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.