WONDERFUL WORDS OF LIFE RADIO SERMON June 13, 1976
PEACE WITH GOD
Romans 5:1
Peace with God is a peaceful relationship with God. The establishment of this relationship is the first need of each of us. Because this is our first need, the Apostle puts it first when he begins to present the results of justification. This assures us that the first and the greatest need of man has been met through Jesus Christ.

But let us be sure that we are clear about the nature of this peace with God. Paul does not say, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace". There is so much talk in the world about peace. There is such a need for peace between nations and between individuals. Modern man is so quick to grab at anything which promises peace. But this is specifically "Peace with God". Man's greatest conflict is not with his fellow man, nor even with himself ‑‑‑ but with his Creator. Man has a deep and abiding sense of being "at odds" with his Creator. The technical name for this is guilt. This guilt gives birth to so many fears and inner conflicts. The claim of the Apostle is that we have the answer to this basic conflict, "we have peace with God".

This "peace with God" should be distinguished from "the peace of God". Those who know "peace with God" may enjoy "the peace of God" as an inner spiritual tranquility. But the "Peace with God" is basically a reconciled relationship with God, not an inner peace, not a subjective feeling.

THE PEACE WITH GOD IS THE FRUIT OF JUSTIFICATION
Our verse begins with one of the most important words in the Bible. "Therefore" is the word on which the whole passage turns. It indicates a direct relationship between what is here stated and what has gone before. Beginning at Romans 3:20, right up to this verse, the Apostle has presented the great theme of justification by faith. So he says "therefore having been justified by faith ‑‑‑ we have peace with God". "Having been justified" is the better translation because it indicates a completed work that took place at a certain point in the past. This reconciled relationship with God is the direct result of the justification.

This will become clear if you will consider the nature of the conflict between you and God. God's conflict with man is over man's sin. Sin is the transgression of the law of God. It is an act of treason against the rule and authority of God. God being a just God must punish this sin. He cannot overlook or ignore such an act of rebellion. Such an action would threaten the very existence of the whole moral universe which holds everything together. So as long as man stands before God as responsible for sin, he must be under the wrath of God and must be treated as an enemy. The problem of each guilty sinner is to find a way to get rid of his sin so that God will no longer treat him as an enemy and so that he can escape the wrath of God.

To see the direct relationship between justification and peace with God, you must
also understand the nature of justification. Justification is the act of God whereby God declares the guilty sinner to be righteous. By this act God freely bestows upon the guilty sinner the very righteousness that He requires‑‑‑thereby making the sinner acceptable in His sight. And of course, in the same act all of the sins committed by the sinner are removed, forgiven. The result is that the divine records have nothing to show with reference to the sinner but the very righteousness of Christ. For this reason, the sinner then has peace with God. God's attitude toward him is peaceful. His relationship with God is a right relationship.

It is important that we see this peace with God as a fruit of justification. This is the only way the conflict between you and God can ever be settled. You must receive by faith God's gift of righteousness, then you will know peace with God.

PEACE WITH GOD IS THE WORK OF JESUS CHRIST
The Apostle never tires of pointing us to Jesus Christ as the channel through whom the grace of God has come to us. So even here he writes, "Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." He is the agent through whom this grace, this peaceful relationship with God, is known.

Since the peace with God is the result of justification, this is obvious. The act by which God declares the ungodly to be righteous is based upon the work of Jesus Christ upon the Cross. God is able to declare the us to be righteous because Christ Jesus our Lord satisfied all of the holy demands of God upon the sinner. The peace with God is directly related to Jesus being the propitiation for our sins.

Peace in any realm usually comes at a price. Many soldiers have poured out their blood on fields of battle so that we might live in peace as Americans. This peace with God has come at the highest price ‑‑‑ even the blood of Jesus Christ. Paul declared this plainly to the Ephesians, "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." (Eph. 2:13)

This peace with God is through Christ in yet another way. The faith whereby the guilty sinner receives the gift of righteousness is nothing less than receiving this same Jesus as the Lord of his life. When Christ is received as Lord by faith, the sinner is declared by God to be righteous. This Christ that is received is entitled by the prophet "prince of peace". He deserves this title because everyone who receives Him as the Prince of their lives knows "Peace with God".  Every life that so acknowledges Jesus as Lord is out from under the wrath of God and no longer has any conflict with the throne of God.

There is yet another aspect of this truth. From the moment God justifies the sinner onward, God regards the sinner in Christ Jesus. The sinner is allowed to enjoy the relationship with God that belongs to the righteous Lord of us all. Whatever relationship of peace we know with God, it is entirely because of Jesus. Any man who comes to God through Jesus Christ will find peace, but if anyone dares to come any other way he will find only wrath and condemnation. Peace with God is through our Lord Jesus Christ alone!'

PEACE WITH GOD IS THE ASSURANCE OF SALVATION
Martyn Loyd Jones, the great English expositor, makes assurance the theme for this entire chapter. It is his claim that the whole purpose of the Apostle was to present the assurance of salvation that belongs to the justified sinner. This verse surely should by considered in this context. When you look at the statement from this perspective, there is one word that leaps at you. "Ye have" peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ! This is a present active indicative verb. While it is true that some manuscripts have made it subjunctive‑“let us have", it is clear that it should be "we have". This relationship with God is something that the justified sinner already knows.

If the other truths we have set forth are really true, then it is clear that the justified sinner has no reason to fear God's wrath. Instead of a crippling fear of God's wrath, he should have within a quiet confidence toward God. In spite of his
knowledge of his sinfulness, he should be buoyed up by knowing that God has justified and removed all of his sins.

Since the justification never depended upon the goodness or the works of man, the maintenance of peace with God can never depend upon them. God did not settle the conflict on the basis of anything the sinner had done, but on the basis of what Christ had done in the behalf of the sinner.  This is the basis of our assurance.

This assurance leaves the sinner grateful and humble before God. The knowledge that Christ has been the agent in settling this terrible conflict with God makes the sinner the willing servant of Jesus Christ all of his days.

Do you have Peace with God? What is God's attitude toward you right now? Is God angry with you? Does God count you as an enemy or a friend?  The answer to these questions depends on whether or not you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior by faith.  If you have received Him by faith, you have peace with God.  God has no charge to bring against you.  His attitude toward you is peaceful!

Your attempts to rid yourself of guilt by any other means are all in vain. You
will never know peace with God‑‑and consequently peace with your own conscience, until you are willing to admit that you can do nothing to satisfy the demands of God against you and accept as a love gift that which Christ has already done for you. Will you not do this today?