Good Morning Friends,
“Therefore, since we have been justified
through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through
whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And
we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in
our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us,
because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he
has given us.” (Romans 5:1-5)
To be justified means that we stand in right
relationship with God. Because of what Jesus has done and our faith in His
finished work on the cross, we have a right relationship with God. Because of
our faith in the sacrifice of Jesus, God puts our sins on His account and that
makes our account with God clean. When we are in Christ, from God’s perspective
it is as if we have never sinned. Our relationship with Him, that had been marred
by our sin, has been restored and made right again. So, what benefit to us is a
right relationship with God. Paul outlines several benefits.
We have peace with God. (verse 1) Everything
that was wrong with our relationship with God has been made right. The tension
that existed between us and God has been removed.
We have access to God’s grace. (verse 2) God’s
grace encompasses all of the things that God provides us that we do not
deserve. All of those things are made possible by our restored relationship
with Him and is the result of our faith.
We have the hope of the glory of God. (verse
2) Our restored relationship makes it possible for us to see and experience
God’s glory. That is our hope, a hope that comes to us only by our faith – a
hope in a future dwelling amidst God’s glory.
Even our sufferings are a benefit of the
restored relationship we have with God. (verse 3) It’s not that our faith
causes us to enjoy suffering now, but that in our restored relationship with God,
He takes our sufferings and uses them to accomplish positive things in our
lives, developing our character through them.
We have the Holy Spirit in our hearts. (verse
5) God’s power and presence is always with us through the indwelling gift of
His Holy Spirit in our lives.
All of these blessings and many more come to
us because our relationship with God has been made right through our faith in
what Jesus has done for us on the cross.
Thank God!
His, by Grace,
Steve
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