Romans 5
1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Struggles, worries, anxiety and selfish desires; all these are distractions from our relationship with God. The latter is probably the catalyst of the others. Our sense of entitlement is often more powerful of a force within us then the knowledge that we have been justified by faith.
Why is it so important that we have this kind of peace with God? First and foremost, there is no other kind of peace. God is just. Any claim made against God that He is not fair is an unjust claim. Being just, holy, perfect, God cannot and will not tolerate sin nor will He abide in the presence of sin. With sin in our lives we remain estranged from God. There are no human solutions. You may claim that you have no quarrel with God but your sin says otherwise.
Then comes the cross of Calvary and the blood of Christ. Because of what Jesus did, God’s wrath is satisfied. Our complaints that God is unfair would be true if He did not deal with all sin, including our sin. A penalty had to be paid and that penalty was paid with the blood of Christ. Accepting this is what puts us at peace with God.
The formula truly makes perfect sense. God is just and must deal with sin. God takes on the form of a human in the person of Jesus Christ and then gives His life as the payment for sin. He satisfies His own wrath and by doing this He remains just. He did not ignore sin. He then extended His grace to us having satisfied His own standard of justice and allows us to retain our free will. This gives us the freedom to accept His offer of grace or to ignore His offer of grace. Imagine that; the only freedom we have to reject His grace comes from the work on the cross.
It is both clear and confusing; clear if we accept it; confusing if we over think it. Once accepted it puts us at peace with God. It really is that simple.
This simplicity does not give us leave to remain ignorant. This peace allows us to have fellowship with God. We become friends of God and as friends we have the privilege of working with Him as He continues to redeem those who have yet to accept His offer of grace and join in the fellowship of all believers.
