#DailyDevotion The Peace Of God In Christ Jesus Goes A Long Way
Romans 5:1–5 Now that we have been declared righteous through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2who gave us access to God’s grace, in which we stand. We boast in the hope of God’s glory. 3More than that, we also boast of our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces patient endurance, and patient endurance produces a genuine Christian character; and a genuine Christian character produces hope.4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5In this hope we’re not disappointed, because the Holy Spirit, Who has been given to us, poured God’s love into our hearts.
So, God credits our faith in Jesus Christ, who he is, what he did, and what he promises us as righteousness. This faith itself is a gift from God when we hear this good news of who Jesus is, what he did and what he promises to do for us. If we are counted as and declared righteous through faith in Christ then we can stand before God with a clear conscience and have peace with God. At any moment in time we can remember how God looks at us in Christ Jesus and know and believe God is at peace with us and us with God. The good news is that we have this access to God’s grace not based on what we do but through our LORD Jesus Christ. If we look at ourselves we cannot have peace with God because if we are honest with ourselves we will see nothing but our sins, perhaps we may see works wrought by God the Holy Spirit, but even then we see them tainted by sin. So we must always look to Jesus as our access, our means, to God the Father and have peace with him.
St. Paul also says, on account of this we boast in the hope of God’s glory. If we have God’s righteousness through faith in Christ Jesus we also will have God’s glory. Some Christians seem to be pretty limited with the grace of God in Christ Jesus. They say, “If I am forgiven, that is enough.” That may be true, but after eating your broccoli and brussel sprouts, you probably don’t stop there but you proceed to the porterhouse steak and double chocolate fudge cake with chocolate syrup. Our Father in heaven wants us to rejoice in all his gifts. His glory is one more of those gifts he bestows upon us for the sake of Jesus.
And more than boasting of receiving God’s righteousness and his glory we also boast of our sufferings. Wait! What!? God uses our suffering to accomplish this progression in us: patient endurance, character, and hope. In 2 Corinthians Paul tells us our sufferings are a participation in Christ’s sufferings. When we are suffering we need not fear that God is angry with us. When suffering we remember that God is at peace with us and we are at peace with him for the sake of Jesus. Our Father in heaven is disciplining us so we may share in his holiness and bear the peaceful fruit of righteousness. (Heb. 12) The peace of God helps us through whatever it is we are undergoing. We can get through anything knowing we have peace with God and he is working through this suffering for a good purpose for us. So we can conclude with St. Paul, “In this hope we’re not disappointed, because the Holy Spirit, Who has been given to us, poured God’s love into our hearts.” Yes, in Christ, through faith in him, we have God’s peace, God’s righteousness, God’s glory and God’s love.
Heavenly Father, when circumstances in our lives make us doubt your love for us and our reconciliation with you with, remind of the work of Christ on our behalf so we may live at peace with you and rejoice in your good work in us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.