Clean Transcript

Peace With God

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• So today let's open our Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Romans, chapter 5 and verse 1. Romans 5 and verse 1. The title of the message is "Peace with God." Peace with God. So if you look in verse 1, the Scripture says, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Let me make two very emphatic statements.

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• The first one is this: The world does not know or have true peace. The second statement is: The unsaved do not have, neither do they know, true peace.

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• Now, you may think that these are harsh and hard statements, and yet they are biblical statements and they are true. Our Lord said in John chapter 14 and verse 27, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." So first of all, I want you to note He said He is going to give His peace, but not as the world gives peace. Now John Gill made a comment on this verse and I want to read it to you because there is a comparison and a contrast between worldly peace and the peace that Christ gives. He wrote this: "The peace that Christ gives is true, solid, and substantial. The peace the world, the men, and things of it give is a false one. While they cry peace, peace, sudden destruction is at hand. The peace of the world is at best an external one. But the peace that Christ is the giver of is internal."

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• "The peace the world affords is very transient, unstable, and short-lived. But the peace of Christ is lasting and durable. The peace of the world will not support under the troubles of it. But the peace which Christ gives cheerfully carries His people through all the difficulties and exercises of this life, and as they differ in kind, so likewise in the manner of giving, and in the persons to whom they are given. The world gives peace in words only. Christ gives peace in deed. The world gives feignedly. Christ gives heartily. The world gives for its own advantage. Christ gives for His people's sake. The world gives its peace to men of it, to the ungodly, none to the godly whom it hates. Christ gives His not to the wicked, for there is no peace to them, but to the saints who are the excellent in all of the earth. And so there is a vast difference between the peace of the world and the peace of Christ."

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• And then, of course, the Word of God says concerning the wicked in Isaiah chapter 57, verses 20 and 21: "But the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." So neither the world nor the wicked have what you and I would call real, genuine peace. Now, when the Bible speaks of peace, when he says, "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God," usually in any chapter, in any verse where you have peace or the peace of God, the word for peace is the word eirene. And it literally means a state of tranquility, peace, harmony, and accord. Now, I want you to look, if you would, at verse 1. He says, "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God." So we understand in one sense of the word, just based on this one partial of the sentence, that peace with God comes through justification by faith. But then he said, "through our Lord Jesus Christ." So justification by faith comes through the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore peace comes from the Lord Jesus Christ as well.

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• So what he is telling us very clearly is peace with God is made only through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is His work. It is His salvation. It is His reconciliation and His propitiation that brings us into a state of peace with God. Therefore, he said, "being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." So we must take careful note of this truth. Look at it. True peace comes through justification by faith, and justification by faith comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. So you can ask, what is justification?

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• I want to give you a definition. I preached on this many, many years ago. In fact, I preached a whole series just based upon this one definition. And here it is: "Justification is an act of God's free grace unto sinners, in which he pardoneth all of their sins, accepteth and accounteth their persons righteous in his sight, not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ by God imputed unto them and received by faith alone." So justification, then, is an act of God's free grace unto sinners whereby He pardons us, and accounts us, and accepts us righteous in His sight. But notice he said, "not for anything wrought in them, or anything done by them, but only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Jesus Christ by faith imputed unto them," and of course, received by faith alone. So, the peace of God comes to us through the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• Let me say that again. Peace with God comes to us through the Lord Jesus Christ, because there is a difference between peace with God and the peace of God. They're not the same. You have to have peace with God before you can have the peace of God. And then I'm going to show you you're going to end up with peace in God. So let me just quote some scriptures for you right now. The first one:

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• Philippians 4 and verse 7. So, I want you to listen to this one. "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." The peace of God. And then when you get to Colossians chapter 3 and verse 15, which I'll be dealing with in the not too distant future, he said, "And let the peace of God rule your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful." And then of course 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 23, where the Apostle Paul said, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." So it's the peace of God, then, that is to rule us. It's the peace of God that is to sustain us in times of trouble and turmoil. And it is also the peace of God that leads us into sanctification and holiness as well.

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• I was astounded when I started looking at the peace of God in the Scripture. It's astounding to me how many times peace is mentioned in reference to God as well. In fact, since you're in the book of Romans, if you look very quickly in Romans chapter 14 and verse 17, look at what he says in this verse. Romans 14 and verse 17. He says, "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." So it's not anything that's in the external. It's not in ceremonies. It's not in rituals. No, no, no, no. He said, but it is in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Thus, the child of God should be able to have peace even in the most turbulent and troublesome times. Not only do we have peace, but we also have joy as well, because we understand that our Heavenly Father is in absolute and total and full control. We understand, of course, Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose."

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• So interestingly, the peace of God or peace with God or the peace that God gives has a very prominent place throughout Scripture. Most of you will remember when the angels were announcing the birth of our Lord in Luke chapter 2 and verse 14, they said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." So peace then was even proclaimed at the birth of Jesus Christ. And then in Acts chapter 10 and verse 36, the apostle said, "The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: He is Lord of all." Now I want you to look in Romans chapter 15 with me, if you would. So we're talking about peace with God. We're going to include in it the peace of God and peace in God shortly. But I want you to note this, if you would please, in Romans chapter 15 and verse 5. We have three titles given to God. The first one you will find in verse 5 is Romans 15 verse 5: "Now the God

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• of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus." So I want you to note first of all He is known as the God of patience. Now if you look in verse 13 of Romans chapter 15, verse 13: "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost." So He's known as the God of patience. Now He's known as the God of hope. Now if you look in your Bibles to verse 33 of Romans 15, He says, "Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen." So the interesting thing is that I hope you notice the progression that we're given here in the name of God.

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• And I believe it is set in what you and I would call gospel order. We must know God, first of all, as the God of patience before we can ever know Him as the God of hope. In other words, we must understand that God could have justly and righteously smitten us down many, many times. But what God did was very patient, and He forbear with us and brought us to the place not only where He regenerated us, but gave us repentance and faith and converted us. And once we've been converted and we see how awful we've sinned against Him and how God could have righteously and justly smote us down, but He did not, we understand He's the God of patience. And now, since He saved us, we can see He's the God of hope, because the only God that exists is the one true living God. And the only hope we have is in Him. So once we know Him as the God of patience, then we may know Him as the God of hope.

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• Once we know Him as the God of patience and the God of hope, then we may know Him as the God of peace. So I believe this is in gospel order in Romans chapter 15. Now, the interesting thing is it is also the God of peace that gives us victory over our enemy, over Satan, because he said in Romans chapter 16 and verse 20, if you want to look at that, Romans 16 and verse 20: "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.

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• The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen." So the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. So I've stated previously that we must have peace with God before we can have the peace of God. So what I want to do today is this: I want you to see the implication that we have in Romans chapter 5 and verse 1 when he's talking about peace with God. So when he says, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," this verse not only implies, but I believe it teaches very clearly, that there was a time in our lives when we did not have peace with God. The implication is that we were His enemies.

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• We were fighting and we were waging a war against Him. We were ungodly, we were rebellious, we were defiant, we were recalcitrant. I'll even go further, and I will say this: we even hated Him. In fact, we despised Him. And our hatred and our despisement was manifest in the fact that we transgressed His law, we trespassed against His authority, and we basically sought to overthrow Him. We wanted basically to dethrone God and enthrone ourselves. So our hatred then was manifest in despising His sovereign authority.

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• We thought and acted as if He did not have the right to tell us what to do, what not to do, how to live, and how not to live. So what I want you to see is this: I want you to see how Paul develops this thought in Romans chapter 5. The implication that before we had peace with God we were basically at war with Him. So I want you to notice verse 1.

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• Let's read it one more time. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Now, I want you to go to verse 6. Look at this verse 6. He says, "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." So he's telling us what we were before we had peace with God. And the very first thing he says in verse six is that we were without strength.

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• Now, the Greek word happens to be asthenes, and it means that which is weak, that which is infirm, that which is feeble, that which is impotent. Now, right here, I want you to see fallen man's depravity as well as fallen man's insanity. So the Bible tells us that fallen man is without strength. He's absolutely helpless. He cannot extricate himself from his slavery to sin. He cannot lift up himself by the bootstraps, so to speak. He cannot cease sinning. He cannot please God. He is nothing more than a slave to his sins and to his lusts. He is without strength. He cannot escape from the misery of his situation. So he's weak. He's infirm. He's feeble. He's impotent. And listen to this. Here's his insanity.

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• And yet he makes war against the sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God of the universe. How in the world could anyone hope to fight against God and succeed? But yet fallen man is so depraved and so ignorant and so blind he believes that somehow he may successfully fight against God and ultimately win. No, God says we were without strength. We could not do one thing. Notice what else he said in verse 6: "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." Asebes is the word that is used here to describe the ungodly. It means those who are impious, those who are destitute of reverential awe towards God. It actually also means those that condemn God.

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• So here's a good question. Why do sinners condemn God? Why do they say that God is unjust, God is unkind, God is unloving? I've heard people say that many, many times. Well, the answer is because they want to justify themselves. You see, if you're right, God is wrong. If God is right, you're wrong. And so the only way that you can justify yourself is by condemning God and saying that God is unkind, God is unjust, and God is unrighteous, and that God is wrong and you are right. That's what our Lord said to these Pharisees and concerning them, Luke chapter 16 verse 15, and He said unto them, "Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your heart: for that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God." So the very best that man can ever produce is still an abomination in the sight of God. So he's telling us what we were before we were converted by the grace of God.

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• So he says, "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." So note we were without strength and we were ungodly. That's not all. Skip down to verse 8. Look at this. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." So He didn't just die for the impotent, the weak, and the ungodly. He also died for sinners. Now the word for sinners here's the word hamartolos, and it literally means those who are devoted to sin, those who are bound to sin, those who are slaves to sin, those who are eminently sinful and wicked. It means that you are in the power of sin and under its grip, and also under the penalty of the sin. Now this word also means basically to miss the mark.

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• Now I want you to note, it's like an archer shooting an arrow at a target, but the arrow falls short. Now, the sinner is not trying to please God. He's trying to please himself. He's not wanting peace with God, he's wanting to make his own peace. And he falls short because he's devoted to sin. He is totally, completely enslaved by sin. So he tells us that we're not only without strength, we're not only ungodly, but he said that we are sinners. We are those who are enslaved and devoted to sin. You remember our Lord said, I think it's John 8, verse 34, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." In other words, servant there is the Greek word doulos, which means a slave of sin. Now, I want you to notice something else. Look, if you would now, to verse 10. So he's not only said that we're without strength, he's not only said that we were ungodly, he's already said that we're sinners. Now look in verse 10.

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• "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." So we're not only without strength and ungodly and sinners, we're actually the enemies of God—or that's what we were. Let that sink into your mind just for a moment. Have you ever contemplated the fact that every unsaved person is an enemy of God? That is astounding. That ought to explain a lot of things that's going on in this world. And he said that's exactly what we were.

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• The Greek word is echthros. It refers to those individuals who are hateful, who are hostile, who oppose God, and who are armed in rebellion and waging war against Him. They're seeking to overthrow His sovereign authority. They're seeking to overthrow His commands. They're seeking to overthrow His government. They're seeking to overthrow His people. They're waging war against Him. We were actual enemies of God, and we were enemies in our minds as well as in our bodies.

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• In fact, everything stems from the mind, if you will remember that. But the Apostle Paul himself said in the book of Philippians chapter 3 and verse 18, "For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ." Let that sink in too. Every unsaved man is an enemy of God, and he specifically an enemy of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul also said in the book of Colossians chapter 1 and verse 21, "And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled." Note, if you would, the wicked works came from the wicked mind. But he said you were enemies in your mind. Now, I want you to know this: he said that before we had peace with God, we were without strength, we were ungodly, we were sinners, and we were the enemies of God. Now the Apostle Paul proves all of this with one simple truth that's given to us in verse 12.

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• Look at this: "Wherefore, as by one man"—that would be Adam—"sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Now the interesting thing is when you look at that last phrase, "for that all have sinned," it's an aorist passive, which means all of us sinned one time, once and for all. Well, when did all men sin one time, once and for all? And that is in the fall. We fell when Adam fell. Death is a result of sin. And death passed upon Adam's posterity because he was our legal head and our representative.

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• So what he did, we did. When he fell, we fell. We lost everything in Adam. And death is the penalty for our sins.

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• Now you have to remember there is original sin. That's what he's talking about here. And there is actual sins. So we originally sinned in Adam and consequently we were born into sin and therefore we actually sin. So let me make this clear. You do not become a sinner because you sin. You sin because you're a sinner. The very proof of original sin is the fact that everyone actually sins. Now in Romans chapter 5 you have a lot of comparisons and contrasts between the first Adam and the last Adam. I want you to understand this. So if you look in verse 14, he said this: "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come." Ha! I'm going to bring a whole message on this. How in the world could Adam be a figure of Jesus Christ? Adam sinned. Adam fell. And yet the Bible says he was a figure, he was a type of Jesus Christ. Well, he was a figure and a type of Jesus Christ.

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• First of all, I will answer this: Because he was a federal head and a representative of a people. We were all in Adam. You say, "Well, I don't think it's right because of what one man does and the rest of us are held accountable." Well, then throw out all the government in the world, because whatever our representatives do, we do. Whatever they get us into, we are gotten into by them, and we're ended up to our eyeballs. And if you don't like this Adam being our head and falling, then you will not like Jesus Christ being our head and saving us. So I want you to look in your Bibles, whole Romans 5, but turn in your Bibles if you would to 1st Corinthians chapter 15, and let's begin reading there with verse 45. 1st Corinthians chapter 15, look if you would at verse 45: "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." Now look, if you would, pay attention. Adam, the man, is called the first Adam.

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• Jesus Christ is called the last Adam. You say, "But I know many people who've been named Adam since Jesus Christ." I know a number of them myself. So how in the world can Jesus Christ be called the last Adam? Because these are the only two men that have ever sustained a federal headship and a federal representation of a people. It was Martin Luther, the reformer, who said this: "There are only two men in the world, Adam and Christ, and everyone else hangs from their belt." In other words, you're either in Adam or you're either in Christ. Only two men in the world. And so Jesus Christ is called the last Adam because there's never ever going to be anyone else that's going to sustain a federal headship and representation of a people.

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• So let me boil it down to this: Unless you're saved by Jesus Christ, you're never going to be saved because He's the last Adam. There's not going to be anyone else. So look at it now. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Look in verse 45: "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." Now notice, he said, the first man is of the earth, earthy. The second man is the Lord from heaven. Now let me ask you again, how can Jesus Christ here be called the second man?

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• Because obviously millions of people lived from the first Adam to the Lord Jesus Christ. But He's called the second man only because He's the second one to sustain that federal headship in relationship chronologically in time. So He's called the last Adam, and He's also called, in this instance, the second man as well. Now, I want you to go back in your Bibles to Romans chapter 5, because now you see in Romans chapter 5, I hope, that there are comparisons and there are contrasts between the first Adam and the last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. But I want you to see the horrible state that we found ourselves in because of the sin of Adam. Someone said, "Well, if I had been in the garden, I would not have eaten that forbidden fruit." Yes, you would have.

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• You would have done exactly what he did. So, yes, he was our representative. So look if you would again in Romans 5 in verse 6. He said, "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." This little phrase "due time" indicates and intimates that was the perfect and the most fitting time for Jesus Christ to come and to accomplish salvation and redemption. In due time, although we were without strength, although we were ungodly, although we were sinners, although we were the enemies of God, in due time, in the appropriate time, Jesus Christ came and brought salvation.

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• Now, there's another passage that is similar to this, and that's found in Galatians chapter 4, verses 4 and 5. So I'll quote it for you. "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Now, he said, "but when the fulness of the time was come."

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• Now, the word "fulness" there refers, is the Greek word pleroma, and it refers to that which is full, that which is complete, that which is fulfilled. In other words, here's what he's saying: Jesus Christ came at the appropriate time in history, fulfilling God's timing and decree. So let me put it like this: Jesus Christ was not one minute too early and He was not one minute too late. He came exactly on time, in due time, in the fulness of time. Now I want you to go back to Romans chapter 5 and look in verse 6 again. He said, "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." That's true. Now look in verse 8, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Not when we deserved it. Not when we had gotten ourselves right. Not when we'd cleaned ourselves up. But when we were sinners, Christ died for us. You remember the passage in 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 7 where the Bible says that even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. So Jesus Christ was not only our substitute, Jesus Christ was our sacrifice. Now look at this, look in verse 9.

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• Let's read verse 8 and verse 9 together. He says, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." Now he said, "much more then, being now justified by his blood." I gave you the definition of justification earlier. But I'm going to give you one that's very practical. The word justified, you could say something simple like this:

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• It means "just as if I'd never sinned." In fact, the Greek word is dikaioo. And it means to make righteous, to declare or to announce righteous. So what did Jesus Christ do? He died in our stead. He died as our sacrifice, but He did something prior to His death. What did He do? He fulfilled the law of God perfectly. He obeyed the Father in every specific iota. He said in John 8, verse 29, "For I do always those things that please the Father." So Jesus Christ then worked out

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• an absolute perfect righteousness as well. Now watch this. So Jesus Christ propitiated the Father. In fact, the Bible tells us three times that He is our propitiation. The word propitiation is from the Greek word hilasmos and it literally means to appease, to placate, to satisfy. So here is God's righteous anger and wrath hanging over our heads like a Damocles sword. And God is ready to strike us because we are weak, we are ungodly, we are impotent, we're sinners, we're His enemies. He's ready to cut us off. And the Lord Jesus Christ comes and dies as our sacrifice, as our substitute. And guess what? The Father accepts all the work of Jesus Christ and raises Him from the dead, and He does something else. He imputes the righteousness of Christ to the believing sinner, and He imputes the sins of the believing sinner to Jesus Christ. So when God declares us righteous, what He does, He sees us in Jesus Christ. He sees the perfect obedience of Christ. He sees the perfect sacrifice of Christ. He sees us in the place of Christ because the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to us and He pronounces us right and just and righteous in light of that broken law.

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• Because of the person and work of Jesus Christ, since He propitiated—listen now—He satisfied the wrath and the anger and the holiness and the justice of God because He propitiated the Father. Then He expiates or washes away our sins. Okay. Hang on. Go back to verse 10. Look at this. He says, "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." So we were reconciled. What do you do between two people who hate each other, enter it fussing and fighting and feuding all the time? Well, you try to make them reconcile. And once they reconcile, there's peace and there's harmony. There's no more fussing and fighting and feuding. OK? So our Lord then reconciled us to the Father.

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• You remember when Adam sinned, what did he do? He ran and hid. We've been running from God ever since Adam ran from God. If I were to ask you, why did Jesus Christ come and die? I know you could say save sinners. I understand that, but specifically, you remember the Bible says in 1 Peter 3 and verse 18 that Jesus Christ died, the just for the unjust, why? To bring us back to God, to reconcile us, to make us friends. So in the first Adam, we ran from God. In the second Adam, we run to Him.

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• In other words, He reconciles us. And the word katallasso literally means to reconcile those who are at variance. It is to be returned to favor and to be received into favor. So God is reconciled to us through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Therefore He receives us back into His favor. Moreover, let me just point this out. This word in the Greek happens to be a second aorist passive indicative, which means it happened once, once and for all. We were passive, we had nothing to do with it. And it is an indicative, which means it's an absolute truth. So it's something that was done for us through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• Now, look at verse 10 again. He said, "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Isn't that an interesting thought? We're not only saved by the death of Jesus Christ, we're also saved by the life of Jesus Christ. Well, you ask, how can that be? Well, if you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews and look in chapter 7 and verse 25. Hebrews chapter 7. And look, if you would please, at verse 25. Look what the Bible says. Hebrews 7, verse 25. Talking about—in fact, let's read verse 24. "But this man"—talking about Jesus Christ—"because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Has it ever dawned upon you that Jesus Christ is praying for you? Has it ever dawned upon you that when you sin—yes, you sin, and so do I, not necessarily purposefully, deliberately, and premeditatedly, but you sin because you're a sinner.

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• But when you sin, the Lord Jesus Christ is still praying and interceding, "Father, forgive them, they're mine, my blood covered that. Father, help him to be holy, help him to be godly, help him to do that which is right. Lord, speak to him, direct him." The Lord is interceding for us. The Lord is praying for us. Wow! He ever liveth to make intercession for the saints. So he says we're saved not only by His death, but also by His life as well. Now look if you would in verse 11 of Romans chapter 5. We'll read verse 10 and 11. He said, "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." Now you can look at the word atonement and you can read it like this: at-one-ment. But it just so happens the word atonement is the same word as reconciliation in verse 10. And so he says, "And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation."

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• So the reconciliation comes through the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. And not only do we have peace now, he says, we also have joy because we've been reconciled to our Heavenly Father. You know, I quoted a while ago, Galatians 4, verses 4 and 5. Let me add verse 6. "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Wow. Wow. Hmm. Yes, sir.

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• Now we have that joy as well. Now I want you to see how the Apostle Paul makes a conclusion here in Romans chapter 5. So let's look in verse 18. He says, "Therefore as by the offence of one"—that would be the first Adam—"judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so"—here's the comparison—"by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." So all that were in Adam became condemned. All that are in Jesus Christ are justified. Verse 19: "For as by one man's disobedience"—that's Adam—"many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." Those who are in Adam, those who are in Christ. Moreover he said, "The law entered, that the offence might abound"—that is, it might appear more exceedingly wicked—"but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." In other words, grace outran and outraced sin. "That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Now I want you to go back again and look in Romans 5 and verse 1. Watch this. He says, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through

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• our Lord Jesus Christ." So here we go. Think about this. Faith is the instrumental cause. Jesus Christ is the meritorious cause. And God the Father is the original cause, and the Holy Spirit is the efficient cause. So you actually have the person and work here of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All in our reconciliation, all in our atonement.

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• Now, look in verse 1 one more time. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." So here's my first application: It is impossible to have peace with God if you have not thrown down your weapons of warfare and rebellion against Him. Peace comes through reconciliation. Peace comes through submission. Peace comes through obedience. So if you're still fussing and fighting and feuding and condemning God, you've never been reconciled. Because once you're reconciled, you have peace with God. There's no more fussing. There's no more fighting. There's no more feuding against Him. There's no more waging war against Him. There's no more trying to dethrone Him. There's no more overthrowing Him. There's no more fighting against His government.

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• You submit to Him and you surrender to Him. Peace comes through submission and reconciliation and obedience. There are so many people today who just constantly fight against God. In their minds, in their conduct. No. When God reconciles you through the Lord Jesus Christ, you throw down your weapons of warfare, and you're willing to bow to Him. Here's the second one: The truth that I've just enunciated should humble your soul greatly. Because here is a declaration of what you were before God saved you. You were without strength. You were impotent. You were weak.

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• You could do absolutely nothing to save yourself. You were ungodly. You were a sinner devoted to your sins and to your lust and to your desires and whatever you wanted. And moreover, you were an enemy of God. You fought against Him. You hated Him. You despised Him. When man meets his enemy, the natural thing for him to do is to kill him. God could have justly and righteously killed each one of us. But He was the God of patience to us and the God of hope to us. And when He patiently endured our sins and then brought us to Himself in Jesus Christ, we saw the hope that we have, and He became the God of peace.

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• Think about this just for a moment. When God looked upon us, look at it for yourself. Look at it. Look in Romans chapter 5. Look in verse 6. Again, watch this. "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." Not when we were godly, not when we were obedient, not when we wanted to be saved. No. Look in verse 8. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." He died for us and reconciled us in verse 10 when we were enemies. God could have righteously and justly cut us off years before we were ever converted. And the amazing thing to me is God is sovereign and God is omniscient and God looked down through eternity and He knew everything that we were going to think, everything that we were going to do, every act we were ever going to commit, every sin, every act of rebellion, all of our enmity against... He knew all of that and set His love upon us regardless.

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• and sent His Son to die for us. You're talking about humbling? That's why you need to repeat what Jacob said in the book of Genesis when he said, "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant." That's why we need to say, "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."

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• You have to know God as the God that you have made peace with, the peace of God. You have to know the peace of God so that you may know the peace of God. Once you know peace with God and the peace of God, then you have peace in God. Listen to this. In 2 Corinthians 13, verse 11, "Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you." Live in peace. You cannot live in peace unless you've had peace with God and the peace of God. It's peace with God and the peace of God that enables us to live in peace.

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• We're not fussing and fighting with each other. We're not condemning and harassing each other. We're living in peace. Galatians 6 and verse 16, if you would like to look at that one, I would encourage you to do so. I want you to think about this one. Galatians 6 and verse 16: "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God."

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• Now I'm going to ask you a question. Here it is. According to Galatians 6 and verse 16, who is the Israel of God? The answer is those who walk according to this rule. The word "rule" in the Greek is the word kanon. We would call it canon. Not C-A-N-N-O-N—that's the kind that shoots—but C-A-N-O-N. We talk about the canon of Scripture, or the Old Testament canon, or the New Testament canon. The word canon means a measuring stick, or a measuring rod, or a standard.

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• So here's what he said. Listen to this: "And as many as walk according to this rule"—that is the Word of God—"peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God." The Israel of God are those that walk according to the Word of God, those that walk according to His rule, and notice if you would, peace is here connected with obedience. That's what He said: "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God." If you want peace, you must walk in obedience. You must walk according to the rule, to the standard, the Word of God.

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• You know, there's a passage I've preached from this before. It's one of my favorite verses, Psalm 119, verse 165. The Bible says, "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them." Great peace. You can have peace when the world is falling apart. You can have peace when your family is fighting and feuding. You can have peace when everything is going crazy around you. Because you love the Lord. You love His Word. And you're going to live by His Word. And you're going to be obedient. And you're not going to be upset.

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• You understand that people are sinners. And they're going to sin. But that doesn't mean that you have to. You keep your heart, you do what is right. So let me put it to you like this. Once you have peace with God, you need to understand the peace of God. And once you have the peace of God, you need to live in peace with God and with His saints. So living in peace comes from having the peace of God and peace with God. Without that peace with God, there can be no peace of God or peace in God. So we need to pray that God will give us His peace in our lives and the peace that comes through the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• I want you to notice something. Next time you're reading through the New Testament particularly, notice how often Paul said, "and may the peace of God be with you," or "the God of all peace." Over and over and over and over. The Word of God makes a great deal about peace. And we need to learn the peace of God. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth.

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• And we ask, Lord, that You would be pleased to speak to our hearts. And to help us, Lord, help these on the prayer list. We do remember Joshua and Felicia, Lord, and their family. We do pray for Michael, Dan Lee, and Jessica today, and also for Don and Anita Thomason. We pray for each of these on the prayer list, and Lord, just ask that You would undertake for each one of them. We give Thee praise in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T16:32:35Z