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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman Standing
Strong In Grace Romans
5:1 through 5 reads: "Therefore,
since we have been justified 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 boast in the hope of the glory of God. And
not only that, but we also boast 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." To
benefit from this passage we must understand the Biblical meaning of the
following words. Justification
is the process whereby God declares us, in our very essence, to be
righteously just. Biblical
faith is the process by which we trust our lives with Jesus by entering
into a trusting relationship with Him. Biblical
grace is God's undeserved, divine ability given to us so we can accomplish
His will in our lives. Biblical
peace is an inner tranquility due to the fact that we have peace with God
through the process of reconciliation. Biblical
hope is the certain expectation of a future reality.
Biblical
love is the demonstration of sacrificing one's self for another.
With
the above passage in mind, we know that we have obtained access into God's
grace wherein we stand. The
Greek verb tense concerning our obtaining and standing in grace (a
perfect, active, indicative verb) means that without a doubt, our stance
in grace is an accomplished reality that is actively producing God's will
in our lives. This gives us a
prideful hope of a glorious future, but there is more to boast about.
Paul
also boasted in the afflictions he endured for being an apostle of Jesus,
and there were many. He not
only had the privilege to share in Christ's sufferings (2 Corinthians
1:5), he realized that they were one means of producing a godly character
in his life, helping him to be the productive Christian he was called to
be. To
benefit from Romans 5:1 through 5, we must understand what it means and
that understanding must saturate our souls to the degree that it becomes
the conviction by which we live. We
must know beyond a doubt that God has designated us to be righteously
just. That knowledge prevents us from wallowing around in uncertainty that
destroys the productivity of God's grace in our lives.
Yes, we have obtained access into God's grace, but more than that,
we proudly stand strong in His grace.
We have the divine ability to accomplish God's will in our lives,
and that, despite the character-building afflictions of life.
It's what being a productive Christian is all about.
So, as you hope for your glorious resurrected future, stand strong
in God's grace in the present.
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