Romans 5:9-11 – We Have “Much More”

In verses 3–8 he adds more: we glory in tribulations, which sounds strange because tribulations and troubles don’t feel very glorious, but none the less it’s a blessing we already have from walking by faith.

Then he talks about the love of God shed abroad in our hearts in verse 5. Paul explains that love in verses 6–8: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners.

If we want to know God’s love, we look at the cross. Rejecting the cross is rejecting God’s love; receiving Christ is receiving God’s love.

 

We also have the Holy Ghost in verse 5.

The Spirit shows us God’s love, seals us as Ephesians 1:13 states, and applies Christ’s work to us. He will not leave us.

 

Then in verse 9 (Romans 5:9) Paul starts the “much more” section. He writes,

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

 

This is the first time since Romans chapter 1 that Paul mentions salvation, and he shows that one of our greatest blessings is that we’re saved from God’s wrath, wrath that’s the worst thing man can image.

He continues on in Romans 5:10-11 saying,

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

 

We’re saved by His life. Christ’s life is eternal life, so we not only have life and peace now, but eternal life and peace.

Then in verse 11 he says we can joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom now we’ve received the atonement, and that “now” matters.

We have it already.

 

All these blessings—peace, access, standing in grace, hope of glory, glorying in tribulation, the love of God, the Holy Ghost, salvation from wrath, eternal life, joy in the Lord, and the atonement—all come in the package called sanctification.

Sanctification doesn’t mean us trying to please God to stay saved, like many people preach and teach, It means God set us apart in Christ. Our new standing in Christ is why we have all these things. Without being in Christ, we’d have none of them.

 

So when Paul says in Romans 5:9, “much more then, being now justified,” he’s talking to believers. Everything that follows belongs to those who’re justified by faith.

 

Paul’s not talking about the whole human race here, including unbelievers when he says “being now justified”.

He means it’s something we have right now, a present possession from our position in Christ, those who have believed and trust the gospel.

Even having those blessings from God now is a blessing in itself.

 

Before this dispensation of grace that we live in today, God mostly gave promises of blessings, future blessings such as to Abraham and to Israel. Even Jesus promised the thief on the cross that he would be with Him in Paradise. Future, even if it was very near future.

Those were promises, not present possessions.

We also have future promises in Christ, but when Paul says now, he means blessings that we already have this moment even while we’re still in sinful flesh.

 

In Romans 5:9–11 Paul keeps using this timing. In verse 9 he says, “being now justified”. In verse 10 it’s “being reconciled”. In verse 11 it’s “we have now received the atonement”.

Each one is something we already have.

We’re “now justified by His blood”.

Earlier in Romans 5:1 he said we’re justified by faith. Now he explains what that faith is, faith in the blood of Christ as we already saw in Romans 3:25.

Christ shed His blood long before we believed, but our faith rests in that blood. Romans 4:25 says He was delivered for our offences. Colossians 1:14 says we have redemption through His blood. The blood of Christ is essential for justification.

 

This also shows that justification always requires a work.

James 2:24 says faith without works is dead but the difference is James was talking about a man’s own works and in a different dispensation, but Paul’s talking about Christ’s work now, right now. His shed blood is the work that justifies us.

 

Then Paul says, “much more… we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”

As we said, this’s the first time since Romans 1:16 that Paul uses the word “saved.” Before this, Paul proved we were sinners who needed salvation. Then he showed justification by faith in Christ’s blood. Now he shows the result: which is “being justified, we shall be saved from wrath”.

 

Abraham was justified by faith, but Scripture never says he was saved from God’s wrath the way Paul teaches here.

Salvation from wrath is something God did not reveal until Paul. In past ages, salvation was future and only if they obeyed, endured, and stayed faithful. But now, because of Christ finished the work, we have salvation, and we shall be saved from wrath.

 

Why does Paul say “shall be saved”?

Because wrath is something future. Our sins are forgiven now. We’re justified now, but wrath is something God’ll pour out later.

Wrath is always the consequence of sin, but God often waits before pouring it out. Romans 1:18 says the wrath of God is revealed, not poured out. It’s known. It’s proven to be deserved, but it’s not happening yet.

No matter how bad we might think this world is today, or at any point in its history for that matter, it doesn’t hold a candle to the terror of God’s coming wrath.

 

By the time we reach Romans 5, Paul’s already shown our guilt, then our justification, then our joy in Christ. Now he explains that when God finally pours out wrath, it will not fall on you and me, those who are now justified by faith in Chris’s blood. That is part of our salvation and shows something simple but important: in this dispensation of grace, God is not pouring out wrath. He’s offering grace.

Romans 5:1 says we have peace with God. Verse 9 says we shall be saved from wrath. By this we know God’s not pouring out judgment today.

 

The Bible shows times past when God was pouring out wrath, but He’s not right now.

That’s why Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 1:10,

And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

 

Jesus hasn’t come yet, so that wrath is still future. We’re not saved out of this present evil world yet—we’re still living in it—but we are saved, in Christ, from that wrath still to come.

So when Paul talks about salvation from wrath, he’s teaching two things:

1. God is dispensing grace, not judgment, right now.
2. Wrath is still coming in the future.

 

Some think that because Paul teaches grace, God’s dropped the whole wrath idea, as if He’s finished being angry forever. But that’s not true. Romans 1:18 says the wrath of God is revealed from heaven.

Romans 2:5 says people with hard hearts are “treasuring up wrath” for the day of wrath. Future! Wrath hasn’t been poured out yet, but it’s building up.

 

People ask, “If God’s loving, why doesn’t He stop evil? They either forget or don’t consider that God’s got a purpose for this earth and for mankind. He isn’t a robot. There’s a time for His love to be shown, and a time for His wrath to be shown. Right now He’s showing His love and the cross is the proof of that. He’s still saving people not pouring out wrath yet.

 

This is the heart of studying the bible rightly dividing the dispensations or the ages.

God does different things at different times. Right now its grace. But wrath is still coming against all ungodliness (Romans 2:5).

 

Paul warns the Colossians and the Ephesians the same way.

Colossians 3:6 says,

For which things’ sake (that’s the things he explained in the previous verse) the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:

Ephesians 5:6 says the same.

That doesn’t mean saved people will face wrath.

Romans 5:9 says we “shall be saved from wrath.” Paul’s simply saying: if you weren’t saved by grace, these sins would bring wrath on you. So don’t act like sin’s OK.

 

Wrath is also taught in prophecy.

In Matthew 3:7, John the Baptist warns about “the wrath to come.” Has that wrath come yet? No!

John 3:36 says the unbeliever has the wrath of God abiding on him. Revelation 14:10 shows the full, terrifying wrath of God poured out without mixture. God’s wrath is real, and it is fearsome.

 

God’s first goal isn’t to get man to love Him.

He wants all men saved.

1 Timothy 2:4 says,

Who (that’s God) will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

 

When we come into the knowledge of the truth then we love Him because we see His love in Him dying for us while we were His enemy and holding back wrath, offering salvation to those who don’t deserve it. And we see, through Romans here, just what He’s given us when we trust in that completed work on the cross.

 

Wrath also appears under Israel’s covenants.

Hebrews 3 reminds Israel how God swore in His wrath that the unbelieving generation would not enter His rest. Their carcasses fell in the wilderness. Hebrews warns them the same could happen again—unbelief brings wrath.

Hebrews explains a lot about the atonement and the reconciling work Christ did. But Hebrews also warns New Covenant Israel that if they sin wilfully, there’s no more sacrifice for sins. That’s Hebrews 10:26.

All this shows one thing:

The dispensation of grace does not cancel the wrath of God.

It only means wrath is delayed while God offers salvation through Christ’s atonement.

Paul says we have the atonement now, but Hebrews says Israel, if they turn away, faces a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation. That’s Hebrews 10:27. That’s wrath.

Under Moses’ law they died without mercy, and Hebrews says the punishment is sorer, or worse, for those who tread underfoot the Son of God after receiving the truth.

 

Hebrews 12:18-22 shows Israel not coming to Mount Sinai with thunder and fire, but coming to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem. That’s wonderful but it’s only if they endure to the end.

If they don’t, they lose it. There’s no more atonement.

They’re receiving a kingdom that cannot be moved, but that kingdom’s not here yet.

Hebrews 12:28-29 says this,

Wherefore we (Israel) receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.

 

But Romans 5 says something far better for us. Much more, being justified by faith, we are saved from wrath.

That’s a blessing national Israel does not have under the New Covenant.

James 4:6 says God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. But today God gives grace through faith, not because we’re humble. Believers can still be proud, but we’re not under wrath.

 

Peter’s epistles also show judgment falling on Israel’s remnant.

1 Peter 4:17 says judgment must begin at the house of God.

That’s not the Body of Christ despite the modern mis association that has the local church building called the “house of God”.

Peter says judgment “is come,” but Paul says we’re saved from wrath. Different programs.

 

2 Peter 3:5–7 reminds Israel of the flood—God’s judgment—and says the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire in the day of judgment. Wrath will come.

Scripture is clear: even after Jesus came and went back to heaven, wrath is still future.

Paul preaches us, the Body of Christ today, that salvation from wrath is by grace through faith, not by works.

 

So, Romans 5:9 says,

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

 

Everything we have is through Christ. Without Him we have nothing.

How do we get into Christ? By trusting His finished work. Then God places us in Him.

 

Romans 5:1 said justification gives us peace with God. Peace means no wrath.

Romans 5:10-11 explains it.

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

 

When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. If we weren’t reconciled we’d still be enemies just as all today who’re not reconciled are God’s enemies.

If God reconciled us when we were sinners and ungodly enemies as Romans 5:8; and Romans 4:5 says He did, then, as verse 10 says, much more, now that we’re reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

 

Wrath is what God pours out on His enemies. Sin makes a person God’s enemy. But Christ died for us while we were enemies, and now we’re reconciled.

So the same reason we have peace and the hope of glory, is the same reason we’re saved from wrath and saved by His life.

 

Romans 5:11 says we have now received the atonement.

The cross is the picture of God’s love. Romans 5:8 showed that love; Romans 5:11 says we possess it now. Paul’s showing the riches of God’s grace toward us—peace, reconciliation, atonement, salvation from wrath, and life in Christ.

 

God is righteous and holy, full of peace, love, and joy. When we live contrary to that, we stand as enemies of all that’s good. Yet, incredibly, God still wants to save His enemies.

That’s why He holds back judgment. Humans don’t love their enemies like that—we want to destroy them. But God never acts rashly. When His wrath finally comes, it’ll be righteous.

 

Many people think and say, “I’m a good person.” But Romans 2–3 shows we’re all sinners. We all deserve wrath.

Titus 3:3–5 says we were foolish and disobedient, but the kindness and love of God appeared. We didn’t fix ourselves. We didn’t turn over a new leaf. That’s impossible.

God showed His love at the cross, so we could be justified by faith.

 

Now, in Romans 5:11, Paul then brings in a new word: reconciled. Reconciliation means restoring a broken relationship. Sin caused a break between us and God.

God didn’t sin, but because of our sin there was separation. Yet God Himself dealt with the problem at the cross. Christ did everything needed. Our part is simply to trust what He did.

2 Corinthians 5:17–19 says if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. All things become new and God has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ. How? Paul explains: God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses. That’s the cross.

Nobody standing there on that day understood it. The soldiers didn’t know. The disciples ran away. But God was working His purpose—making atonement.

 

When Jesus said, “Father, forgive them,” He wasn’t saying their actions were right. He was saying He would not count their sins against them because He went to the cross willingly.

That’s why the idea that God rejected Israel for killing the Messiah is wrong. He purposed to die. He died to reconcile the world. Look at Matthew 26:53-54 at Jesus’s arrest.

Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

 

Jesus could so easily have walked away from the whole terrible experience.

Many preachers today load people with guilt over the cross—talking about the nails, the thorns, the blood, as if we personally killed Him. But the Bible says He died for our sins, not because you and I physically nailed Him there against His will but because it was His will.

The greatest sin is not the crucifixion itself—it’s the sin in every human heart. Christ died for all of it.

 

We preach the glory of the cross, the success of God’s incredible plan, not guilt. If we’re not preaching the cross as the place where we’re crucified with Him and receive the results of His death by grace, we’re not preaching it right.

 

2 Corinthians 5:19–21 says God has given us the word of reconciliation. We’re ambassadors for Christ, begging people, “Be ye reconciled to God.” Christ was made sin for us, though He knew no sin, so we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He died an innocent death—the Son of God, sinless, perfect, God manifest in the flesh.

 

The atonement is finished. The breach is healed on God’s side. But it’s not applied to us until we personally are reconciled to God by faith in the gospel. The Holy Spirit applies that salvation the moment we believe.

 

Romans 5:10 says we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. Paul’s not trying to make us feel guilty as if we personally killed God’s Sonas we’ve said. He’s showing that the very thing we’d think would cause the biggest fight between God and man—the death of His Son—is actually what heals the break between us and God.

If God reconciled us when we were His enemies, then much more, now that we’re at peace with Him, we shall be saved by His life.

 

Christ didn’t stay dead.

If He had, there’d be no proof He was the Son of God. His death paid for sins. That’s the atonement, but His resurrection gives us all the blessings of new life.

If we’re in Christ, we get everything that belongs to Him: His death, His resurrection, His life, His blessings.

Paul later explains that we’re either in Adam or in Christ. If we’re in Christ, we get it all and we’ll see that explained in the next episode.

The death of Christ was the hard work. He humbled Himself, took on flesh, suffered, obeyed, and died as we see in Philippians 2.

Rising from the dead is impossible for us, but not for God.

In John 17 Jesus prayed, “Glorify me,” looking toward the resurrection. His death was suffering; His resurrection is glory. That’s why we preach the glory of the cross, because Jesus is not still dead.

 

Paul says, “Being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Reconciliation means peace with God. Salvation from wrath is a great blessing, but having Christ’s life, eternal life, is grace upon grace. Not only does God spare us from what we deserve, He gives us what we never deserved—Christ’s own life.

 

Paul talks about this in Philippians 3:10–11. Facing death, he says he wants to know Christ, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings.

The hard part for us is this life and death we face now. The glory comes later. Paul wanted to “attain unto the resurrection,” meaning he wanted to experience the glory Christ now has.

 

How do we know we’ll get that glory?

Because we’re justified by faith, at peace with God, reconciled by Christ’s death.

If God reconciled us when we were His enemy, why wouldn’t He give us His life now that we belong to Him?

 

2 Timothy 2:8 says,

Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my (Paul’s) gospel:

 

The resurrection was prophesied, but Paul explains why Christ rose—to give you and me eternal riches in glory. Christ is in glory now.

 

Colossians 3:2–4 says this,

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

 

Because He lives, you and I can have guaranteed glory.

 

The wonderful Ephesians 2:5–7 says when we were dead in sins, God quickened us or gave us life from the dead, with Christ, raised us up, and seated us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

We’re still on earth, but our position is already with Him. In the ages to come, God will show the exceeding riches of His grace toward us through Christ.

 

Romans 5:10 says we’re saved by His life and since His life is eternal, our life is eternal.

Romans 5:21 says grace now reigns “unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” while Romans 6:23 says the gift of God is eternal life through Christ. That’s the life we have because we’re justified and reconciled.

 

In Romans 8 Paul asks, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

If God gave His Son to die for us when we were His enemy, then much more, now that we’re reconciled, He will “freely give us all things”. That’s Romans 8:32.

Nobody can lay a charge against us, because God‘s the one who justifies. Nobody can condemn us, because Christ died and rose again and now intercedes for us. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. The gospel gives us everything.

 

Philippians 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord alway.” Earthly joys—food, rest, comfort—are all temporary. But joy in the Lord never runs out. The more we set our mind on what Christ has done, the less miserable we are in this life, even in tribulation.

 

Just a few chapters earlier, Romans 3 showed us nothing but guilt—every mouth stopped, all the world guilty. But now Paul speaks of joy, not guilt. Romans 8:15 says God has not given us the spirit of fear, but the Spirit of adoption. We’re not under the bondage of the law anymore. We’re a son, freely given all things. That’s why we can joy in God.

 

Paul says in Romans 5:11 we’ve now received the atonement, Christ’s work on the cross, the full payment for sins. Christ died once, long before Paul wrote Romans. But we receive the atonement the moment we believe the gospel.

The Holy Spirit seals us, applies the cross to us, and gives us forgiveness, justification, reconciliation, and every blessing in Christ. It’s not something we wait for in the future. It’s a present possession.

 

So Romans 5 teaches that:

• We’re reconciled by Christ’s death.
• We’re saved by His life.
• We have eternal life now.
• We joy in God now.
• We have the atonement now.
• And our future glory is guaranteed because He lives.

 

Israel’s Day of Atonement in Leviticus 23:26-32 was a holy day with deep meaning. God told Moses that on the tenth day of the seventh month Israel must “afflict your souls” and bring an offering. All year long the priests made daily sacrifices, but on this one day the high priest entered the Holy of Holies with the blood of the goat and made atonement for the whole nation.

Only Israel’s priests could do this. Gentiles could receive blessing through Israel, but they could not make atonement. All of this pointed to Christ, the true High Priest and final atonement.

 

The Day of Atonement pictured Christ’s cross. The blood was shed, but the full national forgiveness for the nation of Israel won’t be applied until the kingdom comes. The blood’s ready, but the kingdom’s not here yet.

That’s why Jews on Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement, still “afflict their souls.”

They mourn their sins, because according to the law, if they don’t humble themselves, they’re “cut off” in Leviticus 23:29. It’s not a day of joy until after the sacrifice is made.

 

Some churches treat the Lord’s Supper like this, sombre, guilty and heavy, like we must feel pain before God forgives us. But that’s not what Paul teaches.

Under the law, affliction came before atonement, but in Romans 5:11 Paul says we now have the atonement, so we joy in God. The affliction is over. The sacrifice is finished. There is no more “I must confess and feel guilty so God will forgive me.” That denies the power of Christ’s blood.

 

Paul says nothing in Romans 5 about water, rituals, or ceremonies. All these blessings—peace, justification, reconciliation, salvation from wrath—come by faith, not by touching water or repeating confessions.

 

Israel still waits for their national atonement. Peter preached in Acts 3:19 that Israel’s sins “shall be blotted out” when Christ returns and brings the “times of refreshing.” When He comes back, He’ll bring the atonement to the whole nation. But only those who “afflict their souls” in repentance will enter that kingdom.

If Israel refuses to humble themselves, they’ll not receive that promised atonement.

 

But that’s not our hope, those in the Body of Christ. We’re not looking for an earthly kingdom. Christ already bore our affliction. Our atonement is now, not future.

Peter speaks of salvation “ready to be revealed in the last time” in 1 Peter 1:5, but Paul says in Romans 5 that we’re already saved from wrath, already saved by His life, and already have received the atonement.

 

Our forgiveness is not waiting on a holy day. It’s not waiting on a kingdom. It is not waiting on our sorrow. It’s finished at the cross and applied the moment we believe.

 

Peter talks about salvation as future, not present.

In 1 Peter 1:5 he says it will be “revealed in the last time.”

In verse 7 he says their faith is tried with fire so it might be found to praise and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

In verse 9 he says they receive quote, “the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”

In verse 13 he tells them to quote “hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

So Peter keeps pointing to Christ’s return, His second coming, for them to get salvation and grace in full.

 

Paul’s different.

He says we have salvation now. We glory in the cross (Galatians 6:14).

In 1 Corinthians 1:18 the King James says the preaching of the cross is to “us which are saved” the power of God.

Some newer Bibles say “being saved,” like it’s a process. That fits Peter, Hebrews, and James, but not Paul’s message of a present possession. Paul alone talks about us already being saved, already having peace with God, and already having the atonement.

 

So when trouble comes, we don’t have to ask, “Is God punishing me? Do I need to beg forgiveness again?” No, we already have the atonement. Romans 6 will deal with sin and our daily walk here on this earth, but Romans 5 first settles our standing with God and our grace, peace, joy, hope.

 

Now, there’s a translation issue in Romans 5:11 where it says “we have now received the atonement.”

Some say “atonement” is wrong and should be “reconciliation,” because the Greek word is usually translated that way.

However “Atonement” is not an error. It fits the context perfectly.

In English, “atonement” includes the idea of reconciliation, and the Bible itself uses words in more than one sense depending on context. We don’t need to know Greek to see that.

Using different words actually helps us learn. When Paul says justified by faith and then justified by His blood, we learn something.

When Romans 5:10 says reconciliation and then verse 11 says atonement, we learn that the two are connected. Atonement is the sacrificial payment for sins that results in reconciliation. If atonement is made, reconciliation is provided.

The King James translators stated in their preface that they purposely used different English words for the same Greek word to help the reader understand more.

That’s one reason we can trust the King James because it ties the Old Testament and New Testament together.

We’ve included a screenshot of one of these statements from the 1611 KJV Bible below.

 

Romans 5:11 says we have now received the atonement but Israel in the Old Testament received atonement through sacrifices. Paul’s showing the cross is the finished sacrifice, and we receive its benefits now by faith.

Atonement also fits the context of joy.

In the Old Testament, Israel afflicted their souls before the atonement, then rejoiced afterward. Paul says we “joy in God… now receiving the atonement.” The affliction’s over, the sacrifice is done and we stand in joy.

 

Atonement also helps to understand God’s different dispensations.

National Israel has the promise of atonement under the New Covenant, but it’s not applied to them yet. Romans 11:25–27 says Israel will be saved in the future when the Deliverer comes and “takes away their sins.” That’s atonement applied at Christ’s return, His second coming. Christ already made the atonement, but He hasn’t returned yet to apply it to Israel nationally.

But for us, under the revelation of the mystery in the dispensation of Grace, in the Body of Christ today which includes individual Jews and Gentiles, the atonement is finished and applied now.

We already have forgiveness, reconciliation, peace, and joy through Christ.