Romans 5

Peace with God Through Faith

When I began my devotion on Romans 5, I read about justification. What does justification mean? Well, in reading some Bible Doctrine from Wayne Grudem the other day, he states that justification can be described as "an instantaneous legal act of God in which he thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ's righteousness as belonging to us, and declares us to be righteous in his sight." After further reading, Grudem also makes a contrast between justification and condemnation which is basically saying that justification is the opposite of condemnation and therefore means that it declares a person not guilty.

To explain further, verse 1 in Romans 5 says that we have "been justified by faith and have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Because of Christ's death on the cross, he paid the penalty for our sin and we can come boldly to Him and receive his grace. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit resides in believers to allow us to experience God's love. Because of this, we have love for God and love for others (but admitedly it is something I need to be reminded of quite often).

I must admit that I need to constantly be drawn to verses like this in Romans which shows me the amount of love God has for me. God did not need to send his Son to die for us, but chose to send him so we can believe in him and have everlasting life. God first loved me and that is a huge truth for me to keep on my heart. I need to always be reminded of this and return the love to him and to my neighbors.

Going back to what I mentioned earlier about condemnation and justification being opposites of each other, Romans 5:16 says, "For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification." Of course this verse is talking about the death of Christ on the cross for our sins. The first trespass mentioned in this verse is the sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden. The second part of this verse talks about the life Christ gives to us even though we are sinners. I am reminded again of the contrast between these two terms and when I forget about what justification means, I can turn to this verse and meditate on it.

This week I have been really thinking about how important it is to show my love for God and to show my love for others, especially my spouse. I can get so caught up in my own selfish pride, but am quickly convicted because I am not showing love when I do so. I am so thankful that Christ has come, Christ is Risen, and Christ loves! 

Thanks for stopping by!