How Can Faith In Jesus Benefit Us?
Sermon Notes
Hey everybody my name’s Louis I’m the lead pastor here at City Awakening, it’s great to gather with you both onsite and online. At this time we can dismiss our children to children’s church, and if you didn’t get to check your child in please see our children’s ministry leaders in the back to assist you with that...Today we’re continuing our teaching series on a book of the bible called Romans. It’s a series about renewing your mind, for the transformation of your life. What we’re talking about specifically today, are the benefits of having faith in Jesus. What are some of the benefits of having faith in Jesus?...The reality is we expect to experience benefits when we put our faith in something. For example we expect to experience the benefit of saving time, when we put our faith in an airplane getting us places instead of an automobile. We expect to experience the benefit of a longer lifespan, when we put our faith in the health and wellness information we now have compared to those in the 1700’s. I recently read the average person today lives to their 70’s, but the average person in the 1700’s lived to their 40’s. I expect the benefit of a longer lifespan, if I’m having to eat gummy vitamins, elderberries, and superfoods.
My doctor told me the other day my cholesterol is looking a little high. He said it's still good, but it’s elevated. So I told him, “We can certainly look into that. But if you tell me I can’t eat brisket anymore, I’m out. Jesus can take me early, because I’m not giving up brisket.” But if I had faith, if I truly believed giving up brisket would add 20 yrs to my life, then I’d consider it. I didn’t say I’d do it, but I’d consider it. My point is we expect to experience the benefits of things we put our faith in, so what are the benefits we can expect from putting our faith in Jesus? What are some of the benefits of having faith in Jesus? Let’s turn to Romans 5 and check it out. You’ll find Romans in the last quarter of the bible, and we’ll be in Romans 5:1-11. Title of today’s message is How can faith in Jesus benefit us? The big idea is you can have peace, hope, and love in life, through faith in Christ...You can have peace, hope, and love in life, through faith in Christ.
Here’s your context. Romans was written by the Apostle Paul who was a skeptic and enemy of Christianity, until 35 A.D. when he has an interaction with Jesus that changes his life, and he becomes a Christian. Then 20 yrs later he writes this letter to Christians living in Rome to teach them about Jesus and the gospel that transformed his life. In ch’s 1-4 he builds a case for why we should put our faith in Jesus, but here in ch 5 he’s explaining how that faith in Jesus can benefit our lives. In vs 1-11 he’ll teach us there’s three primary benefits to having faith in Jesus. There’s way more benefits than that, but in vs 1-11 he’ll teach us three benefits: #1 peace in life, #2 hope in affliction, and #3 love that’s proven. It’s peace, hope, and love. Let’s check it out.
Romans 5:1-11, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul’s saying when we put our faith in Jesus, when we believe Jesus died for our sins on the cross, we’re instantly justified through faith in Jesus, and given peace with God. It happens instantly, the very moment we put our faith in Jesus. The very moment we repent saying “I sinned,” Jesus says “I died for your sins.” When we say “I believe,” Jesus says “I forgive you. I give you my peace.” This means those who believe don’t have to live fearing God’s eternal wrath anymore, since they now have eternal peace with God. On the cross Jesus paid the eternal sin debt we owed with his life, credited us with his infinite righteousness, and removed the sin gap between us and God forever. We’re eternally reconciled with God so we can now enjoy eternal friendship and peace with God. That’s the primary benefit of having faith in Jesus. It’s that we get to be reconciled with God, enjoy eternal friendship and peace with God, and there’s no greater benefit than that. All the other benefits I’ll talk about are secondary compared to that, because they wouldn’t even exist if we didn’t have peace with God. I’m only talking about three benefits today, but there’s numerous benefits to having faith in Jesus. But they’re all secondary benefits, that flow from the primary benefit, of having peace with God.
Now I want to be clear that the peace we’re talking about is more stable than our feelings. It’s more stable than the feelings of peace and tranquility some people can get from yoga mats, meditations with essential oils, and rainforest soundtracks. The reason I say that is because our feelings can deceive us. I mean heroin is known for producing some of the most peaceful and pleasurable feelings the human body can experience, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for you. It’ll feel good in the moment, but it’ll addict you or kill you later...I sometimes feel like I’m in my 20’s, but the reality is I’m not. When I was in my 20’s I didn’t have to worry about things like my metabolism slowing down, cholesterol, and circadian rhythms. I ate what I wanted, slept when I wanted, rolled out of bed however I wanted without tweaking my back. I can feel like I’m in my 20’s all I want, but the reality is I’m not...A person can walk around feeling physically good and healthy all they want, but if the scan shows there’s cancer inside, it needs to be treated. They can say they feelgood, but that doesn’t mean they are good. Their feelings are deceiving and they need to treat the cancer before it’s too late...My point is our feelings can deceive us, and they can also fluctuate. Our feelings are constantly changing, which means we need to find our peace in something more stable than our feelings. We need to find our peace not in the instability of our feelings, but in the stability of God, and our peace with God, through faith in Jesus.
Again vs. 1, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand...” The word grace here is more about God’s favor, than it is about God’s forgiveness. Paul’s saying when we’re at peace with God, it means we have access to the grace and favor of God, which leads to the 1st benefit to having faith in Jesus. The 1st benefit is...
#1 Peace in life = We can have the benefit of peace in life, through faith in Christ. What Paul’s saying is when we’re at peace with God, we have access to the grace and favor of God, which is what brings peace and stability into every area of our lives. Why? It’s because there’s nothing in your life, that can’t be overcome by the grace and favor of God in your life...There’s nothing in your life, that can’t be overcome by the grace and favor of God in your life...But you can’t have peace in life, if you don’t have peace with God, and access to his grace and favor. You’ll just rely on something else for peace instead of God, but it’ll fail to give you that peace. You’ll try reading marital and parental books, learn some helpful principles, but it’ll fail to give you peace in your marriage and family. You’ll try practicing some helpful financial peace principles, but it’ll fail to give you financial peace when inflation hits, the stock market crashes, you feel the global tensions of war and economic collapse. I recently had a wealthy friend say, “Louie I have a bigger bank account, a bigger house, and bigger investments to manage. But it’s all just bigger scales of worry.” Even the wealthy aren’t at peace with their finances, they just have bigger scales of financial worry. The point is we keep trying to find peace in things that can’t give us peace. It’s because the only way to have peace in every area of your life, is to have peace in the greatest area of your life, which is peace with God...The only way to have peace in every area of your life, is to have peace in the greatest area of your life, which is peace with God.
A Christian’s peace and stability doesn’t come from feelings and situations, it comes from having peace with God and access to his grace and favor. He wants us to rest in our peace with him, and rely on his grace and favor to overcome whatever we go through in life. When we aren’t feeling peace and stability in our lives, it’s because we’re putting our peace and stability in something other than God. We’re putting our peace and stability in our feelings and situations, instead of letting God speak his peace into our feelings and situations. When that happens we need to remind ourselves of the peace we have with God, let him speak his peace into our lives, and rely on his grace and favor to overcome whatever we’re going through in life...So do you want peace in your life?...Do you want peace in your marriage and family?...Do you want peace in your finances and career?...It starts with having peace with God, through faith in Jesus. The more at peace you are with God, the more at peace you’ll be in life. The more at peace you are with God, and the more you let him speak his peace into your life, the more his peace will bring peace, into every area of your life. It’s one of the benefits of having faith in Jesus.
Again vs. 2, “We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us...” Notice Paul repeatedly uses the word hope in these verses, which is the 2nd benefit of having faith in Jesus. The 1st benefit of having faith in Jesus is peace in life, and the 2nd benefit is...
#2 Hope in affliction = We can have the benefit of hope in affliction, through faith in Jesus. I love how practical and realistic Paul is. He’s basically saying “The good news is if you have faith in Jesus, you have peace and favor with God. The bad news is you’ll still have days, where it doesn’t feel like you have peace and favor with God. It’s because you’ll still have days, where you face afflictions.” That’s very practical and realistic isn’t it? I mean sometimes we feel the peace and favor of God at work in our lives, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we experience God answering our prayers the way we want, sometimes he doesn’t answer our prayers the way we want. I used to be a chaplain for two Advent Health hospitals, and I’ve prayed for people the doctors said were terminal, only to have the doctors baffled later by their miraculous healing. But I’ve also prayed for a 16 yr old girl with amoeba and my own mother who God didn’t get healed. I’ve had days where I’ve lifted my hands praising God for doing what I wanted, and days where I’ve shaken my fists at God in frustration for not doing what I wanted. It’s a painful reality that sometimes God doesn’t take the cancer away, reconcile the marriage, restore the family, remove the affliction, and Paul knows what it’s like to go through that! He suffered many afflictions for his faith in Jesus, even prayed for God to remove an affliction from his life three times, but the Lord didn’t do it. Yet here he is in Romans 5 saying “The bad news is we’ll face afflictions! But the good news is we’ll have hope in our afflictions!” He says the word hope three times! So what’s he talking about? How can we have hope, when we’re facing so many afflictions in life?
I think the answer to that question is found in vs 5. I really love vs 5, and it’s a great verse to memorize if you’re facing afflictions. It says the hope we have, will not disappoint us! I love that, because he’s saying the hope we have isn’t a cross your fingers hope. It isn’t “I hope to win the power ball!” That kind of hope will disappoint you a lot! But Paul says the hope we have will not disappoint! It’s because we don’t have a cross your fingers hope, it’s a Jesus resurrected from the brutality of the cross hope! We have a Jesus resurrected from the afflictions of the cross hope! Paul’s saying if Jesus can overcome the afflictions of the cross, then he won’t disappoint us in overcoming the afflictions in our life. In the words of D.A. Carson, “I’m not suffering from anything, a good resurrection can’t fix!” I’m not suffering from anything, a good resurrection can’t fix!...So even if our afflictions aren’t fixed in this life, we can still have hope knowing our afflictions will be fixed by the resurrection in eternal life. It’s a hope, that’ll never disappoint.
Vs. 5, “This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. 8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” There’s the 3rd benefit to having faith in Jesus. The 1st benefit is peace in life, the 2nd benefit if faith in affliction, and the 3rd benefit is...
#3 Love that’s proven = We can have the benefit of a love that’s proven, through faith in Jesus. Paul mentions God’s love twice here, and in vs 8 he says God proves his love for us by Jesus dying for our sins on the cross. He really captures how incredible God’s love is with his illustration in vs 7-8. He says it’s rare for somebody to sacrifice their own life for a good person. We might hear an occasional heroic story of somebody dying to save a stranger caught in a rip current or trapped in a burning building, but those stories are rare. It’s because we’re far more willing to sacrifice our lives for people we love, than for strangers. I mean if two terrorists busted in a building, and one started attacking a person you love like your spouse, your parent, your child...and the other started attacking a stranger, without hesitation you’d try saving the person you love. Some of you are like “I’ll just take them both out like Jack Ryan or James Bond.” But if you could only save one, without hesitation you’d try saving the person you love. It’s because we’re far more willing to sacrifice our lives for people we love, than for strangers. So are you willing to die for a stranger? It’s possible, but rare...Are you willing to die for people you love? Sure, you’re far more willing to die for people you love, than for a stranger...But what about the terrorist?...Are you willing to die for the terrorist?...Are you willing to die for the terrorist, for the person attacking your family?...I can tell you my response to that, without hesitation is no! There’s no way I’m willing to lay my life down for a terrorist that’s attacking my family!
But that’s exactly Paul’s point! His point is we’re the terrorists Jesus came to die for! We’re the terrorists who’ve been attacking the people and creation he loves. We can try denying it all we want, but we’ve all sinned, we’ve all contributed to the destruction in our relationships, society, and world. We’ve all attacked the people and creation Jesus loves with our sin. Jesus didn’t die for us as strangers, he died for us as sinful terrorists. Vs 8 says while we were still sinners Christ died for us! It’s such an incredibly rare love that’s far greater than the greatest love we’ve ever known! It’s the good news of the gospel, which is that Jesus is willing to love you, save you, accept you as is, but his love is so incredible it won’t leave you as is...Jesus is willing to love you, save you, accept you as is, but his love is so incredible it won’t leave you as is...It’s impossible to experience the love of Jesus, and not be changed by it. It can even change the way we think about our afflictions. When we face afflictions, we sometimes we think God doesn’t love us or care about us. But Paul’s saying it can’t mean that, because the cross proves he loves us! If Jesus was willing to pour his love out for us when we were his enemies, then he’s certainly not withholding his love from us when we’re his friends! So you may not always know the reasons you’re going through afflictions, but you know it can’t mean he doesn’t love and care about you. It’s because he proved he loves and cares about you when he died for you, and his resurrection proved he’ll make sure you overcome your afflictions in this life, or in eternal life.
Vs. 9, “How much more then, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath. 10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.” Like I said it happens instantly! We now received, this reconciliation. It’s something that happens instantly, through faith in Jesus.
The big idea of the message is you can have peace, hope, and love in life, through faith in Christ...You can have peace, hope, and love in life, through faith in Christ...Do you want to have peace with God?...Do you want to have peace in every area of your life?...Do you want to have hope in whatever afflictions you’re going through in life?...Do you want to have a love that’s proven far greater, than the greatest love you’ve ever known?...If you’re a skeptic or a believer, you can have all these benefits right now, through faith in Christ. So let’s pray to receive these benefits.