In his letter to the Romans the apostle Paul is a painting a portrait of humanity.
In Romans 1:18ff he begins his portrait in dark colours as he sketches the lost condition of all humanity. The first colours of light emerge in Romans 3:21, as he sheds light on God's solution to man's great problem, as he paints in bold strokes the doctrine of justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone!
And then Paul inserts the picture of an OT man, Abraham. Paul makes the point that God always justifies His people (Abraham included) in the same way -by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Truly, by faith Abraham saw the day of Christ, and he rejoiced!
This is the unfolding picture of our salvation, and as we now come to the 5th Chapter we shall find even more light colours added to this portrait as we consider the outcome of God's saving work in our lives. This is where the doctrine of justification is applied – where it becomes intensely personal and practical. The connection between Romans 4 and 5 begins with the word ‘therefore’.
5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith (just the way Abraham was), we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We now come to some of the great out-workings of the experience of being justified, the first which is peace with God (5:1). The other results of justification follow:
- "access by faith into this grace in which we stand" (5:2a);
- "rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God”(5:2b)
- In 3:3–5 follows a wonderful statement on how Christians can cope with their temporary sufferings
- In 5:5b-11 Paul overpowers us once more with statements about the immensity of the love of Jesus, through whom we are ultimately reconciled to God, and therefore we now have peace with God.
Today we simply want to revel in the thought of having peace with God.
This is the first- fruit of justification (being right with God). A deep sense of peace! This is ultimately the deepest longing of the human soul. While there are many ways in which people seek to be at peace in this world (and spend endless money to find it), the biggest human need is ultimately to have peace with God. Augustine (354-430 AD), Africa's greatest theologian is right when he says, "Oh Lord, our hearts are restless until they are found in Thee"! He may as well have said, ... "until they have peace with thee." The greatest question for every human being is ultimately this – How will I stand before God? How will He admit me into His heaven?
Thankfully the Bible does not keep us guessing. The assurance of peace with God is a biblical reality and it is the direct result of having been justified by faith through the Lord Jesus Christ.
In this regard we want to consider three aspects:
1. What is the nature of this peace?
2. Do I have this peace?
3. The danger of a false sense of peace.
1. The Nature of this Peace
a. The problem of ‘no peace‘
Our first parents, Adam and Eve were created in God's image.
- They were created for fellowship with God.
- They were created for obedience to God.
- But they deliberately chose to disobey the clear command of God in Genesis 2:17.
This act brought about God's judgment.
- They were driven out from His presence (Gen 3:24).
- From this moment there was no peace between them and God, and there was no peace between them.
- The dreadful
results of this first act of disobedience have affected every subsequent son
and daughter of Adam. Isaiah laments
in 59:8, “The way of peace they do not know, and there is no
justice in their paths; they have made the roads crooked; no one who treads on
them knows peace.”
And so, as early as Genesis 4 we find a murder in the first family.
There is a great restlessness that sets in among
the sons and daughters of men. It gets so bad that by the time we get to Genesis
6, God calls a halt! His wrath
upon mankind is demonstrated in a catastrophic flood. Only Noah, a righteous
man in his day and his family had escaped the wrath of God. Sadly, after the
flood, their subsequent generations were no better than those that lived before
the flood. Clearly, whilst the flood washed all evildoers
away, it did not wash the effects of the fall and sin away. And so, sin continues from the generations of
Noah until this day.
Paul rightly says in Romans 3:10:
“There is no one righteous – not even one...!“ See how Paul puts this in Romans 5:
- We are by nature weak and ungodly (5:6).
- We are by nature sinners (5:8).
- We are by nature enemies of God (Rom 5:10).
There can be no peace between enemies, unless
that conflict is somehow resolved. This is where the all-important work of
Christ comes in
b. The solution to the problem is first described in Rom 3:21ff. This is the gospel. This is the Good News.
- It begins with God's initiative: a righteousness from God is revealed (3:21a)
- The OT law and prophets knew about it (3:21b)
- That righteousness is given to those who believe in Jesus (3:22)
- Those who believe are justified by His grace as a gift (3:24a)
- They are redeemed by Jesus Christ (3:24b)
- By Christ's blood the wrath of God is satisfied (3:25)
- This gospel is for all who believe- Jews and Gentiles (3:29,30).
- This gospel even saves OT believers – the example of Abraham is given. He by faith trusted in God and he looked forward to the fulfilment of God's promises in Christ. (Rom 4)
·
This faith leads to
justification and this justification brings peace (Rom. 5:1)
There are two sides to this peace:
- We have peace with God
- God has peace with us.
The first aspect, "we have peace with God" is the one we tend to think mostly of. We must know experientially that all our sins are forgiven.
But since the process of peace always involves two parties we must also be assured, secondly, that God must be at peace with us. And indeed, God is at peace with those who are justified. That important word, propitiation (Rom. 3:25) deals with the wrath of God against the sinner. He laid our sins on Jesus. He poured out His righteous wrath on the Lord Jesus Christ. We call this substitutionary atonement.
How much must God have loved us to put our
sins on Jesus!
1. It is a truth that the Holy Spirit applies to my heart and mind. This is a truth which I cannot settle in my mind alone, although my mind will have a part in this. The experience of peace is one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22). While people may intellectually understand the doctrine of Christ’s substitutionary atonement, only the Holy Spirit can settle this truth experientially in our heart... and so we find it written in Philippians 4:7: "...and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus.
2. I have peace with God when I know that God loves me. We say this based on Romans 5:5: “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Again, please note that this is an important part of the work of the Holy Spirit. Love is actually the first fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal.5:22). He gives me this inner assurance that I am loved although I still appear to be a very imperfect person. Before I was saved I could not say for certain, God loves me. But Romans 5:6 – 11 is the proof. I can feel the love of God. Therefore, I can feel at peace with God.
3. I have peace with God when I experience joy in all my circumstances. I have peace when my outward circumstances no longer dictate my level of joy (Rom. 5:3-5). A person at peace with God can even rejoice in their sufferings. It is even possible to gain better perspective from sufferings. My joy in the knowledge of my justification overshadows everything else. Even the worst thing I might face, which is death, even that is no terror to me. I know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. I possess the peace of God that passes all understanding.
Can you see that a firm grasp of the doctrine of justification and its effects can do so much to settle the matter of peace in your soul?
Characteristics of False peace
We end with a note on false experiences of peace. This is unfortunately a reality. We must deal with it. Satan is the master of counterfeit. He masquerades as an angel of light.
1. Be aware of those who speak "peace,
peace when there is no peace!” (e.g. Jer.
6:14) - describing the superficial treatment of deep problems by those who
offer false assurances of peace, while ignoring underlying issues of sin and
idolatry.
2. We do not possess peace with God simply
by believing in Christ. Even the demons do that (Jas.
2:19). Saving faith is trusting in Christ,
by loving Him with all your heart. Saving faith means to bear fruit. If you love Him, you will obey Him. If you
fail as a Christian, you will be quick to repent. Believing in Christ is not simply an intellectual thing. It includes that but it goes beyond that when we love the Lord Jesus with all our heart and in word and in deed .
3. In
fact, we do cannot possess peace with God if we sit lightly on sin.
4. We do not have peace with God simply
because we never seem to be troubled by doubts, and fears. People that do not have real peace with God are often much
too glib. Everything is always fine with them. That is not surprising, because
the devil makes sure that his own are kept happy. A true Christian who has peace with God, may
be in fact be subjected at times to questions and even doubt. It is not a sign of
ungodliness or a lack of faith. God may be at work at times to show you that
none of your inner resources will keep you faithful to Himself (the experience
of Job). But if this God is your God, He will always come back to show you that He is ultimately your
Shepherd and Keeper of your soul. Your experience of peace in the midst of suffering will become even
profounder. Christians will persevere
because God perseveres with them.
5. We do not have peace with God if we harbour
unforgiveness against others. Matt. 6:14,15 teaches that God will
not forgive my sins if I nurture an unforgiving spirit. I will not be at peace
with God.
Next time we will continue to mine this text
for some more of its great riches, and to furnish us with a fuller picture, a
brighter picture, of the justifying work that Jesus has accomplished for us on
the cross – that our joy may be full.
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