Peace, Tranquility, and Contentment
RO43-02

© Berean Memorial Church of Irving, Texas, Inc. (1977)

We now begin a new chapter: Romans 5. So, please turn to Romans 5:1.

The Book of Romans

With Romans 4, the apostle Paul has finished answering the great question of how to go to heaven. You will remember that Romans is a formal, logical, systematic dissertation on the subject of salvation. The main point of this book is how to have eternal life with God.

The first four chapters, which we have now completed, have very clearly established the fact that everyone needs a righteousness that comes from outside of himself if he is to spend eternity in heaven. Paul has also established that God Himself has provided this absolute righteousness which a sinner needs. But God has also provided the specific method for securing it. Both are important. God's method is to give absolute righteousness as a grace gift apart from all human works, which is to be received by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.

This method that God has established is not optional. It is not open to human adaptations. It is designed very specifically to be by grace so that it will be a certain thing. It will be a sure thing. If it were not by grace (that is, by a gift basis alone), then the human element is injected, and then there's a quality of uncertainty relative to salvation. So, it's designed to make salvation eternally secure once it is possessed.

Faith and Faith Alone

So, deviations from the gift method destroy the grace basis, and then salvation is impossible. I hope by now that you have learned that, and that you have learned it well. It should be evident, as a result of these studies, that this is one of the things that you should stress to people very, very strongly – that anytime you inject any element of works: whether it be the Lord's Supper; whether it be some Old Testament ritual like circumcision; whether it be water baptism; whether it be the performance of good deeds; whether it be trying harder; whether it be Christian service; or, whatever it is, the moment you've interjected that, you cannot be saved, because you have neutralized the grace basis, and that's the only basis upon which God will save.

People need to understand that because Paul's presentation here of justification by the grace method alone has raised serious doubts concerning the salvation of vast numbers of church members who are adding some human doing to their trusting in Christ as Savior. Many of these people will actually say to you, "Well, if I should be wrong in thinking that my water baptism is not part of salvation, at least I am trusting in Christ." And they are counting on the fact that God is going to say, "Well, I'm going to save you in spite of your error." Negative! God will not save you in spite of your error. Just go back to the Philippians series, and that section that we had on people who did things out of sincerity, and who found themselves under the hand of death because they did not follow God's method. God is not going to save you in spite of your adaptations of His method. He will not. He will not. He will not. And that is one thing that should have come very clear through to us from this study in the first four chapters of Romans.

So, this is very, very sobering – the shock that is going to come to literally millions of church members who die with praises of God upon their lips, only to wake up in Hades, awaiting the destiny of their transfer to the lake of fire.

Paul has indicated that the Lord Jesus Christ was handed over by the Father to death on the cross because of our sins. He was raised from that death because our justification was a reality.

So, in Romans 5, Paul now begins to describe the daily life which results from the possession of this justification. With Romans 4, Paul feels that he has covered the ground fairly. He has met every objection. He has laid it out as clearly as he could possibly lay it out. If anybody studies those four chapters through carefully, they simply cannot make a mistake about how God saves. He has done that under the guidance of the Spirit of God. That is the reason he wrote this book – to make an absolute clear declaration of how to go to heaven. It's all in there.

Having concluded that section, he says, "Now I'm turning from that, and I'm going to build something upon the doctrine of justification." Where the wrath of God once ruled in the life unto death, Paul now goes on to show that the righteousness of God now rules unto life.

Speaking Only to Christians

I want you to notice that from Romans 5 on, he is speaking only to Christians? So, verse 1 begins: "Therefore, being justified by faith." He is speaking to people who are justified. So, let's begin with verse 1. The first part of that verse gives us the believer's past. In verses 1 and 2, you actually have a divine presentation of a quick summary of the believer's past; the believer's present; and, the believer's future – all in these two verses.

The Believer's Past

We begin with the believer's past which is in the first part of verse 1. It is in this first phase: "Therefore, being justified by faith." The word "therefore" is the Greek word "oun." It is a conjunction which introduces a consequence. So, we may even translate it as "consequently" or "so." This word is looking back to everything that Paul has said about the doctrine of justification, which began in Romans 3:21, and has continued through Romans 4:25. So, this word "oun" looks back to this section in Romans that he has just concluded on justification. He has fully established this truth. Now he goes on to build some conclusions on the fact of divine justification. The word actually introduces a summary of divine blessings that we are going to study in Romans 5:1-11. These verses are a summary of divine blessings resulting from justification. This word "oun" introduces that summary.

Justification

The words "being justified" are translated from the Greek word "dikaioo" which we've had many times. "Dikaioo," as you have now learned, means "to declare" or "to pronounce righteous." It is the act of God the Father who, as the judge of mankind, pronounces the verdict of not guilty concerning a believing sinner's moral guilt. The word "dikaioo" is purely a legal term in the New Testament use. It is purely a legal term. It is an act of a judge who has the authority to pass the verdict. And He has passed the verdict upon a certain segment of humanity that they are now righteous. They are not morally guilty in His sight. That's what justification means. It means that God pronounces you righteous. He does that on the basis of the fact that your faith in Jesus Christ has resulted in the imputation of the absolute righteousness of Jesus Christ to your credit. Therefore, when God looks upon you, He no longer sees you as a morally guilty person. He sees you as good as His Son, Jesus Christ – perfect, absolute righteousness. So, God has made this pronouncement, and Paul begins with that statement: "Therefore, being justified."

Aorist Tense – a Once-for-All Action

Let's look at some of the grammar here. First of all, it is in the aorist tense. The aorist tense indicates a point in time, particularly past time. It is here the point when the sinner trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation. Therefore, it is a specific event in history. The aorist idea also connotes that it is a once-for-all action on the part of God. Here again is a tense that indicates to us that salvation is secure once you have it. It is a once-for-all action, and it is irreversible.

Justification is not a Process

The aorist also indicates that it is something that has happened in the past. Therefore, it would be better to translate it as "Having been justified," in order to convey that better. Actually, the King James translation of "Being justified" is not a good translation because it suggests that justification is a process – something you are in the process of securing. And that's exactly what Romans Catholicism teaches. Roman Catholicism had one of its great debates with the reformers over the issue of: what does the word "dikaioo" mean in the New Testament? Roman Catholics are taught that "dikaioo" means that you are in the process of getting better and better and better all the time, until you are acceptable to God in heaven. But the Word of God does not treat justification in that way.

The Reformers

The former said, "No, that's wrong." Justification is a point action in history, and it is evidenced by these Greek tenses (such as the aorist) that indicate that it happened at a certain point in time. If you know the Greek, the English cannot confuse you: "Having been justified" accurately conveys the fact that something has been done in a point in one's history, and that it is a permanent event. This is the teaching of doctrine.

It is in the passive voice, which means that God has declared this about the sinner. The sinner did not declare this about himself. It is "having been declared or pronounced righteous by God." It is a participle which indicates that a spiritual principle is being set out here.

We have something more, and that is that this is an aorist participle. Therefore, we have a time factor introduced here. The aorist participle action, which is "having been justified," always comes before the main verb. Number one is aorist participle; and, number two is the main verb. And the main verb action here is: "We have peace," which tells us that you cannot have peace with God until first you have been justified by God. It is very important to get that in the proper order. The verdict, by God, is a verdict that has provided peace for you. Until you have that verdict of "not guilty," you cannot have the condition of peace. There is no peace in one's soul concerning sin without the previous verdict of justification from God.

This verdict is a true verdict. This is not a fable. This is not something such that God just says, "Well, I'm going to say this, and this is how it's going to be." God has to have a ground that is compatible with His own character to do this – particularly, the quality of His own justice.

So, this verdict is true because the penalty has indeed been paid. The death for the sins of the world paid by Jesus Christ, which was demanded by the divine justice of God, has made it possible for God to pass this verdict.

Christianity Alone

This is only true of Christianity. I remind you again that Christianity, and Christianity alone, brings together the two factors of the love of God and the justice of God. God's love does not want to send anybody to hell. God's justice demands that all sin be punished, and that the person who is guilty of that sin be sent to hell. How in the world are you going to bring love and justice together without violating one or the others, so that the result of justification is in truth a reality of justification? Only Christianity has been able to do that. It brings the love of God, on the one hand, together with compatibility of justice of God, because the sacrifice of Christ on the cross paid the penalty that was demanded by the justice of God, which set His love free to be exercised toward the sinners of the world.

The World Religions

The religions of the world are all faced with the same problem. They too, are faced with a beneficent deity wanting to be kindly disposed toward human beings. But what is right? Justice. And the problem is faced like this with the religions of the world: Their systems always cross out either love or justice, and it goes one way or the other. God is only love; therefore, He's not going to send anybody to hell no matter what you do. Or, God is all justice; therefore, everybody is going to hell no matter what God's love would do for them. The result is the lake of fire.

This is one of the evidences that Christianity is true (and only Christianity is true) in relationship between a sinner and a holy God, and that the world religions are all false – every one of them, because they all fall into this mistake of canceling out either love or justice. They just have no way upon really bringing the two together. So, only Christianity is true. All non-Christian systems of salvation are false because of this reason. So, only Christianity produces a salvation of which we may be assured – one that is permanent because it has brought love and justice together on a proper basis.

Justification by faith is true because it actually has taken place in history. That's what we're saying. There was actually a point in history when a God-Man actually died upon a cross. That's the other thing about Christianity. It is a thing that took place in history. It is not a fable invented to meet the human problem. That's what the religions of the world do. They invent fables in order to meet human problems. But Christianity took place in time and space.

The Bible Contains the Truth

Therefore, you and I as Christians are loyal not to the Bible as such, but we are loyal to the truth. And the truth of God relative to a sinner's relationship to a Holy God is found in the Bible, and the Bible is the vehicle containing the truth. Thus we have loyalty to the Bible, but it is not to the Bible as such.

Sometimes we fundamentalists are accused of being Bible worshipers – that we have made the Bible (the book) an idol, and that we fall down and worship before it. That is not true. What we worship is the God of truth. So, we are loyal to His truth, and we are loyal to the vehicle, which is the written Scriptures that He has given us to convey that truth.

Justification by Faith

That's the fact of justification. Therefore, of all that has been said before: "Having been justified, I'm now turning to talk to Christians, and here the means of justification: "By faith." The word "by" is the Greek word "ek," which means "out from" or "from out of," indicating source – the source of justification: It says "Out from faith," and the word "faith" is our old word "pistis," which means "trust." It connotes believing God's message (God's gospel). You cannot be justified by some act of human doing. You can only be justified by an act of trust in God. And yet multitudes of people are still being offered salvation by religious leaders on the basis of some human work. And that's the serious tragedy – that so many are going to be lost because they have missed the fact that the source of this justification is faith, and faith alone.

This faith has value, of course, because the context has indicated that it is faith in God. Romans 4:24 says, "But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on Him that raised Jesus our Lord from the dead." We believed God the Father's message concerning what His Son did on the cross, and that faith in God's Word is what saves us. Faith is the total absence of merit.

That's the believers past. He has been justified. That is what is true about every one of you who have received Christ. And you now stand with a past that is justified.

The Believer's Present

Let's now go to your present. In Romans 5, the second part of verse 1 through the first part of verse 2, we have the present situation. The present condition of the believer presented. There are main things.

Peace with God

First of all, there is the possession of peace. We read, "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." The word "we have" is "echo." "Echo" means "to possess." This is the main verb (as we've indicated) of this sentence: to possess something. And this possession is the result of justification. It is in the present tense, which in the Greek indicates a condition that is continually true. Remember that Greek tenses do not emphasize time so much, as we have in English – that it is a present thing; a past thing; or, a future thing. That's all that English verbs connote. The tenses of Greek verbs connote a kind of action. So, present means an action which is continually true of a believer. Active voice indicates that the Christian personally experiences this. He personally has this, and we're going to see in a minute that is peace. In other words, I want you to notice that active here means this is subjective. This is something that I experience within my soul. It is peace, and I have it. It is indicative. It's a statement of fact.

An Anomaly in the Greek Text

I will observe, just in passing, that some Greek manuscripts here make it subjunctive, instead of a statement of fact, so that it is potential. Here is how that happens. Actually, the Greek is "echomen," using the Greek letter omicron for the "O," meaning a short "O." And in transcribing, it became "echomen," but with the Greek letter omega for the "O," meaning a long "O." It makes a big difference. If it's short, then it's indicative. If it's long, then it does become subjunctive. It's just one letter that makes all the difference. And the manuscripts are pretty heavy on both sides so that you have to look in the context and say, "Well, what should have been there? Some scribe's eye jumped, or he made a mistake, and he put it in, and then others followed that mistake. At a place like this, we just have to decide on the basis of the context. And in the terms of this context, I think it fits better as an indicative. Paul is making a declaration.

If it were subjunctive, it would be what we call a hortatory expression. It would be saying, "Let us do something: Let us have peace." I think in the context of what he's going to say in these first 11 verses, it fits better as an indicative – that he is declaring something that is true about us. He's facing up to the fact that we now have a peace with God.

Peace

What we have is peace, which in the Greek is "eirene." "Eirene" is a word that connotes a general sense of well-being: prosperity; health; contentedness; or, order. All of these words are in one way or another related to the idea of peace. The concept of peace is actually connected with the idea of wholeness.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, we have, therefore: "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The God of peace produces a wholeness or a completeness in the individual.

The word "peace" is used 91 times in the New Testament. 43 of those 91 times, it is used by the apostle Paul. Ten of those times he uses it here in the book of Romans. In the Greek Bible, the word "peace" stands first in the clause, which indicates that that is the point of emphasis. He's pointing to this word. He's stressing the fact that we now have something as a result of justification, and that is that we have peace.

For a moment, let's look at the use of the word "peace" in the New Testament. We'll summarize it for you in about eight points.

  1. Harmonious Relationships between Two Individuals

    First of all, the word "peace" is used in the New Testament to indicate harmonious relationships between men two individuals. Matthew 10:34 reads, "Do not think that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword."

    Acts 7:26: "And the next day he showed himself to them as they strolled." This is speaking of Moses facing the two Egyptians who were fighting: "And would have set them at one again." That is the word "peace" (several English words): "And he would have set them at peace again, saying, 'Sirs, you are brethren. Why do you do wrong one to another?'"

    Romans 14:19: "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things with which one may edify another."

    Ephesians 4:3: "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

    So, here you have peace used in terms of harmonious relationships between men.

  2. Lack of War between Nations

    A second way that it is used is in terms of expressing lack of war between nations. In Luke 14:32, we read, "Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy, and desires the conditions of peace." One head of a nation is sending a delegate to another in order to establish a condition of peace between nations.

    You have this also illustrated in Acts 12:20: "And Herod was finally displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon, that they came with one accord to him. And having made Blastus the king's chamberlain their friend, desired peace," because their country was nourished by the king's country.

    Revelation 6:4: "And there went out another horse that was red, and power was given to him that sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. And there was given unto him a great sword." This also connotes lack of war between nations.

  3. Friendliness

    A third way that the word "peace" is used is to express friendliness. In Acts 15:33, you have peace used in this way: "After they had tarried there a space, they were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles." Here is Judas and Silas being sent on in friendliness by the other Christians.

    This concept is also found in 1 Corinthians 16:11: "Let no man therefore despise him, but conduct him forth in peace, that he may come up to me, for I look for him with the brethren."

    Hebrews 11:31: "By faith, the harlot Rahab did not perish with them that did not believe when she had received the spies with peace."

  4. Freedom from Molestation

    Peace is used in the New Testament to express freedom from molestation. In Luke 11:21, you have this example: "When a strong man, armed, keeps his palace, his good are in peace." Here you have a security guard who is protecting property, and he is maintaining peace. He is experiencing freedom from molestation.

    You also have this in Luke 19:42: "Saying, 'If you had known, even you, at least in this, your day, the things which belong unto your peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes."

    Another example is in Acts 9:31, where the King James translates it with the word "rest:" Then the churches had rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified, and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit were multiplied."

  5. Internal Harmony in the Political State

    Next, you have the world peace used in terms of the political state – internal harmony in the political state. You have this translated by the word "quietness" in Acts 24:2: "And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, "Seeing that by you we enjoy great quietness (internal rest within a political entity), and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by your provision." So, it indicates political risk.

  6. Order within the Local Church

    Also, the word "peace" is use of order within the local church. You have this in 1 Corinthians 14:33: "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. You have this here in 1 Corinthians 14 (which was Paul's attempt to try to straighten out the charismatic movement that was beginning in the New Testament church with the same utter confusion that it functions on today). So, this whole chapter is trying to bring the tongues gift (which actually existed then) under control. Today we don't have that problem, because the tongues gift no longer exists. But the point here was that it was abused then, and it brought disorder in the local church. And that was a lack of peace, which is the same thing that happens in charismatic Pentecostal circles today within the local church service.

  7. Harmonious Relationships between God and Man

    Next, the word "peace" indicates harmonious relationships between God and man. Now we're getting down to the use that we have here in Romans that we're looking at today. Acts 10:36 illustrates this: "The Word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all." Here you have a harmonious relationship between God and man.

    You also have this in Ephesians 2:1: "And came and preached peace to you who were afar off, and to them that were near."

  8. Rest and Contentment

    The next one is closely related to the previous one. Actually, it is a sense of rest and contentment. You have this illustrated in Mark 5:34: "And He said unto her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be well of your plague."

    The idea of rest and contentment is also illustrated in Luke 2:29: "Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace according to Your Word."

    Romans 3:17: "And the way of peace they have not known."

    Romans 8:6: "For to be carnally minded is dead. But to be spiritually minded is life and peace."

Now on the basis of that brief summary, we come back to Romans 5:1: "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." The word "peace" is used in terms of these last two uses above. It is really a combination of both of these. The gospel is viewed as the means to a sense of peace – the sense of peace that Ephesians 6:15 speaks of: "And our feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." The gospel of peace produces peace. It also establishes, of course, a harmonious relationship between God and man. God is viewed as the source of this peace.

Romans 15:33: "Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen."

Philippians 4:9: "Those things which you have both learned and received and heard and seen in me, do. And the God of peace shall be with you."

So, what we have is that God establishes peace objectively, and then we enjoy it subjectively. And we as the result of justification to these two qualities. We have a harmonious relationship now between ourselves and God, but we also have an internal sense of rest and of contentment. And the fact that personal subjectivity of rest is a very, very important point. This rest is specifically described to us as being good, and that's the Greek word "pros," and that means face-to-face. This particular preposition indicates that we have a sense of rest and contentment in the very presence of someone, and that someone is the "theos" (God), and it is "the God," so it equals God the Father.

The justified sinner has a harmonious relationship in the very presence of God. What this is telling us is that God's wrath is removed toward the justified sinner. The sinner is no longer the enemy of God. He is now the object of God's favor. We are reconciled to God. Please remember that God is not reconciled to us. We are reconciled to him. God is propitiated. He is satisfied relative to the punishment for our sins, but we're the ones who need to be changed. Reconciled means to change. We have been reconciled to God.

Tranquility of Soul

The result of that is the final sense of peace described above – inward rest and contentment. What is this passage telling us? This passage is telling us something very startling. We have peace with God – a present, continual, internal condition as a result of the fact that God's wrath for us is removed. Tranquility of soul is the inevitable fruit of genuine justification. That's the point. Tranquility of soul is the inevitable fruit of justification.

Now tranquility of soul happens to be the main thing that every human being is seeking. Every one of you here have many things that you are seeking in life. But ultimately what you are seeking is tranquility of soul. You are seeking a personal contentment. You will seek that in a variety of ways, that if that personal contentment is not the result of justification in your soul, and is not the result of the fact that you know that God's wrath toward you as a sinner has been removed, I don't care what you seek in life – you will never find contentment.

The Pursuit of Something More

This is evidenced by the fact that a person sets a goal for himself, and when he achieves it, he's not satisfied to say, "Now I have reached it, and now I'm content." He moves on to something more. If his goal is to make $1,000 dollars a month, and he reaches it, but he is not content. The next thing he wants to do is to make $5,000 a month. And after he has reached that, because there's no tranquility in his soul, he's not satisfied with that. He moves on to something more. That pursuit is always with us.

If you you're in the political realm, you want to first the local garbage collector. That's one of the official positions in the city. The pay is good, and you have all that you can eat. But after you achieve that, you're not satisfied with that. So, you become the dog catcher, because that's more exciting; it's more challenging; and, it's more military-like. It's what we call a sneak-and-catch mission. When you get that, you want to become a city councilman. And after you become that, you want to become a state representative. And after you become that, you want to become governor. And after you become governor, you want to go on to Congress and become a congressman. And after you become a congressman, you want to be a senator. And after you become a senator, you want to become president. And after you become president, you want to become God. There are just no limits because there's no contentment. It's not wrong to seek that kind of a progression. I'm not saying that.

However, anywhere along the line that you are in that progression, there is no tranquility of soul because you have achieved that goal. Now with the unbeliever, he pursues all that, and when he gets it, it's empty. That's the story of the character who has earned $5 million in one year, and he sits there looking at it, and he says, "It's nothing. It's not satisfying. There's still a great yearning and an emptiness in my life."

Contentment

Everybody is seeking contentment. That's the name of the game. And the pursuit of these things by people, whether they know it or not, is just their way of expressing their need for contentment and their pursuit of it.

What man really seeks, he can never find on his own. That's the sad part about it. It has to be a fulfillment that comes to him as a gift from God, and it begins with justification. The person who is justified is the person who has contentment in his soul. If you lack a tranquility in your soul as you think about facing God, you better start worrying about that. If you believe that you can lose your salvation, you cannot have contentment and tranquility in your soul. And that is a pretty good indication that you're not going to heaven. If you do not have contentment in your soul about facing God, you're not going to heaven.

Now it is possible that you are just ignorant about the full implications of justification, and that's what causes your uneasiness, but even that is a questionable condition. If you think you lack peace with God because you haven't done enough; you haven't met His standards; and, you don't have tranquility, then you're probably not born-again. It shows that you're depending on your works. And certainly, if you have the idea that you will never know whether you possess eternal life until you die, I can almost tell you for certainty that you don't have it.

Sometimes you ask people: "Are you a Christian? Are you going to heaven?" And they say, "Well, I certainly hope so." Well, if you understand this passage, it should tell you, "Uh-oh, this person is headed for the lake of fire." There is no peace. There's no tranquility. There's no assurance in the soul, because the Word of God says, "If you have justification, then there will be tranquility in your soul."

Now we will leave the door open just a crack that you should understand what justification is. But you almost can hardly help understanding that, and not be truly born-again. If you're truly born-again, you do understand that it is all of God. If you're not truly born-again, then you have interjected some human doing along the line. And that's why you're not at ease. That's why you're in doubt.

So, check yourself out. Check your own faith. If it's justifying faith, it is a faith that is trusting in Christ alone on the basis of what He has done (His divine good) to get you into heaven. If it is your faith in Him plus something you've done, it's not justifying faith. If you have tranquility of soul, and you understand that it is all of Him and none of you, then you can lean back and rest. Therefore, you may be certain of eternal life. But if you do not have tranquility of soul, it is almost a sure indication that you're uneasy because of something you've done. If you think you can lose your salvation, it is because you think that your doing somehow affects your salvation.

You can ask a person, "How would you lose your salvation?" They might say, "Well, if I went out and killed somebody. That's how I lose it. I perform some terrible sin." Usually they don't count the little sins – just the big ones.

So, Paul says that one of the present realities which is true of every believer is that he has tranquility of soul. He has this, he says, "Through," which is the Greek preposition "dia," and this happens to be with the genitive case. We looked at this a little more last week in connection with that important verse of Romans 4:25. This is genitive. It's different than Romans 4:25. In Romans 4:25, this same word is what we call the accusative case. When it's the accusative case, it means "because of" or "an account of." So, Romans 4:25 says, "Jesus was delivered on account of our offenses, but He was raised again on account of (or because of) our justification." It was the result of these things.

However, this time it is not result. This time it is indeed means (instrument). Genitive means instrument. Therefore, this is saying to us that it is through what Jesus Christ has done. It indicates His mediation. The Lord Jesus Christ, the God-Man who paid for our sins, the One who is the object of our salvation (for personal justification), is the agent (or the mediator) of our peace. He is the reason we have it. He's the one indeed who has taken it all on Himself. He has done it all out of the motivation of love.

If you stop and think about that, it will be hard for you not to have a great affection for the God-Man Jesus Christ. It will be hard for you not to realize that He deserves your devotion, and He should have your best service – not your leftover tired service. If you stop and think what He has done for you, out of no merit in yourself, without which you would be eternally doomed, this is the person that deserves our first and our best.

That's why such an insult if you have a ministry, and you don't prepare for it. If you have a class to teach, you talk off the top of your head, and share your ignorance with people. You come into a club meeting, and you haven't prepared, so the thing is rough, and it's not smooth. You don't know what's going on. You don't think in terms of the individual human being that you're dealing with, and seeking to meet that need. Well, back off and take a look at the person who has done all this for you that made it possible for you to produce the divine good through your service that stores treasures in heaven, and what it cost Him to do it. It is through the agency of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Have you ever heard anybody told, especially when they're about to die: "You better make your peace with God?" Negative. You cannot make your peace with God. It's a stupid statement. It's a non-doctrinal statement. Don't ever use it. Only God can make your peace for you. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can make peace for you. And that's the point that Paul is making. Because of the fact that we have been declared and pronounced by God Almighty, the Holy God, to be righteous as a result of our faith in Jesus Christ, we have a peace that is subjectively experienced within us, because it is an objective reality of the wrath of God removed. And we have it through the agency of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The sinner cannot remove God's wrath against him to quiet that fear of punishment which is within. But once that sinner knows that God has been satisfied in terms of His justice, and therefore, sin has been paid for in full, then you can lean back and take a deep relaxing breath, because then you can know that justification is a reality. God can actually justify you, and He can actually forgive you your sins.

In the first part of verse 2, our present condition also includes another tremendous thing, which is an access into the relationship with God, and into His very presence. And this in itself is a fabulous reality. Not only do we stand before Him with an experience of personal peace, but we have an entree into the presence of God Himself.

How do the Roman Catholics like to put it? "To die in a state of grace." What's their entree into that state of grace? Human works – the very things that will keep you from being in a state of grace when you die? The Roman Catholics are right that if you are not in a state of grace when you die, you are doomed. The question is: how do you get into the state of grace. And we're going to look at that next time.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1977

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