Romans 5:1-2

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.

V1 – Justification by faith = Peace with God. Paul, to this point, has shown that all people are sinners, that none are righteous, and that justification before God the Father is by faith alone in Jesus Christ. Those who believe Christ’s perfect life, His atoning, propitiatory sacrificial death, and His glorious bodily resurrection save them have received the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, credited to their account, through the channel of faith. Paul’s audience is silenced; their arguments against his gospel have proven fruitless; they accept what he says, that justification before God is by faith alone in Christ, not by any righteousness within one’s self, nor by any other way. Now Paul can move on to the consequences of the truth of justification by faith. In chapters 5 through 8 Paul works through successive implications of our being justified by faith. In chapter 5 he says that if we are justified, then we are free from the wrath of God. In chapter 6 he says that if we are justified, we are free from the dominion of sin. In chapter 7 he says that if we are justified, we are free from the domination and condemnation of the law. In chapter 8 he says that if we’re justified, we are free from the curse of death.

Paul begins with, “Therefore.” Remember the end of chapter 4 said that Christ died for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Because of this, since we are justified by faith in Christ, we have peace with God. What an amazing statement! Christ was raised for our justification, and since we have been justified, we are at peace with God. Peace, meaning not tranquility, but the end of hostility between two parties. It’s not a subjective change in feelings; it’s an objective change in the way these two parties relate. In this case, it’s God and believing individuals. No longer are there guilt and condemnation and wrath. We were guilty, deserving condemnation, by nature children of wrath. Now there’s peace and justification. We have peace with God through Christ, and it’s permanent. If you’ve been justified, you’re going to be glorified. It’s as good as done. What great assurance this is for the believer! What a waste of time this seems to be for the unbeliever who has suppressed the truth of their standing before God, thinking they are righteous in and of themselves.

V2 – We stand in grace through faith in Christ. Paul adds that we stand in grace, because we are justified by faith. What is this grace? It’s communion with God; it’s a new relationship with Him; instead of enemies, we are friends; instead of kept from His presence, we are welcomed into the Holy of Holies.

Grace is a sphere and reign of God’s infinite power working for us and not against us. And a few verses later in Romans 6:14 Paul puts it this way, “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” Grace is the power that masters us in Christ, working to free us from the dominion of sin and bring us to eternal life. We stand in this grace, and we stand by this grace. Romans 14:4 says of every Christian: “To his own master he stands or falls, and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” This is the sovereign sway of grace. If you’re under this grace, you cannot fall! Rejoice!

From Romans 4:16-17, we saw that grace is the guarantee of our inheritance. Recall these words: “The promise [justification and our inheritance of the world is] comes by faith, so that it may be by grace, and may be guaranteed . . .” Recall the faith-grace certainty connection. God’s grace guarantees our future inheritance. Why? It’s the power of the grace of “God, Who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.” God’s grace fulfilled the promise; the dead-raising, creating-out-of-nothing power of the grace of God worked for Abraham and not against him. That is the grace we have, according to Romans 5:2.