A WORLD OF ENEMIES
ROMANS 5:1-11
Key verse: v. 10, “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.”
Introduction:
Every friend of God before the time of Christ and today is a TRANSFORMED ENEMY. No man is a friend of God by nature. He is the enemy of God. It all started in the Garden of Eden. The reason why the world does not appreciate what happened on Calvary’s Cross, is that they have never yet realized what happened in the Garden of Eden or they are not willing to admit it. Man became God’s enemy there.
I. NO MAN IS A FRIEND OF GOD BY NATURE
A. It is the NATURE of man TO SIN just as it is the nature of a fish to swim. Ephesians 2:2, “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:”
1. We were LIARS, John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
a. By NOT believing God we make Him a LIAR, John 5:10b, “He that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.”
2. We were children of disobedience, Ephesians 2:2, “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:”
3. We were children of wrath, Ephesians 2:3, “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”
4. We were condemned without Christ, John 3:18, “He that believeth on him is NOT condemned: but he that believeth not is CONDEMNED ALREADY, because he HATH NOT BELIEVED in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
B. The friend of the world is the enemy of God, James 4:4b, “Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
1. The love of the WORLD keeps the love of the Father OUT of your life, 1 John 2:15b, “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
2. No man can serve two masters, Luke 16:13, “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (riches — where it is personified and opposed to God)
II. EVERY FRIEND OF GOD TODAY IS A TRANSFORMED ENEMY
A. Man who has trusted Christ as Savior, has been made ALIVE, Ephesians 2:1, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;”
B. He, who has trusted Christ, is a NEW MAN, Ephesians 4:24, “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
1. He is to be CONFORMED to the IMAGE of Christ, Romans 8:29, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
2. He is to PUT OFF the OLD man, Ephesians 4:22, “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;”
a. The old man was CRUCIFIED WITH Christ, Romans 6:6, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
b. The DEEDS of the old man have been put off, Colossians 3:9, “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;”
D. The NEW man is RECONCILED with God, Romans 5:10, “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.”
E. We have been TRANSFORMED from enemies to FRIENDS of God, Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
F. This reconciliation is BY FAITH in Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:18, “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;”
1. Jesus is the MEDIATOR between God and man, 1 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”
2. Jesus made PEACE between God and man, Colossians 1:20, “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.”
CONCLUSION
NO MAN has ever been able to APPROACH God because of his SIN. That sin had ALIENATED him from the God of heaven. In Jesus Christ we have RECONCILIATION. PEACE with God has been made through Him. There is NO NEED to REMAIN the ENEMY of God for Christ has REMOVED the BARRIER by shedding His own blood on the Cross of Calvary.
By FAITH in Christ you can BE TRANSFORMED into the FRIEND OF GOD rather than the enemy of God.