Justified

Week 6

Romans 5:1 (NIV)  -     Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

·         “Justified through faith”  

      Not of works, not of status, not of who we know but through faith!  The sin that had permeated our being and corrupted our nature can only be wiped away by the blood of Jesus Christ.  That precious blood has created a new and living way but we can only enter that way through faith.  Without faith it is impossible to please God.

·          “Justified”  

      Lost and without hope, trapped in the darkness with no sense of direction, wandering aimlessly in despair, the sin that I carried suffocating me so that I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t break the chains that bound me.  GUILTY! I deserved rejection because I had broken every law of love and decency within my own heart.  Rejecting the my Father, my Creator, while seeking my own pleasure.  That’s when it happened!  God’s love pierced through the darkness and before His love I was transformed.  In Christ!  In the Cross!  It is just as if I’d never sinned!

·         “since”  

      Old things have passed away behold all things become new!  “since” I once was blind but now I see!  “since” these chains have been destroyed!  What a difference it made when the Lord came and stayed in my life.  Watching the face of those that encounter the love of God and find peace unleashes a wave of glory in my soul.  Do you remember the day?  That bold mark across the landscape of your life where everything changed?   Then lift your heart and hands to Jesus and rejoice!

·         “Peace with God”    

      We were separated from God by our sins and there was no hope of finding peace by our own devices.  In despair we were empty and barren, without God and without hope we walked in disobedience.    But this was not the will of our Father.  His plan was to bless us!  To prosper us!  To love us with an everlasting love!  At the birth of Jesus the angels sang “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on who His favor rests”  The angels weren’t talking about a few men.  They were talking about all men!  God so loved the world… The peace of God passes all understanding and it will keep your heart and mind (Philippians 4:7) if you will put your faith in Him.

·         “Through”  

      If I want to enter the blessing of God’s presence I must enter in through the door.  Jesus declared in John 14:5 “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.”  God has chosen His Son to be the only way!  Only Jesus left heaven to ransom our souls.  Only Jesus was born sinless.  Only Jesus offered himself as our willing sacrifice.  Only Jesus can take away our sins.  Only Jesus knows my yesterdays and still loves me.  Only Jesus knows my tomorrow.  When we sing, “I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart.  I will enter His courts with praise.”  Do you realize that gate is Jesus? 

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