this really grounds us and helps us face reality today. Even suffering itself can be properly understood only in response to what God has done. And so let's look at what Paul is actually doing in this first part of Romans Chapter 5. Note at the end of Romans Chapter 4 Paul has said the way God did it with Abraham is the way he does it with us today. God declared Abraham righteous on the basis of Abraham's faith. Not on the basis of Abraham's obedience and works. Not on the basis of circumcision and the law that actually wasn't even given until 430 years after Abraham. And so it is today that we are considered righteous when we believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. And note back in Chapter 4 that Paul also emphasizes the place of the resurrection of Jesus. Not just that he was delivered over for our sins but that he was raised for our justification. So not only do we have a Savior who died for us but we have a Savior who lives again. And so in his resurrection again to us is proof that God has accomplished justification through his death. It's proof that God has accepted his sacrifice. And it's also evidence that we have the hope of a resurrected life to come. And then it's on the basis of that hope and that faith and knowing what God has done for us that we can face life and all of its many nuances, both good times and bad times, in a very faithful way. And so in Romans 5 Verses 1 through 5, Paul discusses the implications of what he's just said at the end of Romans Chapter 4. You are just because you believe God raised Jesus from the dead. And in fact God did deliver Jesus over for your trespasses and Josh, he raised Jesus for your justification. Well, when you know that, then one reality is that you have peace with God right now. Notice the difference between this and the understanding of the medieval church. Luther had no peace before he understood the Gospel because he thought he had to attain this high level of God's righteousness before he could have true peace. But what he found in the Gospel is that: No, we have peace now because we have that verdict now, not guilty, righteous now. And so we have a whole and full relationship with God. And then with this comes joy in all circumstances. And Paul is very specific here. Even in suffering. Being a Christian doesn't mean that we will not suffer of the many things that life will bring to us. And in fact, in Paul's day -- and it is true today in many parts of the world, we might suffer specifically for being Christian. I remind you, Josh, that in many places in the world today you can think of the Sudan or in Pakistan, those who believe in Jesus are actually suffering and persecuted because of their faith. If Christians in those lands would convert to Islam, they would escape a lot of suffering. Nevertheless Paul would say of them they have peace with God and they can rejoice in all circumstances even with their suffering. Perhaps we American Christians are a little comfortable and not used to the suffering and persecution that the world can bring upon us. But I believe Josh, here in this country we will face and we he do face a certain form of resentment and persecution when we boldly confess the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, Paul makes it clear because of what God has done, we have peace with God and joy in every circumstance. And these are good, direct implications of what it means to have been saved and justified and declared righteous. And then in Romans 5 Verses 6 through 11, Paul returns once again to discussing the Gospel. And we can see how much Paul loves the Gospel in Romans. Because even when he stops to talk about the implications of what the Gospel means in a very practical way for our lives today, he can't help but go back to talking about what the Gospel is again. And Josh, you're very right to notice that suddenly in these verses, Verses 6 through 11, Paul is more -- Paul is looking at the Gospel from a new vantage point. And so now here it's just justification that is most central but it is reconciliation that is most central. So Josh, it's a good question that you ask let's talk now about reconciliation. But before we do that, Josh, I would actually like to stop and talk about a number of the rich Gospel terms that we have met in the book of Romans so far. Now, I've been talking about justification. But now that you bring up reconciliation, I've got to backtrack and talk about three other terms that Paul has brought up in his discussion. And each of these terms looks at the same Gospel, what God did in Jesus. Jesus was delivered up for our sins, raised from the dead for our justification. Each of these terms looks at that event from a different vantage point. But first I'll review for us justification. We've talked about this in detail. Justification is a forensic term. That means it's a courtroom term. A legal term. And it explains the Gospel in a legal sense. God gives us the verdict of righteous when we believe in Jesus Christ. This is justification. God declares righteous those who believe in Jesus. And Paul makes it clear because Jesus died upon the cross and rose again. Now, this is the term I think that's most central to understanding the book of Romans. However, Paul also mentions redemption back in Chapter 3. Did you notice the mention of redemption back in Chapter 3? Paul says: For there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. That's Romans 3:22 through 24. Redemption is another salvation term. But it's not looking at the Gospel from the standpoint of the courtroom. Redemption is more an economic term. And actually we might think not just economy but actually redemption looks at it from the point of view of ransoming or buying back someone who is in slavery. This is what redemption is doing. And now there's redemption in Jesus Christ. In other words, in Jesus Christ we are bought back and made God's once again. God is purchasing us, he's buying us out of slavery. And then we might say: Slavery to what? As we get into Romans 6, 7 and 8 we'll see there's slavery to sin, slavery to the law and it's condemnation of our sin, slavery to death and the fear of death. And although Paul doesn't mention it there we can also include slavery to the power of the devil. That we were once slaves to sin, to the law and it's condemnation, to death and the power of the devil. And that God in Jesus Christ has bought us back out of that slavery. And this is looking at the Gospel from a different vantage point. From the view of economy and slavery. Buying someone out of a slavery position. That is redemption. That is buying somebody back. And we see that in the book of Romans, too. And now there's a third Gospel word that is used also back in Chapter 3. And it's actually used in conjunction with redemption there. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption who is in Christ Jesus whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood. The ESV translates that propitiation. The RSV translates that as expiation. I would prefer the translation of atoning sacrifice. And here we get the Gospel word atonement. Just as justification looks at the Gospel from a legal point of view, redemption looks at it from an economic and slavery point of view, atonement looks at it from a sacrificial point of view. And this makes us think about the book of Leviticus and the sacrificial system where sin was taken care of in the Old Testament where animals were sacrificed in the place of the people who sinned. And then the blood of the animals would be an expiation or propitiation, an atoning sacrifice for the sin. It would cover the sins, purify the sins, remove the sins of the people through the blood that was shed. And now a very startling thing, we find that God himself has done this to his own Son Jesus Christ for our sake. So atonement would look at the Gospel from that sacrificial point of view. And then one other word that I didn't comment on in detail would be the word forgiveness, which we meet up in Chapter 4. Where Paul quotes David in Psalm 34 Verses 7 and 8: Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. And now forgiveness is another word that looks at the Gospel. And then again is from an economic point of view. Only here we're now buying slaves out of sin. Only here the point of view is more a debt is owed by one person and that person has to pay the debt. However, forgiveness is when that debt is cancelled. And so what we find out that what also is accomplished in Jesus is that God has cancelled the debt that we owe him. He has forgiven those sins. They are removed, they are covered. They are there no more. So already Paul has used four very rich Gospel terms: Justification, which has been his central focus. But also redemption, atonement and forgiveness. And now this Romans Chapter 5 we see very central the word reconciliation. And so Josh, I'm glad that you asked about this. It's given me the opportunity to talk about various ways that Paul has discussed how the Gospel works. Well, reconciliation is unique in that it looks at the Gospel from the point of view of relationship. Reconciling means that a relationship has been restored. And Paul says some very startling things about our status before we were saved. He says that we were sinners and that we were enemies of God. Now, you know enemy, Josh, is a very strong term. Enemy does not mean that you're neutral but that you're actually opposed to somebody. And this actually I think refutes a common understanding among a lot of Americans, even American Christians. I think a lot of people believe that the unsaved man or woman is sort of in a neutral state. They are not really good or bad. It's almost that they have to choose to be evil to really be opposed to God. Or they choose to be good to be on God's side. And Paul would say: No, no way. There's no one in a neutral position with God. You are either his enemy or you are his friend. Period. And what we were before we were saved is we were actually enemies opposed to God. A very strong term. Well, if you're an enemy of God, then what you need is reconciliation. And this is what God has done. God has given us peace with him. And he's done it again by sending his Son to die in our place. In other words, rather than punish his enemies, he punishes his Son. And that becomes the means by which he reconciles his enemies to himself. And now instead of being God's enemies, we have peace with God. Romans 5 Verse 1. Now we are God's friends. Now we are his people. Now we are his children. And this reconciliation has been accomplished again through what Jesus did in his death and his resurrection. And so this now, Josh, is what reconciliation would ask us to see. It would ask us to see that we had a problem and we were once God's enemies. We were once opposed to God. But God sent his Son to die for us. And so he has reconciled us. Now we are not opposed to God. We have peace with God. Now, I would like to draw out one homiletical application here, Josh. I believe that our preaching can become very rich and varied when we actually look at how the New Testament and the Old Testament look at the Gospel. These various vantage points. And that when we preach the Gospel, if we have the opportunity to take it from one particular point of view, that we preach it that way. In other words, if we're preaching on a text where justification is central, then we talk in the courtroom language. However, if redemption is central, we talk redemption language. God buying us back from slavery and sin to condemnation. If it's reconciliation, such as we see in Romans 5, we preach a sermon from a reconciliation point of view. We were enemies opposed to God. God has made peace with us through his Son. Because I think there is a tendency among Lutherans, especially in the Missouri Synod, to always focus upon justification. Now, I've made the point justification is very -- is most central to our understanding of the Gospel. Because it is most central to Paul's understanding of the Gospel. But note, again, this is not the only way that Paul talks. Paul uses redemption, atonement, forgiveness and reconciliation language, too. Nor is this the only way that the entire New Testament talks about the Gospel. And so I believe that it would benefit us and our people very much if when we preach upon the Gospel, we look at what this text here is actually saying. What vantage point of the Gospel that this it text is giving. And for instance, if you're preaching on Romans 5 then, you stress what God has done in reconciling us to himself. One further application of this, Josh, to be a little more gracious to our separated brothers and sisters in other denominations, very often different denominations have their own unique Gospel word that is their favorite word for talking about the Gospel. Now, for us Lutherans, indeed, it would be justification. And I believe we have a good reason to stress justification. Because it's so central to Paul's argument in the book of Romans. However, if we have brothers and sisters from another denomination who may, for instance, talk more about reconciliation or may talk more about redemption or may talk more about in participation language that we have participated in Christ's death and resurrection, we should be gracious to understand that these are other ways to talk about the Gospel, as well. I wish everybody would see as we do how in Romans justification really is the key way. And often people by ignoring that may confuse the Gospel. But at the same time I think we as Lutherans would be enriched if we would continue to see justification as the central motif. But see how varied the Gospel -- how many varied ways the Gospel is presented in the New Testament. And then if we would preach and teach all of those various ways that the Gospel is discussed, and then we might be enriched in understanding how the Gospel is presented by other denominations, as well. So Josh, thank you for that question about reconciliation.