This is a study of Jesus as our source of peace, grace, hope and glory. These are all benefits of justification.

1. JESUS WAS OUR SOURCE OF PEACE, GRACE, HOPE AND GLORY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
ROMANS 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have been justified
through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access
by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b]
boast in the hopeof the glory of God.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
A State Of Privilege
Romans 5:2
S.R. Aldridge It seems as if the apostle was delighted to turn from demonstrations of the
credibility of the gospel plan to consider the happiness of those who had embraced it and were
realizing its privileges. His pen glows as he exhorts himself and his readers to taste the full
comforts of the condition of reconciliation towards God. When our right to the estate is
challenged, we may spend time in examining the title-deeds and verifying our claims; but in
general it is healthier and more satisfactory to settle down calmly on the property and reap the
benefit of its treasures. Let us confidently enter the dwelling which Divine love has secured us,
and not always stay justifying the scheme of its foundation and architecture.
I. THE PALACE INTO WHICH WE ARE ADMITTED. It is a house of grace where the favour
of God is enjoyed, and which is furnished from the stores of Divine goodness. He saw the needs
of his creatures, pitied their forlorn wretchedness, would shelter them from the storm, and lavish
on them proofs of kindness. Peace reigns there, a sense of blissful security. Every article of
furniture, every picture on the walls, every robe worn, every meal provided, speaks of Divine
mercy, of a changed attitude towards those received within the sacred precincts. It is a permanent
home, which we enter to go out no more for ever. Grace alters not, is not fickle; therefore "we
stand" (abide) therein without fear of one day losing our situation from the arbitrariness of the
Master.
II. THE GATE OF ENTRANCE. "Through our Lord Jesus Christ." He is "the Door of the
sheep," a living Way to the holiest of all. He is our introduction ("access") to the court of the
King. His work of mercy and righteousness has availed to procure free entry into the inheritance.

2. The cherubim and flaming sword no longer bar the way to the Paradise of God. Man's own moral
power availed naught to force a way into the temple. He could make no breach in the walls of
governmental justice.
III. THE ONLY PASSPORT REQUIRED. "By faith" we enter into this state of grace. The
inquiry at the gate is, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" To trust in Christ is to feel the
longing for a renewed heart, for Divine forgiveness, and to recognize in him "the Way, the Truth,
and the Life." Scepticism may keep men at a distance, unbelief may turn the back upon the
mansion, timid doubt may remain gazing wistfully at the portico, but the believer is impelled to
march humbly yet fearlessly through the appointed entrance into the halls of light and song.
IV. THE JOY OF THE INMATES. They are filled with exultation because of their present
condition; they are already encompassed with so many marks of Divine favour. They are
constantly finding new beauties in the construction of the rooms, and new evidences of Divine
skill, forethought, and love. But they know that this is but the foretaste of further bliss; they
triumph in the expectation of coming glory. They have the promise and many a sign of a fuller
revealing of the character and purpose of God. He comes nearer to his guests, till at last the veil
of sense shall be removed, and every occupant of the palace be enwrapped in the radiance of his
throne. All the dust of the journey to the home, every vestige of defilement, vanishes from the
pilgrims crowned with the brightness of God's heavenly presence. - S.R.A.
Biblical Illustrator
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.
Romans 5:2
Access to God
C. H. Spurgeon.There are many locks in my house and all with different keys, but I have one
master key which opens all. So the Lord has many treasuries and secrets all shut up from carnal
minds with locks which they cannot open; but he who walks in fellowship with Jesus possesses
the master key which will admit him to all the blessings of the covenant — yea, to the very heart
of God. Through the Well-beloved we have access to God, to heaven, to every secret of the Lord.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The state of grace
R. M. Macbriar, M. A.In this chapter St. Paul describes the riches of Divine grace — how free,
full, and comprehensive is the gift of God. Now the grace of God is not merely nominal, it is
operative and communicative. Sometimes God may show His almighty power, as when He
creates a system of worlds; sometimes His wisdom, as when He furnishes and adorns a planet;
sometimes His goodness in the abundant favours which he confers upon His creatures. But He

3. displays His grace to the ruined family of mankind. Here the kindness of God has full play. "This
grace wherein we stand" denotes a state in which we remain to dwell amidst its privileges. It is
not a casual or evanescent feeling, but a settled condition wrought for us and in us by the
abounding mercy of the Lord. This is a state of —
I. PEACE AND FAVOUR WITH GOD (ver. 1). When God justifies the ungodly, and withdraws
the sentence of condemnation, the fear of wrath is removed, and heartfelt peace necessarily
succeeds to gloomy apprehension. Peace is the first blessing promised by Christ to the returning
sinner, and it is a great one. A soul at peace with the universe, above, around, and before it, is in
an enviable state of existence!
II. DIVINE INFLUENCE. "Grace" is often used to express the work of the Holy Spirit. When
you first believed and entered the kingdom of grace, the Holy Ghost, with royal finger, touched
your soul, and raised it from the death of sin to a life of righteousness. He continues His work of
grace in the believer. He loves to form the soul anew, to beautify and adorn it with the image of
the heavenly.
III. COMMUNION WITH GOD (Ephesians 2:18). It is no mean privilege for a needy creature to
have free and ready access to the Giver of all good; to have the liberty of ransacking the
storehouse of grace. There is a temple of prayer in the land of grace. We know not if there be
another such in the universe. There is none in the regions of sin. "God heareth not [wilful]
sinners." True, there is a porch of mercy to which the penitent may flee, and where the sighing of
a broken heart will be heard by God; and this porch communicates with the temple of salvation
through the door which is Christ Jesus. But until you reach the gate of repentance, you may
stretch out your hands to heaven in vain. In the new Jerusalem, John "saw no temple." Heaven is
a place of praise, not of prayer. So we are permitted to pray upon earth. This is an amazing
privilege which is too little appreciated, and can never be fully estimated.
IV. JOYOUS ANTICIPATION. "We rejoice in hope of the glory of God." This full assurance of
hope is the privilege of the experienced Christian in whom grace has produced its ripe fruits.
Hope is the daughter of faith. Faith is the victory over the world, hope over death. It is the
Christian warrior's privilege. When his spiritual hope is matured, it is a faculty of no little
potency. The believer now feels the powers of the world to come — a Divine life which is ever
aspiring towards its native heaven.
(R. M. Macbriar, M. A.)
Further fruits of justification
T. G. Horton.Peace is only the first link of a golden chain which binds us to the throne of God. It
is the first gem out of heaven's cabinet, the first fruit of the tree of life, the first taste of the water
of life. Peace comes to the forgiven sinner like a radiant angel from the skies; but she brings
along with her a happy troop of young sisters, every one of whom is his constant companion
from the wicket-gate to the crystal battlements. Note —
I. THE BELIEVER'S PERMANENT STATE OF GRACE.
1. The privilege of being specially loved of God. This love is that of a father to his children (John
1:12; Galatians 4:4, 5; James 1:18; Jeremiah 31:3). The end at which God aims in His treatment
of His children is to bring them to glory (Hebrews 2:10). But first they have to be fitted for it
(Colossians 1:12). And therefore it is God's present business to purify them and make them

4. perfect in holiness and love. Whom He justifies, them He also sanctifies. Into this grace we are
introduced by faith. And it is by faith we stand in it.
2. The constant privilege of prayer. Those who are justified have at all times freedom of access
to the throne of grace. They are encouraged to come to it boldly (Hebrews 4:16; Philippians 4:6);
if rebuked at all, it is because they do not pray enough, or because they do not expect sufficiently
large returns (John 4:24). Prayer opens the armoury of God; it is the key which unlocks the
promises and makes them ours. It makes the weak worm, Jacob, omnipotent. By it we link our
little skiff to the great ark of Jehovah's purposes and promises, and thus are we borne
triumphantly across life's billowy sea to the heavenly Ararat of rest. It is by Christ that we have
such access into this grace wherein we stand (Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 3:12).
3. The privilege of being God's instruments in fulfilling His great purposes in the world. We are
the Church of the living God, endowed with a queenly authority and power. The Church is the
Lamb's bride. It is the heritage, the house, and the city of God. It is the pillar of the truth. It is the
open mirror of Jehovah's most glorious attributes (Ephesians 3:10). And yet it is into this grace
that we obtain access through our Lord Jesus Christ, when we are justified by faith.
II. THE BELIEVER'S JOYFUL HOPE CONCERNING THE FUTURE.
1. Its object.(1) Glory is a word which primarily denotes clearness and brightness. Hence, we
speak of the glory of the sun, moon, and stars, while "one star differeth from another star in
glory." Here we read of the "Glory of God." On earth this glory is dimmed and obscured; in hell
it is never beheld; while heaven is a realm of perfect light, and in this God dwells (1 Timothy
6:15, 16). For such glory to be revealed to us now, like Saul of Tarsus, we should afterwards be
unable to see, unless, indeed, we were instantly destroyed by the brightness of His appearing.
Now let us regard the Christian's hope of glory under this aspect. There are creeping things
which can only live in darkness; others, a little superior, thrive best in twilight; and others which
can live in misty, northern climes, while they would speedily perish under a bright, southern sky.
Man, the chief and head of terrene existences, can bask with delight in the most brilliant earthly
sunshine. But angels, higher still, can live amid the unscreened splendours of the heavenly world.
Now the prospect which we, as Christians, have is of one day joining their bright hosts, feeling at
home in that most intense radiance. But how great a change must pass over us before we are
fitted for that sphere I We must possess spiritual bodies (see Colossians 3:4; 1 John 3:2;
Philippians 3:21).(2) But God's glory must be viewed in a moral aspect, as that of wisdom,
holiness, rectitude, and truth, mingled with mercy and love. There is a glory in God's character
which, the more we discern, the more we must admire it; in His law, which is the exact
counterpart and transcript of His character; in His government of all intelligent creatures, and
brightest of all in Christ. This glory we hope to see and to share. Here we see it in part, and know
it in part. But hereafter, we shall see it in its fullest splendour. Our moral faculties will be
purified, quickened, and enlarged, while our acquaintance with the ways and works of God will
be corrected and expanded. We shall be holy, even as He is holy, and do His will as angels do it
now (Psalm 17:15).(3) There is also a circumstantial glory — not the glory which belongs
intrinsically to God, but the extraneous glory which He bestows upon His people. We cannot but
prepare for some determinate place as the scene of our immortal life (John 14:2, 3; 1 Corinthians
2:9). We cannot doubt, however, that heaven will be a domain of perfect happiness and beauty
worthy of its Maker; it will contain everything which can minister to the enjoyment of holy and
immortal creatures (Revelation 7:16, 17).

5. 2. Its nature. To hope for it is —(1) To believe in its existence and certain attainment; and this
we do, because it is expressly promised by Him who cannot lie.(2) To desire it, and long for it (2
Corinthians 5:4).
3. This hope, accordingly, becomes a source of pleasure and joy to us.
(T. G. Horton.)
And rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
The glory of God
Archdn. Gifford.is an eternal mystery which the heart of man cannot yet conceive, but of which
Holy Scripture gives here and there short glimpses. Like the righteousness, the truth and the life
of God (Ephesians 4:18), it has its hidden source in the Father, it is manifested in the Son, it is
reflected in man (John 17:22). Of this glory man was from the first designed to partake (1
Corinthians 11:7), but by sin all men "come short" or suffer loss of it (Romans 3:23); its
restoration is wrought by the Spirit revealing and imparting the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians
3:18). In presenting this glory as an object of the believer's hope, the apostle points to its future
perfection in the glorification of our whole nature, body, soul, and spirit. The glory in which man
will be thus transfigured will be the glory of God, even as the sunshine resting upon earth is still
the light of heaven; it will be an everlasting glory, just because man will dwell forever in the
light of God's countenance.
(Archdn. Gifford.)
Hope of glory
J. W. Adams, D. D.I. WHAT CONSTITUTES THAT GLORY IN THE HOPE OF WHICH THE
APOSTLE REJOICED? The word "glory" applied to God sometimes denotes that splendour
with which He often clothed Himself when He made His appearance to the ancient saints;
sometimes that sublime display of God's natural attributes, which He has made in the creation;
sometimes a particular attribute of the Deity. It is in general used, however, to denote any signal
or triumphant display of the Divine attributes as made towards men. In its primary and highest
sense it is the full, cloudless, and combined display of the perfections of the Godhead, as in the
text.
1. The display of this glory is reserved for the future world. But it is not to be imagined that any
change is to pass upon the essential divinity of the Godhead. Jehovah is the perfection of beauty,
yesterday, today, and forever; only interposing mediums will be removed, and the capacity of the
creature elevated. This is accomplished for the soul at death; for the body at the resurrection.
Think not, therefore, that God is to reveal His glory by descending to us. The revelation will be
made by elevating us to Himself. If we are to behold this glory with a seraph's ecstasy, we shall
gaze upon it with a seraph's eye.
2. It is to consist in the displays which God will make of Himself. The company of saints and
angels may indeed increase immensely the bliss of heaven. But what are they without God? The
glory in which they will shine is but a reflection from that embodied effulgence which emanates
from the perfections of the Eternal Three. It is chiefly to be disclosed through the Church, and
Jesus Christ is its Head and Redeemer. He has received this appointment; and, from the Father,
glory has been given Him, which, in answer to His own prayer, His saints shall behold. But in
what way will He execute it? The manifold wisdom of God is to be exhibited through the
Church, unto principalities and powers in the heavenly places. The absolute riches of His glory

6. He has determined to display through the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto
glory. Where in the universe besides could He have found materials for erecting a monument so
splendid, durable, and great, to His matchless love and mercy, as in these poor guilty beings
which He thus redeems and exalts. Having gathered His saints into their everlasting rest, and
secured a complete triumph over the last enemy, the Redeemer will now sit down in the midst of
the throne, encircled with a bow of glory, in sight like unto an emerald. Then the sound of
innumerable voices will break upon the ear of heaven, "Worthy is the Lamb to receive glory."
II. WHAT IS THE HOPE OF GLORY AND HOW DOES IT BECOME A FOUNDATION OF
JOY TO THE BELIEVER? It is the hope of a sinner founded in the atonement of it, and it gives
to the believer a prospective possession of the glory that is to be revealed.
1. There is, however, a hope that fastens upon the same blessed inheritance which yet is not the
Christian's. Of this kind the world is full. How are they to be distinguished from each other?(1)
Look at their origin. The rock of ages, Jesus Christ, is here placed as a broad and deep
substratum on which the hope of glory is built. "Other foundation can no man lay than that is
laid," and safely build upon it this animating hope. It is the immediate result of justification by
faith. The impenitent sinner's hope, on the contrary, is built upon the sand.(2) But these hopes
differ not less in their legitimate effects upon the heart. That of the Christian is, in its very nature,
purifying (1 John 3:3). It is a hope, too, through which the love of God is shed abroad in the
heart by the Holy Ghost. In this way it transforms the soul into the very image of its Maker, and
thus prepares it for the inheritance of the saints in light. The hope of the sinner, however, is not
only incompatible with the undisturbed repose of every sin, but it is the very aliment on which
these plants of death are nourished.(3) As to the different results of these hopes, I need only say
the one is like the giving up of the ghost when God takes away the soul — while the other, on the
same event, wilt be like the breaking of a summer's morning. The one terminates in endless day,
the other in eternal night; the one in heaven, the other in hell.
2. The hope renders the possession prospective. But what is intended by possession? The glory
of God's kingdom is to be ours in a sense vastly higher than anything we are said to possess in
the present life. In the terrestrial sense nothing becomes completely ours till every foreign claim
is extinguished. In the heavenly, everything becomes ours by extinguishing our own. In the
present world our right to possession is founded in the sacrifice we have made or the equivalent
we have rendered. In the other, the blood of the Cross will seal it to us entire, with no sacrifice of
our own, no equivalent given. Here we struggle for possession that we may not be dependent.
There we shall surrender all, that our dependence may be complete. Conclusion:
1. The saints have ample occasion to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Are you at
present the subjects of affliction? I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in you.
2. God forbid that in the animating prospect which the heavenly inheritance presents, any of you
should be disposed at present to glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(J. W. Adams, D. D.)
Hope of the glory of God a source of joy to His people
James Davies.I. THE GLORY OF GOD. Glory signifies something splendid, dazzling,
overwhelming. The term is misapplied to things mean and unworthy, but is always most rightly
applied to anything pertaining to God. "The meanest labour of His hands" is more deserving of

7. the term than the greatest works of men. "Even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like
one of these." The glory of God means —
1. God Himself. Moses prayed, "I beseech thee, show me Thy glory," that is, "Reveal Thyself
more fully to me." It would have been well if God's answer had repressed all similar curiosity.
No man can see Him personally and live. We could not sustain the vision, even were we
physically capable of it. But when we have laid aside all that is mortal, and "put on immortality,"
"we shall see Him as He is."
2. The glory of God which is beheld in His works. "The heavens declare the glory of God." And
what splendours do these heavens exhibit! The most capacious mind may well quail in its effort
to comprehend the glory of the infinite Creator, which they both reveal and conceal. We require
to be a God to comprehend all of God which His works contain. And if the works of God be so
glorious, what must Himself be?
3. The glory which appears in God's ways and dealings with us in providence. We may take three
views of this and call it a natural providence, a judicial providence, and a gracious providence.
By the first, He provides for all creatures, according to their capacities and necessities; by the
second, He holds us accountable to Himself, and takes cognisance of our hearts and lives; and by
the third, He is reconciling us to Himself, in Jesus Christ, and dispensing mercy and grace to all
who ask them at His hands. And how gloriously does He act in all these respects!
4. The perfect purity and bliss which await the godly in heaven.(1) Their state is glorious. What
was the glory of Eden, of Sinai, of Zion, of Tabor, compared with this! No sin, disease, pain,
death.(2) Their society is glorious. If it was "good" to be present when Moses, Elijah, and Christ
conversed, what must the intimacies of heaven afford?(3) Their employments are glorious. Think
of being forever engaged in contemplating, loving, adoring, and serving God! of ever receiving
and performing reciprocations of level.(4) Their prospects are glorious. The infinite and various
excellences of God will be ever affording new discoveries; the river of their bliss will increase as
it roils; that the sun of their heaven will still brighten as He shines; and that their state of glory
will ever admit of "a far more exceeding and an eternal weight of glory."
II. THE JOY WHICH THE HOPE OF THE GLORY OF GOD AFFORDS.
1. They are to possess it. It is theirs, as Canaan was the inheritance of the descendants of the
patriarchs. It is given to them by a covenant never to be broken. It is the chief part of the "eternal
redemption" procured for them by the Redeemer. It is that to which they receive a title in their
justification, to which they are "begotten again" by the Holy Spirit, for which they are sanctified,
preserved, and fitted in this life.
2. Of this ultimate possession they have now a hope — "a good hope through grace." And their
"hope maketh not ashamed," and is "an anchor of their souls, sure and steadfast, entering into the
things within the veil." We see the powerful influence of this hope. With what firmness and
composure does many a good man endure calamity and meet death! Such a person may be
likened to a mariner, who, while prosecuting his long and dangerous voyage, has the eye of his
mind fixed on the desired haven: or he is like an heir of some vast estate, looking forward, during
his minority, to the period when he shall receive his property.
3. This hope begets joy in the bosom of its possessors.(1) The foundation of it is a cause of joy. It
does not rest upon merits, sacraments, etc., but upon the foundation which God has laid in Zion,
and "other foundation can no man lay." Everything besides is as "shifting sand, fleeting air, or a
bursting bubble."(2) Its attendant principles occasion joy. It is one of a class of graces which are

8. the "fruits of the Spirit."(3) Its effects minister, joy. It is not an uninfluential grace, but is ever
active, and all its influence is for holiness. A genuine hope and allowed sin cannot co-exist in the
same person.(4) Its certainty yields joy; other hopes may and do fail. We have seen the candidate
for wealth, power, fame, pleasure, flushed with hope, only to become the victim of
disappointment and mortification!(5) Its object gives joy — the glory of God in heaven. In other
things, the ultimate enjoyment may not equal our present hope of it; but here realisation will
infinitely sustain our largest and most sanguine hope. We shall find that notwithstanding all that
is written in the Scriptures of this glory, all the glimpses and tastes we may have of it now, the
half has not been known. Conclusion:
1. How little we know at present of the glory of God! Who can find Him out to perfection? And
a cloud rests upon His works. His providence, too, is all beyond our comprehension. The
difficulties do not diminish if we think of Divine revelation; in which we have certain facts
stated, but the circumstances of many of these facts are not explained. And then how dense is the
veil which conceals the world of spirits from our view! And in all these things the mere
philosopher has little advantage over the clown. But the Christian has the advantage of faith;
"what he knows not now he shall know hereafter."
2. Is our hope for eternity the hope of the gospel and the real Christian? Self-deception and vain
pretensions are common in the world and in the Church. We can hardly meet with a person who
does not hope to go to heaven when he dies. But, in thousands of instances, how vain is the hope!
"Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." Here is a sure test by which to ascertain the
genuineness of our hope.
3. The subject is well fitted to relieve the present obscurity, and to mitigate the present sorrows
of the people of God. We shall not always remain under a cloud and in trouble. A day of
revelation is approaching when we shall "shine as the sun in the kingdom of our Father," and
when we shall no more "hang our harps upon the willows," but retain them, ever strung and
attuned to the songs of immortality.
(James Davies.)
The hope of heaven
James Buchanan.Shall we sink or falter by the way, when we know that we are journeying to a
land of everlasting rest, and shall soon reach our eternal home? Shall the dark valley of death
affright us, when we see beyond it the fields of immortality smiling in the verdure of eternal
spring? Destined as we are for heaven, shall we grieve or murmur that the earth is not found to
be a suitable resting place for immortal beings, and that God checks every tendency to rest here,
by sharp afflictions and severe disappointment? God forbid! heaven, seen even in the distance,
should allure us onwards, and its glorious light should cast a cheering ray over the darkest
passages of life. Nay, not only should the hope of heaven prevent us from complaining of the
afflictions of life, but the thought that these afflictions are even now preparing us for that blessed
state, that they are ordained as necessary and useful means of discipline to promote our progress
towards it; that they are the furnace by which the dross is to be purged away, and the pure ore
fitted for the Master's use in the upper sanctuary, should reconcile us to resigned submission,
should make us grateful, that such discipline being needful, it has not been withheld, and to pray
earnestly that it may be so blessed for our use as that we shall, in due time, be presented faultless
and blameless before the presence of God's glory, with exceeding joy.
(James Buchanan.)

9. The future vision of GodThis vision of God will constitute the blessedness or the misery of
vision the future world, and since only like can know like, as Trench has said, "Every advance in
a holy life is a polishing of the mirror that it may reflect distinctly the Divine image; a purging of
the eye that it may see more clearly the Divine glory; an enlarging of the vessel that it may
receive more amply of the Divine fulness."
The glory of the CreatorBaron Von Canitz, a German nobleman, who lived in the latter half of
the seventeenth century, was distinguished both for talent and intense religiousness of spirit.
When the dawn broke into his sick chamber on the last morning of life he desired to be removed
to the window, and once more behold the rising sun. After a time he broke forth in the following
language, "Oh, if the appearance of this earthly and created thing is so beautiful and so
quickening, how much more shall I be enraptured at the sight of the unspeakable glory of the
Creator Himself!"
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(2) By whom.—More accurately translated, through
whom also we have had our access (Ellicott). “Have had” when we first became Christians, and
now while we are such.
Into this grace.—This state of acceptance and favour with God, the fruit of justification.
Rejoice.—The word used elsewhere for “boasting.” The Christian has his boasting, but it is not
based upon his own merits. It is a joyful and triumphant confidence in the future, not only felt,
but expressed.
The glory of God.—That glory which the “children of the kingdom” shall share with the Messiah
Himself when His eternal reign begins.
MacLaren's ExpositionsRomans
THE SOURCES OF HOPE
ACCESS INTO GRACE
Romans 5:2.
I may be allowed to begin with a word or two of explanation of the terms of this passage. Note
then, especially, that also which sends us back to the previous clause, and tells us that our text
adds something to what was spoken of there. What was spoken of there? ‘The peace of God’
which comes to a man by Jesus Christ through faith, the removal of enmity, and the declaration
of righteousness. But that peace with God, which is the beginning of everything in the Christian
view, is only the beginning, and there is much to follow. While, then, there is a progress clearly
marked in the words of our text, and ‘access into this grace wherein we stand’ is something more
than, and after, the ‘peace with God,’ mark next the similarity of the text and the preceding
verse. The two great truths in the latter, Christ’s mediation or intervention, and our faith as the
condition by which we receive the blessings which are brought to us in and through Him, are

10. both repeated, with no unmeaning tautology, but with profound significance in our text-’By
whom also we have access’-as well as-’the peace of God’-’access by faith into this grace.’ So
then, for the initial blessing, and for all the subsequent blessings of the Christian life, the way is
the same. The medium and channel is one, and the act by which we avail ourselves of the
blessings coming through that one medium is the same. Now the language of my text, with its
talking about access, faith, and grace, sounds to a great many of us, I am afraid, very hard and
remote and technical. And there are not wanting people who tell us that all that terminology in
the New Testament is like a dying brand in the fire, where the little kernel of glowing heat is
getting covered thicker and thicker with grey ashes. Yes; but if you blow the ashes off, the fire is
there all the same. Let us try if we can blow the ashes off.
This text seems to me in its archaic phraseology, only to need to be pondered in order to flash up
into wonderful beauty. It carries in it a magnificent ideal of the Christian life, in three things: the
Christian place, ‘access into grace’; the Christian attitude, ‘wherein we stand’; and the Christian
means of realising that ideal, ‘through Christ’ and ‘by faith.’ Now let us look at these three
points.
I. The Christian Place.
There is clearly a metaphor here, both in the word ‘access’ and in that other one ‘stand.’ ‘The
grace’ is supposed as some ample space into which a man is led, and where he can continue,
stand, and expatiate. Or, we may say, it is regarded as a palace or treasure-house into which we
can enter. Now, if we take that great New Testament word ‘grace,’ and ponder its meanings, we
find that they run something in this fashion. The central thought, grand and marvellous, which is
enshrined in it, and which often is buried for careless ears, is that of the active love of God
poured out upon inferiors who deserve something very different. Then there follows a second
meaning, which covers a great part of the ground of the use of the phrase in the New Testament,
and that is the communication of that love to men, the specific and individualised gifts which
come out of that great reservoir of patient, pardoning, condescending, and bestowing love. Then
there may be taken into view a meaning which is less prominent in Scripture but not absent,
namely, the resulting beauty of character. A gracious soul ought to be, and is, a graceful soul; a
supreme loveliness is imparted to human nature by the communication to it of the gifts which are
the results of the undeserved, free, and infinite love of God.
Now if we take all these three thoughts as blended together in the grand metaphor of the Apostle,
of the ample space into which the Christian man passes, we get such lessons as this. A Christian
life may, and therefore should, be suffused with a continual consciousness of the love of God.
That would change everything in it. Here is some great sweep of rolling country, perhaps a
Highland moor: the little tarns on it are grey and cold, the vegetation is gloomy and dark,
dreariness is over all the scene, because there is a great pall of cloud drawn beneath the blue. But
the sun pierces with his lances through the grey, and crumples up the mists, and sends them
flying beneath the horizon. Then what a change in the landscape! All the tarns that looked black
and wicked are now infantile in their innocent blue and sunny gladness, and every dimple in the
heights shows, and all the heather burns with the sunshine that falls upon it. So my lonely doleful
life, if that light from God, the beam of His love, shines down upon it, rises into nobility, and
flashes into beauty, and is calm and fair and great, as nothing else can make it. You may dwell in

11. love by dwelling in God, and then your lives will be fair. You have access into the grace; see that
you go there. They tell us that nightingales sing by the wayside by preference, and we may have
in our lives, singing a quiet tune, the continual thought of the love of God, even whilst life’s
highway is dusty and rough, and our feet are often weary in treading it. A Christian life may be,
and therefore should be, suffused with the sense of the abiding love of God.
Take the other meaning of the word, the secondary and derived meaning, the communication of
that love to us, and that leads us to say that a Christian life may, and therefore should, be
enriched with continual gifts from God’s fullness. I said that the Apostle was using a metaphor
here, regarding the grace as being an ample space into which a man was admitted, or we may say
that he is thinking of it as a great treasure-house. We have the right of entrance there, where on
every side, as it were, lie ingots of uncoined gold, and masses of treasure, and we may have just
as much or as little as we choose. It is entirely in our own determination how much of the wealth
of God we shall possess. We have access to the treasure-house; and this permit is put into our
hands: ‘Be it unto thee even as thou wilt.’ The size of the sack that the man brings, in the old
story, determined the amount of wealth that he carried away. Some of you bring very tiny
baskets and expect little and desire little; you get no more than you desired and expected.
That wealth, the fullness of God, takes the shape of, as well as is determined in its measure by
the magnitude of, the vessel into which it is put. It is multiform, and we get whatever we desire,
and whatever either our characters or our circumstances require. The one gift assumes all forms,
just as water poured into a vase takes the shape of the vase into which it is poured. The same gift
unfolds itself in an infinite variety of manners, according to the needs of the man to whom it is
given; just as the writer’s pen, the carpenter’s hammer, the farmer’s ploughshare, are all made
out of the same metal. So God’s grace comes to you in a different shape from that in which it
comes to me, according to our different callings and needs, as fixed by our circumstances, our
duties, our sorrows, our temptations.
So, brethren, how shameful it is that, having the possibility of so much, we should have the
actuality of so little. There is an old story about one of our generals in India long ago, who, when
he came home, was accused of rapacity because he had brought away so much treasure from the
Rajahs whom he had conquered, and his answer to the charge was, ‘I was surprised at my own
moderation.’ Ah! there are a great many Christian people who ought to be ashamed of their
moderation. They have gone into the treasure-house; stacks of jewels, jars of gold on all sides of
them-and they have been content to come away with some one poor little coin, when they might
have been ‘rich beyond the dreams of avarice.’ Brethren, you have ‘access’ to the fullness of
God. Whose fault is it if you are empty?
Then, further, I said there was another meaning in these great words. The love which may
suffuse our lives, the gifts, the consequence of that love, which may enrich our lives, should, and
in the measure in which they are received will, adorn and make beautiful our lives. For ‘grace’
means loveliness as well as goodness, and the God who is the fountain of it all is the fountain of
‘whatsoever things are fair,’ as well as of whatsoever things are good. That suggests two
considerations on which I have no time to dwell. One is that the highest beauty is goodness, and
unless the art of a nation learns that, its art will become filthy and a minister of sin. They talk
about ‘Art for Art’s sake.’ Would that all these poets and painters who are trying to find beauty

12. in corruption-and there is a phosphorescent glimmer in rotting wood, and a prismatic colouring
on the scum of a stagnant pond-would that all those men who are seeking to find beauty apart
from goodness, and so are turning a divine instinct into a servant of evil, would learn that the true
gracefulness comes from the grace which is the fullness of God given unto men.
But there is another lesson, and that is that Christian people who say that they have their lives
irradiated by the love of God, and who profess to be receiving gifts from His full hand, are bound
to take care that their goodness is not ‘harsh and crabbed,’ as not only ‘dull fools suppose’ it to
be, but as it sometimes is, but is musical and fair. You are bound to make your goodness
attractive, and to show that the things that are ‘of good report’ are likewise the ‘things that are
lovely.’
II. And so, now, turn to the second point here, viz. the Christian attitude.
‘The grace wherein ye stand’; that word is very emphatic here, and does not merely mean
‘continue,’ but it suggests what I have put into that phrase, the Christian attitude.
Two things are implied. One is that a life thus suffused by the love, and enriched by the gifts, and
adorned by the loveliness that come from God, will be stable and steadfast. Resistance and
stability are implied in the words. One very important item in determining a man’s power of
resistance, and of standing firm against whatever assaults may be hurled against him, is the sort
of footing that he has. If you stand on slippery mud, or on the ice of a glacier, you will find it
hard to stand firm; but if you plant your foot on the grace of God, then you will be able to
‘withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.’ And how does a man plant his foot on
the grace of God? simply by trusting in God, and not in himself. So that the secret of all
steadfastness of life, and of all successful resistance to the whirling onrush of temptations and of
difficulties, is to set your foot upon that rock, and then your ‘goings’ will be established.
Jesus Christ brings to us, in the gift of life in Him, stability which will check the vacillations of
our own hearts. We go up and down, we yield when pressure is brought to bear against us, we
are carried off our feet often by the sudden swirl of the stream, and the fitful blast of the wind.
But His grace comes in, and will make us able to stand against all assaults. Our poor natures,
necessarily changeable, and sinfully vacillating and weak, will be uniform, in the measure in
which the grace of God comes into our hearts. Just as in these so-called petrifying wells, they
take a bit of cloth, a bird’s nest, a billet of wood, and plunge it into the water, and the mineral
held in solution there infiltrates into the substance of the thing plunged in, and makes it firm and
inflexible: so let us plunge our poor, changeful, vacillating resolutions, our wayward, wandering
hearts, our passions, so easily excited by temptation, into that great fountain, and there will filter
into our flexibility what will make it firm, and into our changefulness what will give in us some
faint copy of the divine immutability, and we shall stand fast in the Lord and in the power of His
might.
Further, in regard to this attitude, which is the result of the possession of grace, we may say that
it indicates not only stability and steadfastness, but erectness, as in opposition to crouching or
bowing. A man’s independence is guaranteed by his dependence upon, and his possession of,
that communicated grace of God. And so you have the fact that the phase of the Christian

13. teaching which has laid most stress on the decrees and sovereign will of God, on divine grace in
fact, and too little upon the human side-the phase which is roughly described as Calvinism-has
underlain the liberties of Europe, and has stiffened men into the rejection of all priestly and civic
domination. ‘Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,’ and if a man has in his heart the
grace of God, then he stands erect as a man. ‘Ye are bought with a price; be ye not the servants
of men.’ The Christian democracy, the Christian rejection of all sacerdotal and other domination,
flows from the access of each individual Christian to the fountain of all wisdom, the only source
of law and command, the inspirer of all strength, the giver of all grace. By faith ye stand. ‘Stand
fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free.’
III. Lastly, and only a word; we have here the Christian way of entrance into grace.
I have already remarked on the emphasis with which, both in my text and in the preceding
clause, there are laid down the two conditions of possessing this grace, or the peace which
precedes it: ‘By Christ-through faith.’ Notice, too, that Jesus Christ gives us ‘access.’ Now that
expression is but an imperfect rendering of the original. If it were not for its trivial associations,
one might read instead of ‘access,’ introduction, ‘by whom we have introduction into this grace
wherein we stand.’ The thought is that Jesus Christ secures us entry into this ample space, this
treasure-house, as some court officer might take by the hand a poor rustic, standing on the
threshold of the palace, and lead him through all the glittering series of unfamiliar splendour, and
present him at last in the central ring around the king. The reality that underlies the metaphor is
plain. We sinners can never pass into that central glory, nor ever possess those gifts of grace,
unless the barrier that stands between us and God, between us and His highest gifts of love, is
swept away.
I recall an old legend where two knights are represented as seeking to enter a palace, where there
is a mysterious fire burning in the middle of the portal. One of them tries to pass through, and
recoils scorched; but when the other essays an entrance the fierce fire sinks, and the path is
cleared. Jesus Christ has died, and I say it with all reverence, as His blood touches the fire it
flickers down and the way is opened ‘into the holiest of all, whither the Forerunner is for us
entered.’ He both brings the grace and makes it possible that we should go in where the grace is.
But Jesus Christ’s work is nothing to you unless your personal faith comes in, and so that is
pointed to in the second of the clauses here: ‘By faith we have access.’ That is no arbitrary
appointment. It lies in the very nature of the gift and of the recipient. How can God give access
into that grace to a man who shrinks from being near Him; who does not want ‘access,’ and who
could not use the grace if he had it? How can God bestow inward and spiritual gifts upon any
man who closes his heart against them, and will not have them? My faith is the condition; Christ
is the Giver. If I ally myself to Him by my faith, He gives to me. If I do not, with all the will to
do it, He cannot bestow His best gifts any more than a man who stretches out his hand to another
sinking in the flood can lift him out, and set him on the safe shore, if the drowning man’s hand is
not stretched out to grasp the rescuer’s outstretched hand.
Brethren, God is infinitely willing to give the choicest gifts of His love to us all, to gladden, to
enrich, to adorn, to make stable and erect. But He cannot give them unless you will trust Him. ‘It
pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell.’ That alabaster box is brought to earth. It

14. was broken on the Cross that ‘the house’ might be ‘filled with the odour of the ointment.’ Our
faith is the only condition; it is only the condition, but it is the indispensable condition, of our
being anointed with that fragrant anointing. He, and He only, can give us the fullness of God.
Benson CommentaryHYPERLINK "/romans/5-2.htm"Romans 5:2. By whom also we have
access — Greek, την προσαγωγην, admittance, entrance, or introduction. The word, as Raphelius
has shown from the heathen historian, Herodotus, is often used as a sacerdotal phrase, and
signifies, “being with great solemnity introduced as into the more immediate presence of a deity
in his temple, so as (by a supposed interpreter, from thence called προσαγωγευς, the introducer)
to have a kind of conference with such a deity.” By faith into this grace — Into this state of
favour, and a state in which we receive, or may receive, grace to help in every time of need. The
word also shows that the blessing here spoken of is different from and superior to the peace with
God, mentioned in the preceding verse. Wherein we stand — Remain, abide; or rather, stand
firm, as the word εστηκαμεν signifies. “As the apostle often compares the conflicts which the
first Christians maintained, against persecutors and false teachers, to the Grecian combats,
perhaps, by standing firm, he meant that, as stout wrestlers, they successfully maintained their
faith in the gospel, in opposition both to the Jews and heathen, notwithstanding the sufferings
which the profession of their faith had brought on them.” And rejoice in hope of the glory of God
— Here two other blessings are mentioned, rising in degree above both the preceding; a hope of
the glory of God, and joy arising therefrom. By the glory of God is meant the vision and
enjoyment of the God of glory in a future state, particularly after the resurrection and the general
judgment; including a full conformity to Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, in soul and body; (to
whom we shall be made like, because we shall see him as he is, 1 John 3:2;) also the glorious
society of saints and angels, and a glorious world, the place of our eternal abode. Of this, those
that are justified by faith have a lively and well-grounded hope, being heirs of it in consequence
of their justification, Titus 3:7; and of their adoption, Romans 8:14-17; Galatians 4:6-7; and
through this hope, to which they are begotten again by faith in the resurrection of Christ, who
rose the first-fruits of them that sleep, and by pardoning and renewing grace, communicated in
and through him, they rejoice frequently with joy unspeakable and full of glory, 1 Peter 1:3-8;
being sealed to the day of redemption and having an earnest of their future inheritance by God’s
Spirit in their hearts.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary5:1-5 A blessed change takes place in the sinner's state,
when he becomes a true believer, whatever he has been. Being justified by faith he has peace
with God. The holy, righteous God, cannot be at peace with a sinner, while under the guilt of sin.
Justification takes away the guilt, and so makes way for peace. This is through our Lord Jesus
Christ; through him as the great Peace-maker, the Mediator between God and man. The saints'
happy state is a state of grace. Into this grace we are brought, which teaches that we were not
born in this state. We could not have got into it of ourselves, but we are led into it, as pardoned
offenders. Therein we stand, a posture that denotes perseverance; we stand firm and safe, upheld
by the power of the enemy. And those who have hope for the glory of God hereafter, have
enough to rejoice in now. Tribulation worketh patience, not in and of itself, but the powerful
grace of God working in and with the tribulation. Patient sufferers have most of the Divine
consolations, which abound as afflictions abound. It works needful experience of ourselves. This
hope will not disappoint, because it is sealed with the Holy Spirit as a Spirit of love. It is the
gracious work of the blessed Spirit to shed abroad the love of God in the hearts of all the saints.
A right sense of God's love to us, will make us not ashamed, either of our hope, or of our
sufferings for him.

15. Barnes' Notes on the BibleWe have access - See the note at John 14:6, "I am the way," etc.
Doddridge renders it, "by whom we have been introduced," etc. It means, "by whom we have the
privilege of obtaining the favor of God which we enjoy when we are justified." The word
rendered "access" occurs but in two other places in the New Testament, Ephesians 2:18;
Ephesians 3:12. By Jesus Christ the way is opened for us to obtain the favor of God.
By faith - By means of faith, Romans 1:17.
Into this grace - Into this favor of reconciliation with God.
Wherein we stand - In which we now are in consequence of being justified.
And rejoice - Religion is often represented as producing joy, Isaiah 12:3; Isaiah 35:10; Isaiah
52:9; Isaiah 61:3, Isaiah 61:7; Isaiah 65:14, Isaiah 65:18; John 16:22, John 16:24; Acts 13:52;
Romans 14:17; Galatians 5:22; 1 Peter 1:8. The sources or steps of this joy are these:
(1) We are justified, or regarded by God as righteous.
(2) we are admitted into his favor, and abide there.
(3) we have the prospect of still higher and richer blessings in the fulness of his glory when we
are admitted to heaven.
In hope - In the earnest desire and expectation of obtaining that glory. Hope is a complex
emotion made up of a desire for an object; and an expectation of obtaining it. Where either of
these is lacking, there is not hope. Where they are mingled in improper proportions, there is not
peace. But where the desire of obtaining an object is attended with an expectation of obtaining it,
in proportion to that desire, there exists that peaceful, happy state of mind which we denominate
hope And the apostle here implies that the Christian has an earnest desire for that glory; and that
he has a confident expectation of obtaining it. The result of that he immediately states to be, that
we are by it sustained in our afflictions.
The glory of God - The glory that God will bestow on us. The word "glory" usually means
splendor, magnificence, honor; and the apostle here refers to that honor and dignity which will
be conferred on the redeemed when they are raised up to the full honors of redemption; when
they shall triumph in the completion of the work: and be freed from sin, and pain, and tears, and
permitted to participate in the full splendors that shall encompass the throne of God in the
heavens; see the note at Luke 2:9; compare Revelation 21:22-24; Revelation 22:5; Isaiah 60:19-
20.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary2. By whom also we have—"have had"
access by faith into this grace—favor with God.
wherein we stand—that is "To that same faith which first gave us 'peace with God' we owe our
introduction into that permanent standing in the favor of God which the justified enjoy." As it is
difficult to distinguish this from the peace first mentioned, we regard it as merely an additional
phase of the same [Meyer, Philippi, Mehring], rather than something new [Beza, Tholuck,
Hodge].
and rejoice—"glory," "boast," "triumph"—"rejoice" is not strong enough.
in hope of the glory of God—On "hope," see on [2197]Ro 5:4.
Matthew Poole's Commentary We have not only reconciliation with God by Jesus Christ, but
also by faith in him we are admitted to his presence, his grace and favour. One may be reconciled

16. to his prince, and yet not to be brought into his presence: witness Absalom, &c. See Ephesians
2:18 3:12 1 Peter 3:18.
This grace is either that whereof he spake, Romans 3:24; or else rather it may be understood of
that excellent state of reconciliation, friendship, and favour with God, which God hath graciously
bestowed upon us.
Wherein we stand; or, in which we stand or abide, not stirring a foot for any temptation or
persecution: a metaphor from soldiers keeping their station in fight. A man may obtain his
prince’s favour, and lose it again; but, &c.
And rejoice in hope of the glory of God; in the glory hoped for, a Hebraism; see Luke 10:20 1
Peter 1:8,9; even in that glory which God hath promised, and which consists in the enjoyment of
him.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleBy whom also we have access by faith,.... The access here
spoken of is not to the blessing of justification; for though that is a grace which we have access
to by Christ, and come at the knowledge of by faith, and enjoy the comfort of through it; and is a
grace in which persons stand, and from which they shall never fall, and lays a solid foundation
for rejoicing in hope of eternal glory; yet this sense would make the apostle guilty of a great
tautology; and besides, he is not speaking of that blessing itself, but of its effects; and here of one
distinct from "peace with God", before mentioned, as the word also manifestly shows: nor does it
design any other blessing of grace, as pardon, adoption, sanctification, &c. and an access
thereunto; not unto the free grace, favour, and good will of God, the source of all blessings; but
to the throne of grace, which may be called
that grace, because of its name, for God, as the God of all grace, sits upon it; it is an high favour
to be admitted to it; it is grace persons come thither for, and which they may expect to find there:
and
in, or "at"
which we stand; which denotes boldness, courage, and intrepidity, and a freedom from a servile
fear and bashful spirit, and a continued constant attendance at it; all which is consistent with
reverence, humility, and submission to the will of God. Now access to the throne of grace, and
standing at that, are "by" Christ. There is no access to God in our own name and righteousness,
and upon the foot of our own works. Christ is the only way of access to God, and acceptance
with him; he is the Mediator between God and us; he introduces into his Father's presence, gives
audience at his throne, and renders both persons and services acceptable unto him: and this
access is also "by faith"; and that both in God the Father, as our covenant God and Father; in
faith of interest in his love and favour; believing his power and faithfulness, his fulness and
sufficiency, and that he is a God hearing and answering prayer: and also in the Lord Jesus Christ;
in his person for acceptance; in his righteousness for justification; in his blood for pardon; and in
his fulness for every supply: and such as have access to the throne of grace by faith in Christ,
being comfortably persuaded of their justification before God, through his righteousness imputed
to them, can and do
rejoice in hope of the glory of God; which is another effect of justification by faith: by the "glory
of God"; which is another effect of justification by faith: by the "glory of God", is not meant the
essential glory of God; nor that which we ought to seek in all that we are concerned, and which

17. we are to ascribe unto him on the account of his perfections and works; but that everlasting glory
and happiness which he has prepared for his people, has promised to them, and has called them
to by Christ, and will bestow upon them; of which he has given them a good hope through grace;
and in the hope and believing views of which they can, and do rejoice, even amidst a variety of
afflictions and tribulations in this world. The Vulgate Latin version reads, "in hope of the glory
of the children of God"; eternal glory being proper to them.
Geneva Study Bible{2} By whom also we {a} have access by faith into this grace {b} wherein
we {c} stand, {3} and {d} rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
(2) Whereas quietness of conscience is attributed to faith, it is to be referred to Christ, who is the
giver of faith itself, and in whom faith itself is effectual.
(a) We must know by this, that we still receive the same effect from faith.
(b) By which grace, that is, by which gracious love and good will, or that state unto which we are
graciously taken.
(c) We stand steadfast.
(3) A preventing of an objection against those who, beholding the daily miseries and calamities
of the Church, think that the Christians dream when they brag of their felicity: to whom the
apostle answers, that their felicity is laid up under hope of another place: which hope is so certain
and sure, that they rejoice for that happiness just as if they presently enjoyed it.
(d) Our minds are not only quiet and settled, but we are also marvellously glad, and have great
joy because of the heavenly inheritance which awaits us.
EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT CommentaryHYPERLINK "/romans/5-2.htm"Romans 5:2. Δἰ οὗ καὶ κ.τ.λ[1137]]
Confirmation and more precise definition of the preceding διὰ.… Ἰησοῦ Χ. The καί does not
merely append (Stölting), but is rather the “also” of corresponding relation, giving prominence
precisely to what had here an important practical bearing i.e. as proving the previous διὰ κυρίου
κ.τ.λ[1138] Comp Romans 9:24; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Php 4:10. The climactic interpretation here
(Köllner: “a heightened form of stating the merit of Christ;” comp Rückert) is open to the
objection that the ΠΡΟΣΑΓΩΓῊ ΕἸς Τ. ΧΆΡ. is not something added to or higher than the
ΕἸΡΉΝΗ, but, on the contrary, the foundation of it. If we were to take καὶ.… καί in the sense “as
well.… as” (Th. Schott, Hofmann), the two sentences, which are not to be placed in special
relation to Romans 3:23, would be made co-ordinate, although the second is the consequence of
that which is affirmed in the first.
τὴν προσαγωγήν] the introduction,[1141] Xen. Cyrop. vii. 5, 45; Thuc. i. 82, 2; Plut. Mor. p.
1097 E, Lucian, Zeux. 6; and see also on Ephesians 2:18. Through Christ we have had our
introduction to the grace, etc., inasmuch as He Himself (comp 1 Peter 3:18) in virtue of His
atoning sacrifice which removes the wrath of God, has become our προσαγωγεύς, or, as
Chrysostom aptly expresses it, μακρὰν ὄντας προσήγαγε. In this case the preposition διά, which
corresponds with the διά in Romans 5:1, is fully warranted, because Christ has brought us to
grace in His capacity as the divinely appointed and divinely given Mediator. Comp Winer, p. 354
f. [E. T. 473].
To τ. προσαγ. ἐσχήκ. belongs εἰς τ. χάριν ταύτην; and τῇ πίστει, by means of faith, denotes the

18. subjective medium of τ. προσαγ. εσχήκαμεν. On the other hand, Oecumenius, Bos, Wetstein,
Michaelis, Reiche, Baumgarten-Crusius take τ. προσαγωγ. absolutely, in the sense of access to
God (according to Reiche as a figurative mode of expressing the beginning of grace), and εἰς τὴν
χάρ. ταύτ. as belonging to τῇ πίστει. In that case we must supply after προσαγ. the words πρὸς τ.
Οεόν from Romans 5:1 (Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 3:12); and we may with Bos and Michaelis
explain προσαγωγή by the usage of courts, in accordance with which access to the king was
obtained through a προσαγωγεύς, sequester (Lamprid. in Alex. Sev. 4). But the whole of this
reading is liable to the objection that πίστις εἰς τὴν χάριν would be an expression without
analogy in the N. T.
ἐσχήκαμεν] Not: habemus (Luther and many others), nor nacti sumus et habemus (most modern
interpreters, including Tholuck, Rückert, Winzer, Ewald), but habuimus, namely, when we
became Christians. So also de Wette, Philippi, Maier, van Hengel, Hofmann. Comp 2
Corinthians 1:9; 2 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Corinthians 7:5. The perfect realises as present the
possession formerly obtained, as in Plat. Apol. p. 20 D, and see Bernhardy, p. 379.
εἰς τὴν χάρ. ταύτ.] The divine grace of which the justified are partakers[1145] is conceived as a
field of space, into which they have had (ἐσχήκαμεν) introduction through Christ by means of
faith, and in which they now have (ἔχομεν) peace with God.
ἐν ᾗ ἑστήκαμεν] does not refer to τῇ πίστει (Grotius), but to the nearest antecedent, τὴν χάριν,
which is also accompanied by the demonstrative: in which we stand. The joyful consciousness of
the present, that the possession of grace once entered upon is permanent, suggested the word to
the Apostle. Comp 1 Corinthians 15:1; 1 Peter 5:12.
καὶ καυχώμεθα] may be regarded as a continuation either of the last relative sentence (ἐν ᾗ
ἑστήκ., so van Hengel, Ewald, Mehring, Stölting), or of the previous one (διʼ οὗ καὶ κ.τ.λ[1147]),
or of the principal sentence (ΕἸΡΉΝ. ἜΧΟΜΕΝ). The last alone is suggested by the context,
because, as Romans 5:3 shows, a new and independent element in the description of the blessed
condition is introduced with καὶ καυχώμεθα.
καυχᾶσθαι expresses not merely the idea of rejoicing, not merely “the inward elevating
consciousness, to which outward expression is not forbidden” (Reiche), but rather the actual
glorying, by which we praise ourselves as privileged (“what the heart is full of, the mouth will
utter”). Such is its meaning in all cases.
On ἐπί, on the ground of, i.e. over, joined with καυχ. comp Psalm 48:6; Proverbs 25:14; Wis
17:7; Sir 30:2. No further example of this use is found in the N. T.; but see Lycurgus in Beck.
Anecd. 275, 4; Diod. S. xvi. 70; and Kühner, II. 1, p. 436. It is therefore unnecessary to isolate
καυχώμεθα, so as to make ἘΠʼ ΕΛΠΊΔΙ independent of it (Romans 4:18; so van Hengel). Comp
on the contrary, the ΣΕΜΝΎΝΕΣΘΑΙ ἘΠΊ ΤΙΝΙ frequent in Greek authors. The variation of the
prepositions, ἘΠΊ and in Romans 5:3 ἘΝ, is not to be imputed to any set purpose; comp on
Romans 3:20; Romans 3:25 f. al[1151]
The ΔΌΞΑ Τ. ΘΕΟῦ is the glory of God, in which the members of the Messiah’s kingdom shall
hereafter participate. Comp 1 Thessalonians 2:12; John 17:22, also Romans 8:17; Revelation

19. 21:11; 1 John 3:2; and see Weiss, bibl. Theol. p. 376. The reading of the Vulg.: gloriae filiorum
Dei, is a gloss that hits the right sense. Reiche and Maier, following Luther and Grotius, take the
genitive as a genit. auctoris. But that God is the giver of the δόξα, is self-evident and does not
distinctively characterize it. Rückert urges here also his exposition of Romans 3:23; comp
Ewald. But see on that passage. Flatt takes it as the approval of God (Romans 3:23), but the
ἐλπίδι, pointing solely to the glorious future, is decisive against this view. It is aptly explained by
Melancthon: “quod Deus sit nos gloria sua aeterna ornaturus, i. e. vita aeterna et communicatione
sui ipsius.”
[1137] .τ.λ. καὶ τὰ λοιπά.
[1138] .τ.λ. καὶ τὰ λοιπά.
[1141] Προσαγωγή ought not to be explained as access (Vulg. accessum, and so most
interpreters), but as leading towards, the meaning which the word always has (even in Ephesians
2:18; Ephesians 3:12). See Xen. l.c.: τοὺς ἐμοὺς φίλους δεομένους προσαγωγῆς. Polybius uses it
to express the bringing up of engines against a besieged town, xi. 41, 1, xiv. 10, 9; comp. i. 48, 2;
the bringing up of ships to the shore, x, i. 6; the bringing of cattle into the stall, xii. 4, 10. In
Herod. ii. 58 also the literal meaning is: a leading up, carrying up in solemn procession. Tholuck
and van Hengel have rightly adopted the active meaning in this verse (comp. Weber, vom Zorne
Gottes, p. 316); whilst Philippi, Umbreit, Ewald, Hofmann (comp. Mehring) abide by the
rendering “access.” Chrysostom aptly observes on Ephesians 2:18 : οὐ γὰρ ἀφʼ ἑαυτῶν
προσήλθομεν, ἀλλʼ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ προσήχθημεν.
[1145] For to nothing else than the grace experienced in justification can εἰς τ. χάρ. τ. be referred
in accordance with the context (δικαιωθέντες)—not to the blessings of Christianity generally
(Chrysostom and others, including Flatt and Winzer; comp. Rückert and Köllner); not to the
Gospel (Fritzsche); and not to the εἰρήνη (Mehring, Stölting), which would yield a tame
tautology.—The demonstrative ταύτην implies something of triumph. Compare Photius. The
joyful consciousness of the Apostle is still full of the high blessing of grace, which he has just
expressed in the terms δικαίωσις and δικαιωθέντες.
[1147] .τ.λ. καὶ τὰ λοιπά.
[1151] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.
Expositor's Greek TestamentHYPERLINK "/romans/5-2.htm"Romans 5:2. διʼ οὗ καὶ: through
whom also. To the fact that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ corresponds
this other fact, that through Him we have had (and have) our access into this grace, etc.
προσαγωγὴ has a certain touch of formality. Christ has “introduced” us to our standing as
Christians: cf. Ephesians 2:18, 1 Peter 3:18. τῇ πίστει: by the faith referred to in Romans 5:1. Not
to be construed with εἰς τὴν χάριν ταύτην: which would be without analogy in the N.T. The
grace is substantially one with justification: it is the new spiritual atmosphere in which the
believer lives as reconciled to God. καυχώμεθα, which always implies the expression of feeling,
is to be co-ordinated with ἔχομεν. ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ: on the basis of hope in the
glory of God, i.e., of partaking in the glory of the heavenly kingdom. For ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι, cf. Romans
4:18 : the construction is not elsewhere found with καυχᾶσθαι.

20. Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges2. by whom] Lit. through whom; the same
construction as that just before.
also] i.e. “we owe to Him our entrance to grace, as well as our standing in it.”
we have access] Lit. we have had; “we have found.” The time-reference is to a past reception
resulting in present possession.—“Access:”—lit. the introduction; “our introduction.” Same
word as Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 3:12 (though the reference there is not precisely that here),
and 1 Peter 3:18 (where E. V. has “bring us to God”). The idea is of the acceptance of the
acquitted. Both ideas, acquittal by a Judge and acceptance by a reconciled Father, reside in
Justification.
by faith] Our side of the matter. The Lord’s “introduction” of us to His Father’s acceptance takes
effect individually when we individually believe.
this grace] i.e. “acceptance” (Ephesians 1:6) and resulting “peace.” The word recalls the fact that
acceptance, as previously proved (see ch. 4), is “according to grace,” not debt.
wherein we stand] The word “stand” is in contrast to the “fall” of the rejected and condemned.
See Romans 11:20; also Psalm 1:5; Psalm 130:3; Revelation 6:17; and 1 Corinthians 15:1, where
the context gives the idea of acceptance and safety, as here. That of perseverance (as in Acts
26:22, E. V. “continue”) may also be present; but the context shews that acceptance is at least the
main point.
rejoice] A word elsewhere rendered “glory” (as just below, Romans 5:3), or “boast.” See on
Romans 4:2. The reasoning here rises, from the foundation-truth of lawful justification, to the
holy elevations of consequent joy and energy in the justified.
in hope] Lit. on hope. Perhaps here (as in Romans 4:18, q. v.) the “hope” is objective; “the hope
set before us” (Hebrews 6:18), i.e. the promise and pledges of glory. On this our joy is based.
the glory of God] For commentary, see Romans 8:18; Romans 8:21; Romans 8:30.—The eternal
bliss of the justified is called “the glory of God” because it is a state of joy, love, majesty, and
holiness, bestowed by God; in the presence of God; and being in its essence the Vision of God,
and likeness to Him. Cp. John 17:24; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Php 3:21; Colossians 1:27; 2 Timothy
2:10; 1 Peter 4:13; Revelation 21:11; Revelation 21:23.—This ver. is a brief anticipation of ch. 8.
Bengel's GnomenHYPERLINK "/romans/5-2.htm"Romans 5:2. Προσαγωγὴν, access) Ephesians
2:18; Ephesians 3:12.—ἐσχήκαμεν, we have had) the preterite antithetic to the present, we have,
Romans 5:1. Justification is access unto grace; peace is the state of permanent remaining in
grace, which removes the enmity. So, accordingly, Paul in his salutations usually joins them
together, grace to you and peace; comp. Numbers 6:25-26. It comprehends both the past and
present; and, presently after, speaking of hope, the future; wherefore construe the words in this
connection, we have peace and we [rejoice] glory.—ἐν ᾑ, in which) Grace always remains grace;
it never becomes debt.—ἐστήκαμεν, we have stood) we have obtained a standing-place.—
καυχώμεθα, [rejoice] we glory) in a manner new and true; comp. ch. Romans 3:27.—ἐπ ἐλπίδι
τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ, in [over, concerning, ‘super’] hope of the glory of God) comp. ch. Romans

21. 3:23, Romans 8:30; Judges 1:24. Christ in us, the hope of glory, Colossians 1:27; John 17:22.
Therefore, glory is not glorying itself, but is its surest objects, as regards the future.
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 2. - Through whom also we have (rather, have had - ἐδχήκαμεν (
ρεφερρινγ το the past time of conversion and baptism, but with the idea of continuance expressed
by the perfect) the (or, our) access by faith (the words, "by faith," which are not required, are
absent from many manuscripts) into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice (properly, glory,
καυχώμεθα, the same word as in the following verse, and most usually so rendered elsewhere,
though sometimes by "boast." Our translators seem in this verse to have departed from their
usual rendering because of the substantive "glory," in a different sense, which follows) in hope of
the glory of God. Προσαγωγὴ (translated "access") occurs in the same sense in Ephesians 2:18
and Ephesians 3:12; in both cases, as here, with the article, so as to denote some well-known
access or approach. It means the access to the holy God, which had been barred by sin, but which
has been opened to us through Christ (cf. Hebrews 10:19). It is a question whether εἰς τὴν χάριν
is properly taken (as in the Authorized Version) in immediate connection with προσαγωγὴν, as
denoting that into which we have our access. In Ephesians 2:18 the word is followed by the more
suitable preposition πρὸς, the phrase being, "access to the Father;" and this may be understood
here, the sense being, "We have through Christ our access (to the Father) unto (ie. so as to result
in) the state of grace and acceptance in which we now stand." As to "the glory of God," see
above on Romans 3:23. Here our hoped-for future participation in the Divine glory is more
distinctly intimated by the words, ἐπ ἐλπίδι. This last phrase bears the same sense as in 1
Corinthians 9:10, and probably in Romans 4:18 above. It does not mean that hope is that wherein
we glory, but that, being in a state of hope, we glory.
Vincent's Word StudiesAccess (προσαγωγὴν)
Used only by Paul. Compare Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 3:12. Lit., the act of bringing to. Hence
some insist on the transitive sense, introduction. Compare 1 Peter 3:18; Ephesians 2:13. The
transitive sense predominates in classical Greek, but there are undoubted instances of the
intransitive sense in later Greek, and some illustrations are cited from Xenophon, though their
meaning is disputed.
Into this grace
Grace is conceived as a field into which we are brought. Compare Galatians 1:6; Galatians 5:4; 1
Peter 5:12. The; state of justification which is preeminently a matter of grace.
In hope (ἐπ' ἐλπίδι)
Lit., on the ground of hope.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BRUCEHURT MD

22. Romans 5:2 through WHYPERLINK
"http://www.studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=3739"hom also we have obtained our
introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of
God. (NASB: Lockman)
Greek: di' ou kai ten prosagogen eschekamen (1PRAI) [te pistei] eiHYPERLINK
"http://www.studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=1519"s ten chHYPERLINK
"http://www.studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=5485"arin tauten en e estekamen,
(1PRAI) kai kauchometha (1PPMI) ep' elpidi tes doxes tou thHYPERLINK
"http://www.studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=2316"eou.
Amplified: Through Him also we have [our] access (entrance, introduction) by faith into
this grace (state of God’s favor) in which we [firmly and safely] stand. And let us rejoice
and exult in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God. (Amplified Bible -
Lockman)
Barclay: Through him, by faith, we are in possession of an introduction to this grace in
which we stand; and let us glory in the hope of the glory of God. (Westminster Press)
KJV: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
NLT: Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege
where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look (NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: Through him we have confidently entered into this new relationship of grace,
and here we take our stand, in happy certainty of the glorious things he has for us in the
future. (Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: through whom also our entree we have as a permanent possession into this
unmerited favor in which we have been placed permanently, and rejoice upon the basis of
hope of the glory of God.
Young's Literal: through whom also we have the access by the faith into this grace in
which we have stood, and we boast on the hope of the glory of God.
THROUGH WHOM ALSO: di ou kai :
• Jn 10:7,9; 14:6; Acts 14:27; Eph 2:18; 3:12; Heb 10:19,20; 1Pet 3:18
• Romans 5 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
• Romans 5:1-2: The Blessings of Justification - Steven Cole
• Romans 5:1-2 Security of Salvation 1 - John MacArthur
• Romans 5:1-2 Links in the Chain of Security: Peace and Grace - John MacArthur
• Romans 5:2-4 Links in the Chain of Security: Hope - John MacArthur
CHRIST THE DOOR INTO
TO THE THRONE ROOM
Note that by faith is in brackets in the Greek text and is not supported by the best Greek
manuscripts, but of course is still the means of the access. Newell explains that...
It is not by an additional revelation, and acceptance thereof, that believers come into this
standing in grace. It is a place of Divine favor given to every believer the moment he

23. believes. In Ro 6:14 we are to be told that we are under grace, not law. It is a glorious
discovery to find how fully God is for us, in Christ.
Through (1223) (dia) (see above study of through Him) means the modality by which
something transpires. The benefits of justification come through Christ, our Mediator and Great
High Priest. We enter in and draw near through Him, for He is the "Author of salvation" (He
2:!0-note). He is the Forerunner (He 6:20-note), having entered Himself through "the veil" (His
Flesh) that we might now have a new and living way into the Holy of Holies, the very presence
of God the Father! (He 10:19, 20, 21-note).
The emphasis in Romans 5 is on what has been done for the believer through Christ and his
saving work (Ro 5:1, 2, 9, 10, 11, 17, 18, 21 - see notes 5:1; 5:2, 5:9, 10, 11, 17, 18, 19, 21),
whereas in Romans 6 Paul deals with what has happened to the believer together with Christ
(Ro 6:4, 5-note, Ro 6:6-note, Ro 5:8 -note) and what he enjoys in Christ (Ro 6:11-note, Ro
6:23-note).
Harry Ironside distinguishes between state and standing writing that...
it is access and standing that are before us in Romans 5:2. Access (Ed: Primarily
objective) is based on standing, not on state. The terms are to be carefully distinguished.
In Philippians we read much about our state (Ed: Primarily subjective). Paul was greatly
concerned about that. He never had a fear about the standing of the children of God. That
is eternally settled.
Standing refers to the new place in which I am put by grace as justified before the throne
of God and risen in Christ forever beyond the reach of judgment. State is condition of
soul. It is experience. Standing never varies. State is fluctuating, and depends on the
measure in which I walk with God. My standing is always perfect because it is measured
by Christ's acceptance. I am accepted in Him. "As he is, so are we in this world" (1Jn
4:17). But my state will be good or bad as I walk in the Spirit or walk after the flesh (Ro
8:5-note)
My standing gives me title to enter consciously as a purged worshiper into the holiest
and to boldly approach the throne of grace in prayer (Ed: He 4:16-note, He 10:19, 20-
note). Of old God sternly said, "Worship ye afar off" (Ex 24:1). Access was not known
under the legal covenant (Mosaic Law) God was hidden; the veil was not yet removed.
Now all is different, and we are urged to "draw near with a true heart in full assurance of
faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with
pure water" (He 10:22-note). (Ed: see the Veil has been torn) (Bolding added) (Romans)
And now we draw near to the throne of grace,
For His blood and the Priest are there;
And we joyfully seek God's holy face
With our censer of praise and prayer.
The burning mount and the mystic veil
With our terrors and guilt are gone;
Our conscience has peace that can never fail,
'Tís the Lamb on high on the throne.
Ray Stedman gives this illustration of our entree' into the Throne Room of God - Remember
Esther (Ed: Read Esther 4:11-note), that lovely Jewish maiden, a captive in the land of Persia?

24. The king, seeking a bride, found her and made her his queen. After Esther ascended to the throne
as queen, a plot was hatched against the Jews. The king, unwittingly, signed a decree that meant
death for all Jews in the land of Persia. Esther's godly uncle, Mordecai, said it would be
necessary for her to go to the king and tell him what he had unwittingly done. Esther knew that
was a dangerous thing, because it was the law of the Medes and Persians that no one could come
before the king without first being summoned by him. It meant death for anyone to dare come
before the king in that manner. There were no exceptions -- even for a queen -- for this was the
law of the Medes and the Persians and could not be changed. Unless the king extended his
golden scepter to that person, he must die. Yet Esther knew that she had to dare to take her life in
her hands and go before the king. The story tells us that she fasted for three days and three nights
before she went. I am sure that was to prepare her heart and her courage. It doesn't say what else
she did during that time, when she was getting ready to come before the king. With a wife, four
daughters, and a mother-in-law in my home, I've observed women getting themselves ready for
some years now. I'm sure that what Esther was doing was fixing her hair. It probably took three
days and three nights to get ready! Then we are told that she dressed herself in robes of beauty
and glory. When she was all ready, she stepped into the audience hall of the king, appearing all
alone before him. The king was so smitten with her beauty that his heart went out to her. He
stretched forth his scepter and accepted her. She had access to the king. Dressed in robes of
beauty and glory that do not belong to us -- for they are the garments of Jesus -- we have access
to the King, to receive from him all that we need to handle any threat that has come into our
lives. We have continual acceptance before him. (Rejoicing in Hope)
Newell makes an important distinction - The word also ("through Whom also") sets this blessing
forth as distinct from and additional to that of peace with God. Through Christ, in Whom they
have believed, there has been given to the justified access into a wonderful standing in Divine
favor. Being in Christ, they have extended to them the very favor in which Christ Himself
stands.(!!!) (Romans Verse by Verse)
This is a blessing beyond peace with God for as Matthew Poole wrote...
One may be reconciled to his Prince, and yet not to be brought into his presence
WE HAVE OBTAINED OUR INTRODUCTION: eschekamen (1PRAI) ten prosagogen:
• Romans 5 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
• Romans 5:1-2: The Blessings of Justification - Steven Cole
• Romans 5:1-2 Security of Salvation 1 - John MacArthur
• Romans 5:1-2 Links in the Chain of Security: Peace and Grace - John MacArthur
• Romans 5:2-4 Links in the Chain of Security: Hope - John MacArthur
We have obtained our introduction - I prefer the KJV rendering we have access.
Smart comments that "Access to this grace’ is access to God. Grace is not something apart from
God, but is God giving Himself to us in His graciousness."
Adam Clarke adds that "this access to God, or introduction to the Divine presence, is to be
considered a lasting privilege. We are not brought to God for the purpose of an interview (Ed: I
love it!), but to remain with Him; to be His household; and by faith, to behold His face, and walk
in the light of His countenance." (Incredible!)

25. Clarke's comment reminds me of the incredible words in John's first epistle commanding the
saints:
See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God;
and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. (1
John 3:1)
Introduction (4318) (prosagoge from pros = toward + ago = bring, lead) literally means a
bringing near, a leading or bringing into the presence of. The act of bringing to, a moving to. It
means providing admission or access (freedom, permission and/or the ability to enter) with the
associated thought that the one gaining access has freedom to enter by virtue of the assistance or
favor of another. It includes the idea of the right to address someone, the one addressed being of
higher status. It describes the approach to one we could never approach in our mortal
unredeemed flesh. In the secular use a "status factor" is implied as in the statement "access to
Cyrus for an audience".
In secular Greek prosagoge was used to describe an "access point for ships". Moulton and
Milligan state that it was sometimes used of "a landing stage". It was used to describe ground
that offered no access to enemy forces.
The only other uses of prosagoge are found in Ephesians...
for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. (Eph 2:18 see notes)
in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. (Ephesians 3:12
[note])
From these NT uses notice that prosagoge always refers to the believer’s access to God through
Jesus Christ. What was unthinkable to the OT Jew is now available to all who come.
From the 3 NT uses of prosagoge we observe that...
1. We have access into grace (see note Romans 5:2) God’s throne is the throne of grace (He
4:16-note).
2. We have access to the Father (Ep 2:18-note). Though He is sovereign, we can still approach
Him as a child does a father (Luke 11:11, 12, 13, Ro 8:5-note).
3. We have access through Jesus Christ (1Timothy 2:5). The blood gives us boldness (He 10:19-
note).
4. We have access by our faith (Ro 5:2-note Ep 3:12-note). The essential ingredient is prayer (He
10:22-note).
Prosagoge was the word used for the right granted someone to enter into the King's presence.
You couldn't just waltz into a king's presence. To do so would invite death. Prosagoge pictures
provision of access into the presence of One Whom we would normally be restricted from
approaching. In the Orient, one who came to see a king needed both access—the right to come
and an introduction—the proper presentation. The story of Esther in the Old Testament contains
a beautiful illustration of this idea. Esther desires to plead with King Ahasuerus for the safety of
her Jewish countrymen. But she knows what can happen if she goes into his presence without an
introduction (Esther 4:11). Esther risked her life by doing this, not knowing beforehand whether
Ahasuerus would grant her an "introduction." Fortunately for her, he granted her grace.

26. Prosagoge pictures fellowship and communion eternally available to redeemed rebels! The
French word for this is entree meaning freedom of entry or access. And that is exactly what our
Lord Jesus provides for a believing sinner. He clothes him with Himself as his righteousness,
cleanses him in His precious blood, and brings him into the full unmerited favor (grace) of God
the Father. This is a believers entree. But for how long your ask? Aren't there rules we must
keep or works we must do to guarantee this entree to God? See the next paragraph.
Have obtained, as alluded to above, is perfect tense, which means we have obtained this entree
in the past (a past completed action) when we were justified by faith with the effect (access)
continuing into the present. The perfect tense then speaks of the permanency of our access to
God, independent of human merit. This is a humbling thought which should cause us to bow low
in worship at "so great a salvation". We enjoy access into an indescribable position of favor with
God. We are accepted in the Beloved. Therefore we are near and dear to God. The Father
extends the golden scepter to us and welcomes us as sons, not strangers. We cry out Abba,
Daddy. The question then is not do we believe that you deserve this -- we don't. But more simply
the question is "Do we believe this truth about our relationship now with the Almighty?" We are
not to try to deserve it or intellectualize it.
Wuest's translation picks up the sense conveyed by use of the perfect tense of the verb
obtained...
Through Whom also our entree we have as a permanent possession into this unmerited
favor in which we have been placed permanently, and rejoice upon the basis of hope of
the glory of God.
Paul often prayed for the saints to appropriate (and know by experience) what they possessed in
Christ. For example, after describing the greatness of the Ephesian saint's salvation, Paul prayed
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of
wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may
be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches
of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His
power toward us who believe. (see notes Ephesians 1:17; 1:18; 1:19)
In a similar way he prayed for the saints at Colossae asking
"that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and
understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all
respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all
steadfastness and patience." (see note Colossians 1:9, 1:10, 1:11-12)
Prosagoge was also used as a nautical term to describe the approach of a ship to a haven or
harbor where it could land. Thus the idea would be access into and rest in a haven or harbor. In
the case of Romans 5:2, God’s grace is there pictured as a haven for the soul. Have obtained as
discussed is perfect tense in Greek which in the nautical context would picture a permanent
haven for our soul.
Think also of the OT Tabernacle and how "lay" Jews could never approach the Holy of Holies,
the "throne of the King". Only the high priest had access and then only for a relatively briefly,
once each year (the Day of Atonement). And then when Solomon and later Herod's Temple were
built, the Jew was still kept from God’s presence by the veil in the temple. The Gentile was kept

27. out by a wall in the temple with a warning on it that any Gentile who went beyond would be
killed. When Jesus died, He tore the veil (Matthew 27:50, 51) and broke down the wall (Ep 2:14,
15-see notes 2:14; 15). In Christ, believing Jews and Gentiles have access to God (see the Veil
has been torn) and they can draw on the inexhaustible riches of the grace of God. We stand “in
grace” and not “under Law.” (Ro 6:14-note) Justification has to do with our standing (Click
Ironside's note above); sanctification has to do with our state. The child of a king can enter his
father’s presence no matter how the child looks. The word “access” here means “entrance to the
king through the favor of another.”
John Calvin reminds us that...
Our reconciliation with God depends only on Christ; for He only is the beloved Son, and we are
all by nature the children of wrath. But this favor is communicated to us by the Gospel; for the
Gospel is the ministry of reconciliation, by the means of which we are in a manner brought into
the Kingdom of God. Rightly then does Paul set before our eyes in Christ a sure pledge of God's
favor, that he might more easily draw us away from every confidence in works. And as he
teaches us by the word access (introduction) that salvation begins with Christ, he excludes those
preparations by which foolish men imagine that they can anticipate God's mercy; as though he
said, "Christ comes not to you, nor helps you, on account of your merits." (Romans 5)
BY FAITH INTO THIS GRACE IN WHICH WE STAND : te pistei eis ten charin tauten
en e estekamen(1PRAI) :
• Ro 5:9,10; 8:1,30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39; 14:4; Jn 5:24; 1Co 15:1; Ep 6:13;
1Pet 1:4
• Romans 5 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
• Romans 5:1-2: The Blessings of Justification - Steven Cole
• Romans 5:1-2 Security of Salvation 1 - John MacArthur
• Romans 5:1-2 Links in the Chain of Security: Peace and Grace - John MacArthur
• Romans 5:2-4 Links in the Chain of Security: Hope - John MacArthur
STANDING FIRMLY AND FOREVER
PLANTED IN THE GRACE IN CHRIST JESUS
Grace is realized through Jesus (through the veil, His torn flesh, a new and living way, we have
confidence to enter the Holy place - Heb 10:19, 20-note) And so Paul issues a command to his
young disciple Timothy - "You therefore, my son, be strong (endunamoo in the present
imperative = make this your daily practice, continually depending on being strengthened by the
Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Grace - Heb 10:29b-note) in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (2
Timothy 2:1-note)
Grace (5485) (charis) means God's undeserved favor given freely to us. One of the best
acronyms I have heard on grace is God's Riches At Christ's Expense.
Grace however is not just unmerited favor but in other contexts refers to the transforming power
of God or power to accomplish supernaturally what cannot be accomplished naturally. That is
why Paul issued the command to Timothy to continually be strengthened. He (as are we) was
continually in need of the transforming power inherent in the grace of God. To reiterate, the
Grace that is in Christ Jesus and now provided by His Spirit Who indwells us, gives us the
empowerment (dunamis the root word of endunamoo in 2Ti 2:1) we need in order to live the

28. supernatural life in Christ. In the following verses Paul will show that divine grace enables the
saints to (supernaturally) exult in tribulation (Ro 5:3-note), which is not a natural response
otherwise! This in a nutshell is the secret of the so-called "victorious Christian life!" We can't
successfully live it (in our strength). God never said we could. But we can successfully live it as
we learn to continually rely on the grace God gives. The more we understand these deep truths,
the more we come to understand what prompted Paul to such a glorious doxology in Romans
11:33-36-note! God by your Spirit open the eyes of our heart to really and practically understand
these truths of the Spirit controlled life in Christ and for your glory. Amen
Matthew Henry - Those, and those only, that have access by faith into the grace of God now
may hope for the glory of God hereafter. There is no good hope of glory but what is founded in
grace; grace is glory begun, the earnest and assurance of glory.
Even though we are firmly and forever planted on the foundation of the grace of God in Christ
Jesus, Peter issues a warning exhortation to the tried and tested saints at the end of his first
epistle:
Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly,
exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm (aorist imperative = "Just
do it!" is the idea) in it (in the true grace of God - implying some may have been propagating
false teaching regarding grace)! (1 Peter 5:12-note)
At first Peter's command sounds somewhat unnecessary, since Paul is saying we are permanently
standing in the grace of God (permanence is the sense conveyed by the use of the perfect tense).
This seeming inconsistency is resolved as we recall that Paul is speaking of our position
(permanently planted) but Peter is speaking more about our practice. It is one thing to know the
Greek word charis and all the Scriptural uses of grace, but it is quite another for grace to "know
us" so to speak. To say it another way, we will spend the rest of our time on earth working out
our salvation (Php 2:12-note) in regard to daily learning to live (our practice) under grace and
not slip back under law which is our "natural" human tendency. Writing to the Galatians who
where standing in grace in regard to their position, Paul rebuked them for not living by grace
(their practice was not matching their position) -
"This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the
Law, or by hearing with faith? (Rhetorical because of course the "correct answer" is by faith).
Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit (when we were born again, justified, regenerated
by grace through faith, the Father and the Son sent the Spirit to live within us to enable the flow
of grace in our daily lives), are you now being perfected by the flesh?" (Gal 3:2-3)
So while Paul says we are forever planted in grace in Christ (position), Peter is saying that we
need to allow the Spirit to enable us to stand in that grace in our daily conduct (practice). Notice
that Peter is like a commanding general who issues a command "Just Do It!" The idea in a
military sense is to hold a watch post or to stand and hold a critcal position on a battlefield while
under attack (Our inveterate, incorrigible, unrelenting enemies of course are the world, the flesh
and the devil)! The intent of Peter's exhortation here is not unlike that of our Lord's command
issued to the embattled church at Thyatira, whom He commanded, “hold fast (aorist imperative
= "Just do it!") until I come” (Rev 2:25-note).
Beloved, in order to successfully stand against our strong foes, we need to continually be
strengthened in (dunamis the root word of endunamoo in 2Ti 2:1 where grace in Christ Jesus is
what provides power - here it is the Spirit of Jesus) our inner man by the Spirit (Eph 3:16-note),