Peace With God: Romans 5:1-11

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

She woke before dawn, as she had for months. But this morning was different.

The fear was gone.

For as long as she could remember, God had felt like a judge waiting to condemn. Every prayer felt like a defendant's plea. Every sin added to the ledger. Every failure confirmation that she would never be enough.

Then she heard the gospel. Really heard it. Justified through faith. Declared righteous—not because of what she had done, but because of what Christ had done. The verdict already rendered. The case already closed.

Peace with God.

Not peace with her circumstances. Not peace with herself, even. Peace with God. The war she didn't know she was losing—over. The hostility she had carried toward the heavens—dissolved. The God she had feared was not her enemy. Through Jesus Christ, he was her Father.

Through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.

She stood differently now. Not cowering. Not performing. Standing. In grace. Access granted—not because she had earned it, but because Christ had opened the door.

And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

The hope changed too. She used to dread meeting God. Now she looked forward to it. Glory ahead. Face-to-face knowledge of the one who loved her. The hope was certain enough to boast in.

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings.

The suffering didn't stop when faith began. Her diagnosis came three weeks after she believed. The prognosis was uncertain. The treatment would be brutal.

But she gloried in it. Not enjoyed it—that would be masochism. Gloried—found meaning, found purpose, found something worth having even in the pain.

Because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

The chain of transformation. Suffering wasn't wasted. It produced. It built. It formed. Perseverance first—the muscle of endurance. Then character—the shape of the soul refined. Then hope—not less hope because of suffering, but more.

And hope does not put us to shame.

The hope was reliable. It wouldn't disappoint. She wouldn't arrive at death's door only to find it locked. The hope was as solid as the God who gave it.

Because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Poured out. Not measured in drops. Not rationed carefully. Poured. The love of God flooding her heart. The Holy Spirit—given, indwelling, testifying—making the love experiential, not just theoretical.

She felt loved. Not because her feelings were always strong. But because the Spirit made real what faith believed.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

She had been powerless. Completely unable to save herself. Unable to climb to God. Unable to make herself righteous. At just the right time—God's calendar, not hers—Christ died. For the ungodly. Not for the impressive. Not for the deserving. For the ungodly.

She had been ungodly. Christ had died for her.

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.

Human heroism had limits. You might die for someone good, someone worth it, someone whose life merited the sacrifice.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This was different. Not while we were righteous. Not while we were good. While we were still sinners. Active rebellion. Ongoing offense. And Christ died anyway.

This was the demonstration. God's love proven. Not in words only but in blood. While we were still sinners.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!

Justified by blood. The price paid. The verdict rendered. If God did that—the hard part, the costly part, the cross—would he fail to complete the work? How much more would he save from coming wrath?

For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

Enemies reconciled. If the death of Christ achieved that, what would the life of Christ accomplish? He died to reconcile. He lives to save. The resurrection wasn't just proof of past victory but guarantee of future keeping.

Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

She boasted now. Not in herself—never that. In God. Through Jesus Christ. Reconciliation received. The relationship restored. The peace secured.

The dawn light filled her room. The diagnosis remained. The treatment awaited. But the fear was gone.

She had peace with God.