There are moments when we need to slow down and remember what God has actually done for us.
Paul writes:
“How much more then, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath.” (Romans 5:9, CSB)
Our hope does not rest on how steady we feel. It does not rest on how consistent we have been. It rests on Christ’s blood.
The word of God reminds us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Left to ourselves, we stand guilty. But Paul also says we are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).
Justification is not a feeling. It is not positive thinking. It is a declaration. Through the blood of Jesus, God declares sinners to be right with Him. “He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). That verdict came at a cost.
Paul continues:
“For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:10, CSB)
That truth should steady us. God did not wait for us to improve. He did not reconcile us once we cleaned ourselves up. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). And Paul reminds the Colossians that Christ has “made peace through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20).
He reconciled us while we were enemies.
Reconciliation means the relationship has been restored. Sin broke it. Christ repaired it. Hostility stood in the way. Grace removed it. “For he is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14). Now, let’s go back to the Romans text:
“And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.” (Romans 5:11, CSB)
Notice the progression:
From justification
to reconciliation
to rejoicing.
This is not shallow happiness. It is settled joy. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Peace leads to joy!
If you belong to Christ, you are not standing before God as an uncertain outsider. “There is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). You are not trying to earn a hearing. You have already been heard through the work of His Son.
You have been justified.
You have been reconciled.
You now rejoice in God.
Fear loses its grip when we remember this.
The enemy wants you unsure. The gospel tells you to stand firm. “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Romans 8:31).
You were an enemy. Now you are at peace with God. And that changes everything.
Thank you for this reminder. I tend to sometimes forget.
This good news! Thank you. This means baptism cleanses the conscience (Heb 10:22, 1 Pet 3:21) and is “into” the reality of everyone’s sin’s having been remitted at the cross (Mt 26:28). In this sense it is for remission of sins. Baptism of penitent believers affords the experience of salvation by grace through faith (Mk 16:16, Eph 2:8-10). If the Lamb of God took away the sin (en masse) of the entire world once for all time (Jn 1:29, Heb 1:3), it means that God isn’t waiting for a “sinner’s prayer” nor baptism to forgive sins. Sinners wait to experience God’s grace, but God doesn’t wait to grant it (2 Tim 1:9). Beautiful! A message so badly needed today. People are only lost because they are alienated and self-separated from God.