Dear reader, this is where Christianity and other religions differ. In Christianity, all our good works, all our right performance, is the fruits of salvation. In paganism, in every other religion, our good works are the means of salvation. This is the difference even though, on the surface, the good works may resemble each other. The motivation is different. The cause and effect is different because, in Christianity, we are saved by grace. The good works are the fruits. In every other religion, the good works are the means of salvation. This needs repeating because unfortunately, many Christians have fallen into the trap of Galatianism—that we are saved partly by grace and partly by what we do. No, we are saved by grace alone and the immediate fruit of justification by faith is peace with God. But notice, Paul does not say simply “peace with God” but he also adds in Romans 5:1, it is “through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This means that we receive this peace on the basis of the performance of Jesus Christ, on the basis of His redemption which He obtained for us, on the basis of His doing and dying. It is not we, but Christ who brings peace into our hearts! That is what He came for—”Peace I leave with you,” He said to His disciples, “not as the world gives us (the world cannot give us this vertical peace with God; only Jesus Christ can), give I unto you.” In view of this, we must never look at our performance to bring us that peace. And we must never allow anybody to rob us of that peace. The only person who can rob us of that peace, generally, is ourselves because as long as we are under the umbrella of justification by faith, we have peace. As long as we are walking by faith, we have peace. But there is another possibility, as Hebrews 4:10 and other passages in the Bible bring out. In fact, Jesus Himself brings this out in Matthew 10:22. Only those whose faith endures unto the end will be ultimately justified in terms of going to heaven. But remember, as long as we are believers, as long as we are justified by faith, we have peace with God. If we, by our own choice, decide to remove ourselves from under that position, if we by our own choice, say good-bye to faith, then we are saying good-bye to peace. So, remember, that peace with God is only for those who are justified by faith. As long as our faith remains, our justification remains, our peace remains.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 08:28:59 +0000
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