Justified by Faith. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5 v1. The whole book of Romans is basically teaching salvation by grace through faith, not through our effort, not through adherence to Old Testament Law, and not through our good works. Paul was saying that when we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the only way we can really have peace with God. Did you also know that is the only way we can have boldness to enter into the presence of God? We enter into His presence through firmly understanding the grace of God and putting our faith in it. If we are approaching God based on the merit of our good performance, we are going to approach God very few times. For most of us, the quality of our relationship with God is based on our performance, and thats wrong. If our salvation had been based on our performance, we wouldnt have been saved. When people realise their sinful condition, whether by the Law or the knowledge of Gods goodness, they start looking to Jesus alone for their salvation. But then after they are born-again, somehow they slip into the thinking that Gods going to move in their lives in proportion to their personal holiness. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have seen people complaining, oh! I just dont know what is wrong, Ive been fasting, praying, going to church, studying the Word of God, paying my tithes, and doing all I know to do, I just dont understand why God hasnt blessed me. They reveal a lot to me right there, because they just showed me they were looking to what they had done in order to get God to bless them. They were saying, God, look what good things Ive done. Arent You going to bless me? God doesnt heal or bless us because of what weve done. Some may be disappointed and think thats a shame because theyve been doing so well. But if we ever get a true understanding of Gods standard, we would realise non of us have ever measured up to Gods perfect standard. Its Gods grace and mercy that bring us peace, joy, prosperity, healing, and all blessings, based on Jesus holiness and not our own holiness. Where did performance based teaching come from? Believe it or not, it came out of Gods Word. It was misunderstanding of what God was doing in the Old Testament Law. In Deuteronomy 28v1-2, all the blessings of God appear to be conditional on the Word if. And it shall come to pass, if Thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if Thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Verse 1 says that we have to do all of Gods commandments , not just some of them. If we would just stop and think a moment, we would realise that we have never kept all the commandments of God. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. James 4v17. Sin is more than just doing what you know is wrong. Has God ever told you to love your neighbor as yourself? I guarantee you havent walked in that perfectly. You know to do more good then what youve actually done. If we look at sin from Gods stand point , non of us have measured up but Jesus. Non of us have become sinless in our flesh, in our actions, and in our performance. Were all still missing the mark. Nobody fulfills Deuteronomy 28v1-2 except Jesus, and those who put their faith in what Jesus did instead of in their own performance. This is what Romans 5v1 is pointing out to us. We will only have peace with God if we are justified by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ and not our works. @Triumphant Grace
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 09:19:44 +0000
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