“Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (5:1)

One of the evidences of justification is “peace with God” which in the Greek this word means, “the peace of Christianity, the tranquil state of an individual assured of their salvation through Christ,”

The fact that I’ve met so many that are unsure of their salvation leads me to believe that many don’t understand “justification.”

So how do we receive justification so that we can have peace, assurance of salvation?

Here are texts to help you understand what YOU must do for the work of justification…

1. “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” (5:6)
2. “But God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (5:8)
3. “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” (5:10)
4. “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.” (5:18)
5. “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.” (5:19)

Do you see what YOU must do for justification? NOTHING! It is a divine act done on our behalf…solely and completely.

I want to point something out, verse 18 reads

“even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to ALL men,”

but then verse 19 reads,

“so through the obedience of the One the MANY will be made righteous.”

Why is one verse “ALL” & the other is “MANY”?

It is because some will not accept the work of justification that has already been done for them on their behalf. They’ll reject what already has been done for “all” thus making it that only “many” will be made righteous.

I read this in a CNN/Money article this week,

“Roughly 114 lottery prizes worth $1 million or more went unclaimed in 2015.”

There are 114 millionaires out there that don’t know it because they never went and accepted the prize.

There are millions of justified out there that don’t know it because they never have gone to Jesus to accept the “prize.” How very sad for both groups, but especially the unknowingly justified.

Chapter 5 is justification (to be made right). Chapter 6 is sanctification (to be made holy/pure).

“Should we keep sinning?” is the question asked twice in this chapter. Paul’s answer, “May it never be!”

And again many think sanctification is their own personal work to do, after all the Bible does say,

“ Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (6:12-14)

Based on this text sanctification seems like a very hard work I must do…but praise God Paul already gave us the answer…or showed us the way of sanctification early in the chapter.

“Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,” (6:3-5)

Did you catch that? That text to me is saying, the same power that raised Jesus back to life out of the physical grave is the power that will raise me out of my sins, the power that will make me pure and holy.

Again all sanctification depends on from me and you is submitting to allow God to do this work on our behalf.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (6:23)

It is a free gift. But a free gift must still be received and still be opened to have any value.

Those are my thoughts for today. I pray each of us will receive the prize of justification that was already completed for each of us at the cross, and that then we’ll open the gift of sanctification which is done through the life giving power that brought Jesus out of the grave and into eternal life.

Oh and by the way…notice Paul puts justification ahead of sanctification (chapter 5/chapter 6)…I receive the assurance of salvation and then I say, “Lord have Your way in me…make me clean!”

Don’t get the cart before the horse!

Tomorrow’s Reading: Genesis 8-11