Today’s reading: 1 Samuel 1; Romans 5
Paul opens Romans 5 with a really profound statement:
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
There is no way we could actually be at peace with the Lord other than that our justification is by faith and not by the law.
If our justification before the Lord were based on our own works or merits, we could never have assurance of our salvation. Even if we could know, at any given point in time, that we were right with the Lord, that would say nothing of our standing before Him at the time of our death. We would be left in a perpetual state of uncertainty, meaning we could never truly be at peace in our relationship with God.
Since salvation is based on faith in Jesus though, and we are not appealing to God on the basis of our own works or merits, but on those of Jesus Himself, we can truly have full assurance of our salvation and thus have peace with God. Jesus was perfect and His purchase of our salvation is sure and unchanging. The character and sinlessness of Jesus is not dependent on our goodness or sinlessness on a given day. The payment Jesus made on the cross is not increased or diminished by how much we have or haven’t been going to church, reading the bible, praying, etc. Because Jesus is constant, and because His sacrifice is always sufficient, if our faith is in Him, we can have a confident assurance we could never otherwise have.
It all comes down to the very simple question, “Is your faith in Jesus for your salvation?” If the answer is yes, then it doesn’t matter what you’ve done in your past or what you’re struggling with today, you can know with full assurance that you are saved and have peace with God. If the answer is anything other than yes (whether it’s a “No” or an “I’m not sure”), it doesn’t matter if you answered an altar call at some point or if you’ve prayed some sinner’s prayer, it doesn’t matter how many good things you’ve done or how many sins you’ve avoided, it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve gone to confession or taken communion, you do not have salvation and there is no peace with God.
Because we are justified by faith in the unchanging, eternal, perfect Son of God, we have a peace with our Heavenly Father that would truly be impossible to have any other way.
Praise God for the unfathomable gift of grace, which He has poured out on us through His Son.
No comments:
Post a Comment