The Treasures of Faith: God Commends His Love in the Death of Christ for Us (Romans 5:2–6)

Rom 5:2. Through Him we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

“Access,” προσαγωγή—means also approach. But approach denotes only the possibility of free access, while access means not only this possibility but the very act of approaching. The latter meaning seems more fitting here. The Lord Saviour not only opened access to God for all, but takes each as if by the hand and leads him to Him. Here is the same thought as in the words of the Lord Himself: “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn. 14:6). The Apostle points to himself and all the believing, explaining how they became worthy of the grace of salvation. The Lord drew all, sending the Apostles with the proclamation and aiding them in the conversion to faith. On our part is required only consent, expressed through “faith.” The Lord, having opened access to God for all, extends His hand to each through the proclamation, to lead him to Him. We through faith place our hand in His hand and are led by Him to God. “In this grace” embraces the entire economy in the Lord—all spiritual blessings granted through faith: the knowledge of God, being graced in the mysteries, strength for every good work, special care of God, communion with God and all the heavenly powers. “In which we stand” points to what each has experienced. This grace is not mere words, but that which is already present. Each knows what he was before and what he has become now in spirit. Look, he says, how exalted this is, and glorify the Lord Who granted it. “We stand” points to what is already present through grace, while “we boast in hope of the glory of God” points to the blessings promised in the future age. The whole of our work is as follows: we believed and received the gracious powers in the mysteries. Now live with the help of God in the spirit of faith, and you will assuredly become a partaker of God’s eternal glory in the future age. Assuredly, therefore it is said “we boast;” as if what is promised and what is hoped for were already possessed as an actual fact. In this consists the essence of Christian hope! Such is the thought of this text. We cite the words of Holy Chrysostom, who not only points out the thought, but also makes various deductions. “So if Christ provided us access to God when we were far from Him, then all the more so He will preserve it when we have become near. But pay attention that the Apostle, when he speaks of the benefactions of Christ, always adds what is required on our part. Yet the benefactions of Christ are numerous and diverse. Christ died for us, reconciled us, provided us access to God, bestowed on us unspeakable grace; and we on our part offer one faith. Therefore Paul says: ‘by faith in this grace, in which we stand.’ What grace, tell me? The grace by which we have been deemed worthy to know God, have been freed from error, have come to know the truth and received all the blessings granted through baptism. For Christ brought us to baptism precisely so that we would receive these gifts, that is, not only forgiveness of sins, not only reconciliation, but also countless honors. He did not even stop at that but promised new ineffable blessings that surpass understanding. Therefore the Apostle indicated both gifts and expressed the present gifts by the word ‘grace’—depicted the gifts we have received; while in the words: ‘and we boast in hope of the glory of God’—he revealed to us all the future gifts. Such is the grace of God! It has no end or limits, and—what is impossible from a human perspective—it continually extends to the future. Among people it happens that one attains power, glory, dominion, but does not preserve it for long, and soon loses it. And if a man does not steal it, then death will come and surely take it. Not so with the gifts of God! Neither man nor time nor circumstances nor the devil himself nor death that comes can snatch them from us. On the contrary, when we die, we shall possess them without any loss; though we enjoy them, the gifts will multiply. And if you are not assured of the future blessings, then be assured by the present ones which you have already received. And that you may know what sort of heart a believer ought to have, the Apostle said: ‘and we boast in hope of the glory of God.’ He ought not only to be firmly assured of the blessings granted to him, but also to regard the future ones as if already granted. For one can boast in what one already holds in hand. Yet since hope in future blessings is as firm and assured as hope in the blessings granted, the Apostle says that we boast also in hope for the future. According to this assurance in future blessings, the Apostle called them ‘glory.’ If the blessings serve for God’s glory, then assuredly they will be fulfilled, if not for us then for God.”

Rom 5:3–4. And not only that, but we also boast in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.

“And what am I saying,” the Apostle continues, “that we can boast in future goods? Even the present afflictions are such that they serve to our glory and we can exult in them” (holy Chrysostom). It is as if the Apostle heard an objection: the future, you say, is bright? Let it be bright, but the present is very sorrowful: they deprive us of property, honor, shelter, they persecute us, beat us and kill us. Do not these present sorrows have the power to shake and entirely extinguish the hope of future glory? No, answers the Apostle, and these sorrows lead there too, to the strengthening and elevation of hope. Therefore we can even boast in them, just as in the hope of the future. Holy Chrysostom says: “Consider then, how great are the future goods, when we glory even in what appears to us as grievous. Such is God’s gift; in it there is nothing grievous! In worldly affairs, labors are accompanied by toil, pain, exhaustion, and pleasures nourish only crowns and rewards; but here, the very struggle provides pleasure no less than the reward itself. And since in the days of the Apostles trials were numerous and the Kingdom was only hoped for, hardships were at hand while goods were in expectation, and all this deprived the weaker of courage; Paul, having said that we must boast in sorrows, points them to rewards received even before the heavenly crowns. Yet he did not say: you ought to boast – but, encouraging by his own example, he says: we boast. Since then it seemed strange and unusual that a man struggling with hunger, bound in chains, enduring torture, insults, reproach, should boast in all these; the Apostle brings proof for this and, what is even more important, affirms that present sorrows are worthy of boasting not only on account of future goods, but even in themselves, because sorrows themselves are a good. – Observe how Paul gives his discourse a completely different, unexpected turn. Since sorrows most often led Christians to renounce future goods and plunged them into despair, he asserts that through sorrows we ought to become more assured of the future, not despairing. – Sorrows not only do not destroy this hope, but even strengthen it.”

As proof of this truth, the Apostle might have said directly: “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Consequently, tribulation for faith and life according to faith is a sign that we are going straight to the kingdom of glory. The Saviour already blesses such: “Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:10). Therefore those who grieve in this sense are as it were in possession of the kingdom of heaven, or God’s glory, and can boldly boast in their sorrows. But holy Paul enters into the depths of the soul of those suffering for faith and depicts a chain of morally good dispositions through which it ascends under tribulation to unashamed hope. “Knowing,” he says, “that tribulation produces perseverance.” This is the first link in this chain.

“Tribulation, before the receipt of future goods, already brings forth the important fruit of perseverance” (holy Chrysostom). Tribulation gives occasion and opportunity for patience, and not only manifests it, but gives it solidity and strength, tempers it, makes it what it ought to be. Perseverance has two sides: turned inward, it is steadfastness in good – and in this respect is conditioned by nothing external, but is an inseparable and constant trait of good disposition. Turned outward, it is endurance, bearing all difficulties encountered on the good path or in the fulfillment of good beginnings ripening within. This aspect of perseverance cannot manifest itself without sorrows. Without sorrows, endurance will not be seen and, consequently, perseverance. – But it is clear that this aspect of perseverance – endurance – necessarily presupposes the traits proper to the former – steadfastness in good or faithfulness to that inner order which is built in the heart under the action of faith, which reconciles the soul with God and gives it to feel reunion with God, whom it ever thirsts for and seeks. The essence of this order is the following: rather die than depart from anything pertaining to the knowledge of God’s will.

The second link of this chain is: “and perseverance, character,” – supply: produces. – “Character,” dokime, – trial, proving by deed, tasting. When someone through tasting learns the quality of food, this is dokime – trial. Thus, the Apostle’s thought is this: perseverance gives to prove or to taste by very deed the goodness. Of what? Of that to which the soul resolved itself under the influence of faith, and it resolved to live unswerving in the spirit of faith. Consequently, perseverance gives to taste the goodness of life according to faith – and having tasted how sweet, consoling, gladdening, blissful it is, despite external hardships and sorrows. How does it give this taste? By holding the believer on the path which he has entered by faith. Were there not this holding, and were it such that the believer with every external pressure departed from the path of faith – he would have no possibility to prove by deed and taste how sweet and blessed is life in the spirit of faith. Perseverance, holding him in the paths of faith, gives him to taste this, produces in him character. This trial embraces both the whole of life in general and, in particular, every aspect of it and even every deed in the spirit of faith – furnishes what the Apostle elsewhere determined as possessing senses trained in all good.

“And character, hope,” – supply: produces. This is the third link of the chain. – Knowing what character is, we shall not wonder how it produces hope. For this means: having experienced in heart how sweet and consoling is life in the spirit of faith, this awakens and establishes hope. How is this? Through the following reasoning, accomplished not by mind but by heart: if here, amid all external sorrows, this life provides such consolation and such blessed sweetness, then there all this will be in an ineffably higher degree. Nothing can shake me in this hope. God, who gave me to taste this sweetness here, will He deprive me of it there? This cannot be. As truly as I experience this, so certain is my hope. – From such consideration of the matter itself, it becomes evident that sorrows through perseverance and character lead to certain hope under the following two conditions: faithfulness to faith, or a good conscience, and trust in God. Both of these holy Chrysostom expresses thus: “nothing leads so much to good hope as a good conscience. No honest man loses confidence in the future; but the negligent, being oppressed by an evil conscience, desires neither judgment nor reward. We are founded on hope, but not on hope in men, which is often destroyed and shames the one who hoped, when he who promised patronage either dies or, though he live, changes his disposition. Our hope is not such; it is firm and unshakeable. He who gave us the promises is ever alive, and we, who shall enjoy them, though we die, shall rise again, so that we shall not be ashamed at all, as those who vainly and foolishly consoled themselves with weak hopes.”

Rom 5:5. And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given us.

Here the Apostle draws a conclusion from the foregoing, saying: “and hope does not disappoint.” And by this he returns his discourse again to where he began, intending to depict the chain of good dispositions leading to hope in the heart of the believer: “we boast in the hope of glory. We boast in the hope of glory,” – for it will not disappoint. And the sorrows which we endure not only do not quench it, but on the contrary strengthen and elevate it to certain unshakeable steadfastness.

Of the two supports of unashamed hope – a good conscience and trust in God – the first was depicted above more fully, while on the second only a hint was made. Now the Apostle completes the depiction of this latter, saying: “because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given us.” The Holy Spirit is given to every believer. Coming into him, He brings with Himself, kindles and gives his heart to feel the love of God – God’s love for us and our love for God, from which both hold hope at the level of certain confidence. He who has felt the warmth of God’s love for himself cannot allow any doubt that God, warming him with His love, will do for him all that is expected from Him by His own promise. Likewise, he who nourishes warm love for God cannot allow doubt that the God whom he loves will refuse him anything. And this – even if there were no promises from God’s side, much more so given the promises. For such is the nature of love that it admits no wavering of confidence in the beloved and the lover regarding each other. This happens so among men who love each other mutually. It cannot be otherwise for those in whom a living communion with God in love is established.

Holy Chrysostom and after him our other commentators, understanding the pouring out of love by the Spirit given to us to mean God’s showing of His love to us through the giving of the Holy Spirit. The giving of the Spirit is a pledge of the giving of future goods. If He gave us His Spirit, can we doubt that He will grant the other promised goods? “He assures us of future goods by goods already given. There might be the objection: but if it is not pleasing to God to show us such kindness? For though we all know that He is almighty, eternal, and living; but how do we know that He desires our happiness? The Apostle answers: this is evident from the goods already given us. What are these goods? Love, which God has demonstrated to us. You ask further: by what deed did He demonstrate it? By giving us the Holy Spirit. – God has given us the very greatest good – He gave not heaven, not earth, not sea, but – what is more precious than all this. What gift is this? The Holy Spirit. If it had not pleased God to grant us magnificent crowns after our labors, He would not have given such a good to those who had not yet labored. But now the fervor of His love is revealed in the fact that He does not give us gifts little by little and in parts, but suddenly poured out the whole source of goods, and even before our labors. Therefore, though you are not very worthy, do not despair; you have a great intercessor – in the love of the Judge Himself. For this reason the Apostle, saying: ‘hope will not disappoint,’ – had as his foundation not our merits, but God’s love.”

Rom 5:6. For while we were still powerless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

It seems as if a particular turn of thought has begun. But if one looks closely, one cannot fail to see that the Apostle here and below (until verse 11) is occupied with the same matter – the strengthening of hope in glory. We are justified, reconciled, stand in grace, but all this is only the beginning. The main thing for us is hope in glory, unshaken despite all difficulties arising from our faith. It is this unshakedness of hope that the holy Apostle wishes especially to establish in hearts. He has already established it by experiencing or proving how good is the way of faith, and by confidence in God given through the pouring out of love into the hearts of believers by the Holy Spirit. But since both these confirmations rest on inner feeling, whose testimony is not always vividly perceived by all, the Apostle hastens to establish the unshakedness of hope in another way as well – namely, by setting forth how we are justified.

It should be noted that the Apostle does not lose sight of the main thread of his reasoning, begun with the indication: behold, God’s wrath is upon those who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Following this thread, he has come to the assurance that this wrath is turned aside by the death of the Son of God made incarnate, and that we believers, taking shelter under the shadow of the cross, not only ought not to fear this wrath, but on the contrary should boast in the hope of glory. Having confirmed also this last by the testimonies indicated above, he now speaks as it were: Does the punishment of wrath still frighten you? Do you still waver in your hope of glory? Consider how everything was, and you yourself will see how unfounded are your fear and your wavering in hope. We were ungodly, sinners, enemies to God, and Christ died for us to justify us and turn away God’s wrath. Do you not see that now, when we are already justified, much more shall we be saved by Him from wrath? And again, if His death justified and reconciled us, does not His life “much more so” save us from wrath?

Such is the meaning and such is the connection with the foregoing of this brief section (verses 6–11). – Not something new is set forth, but the same truth about the death and resurrection of the Lord for salvation is indicated as the foundation of the infallibility of hope.

“For when we were still powerless,” – when we were still weak, understood morally; for we were overcome by sin and had no power to break free from its dominion: the same as what follows: “ungodly” – and further below: “sinners.” – Under “we” – the Apostle means all mankind. And that we were weak, sinners and ungodly did not require proofs and explanations after what has been said in the first chapters of this Epistle about the moral condition of the pagans and Jews who composed our entire race. – “The word ‘at the right time’ means: in the fitting and predetermined time; for the Lord died when the fitting time had come” (blessed Theophylact). The particle “for” – because – places this saying in connection with the foregoing, explaining in what the special showing of love consisted, which cannot admit hope to shame. As if: “let us consider that when we were still lawless and possessed by the disease of ungodliness, the Master Christ accepted death for us – and let us know from this the depth of His love for mankind” (blessed Theodoret). This is said, however, in addition to that showing of love which is presented by the giving of the Spirit. “Having said that the love of God is shown to be poured out in us through the Spirit, whom we have in ourselves as a gift from God, he shows further the greatness of this love – from the fact that Christ died for us who were powerless, that is, sinners (for sin is weakness and righteousness health), and not only for sinners, but, what is even worse, for the ungodly” (blessed Theophylact).