Peace with God

 

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Romans 5:1 ESV

 

As we live our lives here in this world, they feel anything but peaceful. If anything, they tend to feel messy and chaotic. The constant problems and difficulties that we face make it feel anything but peaceful. And peace, then, is the one thing we crave.

 

The same is true when it comes to our relationship with God. Few of us feel at peace with God. Our faith in him, our relationship with him, feels more like a wrestling match than it does one of peace.

 

It feels like a wrestling match as we deal with questions and doubts. It feels like a wrestling match as we struggle with our sinful desires and tendencies. It feels like a wrestling match as we often find ourselves experiencing the consequences of not only our own mistakes and failures, but also those of others.

 

This, then, causes us to question our faith. It causes us to question our relationship with the Lord. It causes us to doubt our standing with God. It causes us to do so because we don’t think it should be so difficult.

 

What we fail to realize is that having peace with God, or being in a state of peace with God, has nothing to do with our feelings.  And it has nothing to do with our circumstances. Being at peace with God is not subjective in any way whatsoever.

 

Being at peace with God is an objective reality. It transcends our feelings. And it rises above our circumstances.

 

We have peace with God not because we feel at peace. We have peace with God not because life is easy. And we have peace with God not because our faith seems easy in the moment.

 

We have peace with God because of Jesus. We have peace with God because of what he has done for us. We have peace with God because of the blessings he has provided to us.

 

Paul explains, in the verse above, that it’s because we’ve been justified by faith that we have peace with God. Because we have received justification, because we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God. Because, by faith in Christ, we have received his forgiveness and salvation, we have peace with God.

 

What this indicates is that we are no longer in a state of hostility with the Lord. We’re no longer in a state of enmity with God. While we were once enslaved by sin, facing each of its consequences, this is true of us no more.

 

We are now the people of God. We are now the children of God. We are now his redeemed.

 

For this reason, even if our life seems messy and chaotic in the moment, we know that we have peace with God because of Jesus. Even if questions and doubts are assailing us, we know that we have peace with God because of Jesus. And even if we’re struggling with sinful desires and tendencies, we know that we have peace with God because of Jesus.

 

This peace that we have has nothing to do with us, and everything to do with him. It has nothing to do with our feelings, and everything to do with him. And it has nothing to do with our circumstances, but everything to do with him.

The Source of Assurance

 

“That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all…”

(Romans 4:16 ESV)

 

Although we know the gospel, that we are saved by the grace of God alone through faith in Christ alone, we revert to trusting in the law for salvation. We begin to depend, again, upon the works of the law to attain for ourselves the forgiveness of sins. Our sinful nature leads us to depend upon ourselves, rather than Christ, to gain the mercy that we need.

 

The result of this is that we have no peace. We have no assurance of salvation. We can never know if we’re good enough, or if we’ve done enough, to satisfy the righteous requirements of God.

 

And this leaves us in a state of doubt. It leaves us in a state of uncertainty. It leaves us in a state of worry, concerned that we may be found to have fallen short.

 

We see from this why the gospel is truly good news. We see from this why it is essential. It alone can provide for us the assurance of salvation.

 

This is what Paul is addressing in the verse above. He tells us that the promise of God, given to Abraham, depends not upon law, but upon faith. And the promise to which he refers is that he and his descendants were to be heirs of the world.

 

He points out in verses 14-15 that if it’s the adherents of the law who are to be heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. Faith and the promise are empty and meaningless because law brings only wrath. Because of our sinful nature, we will always fall short. And, in this way, our dependance upon the law brings only condemnation.

 

In that case, there is no assurance of salvation. Worse yet, there is the assurance of only judgment. There is the assurance only of condemnation.

 

However, because it depends upon faith, the promise of God is guaranteed. It’s guaranteed to all who share the faith of Abraham. And it’s guaranteed because it depends not upon us, but upon God.

 

For this reason, no longer are we left in a state of doubt. No longer are we left in a state of uncertainty. We know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that we are inheritors of every blessing promised to us by God.

In Christ

 “This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3:25-26‬ ‭ESV‬‬

There are two common objections put forward by those who do not believe in the God of the Bible or who, at the very least, refuse the message of the gospel. Some object that God is not loving. And others tell us that he is not just.

The first struggle with the fact that God will not accept their chosen lifestyle, or that of a loved one. They struggle with what he declares to be sinful. And they struggle with the fact that God will not simply overlook our wrongdoing. This, they tell us, is not loving.

The second struggle with the fact that some seem to have somehow escaped the consequences of their wrongdoing. It appears to them that God has left those, deserving of condemnation, off the hook. And this, they say, is not just.

Some struggle with this, believing that these two character traits are mutually exclusive. They don’t believe it’s possible for one person to be both loving and just. They don’t believe that it’s possible, at the same time, to be equitable and tenderhearted.

We see in the above passage, however, that God is both loving and just. We see that he is both fair and merciful. And we see this in reality in Jesus himself.

Paul tells us that God is both just, as well as the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. He tells us how, in Jesus, the Lord demonstrates both qualities. He reveals to us how, in Jesus, he fulfills both roles.

In Jesus, we see that God is just. And we see his justice in the fact that he has not allowed the deserved consequences of our sin to go unpaid. He ensured that the righteous requirements of the law were fully satisfied.

He did so through the death of his Son. He did so by allowing Jesus to die on the cross. In this way, he served as the propitiation, or as the atoning sacrifice, for the sin of all men.

This reveals to us, also, that God is loving. Rather than allowing us to bear the consequences of our sin, he did it for us. And, in this way, he’s made forgiveness and salvation available to all mankind.

This blessing is available to all people through faith in Jesus. It’s received, it’s obtained, by trusting in him. It’s received by trusting in the salvation he has provided for us and by believing his promises.

By Which Means Are We Chosen?

 

“For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.”

(Romans 2:28-29 ESV)

 

When we think of the Jewish identity, we tend to think of an ethnic identity. Although we realize that a particular faith was held and practiced by the people, we continue to think of them in terms of their race. And knowing that the people of Israel were both called and used by God, we tend to believe that they are his chosen people.

 

We believe that they are his chosen people regardless of their faith, or lack of faith, in Jesus. We believe that they are his chosen people regardless of our understanding of the gospel. Even knowing that we are saved only by the grace of God through faith in Jesus, we maintain our belief that they will receive God’s salvation.

 

They certainly believe this about themselves as well. They believe that their ethnicity, they believe the fact that they are descended from Abraham, makes them part of God’s people. They trust also in their ceremonies, believing that, because they are circumcised, they are part of God’s people.

 

As Christians, we sometimes believe the same about ourselves. We look not to the gospel for the assurance of our salvation.  And we look not to Christ. We look instead to outward factors.

 

We count ourselves Christian, we count ourselves as part of God’s people, because we have Christian parents and were raised in a Christian household. We count ourselves Christian, and count ourselves part of God’s people, because we are members of a church. We count ourselves Christian, and count ourselves part of God’s people, because we attended Sunday School as children.

 

We do so regardless of our faith, or our lack of faith, in Jesus. We do so regardless of our understanding of the gospel. And we do so regardless of the clear teaching of Scripture.

 

As we look at the passage above, Paul crushes this belief in no uncertain terms. He says that no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly. And he says that circumcision is not merely outward and physical.

 

A Jew, he says, is one inwardly. In other words, it’s a matter of faith. Circumcision, likewise, is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit.

 

So, a person is not a Jew merely because of his heritage. And he is not a Jew merely because he is circumcised. It’s his faith that makes him a Jew, and his faith that makes him part of the people of God.

 

The same principle, then, applies to us. Our standing before God is not a matter of birthright. Nor is it something that comes to us by mere ceremony. It’s a matter of faith. It comes to us, as the free gift of God, through our ongoing trust in the Savior.