The Word - April 23, 2012 - EXPERIENCING GRACE AND JOY

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:1-2).

The very first source of joy, we as believer's can experience in the here and now is knowing that we have been "Justified by faith." What does it mean to be justified? It means to be made righteous in the sight of a holy God.

Let's go one step further here, when God justifies the sinner, the miracle that takes place is that we then appear in God's eyes as if we have never sinned! When we are "born again," God gives us so much more than just forgiveness. We are actually "justified," made the very righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). The very righteousness of God is imputed to us in Christ.

But how is God able to impute such righteousness to sinful individuals? God justifies us, NOT by lowering Himself to our level, but rather by raising us to His. He did not lower His standards of absolute righteousness so as to allow sinners to be justified. He rather sent His Son to live a life that fully met His perfect standards, and who then died a sacrificial death on our behalf.

This explains how God could then be able to impute His righteousness to us when we believe the Gospel, and so our text declares we are "Justified by faith." Now it is very important that we understand it is not enough to believe Christ died for our sins and rose again, for this truth is a well-documented fact of history. It is only when we believe that Christ died "for our sins and was raised for our justification" that God can impute His righteousness to us.

Justified by faith....Peace with God......rejoice in hope of the glory of God!