Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Peace with God; Peace in Life
What one thing are you most worried about today? Now I don’t want to get you thinking about the wrong thing, but all of us have things on our minds that worry us. There are things that we are puzzling over or about which we are trying to decide. Our minds are occupied by things that boil down to problems or worries. Whatever it is that you are worried about as a child of the King, the fact of the matter is, it is a different question than it would be to those who are without Christ.
If I asked the average man on the street, “What is the biggest thing you have to worry about today?” it might actually be the thing that he is not actually thinking about. Most people are worried about tomorrow, the next day, and the next day. They think that if they can have a great job and significance in life, that eventually they will have the time to think about the big things like eternity and their relationship with God.
They think that by being a success here they will have peace there, in eternity. They have got the wrong end of the funnel up, as my grandfather used to say. It is your peace with God that gives you peace in life. That is not to say there aren’t problems or concerns today, but it is to say that if eternity is settled, then all the others things about which we worry are put into perspective.
Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The previous chapters have been talking about the One Who justifies. The Bible calls the Lord both the “just and the Justifier.” When we speak of justifying ourselves before people, we are talking about the act of making excuses. God doesn’t make excuses. God makes a way of salvation. He is both just and the One Who justifies others by the sacrifice of His Son on the cross. So God can be just while justifying sinners like us. Because we are justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Then the Bible says, “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Because of our faith, we have access into this supernatural enabling that justifies. This peace with God allows us to stand and rejoice both now and in eternity.
Paul goes on to say, “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope.” We have hope because we have put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. If God be for us, who can be against us? I am not trying to be trite or trivial. There are things that may be significant in your life right now about which you need help, but the point is that problems take on perspective when you realize that the biggest problem has been taken care of by your faith in the work of Jesus Christ.
Friend, if you don’t have to worry about eternity any more, then you really don’t need to fret about tomorrow. The same God Who is worthy of our dependence for all eternity is certainly worthy of our dependence for the next five days. We have peace with God, not because of what we have done, but because of what Jesus did. Our faith in that Savior is the same faith which gives us access to stand and rejoice, even in the midst of problems that happen right here and right now.