"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God."
Romans 5:1-2
This post is long overdue but I wanted to share what I learned at my church's Romans Bible Academy. Over the summer we studied the first half of the book of Romans. I led the Bible study on chapter 5, which we titled "Fruits of Righteousness". I just wanted to write some key points that I learned from leading that Bible study.
If you have never read Romans before, or just need a refresher, the first chapters focus primarily on the doctrine of justification by grace through faith. Paul explains the idea that everyone is a sinner, whether Jew or Gentile. As a result of our sinfulness, we are all under God's righteous judgement. We all deserve death. Thankfully, Paul also writes that we are justified through faith in Jesus Christ. Those who have faith in Jesus are declared righteous in God's sight.
I went over the doctrine of justification fairly quickly, so I recommend that you read the first four chapters of Romans if you want to understand it more deeply. The focus of chapter five is a little different. Instead of dealing with the idea of justification directly, Paul talks about the result of our justification. This chapter is so powerful because it gives us practical results of our justification.
The first result, or fruit, of justification is peace. I shared the story of how one day my parents were working with a ladder in the backyard of our house. They had it set up in the backyard, and went off to do something else. They told me not to play on the ladder, knowing that I was eager to climb the ladder and play on it. Of course I didn't listen, and started playing with the ladder. I fell off the ladder, banging my head on one of the bars. When my parents rushed over to me, I felt a huge sense of guilt and shame. I clearly disobeyed my parents, and I paid the consequences of my disobedience.
The ladder story is a silly one, but it illustrates how guilt and shame can enter our lives because of sin. When we disobey God, we suffer the consequences of our sin and we feel guilt and shame. Even worse still, we can feel the wrath of God on our lives. However, when we know that we are justified by faith, we can experience peace with God. We no longer have to worry about the consequences of our sin, because Jesus took the punishment of our sin. We don't have to experience guilt and shame because Jesus took our guilt and shame on the cross.
The second fruit of justification is hope. Without justification, we are condemned to death. There is no hope for eternal life with God because our sin separates us from Him. Only one who is justified can have access to the glory of God. Since we are justified through faith, we can have hope that one day we will share the glory of God.
Peace and hope are two things that we each need desperately in our lives, whether we think so or not. Our hearts and constantly filled with guilt, shame and despair because of our sin. Justification allows us to have peace and hope. Justification by grace through faith is not just a theological term that has no practical meaning in our lives. It should change our lives everyday. Our lives are meant to be filled with peace and hope because of justification. So ask yourself- do I experience peace and hope in my everyday life?
-Smart
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