Theme:Salvation available to all by faith.
Title in NIV: God forgives man through faith in Jesus Christ.
Let's pretend we are watching Law & Order. The man on trial is accused of robbing a store and in the process, killing the clerk. All the evidence is against him: matching boot print, bloody finger print, found murder weapon, not to mention the video tape of the murder. Sentencing has just been handed down: Guilty. As the guards are escorting this man away in handcuffs, a man stands up and says, "Judge! I take full responsibility for this man's actions. I will carry out all the days of his punishment. He deserves a second chance. Take me instead." The judge agrees. The men change places. The innocent man is carried away despised and rejected; the guilty man is left blameless.
Jesus did this exact thing for us.
Romans 5:1 says we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ because we have gained access to God and we have entered into his grace (undeserved love and salvation God gives). We can rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Are you at peace with God? Do you believe you are blameless? Are you free from guilt? Do you wonder how God could love a sinner like you? Your answers to these questions will allow you to realize just how strong your faith is. You know what the answers should be...do you feel like that, however? Start believing God will do what he says he will do; God is who he says he is; and you are who God says you are. (From Beth Moore)
To understand what it feels like to be safe, you must first experience danger. To understand peace you have to experience suffering. Suffering is not something we would choose if given a choice, but it is necessary to prove our faith genuine (1 Peter 1:6-7). This proving of our faith results in praise, glory, honor (if we are victorious) when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Suffering is not all terrible when you look at what it produces: perseverance, character and hope! I want those attributes to be said of me: "She never gave up", "Her reputations is admirable", and "Her outlook always positive". I possess perseverance, character and hope because the Holy Spirit lives in me. So, to tie it all back to peace, I have to persevere to have peace: quitters rarely feel at peace; I have to have good character to have peace: people who are not well liked because of bad character are not inwardly peaceful no matter what they say; I have to posses hope to have peace: hopeless people see no 'good' future.
I wish we could wrap our mind around God's love for us just enough to make us confident and like ourselves. So many people I know don't even like themself. Believe God!! We are justified: free from guilt and blameless (vs. 9); we are reconciled: put back in harmony with God (vs. 10); we are saved through Jesus (vs. 10); we can rejoice in God through Jesus Christ (vs.11).
Pray a prayer of thanks giving. Express to God how thankful you are to be justified, reconciled and saved. Rejoice that this has ALREADY HAPPENED! Don't wait to "feel it" before you claim it. Satan will never allow you to feel like you are special.
Further study:
Reconciliation: 2:14-18; 2Cor 5:18-19
Justified: Acts 13:39; Rom 8:30; 1Cor 6:11; Gal 2:16, 3:24
Rejoice: Luke 1:47, 10:20; Phil 4:4
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