DO YOU HAVE PEACE WITH GOD?

Background Passage: ROMANS 5:1-11

Lesson Passage:ROMANS 5:1-11

HAVING PEACE WITH GOD IS A BENEFIT OF SALVATION THAT GIVES BELIEVERS A SENSE OF SECURITY IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND IN THEIR LIVES.

KEY BIBLE VERSE: ROMANS 5:1

One Sunday morning in worship, Sylvia and Brett sang a hymn about counting blessings. While they were driving home after the service, Sylvia started to hum the tune of the hymn, and Brett began to think about the words. Before long both of them were talking about the blessings God had given them. Worship that began at church continued in the car as the two of them rejoiced in the blessings God had brought their way..

Paul wrote about the blessings of being saved in his letter to the Roman Christians. As he focused attention on the blessings, he encouraged believers to rejoice. He knew that the blessings of being saved would foster a sense of security for a Christian and his or her relationship with the Lord.

The blessings of being saved are highlighted in the portion of Romans that you will study in this session. As you explore the passage, ask God to give you a new appreciation for the peace with Him that has been given to you through Jesus Christ. And be sure to follow the example of Sylvia and Brett. Worship the Lord by naming the blessings in the Scripture passage that have come your way because you are saved. Like the Christians of Paul's day, you can rejoice in the blessings that flow from your personal relationship with Christ.

BACKGROUND PASSAGE OVERVIEW

In his letter to the Roman Christians, Paul underscored the gospel. Previously he had explained why everyone everywhere needed to hear and respond to the good news of Christ. In this portion of his letter, he talked about being saved in terms of being declared righteous And he emphasized the blessings of being saved.

At the top of his list was the blessing of having peace with God. We enjoy a relationship with God in which He sees us as friends and not enemies. Peace with God is a unique blessing because of the way we receive it. We have it because we trusted in Christ, not because we earned it. Christ alone has made it possible for us to enjoy the relationship of peace we have with God.

Another blessing of being saved is the confidence we have through Christ. We can be certain that God will be glorified in our lives. Having that certainty gives us unequaled joy. We live in the joyful and confident hope that God will be glorified, even when we face difficulties.

As we encounter troubled times, God will help us to work through them. And He will use the tough times in our lives to develop Christian character in us. We will not be disappointed in the ways He works in our lives to nurture within us the character of Christ.

Yet another blessing has to do with God's love. The deep river of His love flows from His heart into our hearts. The Holy Spirit, who lives in us, makes such a miracle possible. We see the depth of God's love in the way He allowed Christ to die for us. We could do nothing to save ourselves, and we didn't deserve any help from God. But in His love, God made salvation possible through Christ. As a result of His love, we enjoy the privilege of having an intimate relationship with Him because His wrath has been removed. Also, the wall between us and Him has been torn down, thanks to what Christ did for us.

So far in Romans, we have read about the hopeless situation facing anyone who rejects the gospel. Now we can read about life brimming with hope because we are saved.

STUDY QUESTIONS 1.What did Paul mean when he wrote that Christians have been declared righteous?(Romans 5:1)
2.Why did Paul say that tough times can render hope for a Christian?(5:4)
3.What does reconciliation involve?(5:10-11)

WE HAVE PEACE ( ROMANS 5:1-2a)

Romans 5
1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and ;

VERSE 1 ~ When Paul used the word therefore, he wanted to direct our attention to the point about the gospel that he was trying to make. Having argued passionately that people could be saved only by responding in faith and gratitude to Christ, Paul went on to point our what happened to people once they were saved.

Paul had being saved in mind as he wrote about being declared righteous. In other words, God has declared that we have been made right with Him. (See study question 1) His wrath against us has been removed, and an intimate relationship with Him has begun. As a result, we have peace with God. He no longer sees us as enemies or strangers. Now He sees us as friends.

Peace with God is a rare blessing that Christians should not take for granted. Many people all over the world struggle with fear in their hearts when they think about God. They know they don't have peace with Him. They dread the very thought of seeing Him one day and answering to Him for the way they lived.

By contrast, Christians live in the awareness that for them, any previous dread or fear of God that may have been part of their lives has been replaced by a warm and personal relationship with Him, Fear of God troubles people who have not received Christ. Peace with God settles people who have been saved.

What makes our peace with God even more remarkable is the way we receive it. We don't earn it. In fact, we couldn't earn it if we tried. We receive it when we respond to the gospel by faith. By trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, we receive God's salvation and the accompanying blessing of His peace in our hearts.

VERSE 2a ~ Peace with God gives us access to eternal life. Imagine that you are standing on the outside of a castle that's surrounded by a deep moat and protected by high walls. How can you get over the moat and past the walls to the castle? Of course, the drawbridge has to be lowered for you. In a way, Jesus lowered the drawbridge for us to have access to eternal life.

Such access is a splendid expression of God's grace to us in Christ. God's grace has given us an abiding sense of spiritual security. Instead of running from God out of fear, Christians stand securely in God's grace. In that setting our relationship with Him flourishes.

WE CAN REJOICE (ROMANS 5:2b-5)

Romans 3
2b and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

VERSE 2b ~ Peace with God prompts us to rejoice in the hope He gives us. Our hope as believers gives us a sense of security that affects us as we think about the present as well as the future.

Of course, our hope helps us to rejoice as we look into the future. We live in the confidence that when we die, we will go to heaven to be with the Lord. Likewise, we know for certain that when we see the Lord, we will see Him as a friend who will welcome us home. Such a sense of confidence brings tremendous joy to us as we think about eternity.

But the hope we have in the Lord also makes a difference to us as we face the challenges of living for Christ today. Because we are saved, we can rejoice. We are convinced that God will glorify Himself in our lives as we face the tough times ahead of us. In particular, we are certain that tough times will nurture a maturing spirit of endurance in us. In other words, through our struggles we will grow stronger in our steadfast determination to be victorious.

VERSE 3 ~ The hope we have in Christ enables us to deal with the afflictions that come our way. As we know, afflictions come our way in different shapes and sizes. No matter how they come to us, we can rejoice. We are convinced that god will glorify Himself in our lives as we face the tough times ahead of us. In particular, we are certain that tough times will nurture a maturing spirit of endurance in us. In other words, through our struggles we will grow stronger in our steadfast determination to be victorious.

VERSE 4 ~ Endurance does not become an end in itself. It is like a hot fire blazing under the kettle of our lives. Endurance refines us by gradually burning away our spiritual impurities. As a result, proven character emerges. We live securely in the complete assurance that tough situations will make us better people. As we see how the Lord uses tough situations in our lives to build His character in us, our hope in Him grows even stronger. (See study question 2).

VERSE 5 ~ The flower of hope we have in Him will never wither into a dead weed of hopelessness. God's love will flow from His heart to our hearts, always refreshing our hope in Him. Fed from the spring of His love, hope always blossoms in our lives, thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit in us.

Because of the hope we have in Christ, we rejoice in the future by looking forward to heaven. But we also rejoice in the tough times that challenge us today. We know that the Lord will make us better people as we face them.

The peace with God that we enjoy as Christians is the result of reconciliation. God took the initiative to reconcile us to Himself. Paul's insights into our reconciliation give us one more reason to rejoice in the security we have in Christ.

WE ARE SECURE (ROMANS 5:6-11br>

6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

VERSE 6 ~ Paul described us well when he wrote that we were spiritually helpless. In our efforts to find peace with God on our own terms, we always fail miserably. God could have turned His back on us and ignored our helplessness. But He didn't. He not only knew that we were ungodly; He also knew that we couldn't do anything about our condition. When the time was right, He took the initiative to save us by allowing Christ to die for us.

VERSE 7 ~ That Jesus would die for the ungodly should always astonish us. Such an incomparable sacrifice for such undeserving people doesn't make sense when we think ab out it. Perhaps we would consider offering our lives to save the life of someone who, in our minds, deserved such a sacrifice. But likely we would never in a thousand years begin to consider giving up our lives for anyone we considered unworthy in any way.

VERSE 8 ~ What would prompt such an astonishing sacrifice? Paul told us that God's love for us moved Him to allow Christ to die for us.

Sometimes our struggles get the best of us, and in the midst of them we wonder if God really loves us. If He did, we complain to ourselves, He would do something about our struggles. He would smooth them over.

When we complain that way, we overlook the magnificent reality that God proves His love for us in a way that makes an eternal difference in our lives. He showed His love by allowing His Son to die for us even though we were helpless sinners. Christ's death on the cross stands before us as the most eloquent expression of God's love that human beings could ever know.

VERSE 9 ~Christ's death reveals God's love to us. Once we receive Christ, God saves us from His wrath. The blood of Christ cleanses us and makes us right with God.

VERSES 10-11 ~ Paul used the word reconciliation to express what God has done for us through Christ. Reconciliation describes the hard-fought peace that comes to former enemies who have intentionally settled the war that once raged between them. In some ways and in certain circumstances, waging peace is much more difficult than waging war. Only true forgiveness, extended and accepted, can bring about true reconciliation.

The death of Christ marks God's loving initiative to bring the war between us and Him to an end. When we received Christ, the war ended. We are no longer God's enemies; we are His friends. Christ's death in our place has reconciled us to God. Christ living in us causes us to rejoice in having been reconciled to God.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Now you know why Sylvia and Brett talked about their blessings. Their relationship with Christ gave them more than enough reasons to rejoice. As this passage in Romans shows us, the blessing of peace with God gives us a deep sense of security in our relationship with Him. In a world filled with people in search of spiritual security, we know about the value of being secure in Christ.

How can you grow in your sense of spiritual security? Perhaps the following suggestions can help you to develop a joyful spirit as you consider your salvation.

* Reflect on the peace with God that you have because of Christ
* Thank the Lord for the hope in Christ that assures you that God will be glorified in your life here and hereafter.
* Talk about the expression of God's love in Christ to someone who is complaining that God doesn't love him or her.
When we rejoice in the security we have in Christ, we show that we have peace with God. As a result, people can be drawn to Christ as they observe the joy we find in living for Him.