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Title:--Living at Peace with God and with Others (Two Parts)

Theme:--Justification and Sanctification, Peace with God and the Peace of God

Text:--Romans 5:1-8

Date:--Sunday, January 29, 2017

Occasion:--

Place:--CCC

Code:--02

PP – TITLE

This morning I want to speak on having peace with God. Next Sunday I will be speaking, Lord willing, on having the peace of God. There is a profound difference between being at peace with God and enjoying the peace of God. The first has to do with justification, the second has to do with sanctification. The first, peace with God, has to do with our legal standing before God. The second, the peace of God, has to do with our everyday living before others. The two are dynamically related but are distinct. The first forms the foundation for the second. Because we have peace with God we can enjoy thepeace of God. But the two are distinct. Many believers enjoy the assurance of sins forgiven but nevertheless are plagued by anxiety and un-rest in their soul and conflict and lack of peace in their interpersonal relationships. So I want to speak today about peace with God and next Sundaythe peace of God.

PP - TEXT

5Therefore, since we have been justifiedthrough faith,we[a]have peacewith God through our Lord Jesus Christ,2through whom we have gained accessby faith into this grace in which we now stand.And weboast (rejoice) in the hopeof the glory of God(NIV).

PP – Peace with God

Peace with God. Many people are not at peace with God. They are deeply resentful, bitter, angry and aggrieved. They feel that God has been unfair. They got a raw deal.

Many people are not at peace with God. Many feel guilty because they are guilty. They know that they’ve done things that displease God. They lack peace with God. In their heart of hearts, they know that God is holy, and they are not, and that dissonance makes them uncomfortable, without peace. Some prefer to deny his existence as a psychological tool to deal with the uncomfortable thought of giving account to Someone they know that they’ve offended.

This message deals primary with this second group: People who lack peace because of guilt. Often the people who are resentful with God (first group) are the same ones who have issues in their conscience. This message seeks to explain how we can have peace with God. Indeed, that is the focus of our text. Our text says: since we have been justifiedthrough faith,wehave peacewith God … it speaks of a glorious possibility … to be at peace with God. No condemnation. No guilt-laden anxiety. No feelings of dis-ease when thinking about a holy, pure and majestic God. On the contrary: PEACE.

PP - SHALOM

SHALOM is the word the Hebrews used. Integrated well-being. Peace of mind, peace of heart, peace of conscience, peace with God. No controversy. No condemnation. Harmony. This peace is accompanied by joy! Verse 2 affirms: “we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Rejoicing and peace … this is what God offers you.

PP – Do you have peace with God?

PP – HOW?

PP – BIBLICAL TEXT

Our text mentions three crucial phrases: 5Therefore, since we have been justifiedthrough faith,we[a]have peacewith God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

  1. THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
  2. JUSTIFICATION
  3. THROUGH FAITH
  1. THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
  2. Peace with God comes through Jesus Christ.
  3. Our text states in verse 2 “through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand”
  4. This position of being justified is described as a condition or state of grace. Grace means a gift, God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. Something we can’t earn, something we don’t deserve, but something that God in his love and mercy freely gives us.
  5. And ACCESS is through Christ.
  6. ACCESS is denied because of our sins. We are described in this text as without strength (6), ungodly (6), sinners (8) and enemies (10). Our position towards God is one of hostility, not friendship, enmity, not peace. Something has to be done to deal with our sin. God decided that He would resolve the difficulty through Jesus.
  7. Christ is God’s way of peace, God’s gift of peace. Through Christ we are reconciled to God. Our differences are resolved. Our differences are absolved. Jesus pays for the penalty of our sins. Our guilt is removed. We are forgiven. We have peace with God.
  8. The Bible uses a very special word to describe this peace process. At the very heart of peace with God is the concept of justification. It is to that word, to that truth, that we turn.
  1. JUSTIFICATION

PP

  1. Let’s return to our text … Having been justified by faith …

PP

  1. 500 years ago this man, Martin Luther, changed the world!

PP

  1. In the year 1517, he posted 95 theses on the door in Wittenberg, Germany; a formal way of inviting the public to discuss the content of that document.
  2. What provoked these 95 theses? Martin was an Augustinian monk, reading and teaching the book of Romans. He was reading about the gift of God’s righteousness, as described in Romans.
  3. During that time, a man by the name of Tetzel came and was selling “indulgences”, a kind of “absolution” for sale. Tetzel also raised funds for building the Vatican in Rome. He said that you could pay for the liberation of souls in purgatory. His sermon said “when the money hits the bottom of the collection jar, a soul was liberated from purgatory”.

PP - #28

  1. One of the 95 theses states
  2. #28. They preach only human doctrines who say that as soon as the money clinks into the money chest, the soul flies out of purgatory
  3. Martin Luther objected and protested strongly against the negotiation or trafficking of forgiveness through works and financial offerings.
  4. He insisted, from his study of Romans, that forgiveness, justification, absolution, was a gift of God, not as a result of works, or offerings, or sacrifices.
  5. Romans 3:23, 24 “…all … are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
  6. For by grace you have been saved or justified by faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

PP – II Cor. 5:21

  1. WE ARE JUSTIFIED, BY GRACE. II Cor. 5:21
  2. God made him who had no sinto be sin[a]for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
  3. Illustration of exchange.
  4. We have peace with God when we are given the gift of God’s righteousness, God’s justice, God’s holiness, as it were deposited into our account, our spiritual bank account.

PP - Text

  1. THROUGH FAITH
  2. The third phrase which our text emphasizes as the way to find peace is FAITH.
  3. We have considered the role the Lord Jesus did, when He died and rose again.
  4. We have considered something of the word “justification” and how our standing is made right with God because of the work of Jesus on the cross.
  5. But what role do we have?

PP – Receive the Gift

  1. Our part is to receive the gift of God’s gift, which He extends to us because of His grace.
  2. Our part is to receive it by faith.
  3. If we feel that we have to work for or earn or in some way deserve this gift, we fail to understand the nature of GRACE. If it is by GRACE, then it is not of WORKS.
  4. Good works enter as a result of our receiving by FAITH the accomplished gift of God’s justification. Good works are our P.S. We are grateful for the free gift, received by faith, and show our gratitude by our life, by our service, by our works. Not as a means of earning, but as a way of expressing gratitude.
  5. FAITH WORKS. True faith demonstrates it’s life changing nature by works of love.

CONCLUSION

How to have peace with God? Look to Jesus. Consider what He has done! Believe that He has accomplished for you what you could never accomplish on your own. It’s not by your works that you are saved, but by the saving work of Jesus. As a result, we are justified, given His righteousness which qualifies us to stand before God. We stand secure, we stand with peace in our hearts. Because of Jesus, we have peace with God.

Application

Do you have peace with God?