A message for Akron Alliance Fellowship Church, Akron OH, Sunday, August 23, 2026.
For the “Live in Church” audio of this message, select HERE.
Before we get into today’s lesson covering the first section of Romans Chapter 5, I want to share with you a passage in this past week’s Bible reading that is worth repeating. It was a reminder for me just as much as Paul was communicating these words of mindfulness for Timothy:
2 Timothy 4:1-5 NLT
1 I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes to set up his Kingdom: 2 Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.
3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth and chase after myths.
5 But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.
These words from Paul are, of course, God-breathed, and they are prophetic in nature, and for what it’s worth, a lot of Paul’s message here is in full effect today. Much of today’s world wants to have nothing to do with Jesus or will even care to listen to the gospel. In a world of uncertainty and full of bad news and disappointment, it’s perplexing at times how people don’t want to hear what is deemed to be “good news,” but when you hear them speak in adamant defiance over anything that has to do with Jesus, “you can identify them by their fruit” (Matthew 7:16).
Today’s world is a constant reminder of the multitudes of people who are lost and in need of salvation. We also know of others in our midst that live outside of the company of Jesus Christ. As you mature in your life with Jesus, He will readily show you these people, and compel you to stay in prayer for them as His Word reminds us how He desires for every person to experience His salvation.
2 Peter 3:9 NLT
The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
Believers in Jesus had to do exactly that—repent and turn from their sinful nature and turn to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. His acts on the cross covered our sin and gave us entry into eternity with Him…and so much more. We were rescued from death and received eternal life by faith in Him and trusting in His Word.
Romans 6:23 NLT
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
And what a gift it is! You’ll never receive a better gift than what Jesus has given to those who have faith in Him! It is a reason to rejoice!
Those who trust in Jesus Christ have all that is necessary to live in this world. Our faith in Jesus is indeed a reason to not just survive, but thrive. It is indeed a reason to rejoice! We’ll be covering the content in Romans 5:1-11 over the next couple of weeks to discuss and even reinforce the importance of what it is to have faith in Jesus. We’re studying this to not only learn about what this represents for the believer, but we also want to be able to share effectively the good news to those individuals who are in a state of lostness and divert them to a path that leads to a desire to follow Jesus Christ. Many of us know who Jesus is, but we need to do a better job of articulating the faith and the hope that we are living in.
In true Sunday school fashion, let’s turn your Bibles and electronic devices to Romans Chapter 5, and we will read the first five verses together. Romans 5, verses 1-5:
Romans 5:1-5 NLT
1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
You may have noticed here and from our previous studies in Romans that Chapter 5 follows the important discussion of having a faith like Abraham in Romans Chapter 4:
Romans 4:22-24 NLT
22 And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. 23And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded 24 for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
We will be discussing this faith, like that of Abraham, which makes one righteous in Jesus, the One who was raised to overcome death for everyone who holds this faith. That leads to what is shared by Paul in Romans 5, verse 1:
1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
There are benefits that a believer receives when He trusts in Jesus:
He has peace with God. The peace comes from the gift of salvation from Jesus because of what He did for us on the cross. That peace transcends to joy because believers know that they will share in eternal life and avoid condemnation and separation from God. We can rejoice in the opportunities that we have to share God’s goodness with confidence in spite of how the world perceives it. When life isn’t going so well, keeping Jesus close at hand helps us to stand firm through hardship.
This peace is not sufficiently described as being calm, or as reveling in quietness or tranquility. Our peace with God truly comes from being reconciled with Him. Our sins are covered from what Jesus did on the cross for us. Our sins are paid in full.
Romans 8:1-2 NLT
1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.
Let’s go back to our passage and look at verse 2:
2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
By faith, we have access to Jesus, and He graciously responds as He reassures us with the hope of fulfilling His promise of salvation. Believers in Jesus have undeserved privilege, which is God’s grace. That is the undeserved privilege within the relationship. It has nothing to do with our past, present or future performance. Only our faith in Jesus, by His grace, makes us righteous.
Romans 3:23-24, 26b-28 NLT
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
26b God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.
As you can see, our righteousness comes directly from a righteous God who extends His grace to those who believe in Him. Jesus declares the believer “not guilty” and we are no longer enemies. We were enemies of God because of our sin nature (Romans 8:7). With His graceful work on the cross and His resurrection, we were bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20), and we are free in Christ and are now friends of God.
Galatians 4:5 NLT
God sent him (Jesus) to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.
It is reassuring to know that Jesus has taken these steps of love and grace to justify us, and we also need to address that life here on earth has its challenges because of the fall. The world that we live in can, at times, be a dangerous place. And this takes us to verse 3. Back to Romans 5, verse 3:
3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.
Paul was referring to believers in his time that were subjected to suffering because of their faith in Jesus. The level of persecution was rather intense, and that is why Paul encouraged the believers of the day to give praise to the Lord in their suffering, and that message certainly applies to us, as well.
We make it a regular practice to glorify God when things are going well, but we also must glorify Him within our suffering. There is a day when there will be no more sorrow, pain or crying (Revelation 21:4), but until then, we are to “accept” life as it comes. We don’t like what is happening, but we remember that Jesus goes with us through thick and thin. He wants us to stand firm through the troubles that come our way, and allow for Jesus to teach us within the experience.
It is fitting for us to look at what Paul says in Ephesians about taking a stand and what that means, being mindful of his words in Romans 5:3:
Ephesians 6:10-18 NLT
10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
We can and will endure as long as we rely upon the power of Jesus Christ, His Word, His truth, His righteousness, His peace that surpasses all understanding, and it all comes down to our prayers and petitions by faith. There’s no need to worry or be fearful.
Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
The NLT version of this passage states that we do not need toworry about ANYTHING but instead pray about EVERYTHING. And God’s peace will prevail and help us to endure the suffering.
Back to our passage in Romans Chapter 5, verse 4:
4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
We triumph over our troubles. When we go through difficulties and hardship, we can’t help but learn something through the experience, and I would like to call it a mental, and sometimes physical display of “iron sharpening iron.” The context of iron sharpening iron that is referred to in Proverbs 27:17 involves interactions with other people—usually colleagues that bounce things off of you for advice or perhaps you seek them out because of their life experience. The point of this is that our struggles may involve seeking advice from others (or even learning what NOT to do), which is perfectly fine, but I believe that God challenges you and I to seek HIM in that He will come along with us to build our character. He will also, in turn, help us to trust Him more and rely upon Him as He sanctifies us and teaches us. The tough part of this is that sometimes we don’t get the solutions that we are looking for, but what we do receive from the Lord is the strength to endure, the building of our character, and our security in our eternal fellowship because of our faith.
And finally, for today, verse 5:
5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
We have on our side a holy God who loves us. No matter what is going on, we are to rejoice and praise the Lord because He is faithful. He truly loves us. The Holy Spirit that He promised to the disciples is now present in every believer.
Romans 8:9-11 NLT
9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
The Holy Spirit is a gift from God in His loving grace and mercy. He wants each and every believer to emulate His character by sharing His love with everyone that we see and know. We are to be reflections of the light of Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:5 NLT
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.
I trust that you understand the Word of God and His truth today. Jesus wants us to know, beyond the shadow of doubt, that He loves us and desires to have a relationship with His people.
If you are curious as to what that means, just ask Him. He is ready to answer.
Copyright © 2026 Melvin Gaines.
Melvin Gaines 