These are my notes from my sermon this Saturday. Hope you enjoy them just remember these are only notes, not the full sermon, although they have been fleshed out somewhat.
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2 ESV)
“we have been justified by faith”
Abraham believed God and is was accounted to him for righteousness. (Romans 4:3) Abraham was saved by faith apart from the law. (Romans 4:13) It was not by your own good works you were saved nor from anything you have done. (Ephesians 2:8-9) It is by faith and faith alone in the accomplished work of Christ on the cross.
“we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Because of this faith, given to us by God, we now have peace with God. Did you realize that you were in need of peace with God? Who do we need peace with? Those with whom we are at war! We were at war with God and even worse, He was at war with us! (Romans 5:10; Col. 1:21) We were His enemies and He chose to love us. He broke down the wall between us and made peace with us! (Eph. 2:13-16) Why we were still His enemies, cursing His name, not honoring Him, using up all of His blessings and not thanking Him for any of them, (Romans 1:21) He sent His own son to die for us and receive our wrath for our sins so that we could receive His righteousness and be reconciled to Him. This is what it means to have peace with God through Jesus Christ. We can say it so fast and not listen to what we say. There is so much packed away in those words. Jesus took on himself the punishment, the wrath of God himself, for our sins! “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) So that we could once again have fellowship with God. (1 John 1:7) Wow!
“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace”
Through Him, because of what He has done, we have obtained access. We have been allowed in! We can now approach God. We have access to the Father because of who Christ is and because of what He has done! (Hebrews 4:16; 12:22-24) By faith we have received the adoption of sons and daughters of God. (Romans 8:15-16) By faith! Again, not because of us or anything we could do, but by faith, that He gave us!
“in which we stand,”
This grace is the very ability to fellowship with God that we have been talking about, but how do we stand in it? This is the power of God sustaining us in His salvation. Not only are we justified by faith in Christ and in what He has done for us, but we are sustained by that same faith! This is our sanctification! We have been saved. That is our justification. God has put our sins and our guilt on Christ and punished Him in our place therefore we are no longer guilty. We have been justified in God's sight. But now God is saving us from the power of sin in our lives, making it possible for us to live holy righteous lives in His presence. We are being saved! This is our sanctification! God is making us more like Jesus! (2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 15:49) How does He do this? He does this by the very same sacrifice of Christ! We are baptized (immersed) by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13), upon belief, into the death of Christ. (Romans 6:3) Therefore, whatever Christ experienced, we experience. Just as we were in Adam and when Adam fell we fell into sin. (1 Corinthians 15:22) Now we are in Christ (the second Adam) and when he died we died. We are no longer under the power of sin, because we have died to sin. And when Christ raised from the dead, we were raised with Him. This is a miracle! So we no longer live as slaves to sin, but we are alive now to God to serve Him in righteousness. (Romans 6:3-14)
“and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
We have been saved (our justification), we are being saved (our sanctification), and we will be saved (our glorification). God has taken away our guilt and our shame. Given us the righteousness of Christ in it's place. He is in the process of making us more and more like Christ every day by the same powerful gospel. And now we see that there is a future hope, a time when we will be saved from this present sinful world to be forever in the presence of God and to rejoice in His glory forever! (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) “And so we will always be with the Lord.” That is Heaven. Not to spend eternity reunited with your family and friends, not to be done with your labors here below, not the mansions and the streets of gold, not even the new body or to escape the flames of hell but that we will be always with the Lord and He will be forever ours!
Does that sound like Heaven to you? To spend eternity glorifying God and enjoying Him forever? The very idea should be thrilling for us, for this is the very purpose of our creation. To glorify God, “Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.” Psalm 29:1-2 And to enjoy Him forever, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” Psalm 34:8
God is the supreme good! In Him (Jesus) all fulness dwells. (Colossians 1:19) How can we help but enjoy Him? Everything that is good is in Him. He is the ultimate prize! Anything in this life, good or bad, can only satisfy for a season, but in Him is eternal satisfaction. Imagine endless days with such a God! This is the ultimate reward!
Conclusion:
So, have you been saved? Do you have peace with God? Are you walking in the light with Him? Have your sins been taken away from you and put upon Christ and has His righteousness been placed upon you?
Are you being saved? Are you working to achieve your own holiness apart from Christ by the works of the Law or are you daily being transformed into the image of Christ? Do you experience conviction of sin in your life? Can you see evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart?
Will you be saved? Are you looking simply for a free ticket out of Hell for you and your loved ones or do you look forward to the return of Christ with a great longing to be with Him forever? Do you see the great value of Christ? Is He precious to you?
If the answer is no to any of these, then repent! Cry out to God for mercy! There is peace available for you. Surrender to Christ.
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