Romans 5:2

By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:2 ESV

In the last verse, we read that one of the amazing effects of a restored relationship with God is that we experience a peace that cannot be matched on earth. This includes being at peace with God, as well as at peace with our circumstances knowing that God is ultimately in control, and will provide for His children as He works out all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).

This peace, Paul says, is experienced because we have been justified by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ- 

By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand

Now, in verse 2, we see that through faith in Jesus Christ, we also have access into grace. It's very important to note that Paul again brings up faith. He spent a lot of time coming down hard on the Jews as they continued to try to add some sort of action/effort on their part as a requirement for salvation. Again and again Paul told them they were justified by faith, and gave them Abraham as an example. In verse 1 and 2 of Chapter 5, as he explains the ultimate blessings of a restored relationship with God, Paul reminds us that it is through faith in Jesus Christ that we experience these things.

It's also important to remember what grace is - unmerited favor. God's undeserved favor shown to us, that cannot, by definition, be earned in any way. It is through faith in Jesus that we are able to experience this favor of God upon us. Paul carries this even further - this grace is the place in which we stand - because as John wrote "We know that we have passed from death unto life..." 1 John 3:14.

As God's children, we are not called to a life of striving to enter into or obtain God's grace upon us, we are actively standing within His grace, according to Paul. What does Paul mean when he uses the Greek word "stand"?
Stand: abide, appoint, bring, continue, covenant, establish, hold up, lay, present, set (up), stanch, stand (by, forth, still, up).   
To stand in God's grace means to abide there, to be established there, to hold up there, to be present there. How awesome to know that we have passed from death to life, this is something that has been accomplished for us by Jesus Christ, and it is by faith in Him that we now stand in God's favor toward us as His children!

Understanding where we stand ought to do nothing less than create within us a burning desire to thankfully serve the One who made this possible! 

  
and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Yet another effect of a restored relationship with God - rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.

Rejoice: to speak boastfully, (to make) joy, boast, glory - when we rejoice, we proclaim the name of God, we boast of God and what He has done! As Paul said "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." 2 Corinthians 10:17. Of ourselves, we have nothing to boast about, but our God - He is the One we can be so proud to serve, so proud to share, He is the source of all good things!

This pride in God, who He is, and what He has done, should build our confidence to stand up and let it be made known that we are His children!

So, in verse 2 why does Paul say that we rejoice? Why do we speak boastfully of God, why are we full of joy? In hope. Because we have hope of the glory of God. We must know what Paul means when he uses the word hope, because it says a lot about why we are rejoicing. 

Hope: expectation (abstract or concrete) or confidence: - faith, hope.   

This comes from the root word that means - (to anticipate, usually with pleasure)

This can be confusing, because the way that we use hope today is different. When we say hope, we usually mean that we really want something to happen. A farmer may hope that it rains, really wanting it to rain. When Paul uses the word hope, he means he is expecting, with confidence, something to happen. How can he be confident? He has faith in Christ, and God has promised peace and everlasting life for those who have faith in His Son. What is everlasting life? Life that lasts forever. 

I believe that, when Paul writes we hope of the glory of God, he is saying that we expect with confidence that one day we will know first hand the glory of God as we stand around His throne. There is no doubt that we experience His glory as we go through life in a relationship with Him, as we stand in His grace. This may be what Paul is describing as well, that we hope or expect to experience the glory of God in this life as well as the next.

What are your thoughts? 

A brief recap of the first two verses of Chapter 5. What do we get to experience as a result of a restored relationship with Jesus Christ - peace, being present in God's grace, and rejoicing as we confidently worship Him! 

Take a minute today and meditate on the word hope. Are we living our lives confident that we are established in God's grace?

Romans 5:1

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Romans 5:1 ESV

After thoroughly explaining man in his lost state, mans need for a restored relationship with God, and the fact that justification is through true saving faith, apart from works - Paul now starts to describe what this restored relationship with God is all about. 


Therefore, since we have been justified by faith
  
"Therefore" - referring to what was discussed in the previous passage. Paul has just finished giving us an example of Abraham's great faith in God, and how he was justified by that faith, how righteousness was counted to him - and us as well when we "believe in him who was raised from the dead Jesus our Lord."

It's important to note that, even though as a reader of this letter we would have just covered what Paul had written about Abraham's justifying faith, Paul re-states this truth. We cannot get this wrong - as the blessings Paul is about to describe that come from a restored relationship with God are only possible with the correct understanding of how we come to this relationship:

"since we have been justified by faith" 

It's important we clearly understand the fact that Paul says the only way this peace is possible is through faith in Jesus Christ.  To do this, I think it might help to take a look at what this verse would say if we were to look at the flip-side: 

Therefore, since we have not been justified by faith, we do not have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

If we attempt to be justified by anything other than (or in addition to) faith, we are not at peace with God, and we remain at war with Him. 

we have peace with God

Wow, what an amazing statement! Paul spent so many verses describing how man, by his very nature, is at war with God, and how God's wrath will be poured out on those who refuse to honor Him - and now he is speaking of being at peace with the Ruler of the universe!


It's important for us to realize that there is no neutral...

 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." Mathew 6:24

We are either at peace and at battle with the evil one, or we are servants of the evil one and at war with God...there is no middle ground.



I wanted to touch on some verses that describe our relationship with God as lost souls.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Eph 2:1-3

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Romans 1:18

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1:21

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.  Romans 1:28

no one understands; no one seeks for God.  Romans 3:11

"There is no fear of God before their eyes."  Romans 3:18

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. Col. 2:13,14

As we must acknowledge, as lost souls a relationship with God is non-existent. We are described as dead in our sins, pursuing the lusts of the flesh - which satisfies both our mind and our heart -  but leads us further into darkness, and ultimately will result in forever being separated from all that is pure and good - God.

In order to fulfill the emptiness in our heart, we pursue the temporary things of the world that satisfy for a moment when compared to the eternity that lies before us - we attempt to convince ourselves that material things matter, so that we can cloud our minds and not think of things beyond this immediate moment in time that we are in.

The truth that we must come to terms with is this: no matter how "happy" we are, no matter how "satisfied" we are, no matter how "successful" or "important" we may be -  without faith in Christ we are not at peace with Almighty God, who will justly judge the heart of every person.

If you are not at peace with God through His Son, please seek Him today - for His Wrath is being poured out on those who refuse His forgiveness.

With a clear understanding that we are souls at war with God in our natural lost state, we can focus on what Paul says is available through Jesus Christ - peace with God! This peace is described as a peace the world cannot know - it's peace within the heart and mind that cannot be matched by any earthly thing.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27

So...what is peace? 

The Greek word included these definitions: prosperity: - one, peace, quietness, rest

This is an outline of usage of the Greek word peace throughout the bible:

1) a state of national tranquillity

a) exemption from the rage and havoc of war

2) peace between individuals, i.e. harmony, concord

3) security, safety, prosperity, felicity, (because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous)

4) of the Messiah's peace

a) the way that leads to peace (salvation)

5) of Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is

6) the blessed state of devout and upright men after death

In the secular dictionary, the definition of peace includes:

1.the normal, nonwarring condition of a nation, group of nations, or the world.

2.( often initial capital letter ) an agreement or treaty between warring or antagonistic nations, groups, etc., to end hostilities and abstain from further fighting or antagonism: the Peace of Ryswick.

3.a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, especially in personal relations: Try to live in peace with your neighbors.

4.the normal freedom from civil commotion and violence 

5.cessation of or freedom from any strife or dissension.
 
When I think of being at peace with God, and as I look at these different ways to describe peace, I realize there are so many different aspects to the peace that is experienced through a restored relationship with God. Along with the fact that we are no longer at war with the ruler at the universe but now long to serve and please Him, the images I see so vividly are birds, flowers, and a quite stream.  

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  Mathew 6:25-31

He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. Psalm 23:2

This study on peace could go on and on, there is so much depth to it! 

 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:7

I would love to hear your comments and see the scriptures on peace that you hold special to your heart! I will seek God's direction to determine if dedicating another post to this peace with God would be beneficial at this point. I would love to hear your feedback as well.