Thursday, September 20

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Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

A number of years ago I received a call at home on a Wednesday night. The caller identified himself as a volunteer in one mid-week children’s ministry and said there was a very disturbed man at the church (the East Campus was all FBCG had in those days) who was frightening the children and even some of the adult staff. He asked if I could come and help. Since Pastor Jeff was not yet at FBCG (he is my first choice when it comes to dealing with “disturbed individuals”!), I said I’d be there as soon as I could.

When I arrived I found a very agitated man who looked to be in his mid 40’s or so. He was pacing back and forth in the lobby, wringing his hands and mumbling to himself. I asked him to come back into my office with me and, surprisingly, he complied.

Then over the course of the next hour and a half or so I discovered that this man was experiencing some kind of post-traumatic-stress disorder, and that it was evidently related to experiences he had many years earlier in Viet Nam. He began to talk about the horrors he had witnessed and to allude to some horrible things he had done while there. 

I knew I was not trained or equipped to deal effectively with his psychiatric condition – but I also sensed a deep spiritual need as well. So I tried to comfort him by saying, “Whatever you experienced or did all those years ago, God can forgive you.”

He just shook his head sadly and said, “You don’t know the things I did, man, you don’t know.”

All I could say was, “No, I don’t. I have no idea what you did or what you feel today. But I do know that God knows, and God can forgive, and God can bring peace.”

Paul writes:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.

Notice first the kind of peace Paul is talking about. He is talking about “peace with God”; not “peace with the past,” or “peace in our relationships,” or “peace about our career trajectory.” 

But what is “peace with God?” It seems that Paul explains this peace in two ways. 

First he says, “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God.” To be “justified” means to be declared not guilty, or to be declared righteous. This tells me that we have peace with God when we know that we are no longer charged with or guilty of sin. Peace with God, therefore, is being declared righteous.

Secondly, Paul says that we can know this peace “through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.”

In other words, we experience peace with God when, by faith in what Christ has done, we stand in grace.

Yes, the things that I did in the past really happened. Yes, the things that Viet Nam vet did during the war really happened. We all have sinned against God and against others; all of us.

But through faith in Christ we are justified, made righteous again, declared “not guilty” on the basis of his sacrifice for our sin. Just as our sin is real; so the cross of Christ is real. However great our failure and sin may be, the grace of Christ is greater.

So, we don’t run from God; we don’t run from our past; we don’t run from our sin and failures; we stand in his grace.  

I picture it like this: I am standing, arms outstretched and face tilted up, as the sweet waterfall of his grace cascades over me, washing every trace of sin, pain and brokenness from my being. All I do is stand and allow grace to flow. 

This is peace; this is the gospel. 

Pastor Brian Coffey