Grace in Which We Stand

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Romans 5:1-2

These verses are packed with deep theological truth that is of immense practical importance. Justification is a technical term. “This must be a legal declaration concerning our relationship to God’s laws, stating that we are completely forgiven and no longer liable to punishment.”[1] Notice that this is a legal declaration. In other words, we are declared “not guilty” for our crimes because Someone else has taken our place and become our substitute paying for our sins on our behalf. This is an external righteousness, that our sin was placed upon Christ and his righteousness was credited to our account. This does NOT mean that we have been made internally righteous or otherwise it would also mean that we are morally perfect and the moment we sinned it would prove we were not truly saved!

In a legal or positional sense, we are not guilty and declared righteous, but in a practical sense we are still sinners wrestling daily with indwelling sin. This is why it has been said that we are “genuinely new”, but we are not “totally new.” We will not be completely transformed and without sin until we go home to be with the Lord, or he returns, and we are transformed into our glorified bodies. This is what lead the Reformers to say that we are simultaneously righteous and sinners (“simul justus et peccator”-they liked Latin a lot!). I know this is a bit mind boggling, but it makes sense if we think about it practically. We have been declared not guilty. The perfect righteousness of Christ has been credited to us. The reason I am forgiven and loved by God is because of the finished work of Christ alone. All my righteousness is as filthy rags. The reason God can and does accept me today is only because of the cross of Christ.

I still mess up. I don’t live up to my own ideals and standards let alone God’s perfect righteousness. I get angry at other drivers and I’m impatient. My kids know how to push my buttons and I lose my cool. I can be jealous of others and want what they have. The list could go on and on. The point is, I haven’t arrived yet. I still struggle with temptation and sin. If I really get down to it, even my good works are tainted with mixed motives so nothing that I do ever meets up with God’s perfect standard. In short, I am still a sinner (and so are you). How do we deal with this? How do we accept the fact that we are perfectly loved and the object of God’s affection and at the same time know how sinful and fallen we are? This is the beauty of the gospel.

Faith does not save us. A lot of people have faith in the wrong things. Just because they have faith that does not mean they are saved. Jesus saves us through faith. Faith is the instrumental means whereby the death and resurrection of Christ is applied to us individually. Notice what happens. We have peace with God. Whether we realized it or not, we were active enemies of God living in open rebellion. But through the cross we are now at peace. Not only that but it is by this same grace by which we stand. We can have absolute confidence that we are God’s possession because we have trusted in Christ alone for eternal life. This is grace! This is the grace in which we stand. And this is hope! This is the confidence that what God has begun in us he will bring to completion. Hope is the confident assurance of a future reality.

[1] Wayne Grudem. Systematic Theology, 2nd Ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 1994, 2020.