HOW TO HAVE PEACE WITH GOD

“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1 HCSB)

It was Christmas Day, 1863, when a father’s mind was consumed by thoughts of his son.  The young man had enlisted as a soldier in the Union Army with such idealism, eager to fight for what he believed in so strongly.  The horrors of those days of brother rising up against brother, however, seemed to go on and on—like a bloody tide of ebb and flow, the battles going back and forth, with corpses strewn on the fields like flotsam and jetsam left on the beach from storm-tossed surf.  That son, Charles, now a lieutenant, had himself been severely wounded, in one of the multitude of struggles over the soil of Virginia.  Despair swept over the father when he received this news.  He heard the bells ringing in the church towers to celebrate Christmas—and they seemed to be a mockery—announcing the coming of the Prince of Peace, yet there was no peace.  Both Union and Confederate troops read the same Bibles, prayed to the same God, professed the righteousness of their cause and then as professing Christians went out to slaughter one another.  Such morbid musings led Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to put pen to paper and write in black ink words mirroring the blackness that engulfed his mind,

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,

and wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along

The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime,

A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,

And with the sound

The carols drowned

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,

And made forlorn

The households born

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;

"For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

But the great poet was not willing to yield to a spirit of fatalism, but rather discovered the spirit of faith.  He listened as the bells continued to sound out the message of hope and peace and love—the promise of Christmas.  He foresaw the dawn of a better and brighter day and was inspired to close with this stanza,

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men."

It is possible—despite all circumstances to have peace with God.  That is what Jesus came to bring.  The savagery of mankind and even the sin we know to befoul our own hearts can be overcome.  Forgiveness and reconciliation can be known—our rebellion against God can end in surrender, and our strife with our fellowman cease—and that is why Jesus came into the world on that first Christmas.

How can we have peace with God?

Paul tells us how in Romans chapter five.

We can have peace with God THROUGH THE PROVISION OF GRACE.

“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (v.1-2)

 We note the word “through” repeated twice, as the Apostle Paul reminds us of what God has provided through His grace.  He asserts that “we have peace with God” and “access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand.”

No wonder Paul calls us to join him in rejoicing.  To have peace with God is an incredible, indescribable possession! 

Did you note the word, “Therefore” and did you follow the rule of Bible interpretation that when you see the word “therefore” you always ask, “What is it there for?” 

Paul has been writing of the amazing grace of God that puts us in a right relationship with the Righteous One in the four preceding chapters of this letter.  He begins by painting a dark picture of a broken relationship with God—a gulf so great that no mere mortal can span it.  Our natural inclination is to surrender to sin and self.  We are born in this condition, separated from God by our depravity.  As we practice sinful acts, we get quite proficient at it. 

The secularist says that we are merely highly-evolved animals, and we are living out our natural instincts.  There is no God and no moral code, so, “Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”  That’s it.

But, of course, there are not only those who are secularists, but those who are spiritualists—and these take a different route toward the same destination of hell.  They don’t exclude religion but embrace it.  Paul knew many like that and so addresses them in his opening argument, also.

After taking us to view the nauseating sewer of mankind’s sin, in Romans One, the Apostle also warns about those who try to cover the stench with the perfume of religion and morality, in the second and third chapters. 

It is like trying to heal a cancer by putting a band-aid on it.  Think of a few examples:

Islam says submit to the five pillars and you can earn Allah’s favor.  Hinduism says go through reincarnations until you get it right.  Roman Catholicism says keep the sacraments, spend a little time in purgatory and God will accept you.  Mormonism has its strict moral code to follow and Jehovah’s Witnesses send you door to door with the Watchtower materials, trying to obtain a standing as one of the 144,000 who make it into heaven. 

All this is futile, and Paul declares that no one can be just before God that way.  There is no peace with God to be found among reprobates or religionists.  Yet what religion and morality cannot do, God has done in sending His Son to be our Savior.  Paul tells us that by simply placing our faith in the finished work of Christ, we are justified before God.  God now views me justified: “just as if I’d never sinned.”   

The war is over; peace is provided.  Recall how Adam and Eve were in harmony with God in the garden.  There was no death, no violence.  Nature was at peace—lions lying down with lambs.  Then sin disrupted that harmony—Adam hid from God; a curse descended and blood was soon shed.  Peace was gone.  A sword barred the entrance into the place where Adam once walked with God. Yet God came seeking his creation and He always does.  Once more we have access to Him.  The veil of the temple was torn with the tearing of Christ’s flesh and the way was opened into the Holy of Holies. It comes by faith in Christ.  It isn’t a question of how much faith, but is the faith in Christ?  He alone can save us, but He will save us!  Cast yourself on His grace!  Then rejoice in this hope that is sure.  This leads us to our next consideration.

We have peace through the provision of grace and THROUGH THE POWER OF HOPE.

“And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.  This hope will not disappoint [us], because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly.” (v.3-6) 

Paul stresses the power of prevailing hope.  Even in the storms of life we can stand.  Christ as our firm foundation is the source of stability.  There is peace in the eye of life’s hurricane.

Some wonder, how you can talk about peace in the midst of a storm.  It is truly a peace that surpasses human understanding (see Phil.4:7) with supernatural peace within transcending the circumstantial problems without.  Being a Christian doesn’t exempt us from trouble, but it does enable us in trouble—we are weak, but He is strong.  The trials of life are transformed by the grace of God from something harmful to something helpful.  Tribulation comes to develop patience in us, and as we patiently wait on God, character is formed—God uses pressure from our burdens to mold us as a potter does the clay. 

There is our hope—not in what we are or what we can do—for we are helpless to help ourselves.  But it was for such a worm as I that Christ died.  The Almighty who by the power of His Word called the universe into existence, died in utter weakness on the cross—but through that flows the power of God unto salvation! 

Life’s difficulties may lead to disappointment, but we have a hope that will never disappoint us.  God has assured us that finally and fully—however things appear for now—that the most glorious future awaits us.

God gives us His own life and love in the Holy Spirit who regenerates.  The Spirit of God within is the “down-payment” and assured hope of full redemption to come (read Eph.1:13-14).  What a hope this is!

You can have peace with God through the provision of grace, the power of hope and THROUGH THE PROMISE OF LOVE.

“For rarely will someone die for a just person — though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die.  But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!  Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath.  For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, [then how] much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life!  And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have now received this reconciliation through Him.” (v.7-11)

The promise is of reconciliation to God.  This is the promise of love.  It is why God sent His Son into this world, moved by love to redeem fallen man. 

Bible teacher, Warren Wiersbe, has written:

“In Romans 1:18–32, Paul explained how men declared war on God and, because of this, deserved to be condemned eternally. But God did not declare war on man. Instead, He sent His Son as the Peacemaker (Eph. 2:11–18) that men might be reconciled to God.” 

God is reconciled to you, and now appeals for you to be reconciled to Him.  You must unconditionally surrender.  That’s when the war—on your part—comes to an end.  God loves you and desires for you to lay down your sword.  On His part, he has no desire to bring the sword of His wrath upon you.  That need not be.  You can have peace with God.  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ today, and you will be saved!