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Hello and welcome to our drive time devotions to the book of Romans. This week
we are in Romans chapter 5. This is day one of our look together at Romans 5.

Today we're going to look at verses 1 and 2. Paul told us in Romans 4 that
through justification God credited into our bank account righteousness. In
Romans 5 he begins to talk to us about the interest that is gained because of
the righteousness that has been credited into our lives.

The interest that accrues is incredible. It's peace. It's joy.

It's hope. In chapter 5 you get Paul's explanation of the last two words in
chapter 4, our justification. He explains the blessings of our justification in
chapter 5 verses 1 to 11 and he explains the basis for our justification.

In chapter 5 verses 12 to 21. The message of Romans chapter 5 is well it's
simply this. Justification results in joy.

Romans 5. 1 begins with the word therefore. And there is a basic rule of Bible
study.

Whenever you see a therefore you ask what's it there for? And since Romans is a
book about change it is a book of therefores. We have the therefore of
condemnation in chapter 3 verse 20.

We have the therefore of justification in chapter 5 verse 1. We have the
therefore of no condemnation in chapter 8 verse 1 and of dedication in chapter
12 verse 1. In fact there is a therefore for each of the five major sections of
Romans that we've been talking about.

Sin, salvation, sanctification, sovereignty, and service. There's a therefore
for sin, Romans 2. 1.

You therefore have no excuse. There's a therefore for salvation, Romans chapter
5 verse 1. Therefore since we've been justified.

There is a therefore for sanctification, our growth. Romans chapter 6 verse 12
says therefore do not let sin reign. And Romans chapter 8 verse 1 says therefore
there is now no condemnation.

There's a therefore for God's sovereignty, Romans chapter 9 verse 18. Therefore
God has mercy on whom he wants to. And there is a therefore for service.

Romans chapter 12 verse 1 says therefore offer your bodies as living sacrifices.
Romans chapter 15 verse 17 says therefore I glory in Jesus in my service to God.
Let's look together at Romans chapter 5 verses 1 and 2 and listen for how
justification results in joy.

Let me read those verses. Therefore since we have been justified through faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through whom we have
gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. These verses talk about peace
and access and glory. Peace with God, access to God, the glory of God.

Peace with God. And notice carefully in Romans chapter 5 verse 1, Paul says
since we are justified, that's a done deal. It's a present reality for those who
trust Christ.

God has already justified us. And because of that we have peace with God. Now
there's a lot of different kinds of peace out there.

There's peace of mind, there's peace between brothers, there's peace between
nations. But this is peace with God. This is peace in our relationship with him.

And peace with God always replaces the fear of God. Peace and joy, it's
interesting, they are closely tied to each other. I love what an old Scottish
preacher said about this.

He said, "Peace is joy resting and joy is peace dancing. " They're tied
together. If you don't have that sense of peace, the way to get back to it, the
way to get it in the first place is not by working on your feelings, but by
renewing your justification or reviewing your justification.

Remembering a second thing that these verses talk about, we not only have peace
with God, we also have access to God. We have access by faith to God. This was
an important thing for the people to whom Paul was writing.

They had no access to God. If you went to the Jewish temple where God's presence
dwelt, there was no access. If you happened to be a Gentile, you could go in as
far as the Gentile court, but then there was a wall.

You couldn't go past that wall. You didn't have access to God. If you were a
Jew, you could go in as far as the Jewish court, but then there was a wall and
you couldn't get access past that wall.

If you were a priest, you could go to the outside of the temple, but then there
was a door, a barrier. You can get in past that barrier. Even if you were one of
the serving priests, you could go into the temple itself, but then there was a
barrier into the Holy of Holies where God's presence really was, a place where
only the high priest could go only once a year.

There was no access. The temple, the presence of God, showed people that they
were cut off from access to God. No one had access.

But when Jesus came and Jesus died, the Bible tells us that in Luke 23, 45, the
curtain of the temple was torn in two. From top to bottom, it was torn. God was
saying, "Now you have access to me.

" And so Ephesians chapter 2 verse 14 says, "For he, Jesus himself, is our
peace. And he has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing
wall of hostility. " And so the Bible talks about this grace, and I love this
picture, in which we now stand.

We not only have access through grace, we have a standing in grace. We are not
only privileged to enter the palace, but we also live in the king's palace.
Grace gives us this incredible assurance before God.

We've got peace with God and access to God, and these verses also talk about the
glory of God. That's one of the sources of joy. In fact, we rejoice, these
verses say, in the hope of the glory of God.

We're going to talk about the glory of God a number of times as we walk through
the book of Romans. These verses remind us that joy is looking forward to God's
glory. I have too small a definition of joy many times in my mind.

Joy many times is defined for me as, "Hey, everything went right this day. "
That's happiness, not joy. And everything doesn't go right every day of my life.

So I can't always depend on happiness, but I can always depend on joy, because
joy is looking forward to God's glory. God's glory is guaranteed. God's glory is
something I can count on.

And so I can look forward to joy. Now it's interesting, these verses say, "We
rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. " That word "rejoice" is also used
earlier in the book of Romans, in chapter 2 verse 17, to mean "boast," talking
about people who were looking at what they did.

I can either boast in what I've done, try to rejoice in myself, or I can rejoice
in God's glory. When I boast in what I've done, it ends up with pride and
disappointment. But when I boast in what God has done, when I rejoice in God, it
results in overwhelming joy.

As we pray together these next few minutes and focus on these verses, let's pray
about peace with God and access to God and the glory of God. Take a moment right
now to say to God, "God, thank you that you have broken down the barrier. You
have torn the veil in two, so that now I can not only have access to you, but
through that I can have peace with you.

God, I don't have to be afraid of you. You love me more than anyone else ever
has or ever will. Thank you for your love.

" Right now, in my mind, I choose to look forward to the glory of God. Things
may go great for me today, this may be a tough day. Things may have gone great
today, this may have been a tough day.

But no matter what, I can choose, and I do choose right now, to look forward
with joy to the glory of God. In Jesus' name, amen. Tomorrow we're going to look
together at Romans chapter 5, verses 3 to 5.

These verses talk about how you and I can have peace in the midst of our
problems.