Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (2)  through whom also we have access by faith into grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  (3) And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; (4) and perseverance, character; and character, hope.  (5) Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit  who was given to us.   (6) For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  (7) For scarcely for a righteous man will someone die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.  (8) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

The letter to the Romans was written by the apostle Paul. One of the central themes of this   stupendous letter is that no one is righteous before God except through faith alone in Christ alone and that faith is not a single event but a way of life.  One of the blessings of faith is peace with God. We are justified in Christ and this is not just a feeling but a fact.  No good works, penance or philanthropy will do – the entire system of works means nothing.  Peace with God means holding Christ Jesus as our Redeemer.

Paul moves on to commend the faithful to exult in trials – not to get by just by enduring trials but to rejoice in them. This is not a normal response to tribulation but an act of will – not a denial of pain or suffering but an acknowledgment of our knowledge of the truth of the gospel. Grace and that sure knowledge allows us to see the bigger picture – this world is temporal and we are meant for a better place; the earth is not our home. In faith, in Christ, “tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope” which is certain.

In Christ we have hope in what we know to be true – as our outer man is decaying our inner man/woman is being renewed. C.S. Lewis in the Weight of Glory describes our motivation for endurance in joy as a “desire for our own far off county which we find in ourselves even now”.  Later in the same piece Lewis writes that “At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door.  We discern the freshness and purity of the morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see.  But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so.  Some day, God willing, we shall get in.”

Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who do so walk, as you have us for a pattern.  (18) For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:  (19) whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is their shame  – who set their mind on earthly things.  (30) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, (21) who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able to subdue all things to Himself.  (4:1). Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved. 

The letter to the Philippians was written by the apostle Paul. In our verses today Paul is using the analogy of citizenship to warn and encourage the faithful to stand firm as citizens of heaven. The Christian Philippians are advised to live like Paul  – he is not saying  that he is perfect but that his life is a practical example of how to walk with God.

The faithful in Philippi lived in this world but were not of it; they were citizens of heaven.  The seductions of this world are traps and stumbling blocks  and some who claimed to be Christians were false teachers – the enemy from within. These people didn’t live as Christians – their deeds spoke who they were. They took their freedom from the Law, in Christ, as permission to be free from God’s moral law and were citizens of this world. They were enemies of the cross who emphasized human worth.  Their end is destruction which is eternal punishment not temporal judgment. They were in the church at Philippi but not truly born again.  They lived for things of this world; their god was their appetite for selfish and sensual pleasures. The Bible does not tell us to live as ascetics but God should be central, not earthly pleasures.

Citizens of heaven wait for the second coming of Christ – this is mentioned in every book of the New Testament except for Galatians – there is debate of the particulars of the second coming but no debate over the certainty of that event. Our bodies will be raised and transformed and Jesus will subject all things to Himself – either voluntarily or by force. Jesus will either come as our Savior or as our judge. Paul warns that in light of the truth of the  second coming we are to stand firm.  Wear this world lightly.

But what does it say?  “the word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is the word of faith which we preach):  (9) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  (10) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  (11) For the Scripture says “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”  (12) For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call on Him.  (13) For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The letter to the Romans was written by the apostle Paul.  In our verses today Paul expresses his great love for the Jews and his best wish for them is their salvation. The foundational doctrine here is the doctrine of justification by grace through faith in Christ. Israel rejected Christ;  rejected the gospel of grace and justification by faith. They thought they could earn salvation by works/keeping the law. Paul writes elsewhere in Romans that if one is to come to God by his/her own works, one has to be perfect – there is no one who is perfect;  the Law proves all are guilty and all need to be saved.

When preaching the gospel to the Jews, Paul used the Old Testament Scriptures to show that all history pointed to Christ.  Jesus, true God and true man, entered time and space and became sin; He bore our guilt for us.  This acceptable sacrifice provided righteousness for us as a free gift of grace in faith. The righteousness of Christ is not attained by works but only received by faith.  This good news applies equally  to gentiles and Jews – both the doctrine of salvation by faith in Christ and the inclusion of the gentiles also proved/proves to be a stumbling block to the Jews.

Only God is inherently righteous – man falls far short.  But the gospel reveals that on the basis of faith and faith alone in Christ, God will impute His righteousness to man.  Man can never earn salvation through works.  This doctrine was the basis for the reformation.  Man is not sovereign – to believe in Christ means to stop believing in self.

So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written “Death is swallowed up in victory.”  (55) “O Death, where is your sting?  O Hades, where is your victory?”  (56) The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.  (57 But thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (58) Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 

The first letter to the Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul. In chapter 15 Paul is responding to questions from the faithful at Corinth – asking about the resurrection of man. In our early verses Paul shows that there will indeed be a resurrection of the body.  The nature/body of man is corruptible and mortal and in its present form is not admissible to heaven but when the time of our completed salvation comes God has promised He will save His people and death will be swallowed up in that last day. The faithful will be raised up incorruptible – the same body but different – we will be invested in glory and admissible to heaven.

Death proceeds from the anger of God at our sin – but in Christ sin is taken away and death is disarmed. The faithful still carry the remains of sin but it no longer reigns in us. We are transformed spiritually. Death is planting the seed of our bodily transformation. Paul writes the Corinthians that their labor – and his – is not in vain.  They have a firm foundation in the gospel to enable them to remain steadfast – they are sustained so they do not stop short in their race. Without the promise of our resurrection the whole structure of the gospel crumbles – there is no hope of a reward and the race to finish will grow cold.  But all the fear of death is cancelled in hope of our resurrection where death and decay are undone and our bodies – not renewed but changed – live again.

The sting of death is sin but for the faithful in Christ, there is no condemnation. This doesn’t mean we don’t sin but it does mean our sins are covered in Christ.