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Romans 5:9-10
Once again, in Romans 5:9, the Apostle Paul puts our focus on being justified through the blood of Christ Jesus. But now Paul states (NKJV), “having now been justified by His blood,”. This adds another piece to the puzzle that we are striving to gain an understanding for in the gospel. Paul has been preaching of being justified through Jesus and gaining His righteousness through our faith in Him and what He has done for us on the cross. And now Paul tells us how and why this is the truth in Christ – because of His shedding of His blood for us, as a sacrifice is only a sacrifice according to the Law if blood has been shed (Leviticus 17:11). And the author of Hebrews (which is unknown, but many scholars believe it to be the Apostle Paul) states in Hebrews 9:22 (NIV), “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Jesus Himself tells us in Matthew 26:28 (HCSB), “For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Through the shedding of Jesus’ blood is the fulfillment of the Law in the purity of Jesus’ sinless physical life. The new covenant in which Jesus establishes through the shedding of His blood is a spiritual covenant which leads to forgiveness through Him by God’s grace to us and our faith in Him that He accomplished this for us. Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4:23-24 (ESV), “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” Being justified by the blood of Jesus and the salvation that we have in Him is exemplified in the words of Paul in Romans 5:9 (NKJV) proclaiming, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”
This is a promise of justification and salvation through the blood of Jesus.
There is much to be studied about the shedding of the blood of Jesus on the cross for the payment/propitiation for our sins and the relation and significance to this in the Old Testament prophecies. But what we need to take away from this is that our salvation and justification in the eyes of God is only through Jesus and what He has done for us in dying in our place to pay for our sins so that we may be reconciled to God through Him. We must come to an understanding and saving faith in Christ Jesus to be considered forgiven and set free from sin in God’s eyes – our own misrepresentations of this in our own eyes and of how we would like it to be is only ways of trying to force God to comply to our ways which is disobedience to Him, and disobedience to Him is sin. We must let go of ourselves and grasp onto Jesus and invite Him into our hearts to have real change in our lives that is life-giving through God’s Holy Spirit that He sends to live within our hearts if we will truly put our faith in Him. The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 6:10-11 (NKJV), “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Dear LORD,
Thank You for teaching us about Jesus and that by putting our faith in Him we are justified and saved through Him. Please help us to grasp this concept and put our own selfish desires aside for true life in Christ Jesus. We want to glorify You LORD; please help us to see that it is only through Jesus that we may do this and bring glory to You through our lives – in Christ. In Jesus name I pray, amen.