April 3, Romans 5
We’re jaded. We want to believe, but experience tells us it’s too good to be true. The bitter disappointments of life and the hollow promises of advertising have made us skeptics about “peace” and “free.”
In the news, in relationships or in our own minds, peace is often a shadowy illusion, easy to shatter and hard to trust. But Paul says we have peace with God when we are justified by faith. Our lives and personal experiences certify that there is no peace in being justified by works. We can’t undo the past. We never do enough. We know ourselves too well, and realize it’s only a matter of time until we slip and fail. All of this is very unsettling, very anti-peace. When we learn to trust what Christ has done instead of what we do, we can find the peace we will never know as long as our standing with God is based on our own performance.
The peace that comes from standing in grace shapes our response to life. We find joy in the hope we now possess, even in the face of adversity. Trusting God allows us to see suffering as a forge in which we’re shaped and strengthened for God’s purposes and for our own good. It’s the ongoing work of the amazing love that reached out to us when we were so
unlovable. God allowed Christ to die for us, not because we were good, but because we weren’t. Jesus endured the cross to reconcile us to God because we made ourselves his enemies.
Sometimes an item is truly free—no charge, no conditions, no strings attached. But most of the time we’ve learned that the cost is built into something else we’re buying, or some stipulation attached to the gift keeps it from being truly free. Momma warned us about things that were too good to be true, and she’s been right most of the time. The conditions of the deal are not printed in the same font size as the promise of what’s free. It’s understandable that we’re leery of the promised free gift. But Paul says it’s free five times in a single paragraph. Every sinful descendant of Adam has earned death. The amazing message of the gospel is that the righteousness and obedience of Christ brings justification and life. Through the sacrifice of Christ, God’s grace is greater than all the guilt of our sinfulness. Grace isn’t earned, merited, deserved or achieved. It is a free gift to be trusted and received.
These concepts turn the world’s ideas about religion upside down. Religion is what people do, trying to get to God and find peace. The gospel is all about what God has done to bring us to himself and give us peace. It’s not hard to understand why so many people struggle with these concepts. But it’s worth the effort to think this through. God offers freely a peace that cannot be bought at any price.
From The Abiding Companion: A Friendly Guide for Your Journey Through the New Testament,
Copyright © 2010 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—April 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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