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Rabbi Paul wanted the Christians and Messianic Jews in Rome to know about salvation; and the way to be saved. He wanted them to know the need for salvation; to value their salvation; and to proclaim the Good News about faith that produces salvation to others.

Not more money; not more education; not better politics, but salvation – which is synonymous with being reconciled to God; being justified; becoming righteous; being forgiven; redeemed; receiving the promise to inherit the world – is our greatest need; and it is the greatest need of others.

Salvation only comes as a gracious gift from God, when we have faith – which is knowing God and being faithful to God and the Word of God. It’s impossible for salvation to come from our efforts, works, good deeds, Torah-observance or law-keeping. This applies to everyone – the Jewish people and Gentiles, the peoples of the nations. We need to be people who have faith, real faith, genuine faith, saving faith.

What a blessing to have faith that saves; to be reconciled to God; justified; considered by God to be righteous; forgiven; redeemed; an heir of the promise to inherit the world!

As Christians and Messianic Jews, since salvation is our greatest need, we must stay focused on salvation – for ourselves and for others. The more we know about having faith that saves, the more we will value it and the more we will tell others about it. And, that’s what we need to do.

Maybe that’s why the Lord’s Representative mentions other blessings that come from saving faith. The first two: enjoying peace with God and having access to special grace. Therefore, since we have been justified (considered by God to be righteous) through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.

At the beginning of our history, humanity joined the rebellion of the fallen angels. And humanity is still in a state of rebellion against God. We don’t have peace with God. We are His enemies. But, when we have faith and God considers us to be righteous, our part in the rebellion against the Almighty comes to an end and we enjoy peace with God, who is the source of life and blessing. Who would not want to go from a state of war with God to a state of peace with God?

Another blessing of having faith that results in becoming righteous is access to special grace. Every human being experiences God’s grace. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. That’s universal grace – good things that God gives to every human being, no matter if they are good or bad. But there is another kind of grace that is reserved for His chosen ones. God treats them in a special way. He cares for them; protects them; provides for them; teaches them; makes sure they get safely to the goal He has for them.

A gardener had many plants in his garden. Most were ordinary plants, and the gardener cared for them. But the gardener also had some very rare plants. He had special plans for those plants and gave them special care. He watched them more closely. He made sure they were planted in the right kind of soil, and had just the right amount of light, water and nutrients. So it is with those whom God makes righteous. They receive special grace.

It is a grace in which they are able to stand – not stumble or fall. You want to be able to stand on God’s special grace which will produce stability and endurance.

These two blessings – access to special grace and peace with God, flow from faith and from our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. He is the mediator through whom special grace and peace with God flow. You want to enjoy peace with God and be able to stand on God’s special grace? You need the Lord Yeshua the Messiah as your mediator.

Righteousness comes from faith. Peace with God and access to God’s special grace come from faith. And there are other blessings that come from faith: the ability to overcome the sufferings of the present and a future transformation into glorious beings. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. The glory of God here means that a time is coming when God will transform Christians and Messianic Jews into glorious creatures. A time is coming when He will glorify us.

Right now, in the present, we are a mixture of glory and inglory. We are inglorious in many ways. We do things that cause us shame. We are weak and frail and ignorant. We are subject to suffering, decay and death. But a time is coming when God will transform us into completely glorious beings. We will no longer experience shame, suffering, confusion, unhappiness or death. The Lord has promised us that in the future we will experience the glory of God. When we have faith that something will happen in the future, it’s called hope.

Our hope of being glorified is so certain, so sure that we can boast about it. Let’s say you are talking to a man whose life is going well. His future is looking bright. Try saying something like this to him: “You think your future is bright? That’s nothing. My future will be much brighter because God is going to glorify me. He is going to transform me into a completely glorious creature.” That’s boasting in the hope of the glory of God. And because of that hope, we are able to look to the future with confidence and with joy.

And, we are able to enjoy the blessing of being able to face the present with confidence and joy. That’s such a great blessing because most people are not experiencing confidence and joy. Life in this fallen world is full of suffering: mental, emotional and physical pain; the pain that is caused by broken relationships; financial stress; financial reversals; the suffering that is caused by death.

Because people are suffering, they are unhappy. They may get angry and become bitter or mean. Some turn to drugs or alcohol. Instead of being confident and happy, many who are suffering are depressed and give into despair, and some kill themselves. But if we have faith, we will we be able to make it through our suffering, and even more than just survive suffering, we can rejoice in our suffering. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. What a blessing to know that suffering is not all bad; that it can be redemptive; that the Lord uses suffering in the lives of the redeemed, so that we are able to benefit from it!

Here’s how it works: When we go though a trial, a hardship, a difficult experience – when we suffer and stay close to God, we get stronger. We get tougher. And the next time we go through a similar trial, we have more experience and are better able to handle it. Suffering produces perseverance.

Perseverance produces character. We come into this world with bad values, bad habits and bad character. We don’t treat God the way He should be treated; we don’t tell the truth; we make a promise but don’t keep our promise; our yes does not mean yes and our no does not mean no; are lazy; we are selfish; we show up late; we make people wait; we offend and don’t apologize; we make messes and leave it for others to clean up. We cut moral and ethical corners.

Just as silver is melted by heat so that the impurities are separated from the metal and can be removed and the metal purified, so perseverance through suffering removes the impurities of our character and produces good character.

Character produces hope. When we realize that we are responding to our sufferings in a godly way, and we see how our sufferings are improving our character, we know our faith is real, and we are headed to Heaven, not Hell; to life, not death. That confidence that we will experience everything that God has promised us in the future is called hope.

Our hope of inheriting a better world and living as glorious and eternal beings with the eternal and glorious God will not be put to shame. None of the things that God has promised us will not fail to happen. Our hope will not be disappointed. Why? Because of two more blessings given to those who have saving faith: a special love that God has for them and the Holy Spirit He gives to them.

While it is true that God loves the world, it’s also true that He has a special love for those chosen ones whom He makes righteous. Like the love of a father for his children, God’s love for His children motivates Him to care for them and protects them and bring them to the goal so that their hope is fulfilled.

Along with His special love, the Spirit of God is given to the recipients of salvation. The Holy Spirit lives in them and empowers them to live in a way that makes their lives a success. And while He is living in them, the Holy Spirit protects them and brings them safely to the goal.

And the Holy Spirit creates in them an inner awareness that God loves them – not just a little but a lot. God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God helps us understand that God’s love has not just been given to us, but His love for us has poured out like an overflowing pitcher of wine. Many people are not aware that God loves them, and that lessens the quality of their life. What a blessing to have that inner awareness that God loves us!

Who wouldn’t want to have the blessing of the Spirit of God living in them, helping their life be a success, and making them aware of the great poured-out love God has for them? Who would not want the blessings of being able to glory in their sufferings in the present, followed by a glorious transformation in the future?

The Rabbi wrote about the love God has for us. He now elaborates on that love, and how much it motivates the Almighty to help those who become righteous by faith. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless (helpless to save ourselves from the control of Satan and the demons, sin and the sin nature, death and Hell), Messiah died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Messiah died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

It is the nature of love to help the one it loves. Love helps. Love protects. Love saves. If God loved us when we were godless and when we were powerless to meet our greatest need, which is to be reconciled to God so that we can be saved – and He did love us even then; if, when we were unrighteous, and sinners and His enemies – Messiah was willing to help us by sacrificing Himself for us – how much more does He love us now? Care for us now? How much more will He help us now? Save us now? The answer? Even more. Much more! If Messiah’s death helped us, and it did – a lot, saving us from Satan and the demons, sin and the sin nature, death and Hell – then Messiah’s life, which is more powerful, more lasting than His death, will help us even more! What an amazing, encouraging thought!

Many people don’t know that God exists; or if they know He exists, they don’t know that He loves sinners. But they need to know that God loves sinners. If they know they are sinners, but don’t know that God loves sinners, they will be reluctant to turn to Him. People need to know that God loves sinners and they can know that God loves sinners and He wants to help them. How can they know that? Because even though it’s rare for anyone to sacrifice his life for anyone else, even for a good person, while we were sinners, Messiah sacrificed Himself for ungodly men and women.

The Son of God was willing to do what human beings are unwilling to do – sacrifice Himself for bad people. That demonstrates the kind of love, and the depth of love that God has for us. Since Messiah’s death on the cross, let no human being deny that God does not love sinners.

Let’s review: Salvation is our greatest need. We are helpless to save ourselves. Salvation only comes as a gracious gift from God, when we have faith. What a blessing salvation is.

There are other blessings that flow from faith, like going from being a rebel and an enemy of God to having peace with God.

Then there is the blessing of having access to His special grace which is reserved for the righteous, so that God treats them in a special way, caring for them; protecting them; providing for them; making sure they get safely to the goal He has for them.

Then there is the blessing of being able to overcome the sufferings of the present with confidence and joy.

Then there is the blessing of knowing that we will experience the glory of God by being transformed into amazingly glorious creatures.

Then there is the blessing of knowing that we are recipients of abundant and special love that God has for the righteous, so that God cares for us and protects us and will bring us to the goal. We know that if God loved us when we were godless, unrighteous sinners and His enemies – He loves us even more now and will help us even more now.

Then there is the blessing of receiving the Spirit of God who lives in God’s chosen ones and empowers them to live in a way that pleases God and makes their lives a success; and the Holy Spirit protects them and brings them safely to the goal.

Knowing these tremendous blessings that come from being reconciled to God: having peace with God; having access to His special grace; being able to overcome the sufferings of the present with confidence and joy; knowing that we will be transformed into glorious beings who reflect the glory of God; knowing we are especially and greatly loved by God; receiving the Spirit of God who lives in us and makes our lives a success; knowing that God is committed to helping us even more now than He was before – we can boast about God. We can confidently tell everyone how great God is; and how much He loves us; and how much He has done for us, is doing for us and will do for us; how He makes our lives so much richer, so much more meaningful. Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Again, these blessings that enable us to brag, not about ourselves, and how great we are, but brag about God, and how great He is – that He is so real; so merciful; so gracious; so loving; so kind; so good; so forgiving; so able to reconcile sinful human beings to Himself – these blessings only come through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

Yeshua is so important, and knowing Yeshua is so important, and so beneficial. Why would anyone not want to know Him, love Him, serve Him, tell the whole world about Him?

Let’s pray:

Lord, thank You for who You are. You are so amazing. You are so great and high and holy, yet so kind and loving to sinners and the lowest of the low.

Thank You for the blessings that come from faith: salvation; peace with You; access to Your special grace; being loved by You; having Your Spirit live in us: being able to glory in our sufferings: having confidence that we will be glorified.

Help us know these blessings, understand these blessings, assimilate these blessings in our minds and hearts.

Help us to boast about You, the great God who gives these blessings.

Help us tell others the Good News about You, so they might believe, gain faith and they too can enjoy these blessings and join us in boasting about You, and not themselves.