Another aspect of salvationSalvation is part of God's plan of saving people. Those who are in danger and cannot help themselves need salvation. We owe our salvation to our Savior, who went to... More is justificationAn act that God performs on guilty people who were under his judgment of condemnation. God declares people who believe in the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus to be... More. No letter of the New Testament presents it as systematically and logically as the Letter to the Romans. As we have seen, this letter shows us not only the condition of man under condemnationThe Bible uses the term condemnation to describe God’s final judgment on sinners – eternal separation from God in hell (Rom 5:18). For those who believe in Jesus and claim... More, but also the gracious action of God consistent with His nature, which is both love and light. His love is revealed to the sinner in undeserved graceTo the one who earns something through performance, the reward is not according to grace but according to debt (Rom. 4:4). Grace is a favor that is not given by... More, but His light is revealed in His incorruptible righteousness. God is too pure of eyes to look upon evil (Hab. 1:13). But if God showed only mercy, His righteousness would fall short; if He was only just, we would all be lost. In both cases, He would deny His own nature.

In the fulness of time, God sent His Son to the earth (Gal. 4:4). The expression “fulness of time” means that God had exhausted all time and all means to show man that there was no possibility of self-justification and salvationSalvation is part of God's plan of saving people. Those who are in danger and cannot help themselves need salvation. We owe our salvation to our Savior, who went to... More from the sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More into which the first human couple had plunged all their descendants. If He had come earlier, someone could have said: ‘We have not had the opportunity to show that we can do better!’ But no one can dare say that anymore. The history of mankind has proved the opposite.

ChristA title of the Lord Jesus, which is also used as an epithet; Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean "anointed one". The title refers to the fact that Jesus is... More served God perfectly and without sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More throughout His whole life, and did nothing but good to men. Yet He was hated by them. Their completely corrupt condition was revealed by their condemnationThe Bible uses the term condemnation to describe God’s final judgment on sinners – eternal separation from God in hell (Rom 5:18). For those who believe in Jesus and claim... More to death of the only one innocent of sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More.

This moment of condemnationThe Bible uses the term condemnation to describe God’s final judgment on sinners – eternal separation from God in hell (Rom 5:18). For those who believe in Jesus and claim... More on the part of sinners was the occasion for God to reveal His righteousness. On the cross, during the three hours of darkness, ChristA title of the Lord Jesus, which is also used as an epithet; Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean "anointed one". The title refers to the fact that Jesus is... More bore our sins in His body on the tree and took God’s just punishment for them (1 Pet. 2:24; see Isa. 53:5). Therefore He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46; cf. Ps. 69:5). When He died after these three hours, all the demands that God had against man were completely met. The Lord Jesus, through the offering of His life and the shedding of His blood, paid all our debts and even more: He thus glorified God and was able to cry out: “It is finished” (John 17:4; 19:30).

God now stood, as it were, under an obligation to His Son. Therefore, He resurrected Him from the dead and took Him away from the eyes of men by raising Him to His right hand and glorifying Him there. The glorification of ChristA title of the Lord Jesus, which is also used as an epithet; Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean "anointed one". The title refers to the fact that Jesus is... More was thus the just consequence of the fact that He had glorified His God and Father. Therefore, the Lord Jesus could say that the Holy SpiritThe Holy Spirit is God, a divine person in the Trinity of God; in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit works, for example, in creation or on individuals. The Holy... More would demonstrate righteousness to the worldThe word is used with different meanings. It can mean the whole of humanity (Gen 41:57) or the created world (Rom 1:20), but also a moral system that is opposed... More

 “Because I go away to my Father, and you behold me no longer” (John 16:10).

Now when a person, conscious of his guilt and condemnationThe Bible uses the term condemnation to describe God’s final judgment on sinners – eternal separation from God in hell (Rom 5:18). For those who believe in Jesus and claim... More, in faith takes refuge in the Lord Jesus and His work, the righteousness of God is demonstrated even towards the sinner (Rom. 3:22, 26). He, who in righteousness judged sins in His Son and raised Him up and glorified Him in righteousness, now acts in righteousness when He does not condemn but justifies the one who believes in ChristA title of the Lord Jesus, which is also used as an epithet; Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean "anointed one". The title refers to the fact that Jesus is... More (cf. 1 John 1:9).

God therefore has a righteous basis for His action. It is the work of ChristA title of the Lord Jesus, which is also used as an epithet; Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean "anointed one". The title refers to the fact that Jesus is... More, through which all His righteous demands have been fully met. He always acts in justice – even when He justifies a lost sinner. This justificationAn act that God performs on guilty people who were under his judgment of condemnation. God declares people who believe in the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus to be... More means simply righteousness or acquittal. ChristA title of the Lord Jesus, which is also used as an epithet; Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean "anointed one". The title refers to the fact that Jesus is... More has borne the sins and the just punishment of God for them, and a righteous God does not punish twice.

Everyone who is justified by faith has peace with God (Rom. 5:1). This wonderful peace is not a temporary feeling, but is based on the eternally valid work of ChristA title of the Lord Jesus, which is also used as an epithet; Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean "anointed one". The title refers to the fact that Jesus is... More and the justificationAn act that God performs on guilty people who were under his judgment of condemnation. God declares people who believe in the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus to be... More of the sinner by God based upon it.

The doctrinal part of the Letter to the Romans therefore concludes with a confirmation of the eternal security and certainty of those who are saved. In Romans 8:28–30, Paul reminds us of God’s eternal counselThe counsel (purpose) of God is his plan. What God plans will happen. There is a counsel of God with his people Israel (Isa 46:10). This counsel has existed since... More (see the section on “ElectionAll believers in the assembly of God were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). This is also confirmed by the expression "before eternity" in 2... More” p. 42) and then asks various questions, the answers to which he crowns with the exclamation:

“For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor thing present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in ChristA title of the Lord Jesus, which is also used as an epithet; Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean "anointed one". The title refers to the fact that Jesus is... More Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38–39).

Do not these words, inspired by the Holy SpiritThe Holy Spirit is God, a divine person in the Trinity of God; in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit works, for example, in creation or on individuals. The Holy... More, impressively confirm that the saved person is eternally safe in the hands of God? Only a power stronger than God could take away this security and certainty. But there is no such power!