Romans Chapter 5: Blessings of Justification

The Blessings of Justification: Access to God

• The second benefit of justification is access to God, which is mentioned in Romans 5:2.
• This access is obtainable through Jesus Christ, emphasizing that He has the exclusive monopoly on access into a relationship with God the Father.
• The order of having peace with God and then having access to God is crucial; without peace, we wouldn't want access to God because we would be trying to get away from Him.
• The verb "have obtained" in Romans 5:2 indicates a past action with a continuing result, meaning we obtained access to God the moment we exercised faith in Jesus Christ.
• The word "introduction" in Romans 5:2 can be translated to "access," implying a privileged access to come face-to-face with God, which was previously impossible.
• In Ephesians 2:18, the word "access" is used, highlighting the Trinitarian focus: we come to the Father through the Son in the Spirit.
• The imagery of access is like a king who doesn't allow commoners into the palace, but through Jesus Christ, we have a privileged access to come before the Father.
• We can now come before the Father and bring our prayers, praise, and worship, having fellowship with Him and a relationship with Him.

The Prerequisite and Context of Access

• The sole prerequisite for having access to God is through faith in Jesus Christ, emphasizing that faith is the only way to access the Father (Romans 5:2).
• The word "faith" has been the emphasis throughout Romans, particularly in chapter 4, where it is mentioned several times.
• In Romans 5:2, "by faith" means that we have no claim in and of ourselves to come into the presence of God the Father; it is exclusively by grace that we come.
• The phrase "into this grace" in Romans 5:2 means that we are transferred into the realm of God's grace, which is saving, electing, predestinating, redeeming, reconciling, propitiating, regenerating, sanctifying, and securing.

The Contrast of Our Previous State

• Before we accessed God the Father, we were on the outside looking in, separated from Christ and far away from God (Ephesians 2:12).
• We were once strangers and aliens of the kingdom of God, but now we are no longer strangers and aliens (Ephesians 2:19).
• The word "xenos" in Ephesians 2:19 means we were foreigners, outsiders, and strangers to the kingdom of God, without citizenship.