Romans 5:1 “Therefore,
since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ.”
Although
Romans covers in great detail the new status of righteousness that we
enjoy in Christ by faith alone, he still has much to say about how this status
of righteousness is constituted. The 1828
Webster’s dictionary defines the word “righteousness” as Purity of heart and rectitude of life; conformity of heart and life to
the divine law. Righteousness, as used in Scripture and theology, in which it
is chiefly used, is nearly equivalent to holiness, comprehending holy
principles and affections of heart, and conformity of life to the divine law.
It includes all we call justice, honesty and virtue, with holy affections; in
short, it is true religion. The cause of our justification.Given
that the gospel message of what it means to be righteous in Christ is such good
news, it is unsurprising that Paul gets caught up describing all the benefits
we enjoy as a consequence of justification. Paul pauses in the midst of his
teaching on justification to answer this question: what does being declared
righteous in Christ mean for us now? Romans 5:1 gives us the first part of that
answer. Because we have been justified, we have peace with God. I came across
this exposition on peace with God that I’s like to share today.
John
3:35-36 “The Father loves
the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the
Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see
life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
We
cannot understand the full ramifications of this peace unless we are fully
convinced of
what our relationship to our Creator was truly like before we knew Jesus.
Scripture describes
this relationship as an all-out war. I’ve have always said that you cannot be
saved until you know that you are lost. My old mentor Bill Stiles had a similar
says; You don’t know and understand what you are “saved to” until you know and
understand what you have been “saved from”. Contrary to many popular ideas
about God and humanity, the Lord’s attitude toward fallen men and women who are
outside of Christ is not one of kind benevolence or even neutral toleration. To
be sure, our Maker is kind to some degree even to His enemies, but His disposition
toward impenitent sinners is hostility and hatred. His bow is aimed at sinners, and He will release the arrows of the full
fury of His wrath against people who remain opposed to Him (Psalm 7:12–13). Because no one seeks
the Lord apart from grace (Romans 3:9–18),
this means that His wrath is directed at every man, woman, and child who is not
in Christ.
1 John
5:11-13 “And this is the
testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He
who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have
life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the
Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue
to believe in the name of the Son of God.”
The
Old Testament prophets understood this quite well, and they saw that God was at war
with even the covenant community of Israel because of its sin. We read
continual warnings about the consequences of this war in Scripture, namely the
destruction of the exile, which foreshadows the eternal judgment of those who
reject the Lord’s rightful reign . But the prophets foresaw a great day of
salvation when God would save His people and bring them shalom—peace—ruling
them by His anointed king. This shalom is not the mere end of hostilities but
is much more. Shalom is a holistic concept, a condition in which people enjoy
complete and permanent well-being. Romans 5:1 tells us that because we are
justified, we enjoy this (peace with God) shalom.
Romans
6:23 “For the wages of
sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord.”
Perhaps
the most important thing to understand about shalom is that it can never be
lost. Jesus has not brokered a fragile cease-fire with God, such that a full-scale
inferno can erupt at the slightest provocation. Instead, He has brought us a
peace that can never be lost. If we are truly in Christ, we will never become
His enemies again. Christ is our peace, so for us there is no more war with
God. John
10:27-29 “My sheep hear My
voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life,
and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My
Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able
to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”
Ephesians
2:1-5 “And you He
made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once
walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among
whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath,
just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love
with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us
alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).”