“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:” (Romans 5:1)
The first of the earthly benefits we enjoy in Christ is peace with God. This peace is not the “peace” that the idealist dreams of: the cessation of trouble, the absence of difficulty, the quiet calm that accompanies a life bereft of adversity. No, the very next sentence will make it clear that the Christian will continue to face tribulations in this life (Romans 5:3). What peace have we then with God?
Though God does grant a peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), a peace that is real and lasting (John 14:27), transcending our circumstances and comforting our hearts through the darkest of storms (John 16:23), the peace with God mentioned here refers to a peace between man and God. It is a peace in our relationship with God, a peace that results from an end to animosity. As the treaties of peace serve as a contractual agreement between two nations, marking the end of war, so does our Justification by faith serve as a “peace treaty” between us and God.
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; BUT THE WRATH OF GOD ABIDETH ON HIM.” (John 3:36, emphasis added)
“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” (Romans 8:7)
Unless a person is justified by faith in Christ, they are the enemy of God and He is the enemy of them. It is the deluded man who supposes that all is well between his Creator and himself, yet he has not believed on the Son of God. There is no peace between God and the man who rejects Him. Though he prospers, though his life seems to bear the favor of Heaven, he is an enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)
No enemy of God shall inherit life eternal, he will not be saved. People have constructed a myriad of ways to find “peace with God”, blazing their own paths, trying to reach Him. But it is only “through our Lord Jesus Christ” that peace may be found. No other name under Heaven has been given whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12), Salvation comes only through Christ. God has made the way for man to be reconciled to Himself, to find peace with Him.
Once we have come to Christ, when we have been justified by faith in Him, the wrath of God no longer abides upon us. We have laid down our arms, surrendering to the Lord Jesus and yielding to Him the place that He rightfully holds in our lives. Our enmity with God ends when we place our faith and trust in Him and we enjoy the greatest and most important peace of all: peace with God.
To God goes all glory. In service to Him,
Loren
