| The Berean Expositor
Volume 20 - Page 161 of 195 Index | Zoom | |
the reconciliation of enemies; and the inner section, Rom. 5: 12 - 8:, the emancipation
and victory over sin itself. Rom. 1:-4: is the gospel for the sinner; Rom. 5:-8: the
gospel for the believer; Rom. 5: 1-11, the transition, gathering up the teaching and
emphasizing the objective aspect of the death of Christ:--
"Christ died FOR the ungodly" (Rom. 5: 6).
"Christ died FOR us" (Rom. 5: 8).
"Justified by His blood" (Rom. 5: 9).
"Reconciled by the death of His Son" (Rom. 5: 10).
When next the death of Christ is brought in, identification with that death is greatly
emphasized:--
"Buried with Him by baptism INTO death" (Rom. 6: 4).
"Planted together in the LIKENESS of His death" (Rom. 6: 5).
"If we DIED WITH Christ" (Rom. 6: 8).
"Reckon ye yourselves to be DEAD indeed unto sin" (Rom. 6: 1-11).
It will be seen that a very different doctrine is emphasized in Rom. 6: The
recognition of this fact will help us as we consider the teaching of Rom. 5: 1-11, the
passage now before us.
The structure of Rom. 5: 1-11.
It is now time to ascertain the structure of the passage, so that our study may be kept
within the true lines of argument. In the "conclusion" of Rom. 3: "boasting" is
excluded (3: 27). In the introduction of Rom. 4: Abraham is found to have no ground
of boasting before God. But in the verses before us boasting in the Lord appears
three times. As a reference to Phil. 3: 1-3 will show, this is the position of the true
circumcision. The structure is as follows:--
Rom. 5: 1-11.
A1 | 1, 2. Boasting. | a | In hope.
b | Reconciliation experienced (prosagoge).
B1 | 3-. Not only so.
A2 | -3-10. Boasting. | a | In tribulation.
b | Reconciliation effected (katallasso).
B2 | 11-. Not only so.
A3 | -11. Boasting. | a | In God.
b | Reconciliation received (katallage).
Our study, therefore, will be an enquiry into the ground established in Scripture for
this threefold boasting, and in this article the first of the three.
"The hope of glory."
Some change of the greatest moment has taken place in the standing of man before
God, for in Rom. 3: 23 it is written of both Jew and Gentile: "All have sinned, and