Romans 5:1-2 ESV

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 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.”

Through faith in Jesus, you have been “justified” by God. Justification is a legal statement. We are declared righteous by the One Worthy Judge, by God! Our sins are forgiven and forgotten. God no longer views us as enemies. Instead, “we have peace with God” because of Jesus Christ. We don’t have to live in fear anymore of God’s judgment or His wrath. The long cold winter of war is finally over for us as believers. We are ushered into “peace”.

As believers we wrestle with living a feeling-based faith instead of a fact-based faith. The truth is we don’t always feel at peace. As we will discuss at length here, we will all go through periods of drought and doubt. We struggle, we wrestle, sometimes even with God.

However, our justification is based on God’s decision, and He doesn’t change His mind. He made a choice to love, forgive and cleanse us; that is a fact. Rather than being driven and tossed by the storms of life, we need to place our faith in the fact of His decision to love and redeem us. When we don’t feel like He is near, or like we have failed too much, we need to remember His eternal choice to love us….no matter what. We have been “justified” by God and we are at “peace” with Him.

“Access”. Not only do we have “peace with God”, but through Jesus we have “obtained access” to God as well. In Hebrews 10:19-22 we find that we are allowed to boldly approach the very throne of God. The veil separating the holy of holies has been torn in two because Jesus, our High Priest, has made the final sacrifice for sin. His blood has sprinkled the mercy seat of a new covenant. Now as sinners we have “access” into His literal presence.

Revelation 8:3-4 says each prayer we offer up literally ascends into the very throne room of God the Father as sweet incense. God desires to be with us. He gave His lifeblood to make it possible. He is so motivated to make it happen He offers us “access” for free. Take a moment to offer a prayer of gratitude for the “access” you have in Christ.

“Grace”. When we approach the Lord, we can even “stand” confidently before Him because God is the God of “grace”. Do we deserve to “stand”? Absolutely not! But through faith in Christ, we are totally forgiven and completely cleansed. Through His amazing grace, we are free now to stand in His presence because the Father sees us clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. Take a few moments to thank the Father for His grace.

“Rejoice”. When we realize through faith we are at “peace with God”, have “obtained access” to God and that we can “graciously stand” before Him, it should cause us to “rejoice”.

Rejoice means to take great joy or delight in something. More specifically it means to keep experiencing joy over something. To re-joy, and re-joy and re-joy again. It is incredible! May the good news bring a smile to our face, and radiance to our complexion, emanating from a joyful heart.

“Hope”. What are we “rejoicing” about? Because of God’s work in our lives, we have “hope”. We know for certain we have eternity with Him, and we await this day with fervent desire and great confidence. Where should we focus our “hope”?

Fixate it on the “glory of God”. We don’t “hope” in ourselves, our paychecks, our reputation, our retirement. No, our hope is in Almighty God, who made heaven and earth. He is all-powerful, ever-present, full of truth and faithfulness. No circumstance, no suffering, will ever remove His love from us. Not even death can conquer His purpose in us. We have been set free. Amen!