Romans 5:9–11

The effects of justification

Justification is a present reality, bringing the priceless blessings of peace, joy, and hope even now amid sufferings, but it bodes well also for the future.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

From Paul’s use of the future tense (“how much more shall we be saved”), it is plain that the apostle is taking the long view. God’s love, poured out in our hearts, gives us a sure hope for the day of God’s eternal and final judgment. Paul supports that confidence with an argument from the greater to the lesser. The logic is, If God did something that’s difficult, then surely he’ll also do something that’s easy. Notice the two negative aspects in the first part of verse 10, the difficult things to work around. We were God’s enemies, and God’s Son hung dead on the cross. But God’s loving power successfully addressed both of those negatives: We have since become reconciled to God, and Christ has been raised to life. Paul reasons, “For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” As reconciled friends of God with a living Savior, we have every reason to be confident about judgment day.

Paul, however, is a very practical person, much concerned about the real problems besetting his readers in their day-to-day lives. Hence he returns once more to the concerns of the present. He points out that Christian hope is not some pie-in-the-sky future prospect, as some suppose; it brings reconciliation and life even now. He assures them, “Not only is this [hope for the future] so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now [for the present time] received reconciliation.