The Result of Justification (11):

Receiving Future Salvation

“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of

 His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

 (Romans 5:10)

The Bible tells us that there was a time when we were enemies of God (Romans 5:10).
How did we become enemies of God? In the Old Testament, in the book of Genesis, we see that after God created the heavens and the earth and formed the first man, Adam, He allowed Adam to eat from every tree in the Garden of Eden, but He commanded him not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God said that the day Adam ate from it, he would “surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). However, Adam fell for the cunning temptation of the serpent (Satan) and disobeyed God's command, eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a result, Adam and all his descendants became enemies of God.
Furthermore, Adam and all his descendants, having incurred God's wrath, were bound to perish in the eternal fire. In this way, in the past, we were enemies of God, and we were people without love. But God, who is love [“God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16)], poured His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit He gave us (Romans 5:5). Therefore, those of us who believe in Jesus now have the love of God.

How did God make this possible? Let’s look at 1 John 4:9:
“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.”
God sent His only begotten Son into the world to save us (or to redeem us) through Him (the only begotten Son, Jesus, was born or incarnated). The only begotten Son, who is the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:6-7). The sinless God, Jesus Christ, became human to save us (1 John 4:9).

Romans 5:10 says, “through the death of His Son.” Who could be more precious to God than His only Son, Jesus Christ? Yet, God the Father did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all (Romans 8:32). In other words, God the Father gave His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for us, who were enemies of God.

Let’s look at 1 John 4:10: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
When we were enemies of God, He loved us and sent His only Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Therefore, Jesus Christ was delivered up on the cross for us (Romans 8:32). The only begotten Son, who could not die by nature, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant and being made in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:6-7). And the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, appeared in the form of a man, humbled Himself, and became obedient to the point of death on the cross (Philippians 2:8).

Because we were all enemies of God, we all deserved to eternally suffer punishment under God’s wrath on the cross, but the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, died in our place. Therefore, He abolished our enmity with God by the cross and reconciled us to God (Ephesians 2:16).
God made peace through the blood of the cross of His Son, Jesus Christ, and was pleased to reconcile us to Himself through Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:20).

God has reconciled us, His enemies, to Himself once and for all. How did He do this? He made it possible by offering the body of Jesus Christ once and for all (Hebrews 10:10). In other words, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the one-time death of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross (Romans 6:10) (Romans 5:10).

Let’s look at 1 John 2:2: “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world’s.” (see also Romans 3:25)
The word "propitiation" here means "satisfaction," indicating that Jesus Christ, by being sacrificed on the cross as the Passover Lamb, satisfied the holy requirements of God, who had to punish sin (MacArthur). The Apostle John not only speaks of this in 1 John 2:2, but also in 1 John 4:10: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
He says that God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world as the propitiation for our sins. The reason He did this is that God loves us.

Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 5:19: “That is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”
Also, in Colossians 1:22: “In the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.”
This reconciliation is eternal and cannot be broken.

God no longer considers us as enemies but, through the death of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross, reconciles us to Himself, making us His children.
Therefore, now we can approach God, call Him "Abba Father," and have fellowship or communion with Him. We are no longer enemies of God but are reconciled to Him through the death of Jesus Christ.
The Lord has given us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18). He has also entrusted us with the word of reconciliation (verse 19). Therefore, we are to act as ambassadors for Christ, pleading with others: “Be reconciled to God” (verse 20).

Romans 5:10 says, “Much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
Here, "He" refers to Jesus Christ, who came to this earth, died on the cross, and reconciled us to God. And when it says "much more by His life" (Romans 5:10), "His life" refers to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and on the third day rose again according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). After His resurrection, Jesus Christ testified to His resurrection for 40 days, and then ascended to heaven, where He sits at the right hand of God. The apostle Paul did not meet the risen Jesus; he met the Lord who had already ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of God (Acts 9). This Lord will certainly return to this world (the Second Coming). At that time, we will be saved (Romans 5:10).

Here, salvation refers to when Jesus Christ returns. The saints who have already died will be resurrected with incorruptible, glorious, powerful, and spiritual bodies (1 Corinthians 15:42-44), and the saints who are still alive at that time will be transformed into incorruptible, glorious, powerful, and spiritual bodies (1 Corinthians 15:51). They will be clothed with glorious bodies, like the resurrected body of Jesus (Philippians 3:20-21). Then, we who remain alive will be caught up in the clouds together with them, to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). And we will participate in the marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven (Revelation 19:9). This is the salvation that we will receive.

We will be saved by His resurrection (Romans 5:10). The word "much more" emphasizes the certainty of our future salvation through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If, when we were weak, sinners, and enemies of God, Jesus came to this world, died on the cross as a sacrifice to reconcile us with God, and saved us, then much more, when Jesus returns to this world, we will certainly receive salvation. This salvation is 100% guaranteed. We must have faith and certainty in this salvation.

The Lord will certainly and clearly return! Our deceased saints will certainly be resurrected, and the saints who are alive until that time will certainly be transformed to meet the glorious Lord.
Look at 1 Corinthians 15:52-58:
“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.' O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
We must remain steadfast and unshaken in the faith and hope of the resurrection, always abounding in the work of the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58). The reason is that the Lord will give us rewards.

Look at Revelation 22:12:
"Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to every one according to his work."
In the parable of the ten minas (Luke 19:11-27), the servant who gained ten minas and the one who gained five minas received the reward from the master: "Well done, good servant, because you were faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities" and "five cities." A mina was worth about three months' wages for a laborer in Israel at the time. Yet, the reward the master gave was far greater: each servant received the authority over ten or five cities. When we stand before the Lord for reckoning (Matthew 25:19), may we be the ones who receive His praise and reward.