Romans 5:1 (KJV)
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”
Justification or Righteousness is right standing with God, blameless and faultless, without any charges, and at peace with God. Jesus Christ came to bring us into this place of righteousness through His death (1 Corinthians 5:21). He took on the body of sin and gave Himself as a sacrifice, so that the charges and faults which had made us guilty and worthy of death may be cleared, and the power of death may no more have hold on us. (Romans 6:8-11).
This was necessary because without the sacrifice of Christ, a person who is under the power of sin and death, ruled by the sinful nature, can never be righteous and can never be able to approach God (Romans 8:6-7). But the destruction of the body of sin through the death of Christ liberated us from that state into one that enables us to be righteous and stand before God blameless. As it is written: He became sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 5:2). This exchange of sin for righteousness took place on the cross and by His death we are made free from sin to serve God (Romans 6:22).
Now this glorious provision and ability to attain unto righteousness (not just any kind of righteousness but the righteousness of God) can only be accessed through faith. Romans 5:1 says: “Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This scripture indicates that it is by faith that one is justified and thereby have peace with God.
Then what is faith? Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen”. Faith is the very essence of what you hope for. Scripture says that God calls “… those things which be not as though they were.” (Romans 4:17); emphasis on “… as though they were”. This is in past tense, as though it already exists even when we cannot see it physically. Faith is the very substance of a thing. It is not just a belief, it is a reality; something real and tangible!
When the scriptures says: “Therefore being justified by faith …” (Romans 5:1), knowing that faith isn’t just knowledge or a mere belief, but rather, is what Paul meant in Romans 6:11 when he said “reckon” (which means to take account), we can understand that it is a word that deals with reality. If one reckons that they have a house, then they actually have a house, it is not a word that argues existence but one that confirms the reality and existence of a thing. Even though we may not physically see how we are joined with Christ, how we die with Him and how His righteousness is imputed unto us, Paul says we should “reckon”. Thus, one saying “I reckon myself dead unto sin and alive unto God” means one died unto sin in reality. It has been taken into account, it is in existence that this one is dead unto sin and alive unto God.
To reckon with what you cannot see is ‘faith’. You can reckon because faith is the very substance of what you believe to exist though we may not see it. To reckon ourselves nailed to the cross with Christ, dead to sin and alive unto God in righteousness is faith. You reckon you have a house, then you actually have that house.
You see this faith isn’t just knowledge, nor just a belief, it is seeing something by means of reckoning the existence of what is true. Our justification had taken place in Christ at the time of His death and resurrection, we come to reckon ourselves being with Christ on the cross through faith. We reckon ourselves made righteous by faith. It is only by faith in Christ and His work on the cross that one can be made righteous. When we reckon ourselves to have died with Christ by faith and resurrected with Him, made alive unto God, then we are righteous!
Romans 1:16-17 says: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”
Paul speaking here says the gospel of Christ (that is, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ) is the power of God for salvation to everyone that believes. He goes on in verse 17 to say, in this gospel is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, then saying the justified shall live by faith, making reference to Habakkuk 2:4. The level to which you live in righteousness depends on your faith and you can only live as a righteous man by faith, “… The just shall live by faith”.
Knowing now that through faith we are made righteous in Christ, we should live in accordance with the reality of the faith we have. James said: “… faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone”, and goes on to say in the next verse “… I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:14-18). One cannot just reckon they have a house but not live in that house, you deny the existence of that house when you don’t live in it. You cannot just have faith that you are righteous and yet not live in that reality. Such faith is dead. Therefore, it is necessary to live according to what you believe. That is, living in the reality that you are righteous; living in righteousness and not in sin. Your works are a product of the reality you have. You “live” as a just man by your faith.
Prayer for today:
Dear Lord, increase my faith, reveal the gospel of Christ to me, and cause my heart to acknowledge this reality in my life. Let the power of Your death and resurrection be evident in my everyday life as my faith is strengthened and increased through Your word. I receive grace by faith to live righteously, and to live as a justified man. I receive grace to live in the reality of what Christ has done on the Cross by faith. Amen.
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