Peace with God
Many people want peace. But do they want peace with God? How does one obtain peace with God? Do you want a relationship with Jesus? Will you put your faith in Him?
This is a Bible Study. Have your own Bible handy to look up the references mentioned.
If you do not have a Bible, I invite you to go to BibleGateway.com or another online Bible.
1. In chapter 4 of Romans we learned we have been justified by faith in Jesus Christ.
Here we learn that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
“This is the peace that comes to the soul of one who has trusted Christ as Savior and knows that God no longer has any charge against him, that he is no longer guilty.” (McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible: Volume IV. [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983], 674)
This “means to be in a relationship with God in which all the hostility caused by sin has been removed.” (Mounce, Robert H, The New American Commentary, Volume 27, Romans. [Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995], 133)
2. Access is “used only twice else where in the NT (Ephesians 2:18; 3:12), this word always refers to the believer’s access to God through Jesus Christ.” (MacArthur, John, The MacArthur Bible Commentary. [Nashville, Thomas Nelson Inc., 2005], 1519)
Stand. “This refers to the permanent, secure position believers enjoy in God’s grace.” (MacArthur, 1519)
John 6:37 Philippians 1:6 2 Timothy 1:12 Jude 25
Hope of the glory of God “takes care of the future: one day we shall share in His glory!” (Wiersbe, Warren W, The Bible Exposition Commentary New Testament Volume 1 Matthew-Galatians. [Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2004], 527)
Peace through Tribulation
3. “For the believer, trails work for him and not against him. No amount of suffering can separate us from the Lord (Romans 8:35-39); instead, trails bring us closer to the Lord and make us more like the Lord.” (Wiersbe, 527)
Patience “refers to endurance, the ability to remain under great and pressure without succumbing.”
Colossians 1:22-23 2 Thessalonians 1:4 Revelation 14:12
4. “The word experience in Romans 5:4 means ‘character that has been proved.’ The sequence is tribulation—patience—proven character—hope.” (Wiersbe, 527)
5. “Hope never disappoints. It does not let the believer down.” (Mounce, 135)
“This is the first time in the Epistle to the Romans that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is mentioned…Here we are simply told that the Holy Spirit is given to every believer—not to only some believers, but to all believers.” (McGee, 675)
6. “Unregenerate sinners are spiritually dead and incapable of doing anything to help themselves.” (MacArthur, 1520)
“God’s love for His own is unwavering because it is not based on how lovable we are, but on the constancy of His own character; God’s supreme act of love came when we were at our most undesirable (cf. Matthew 5:46).” (MacArthur, 1520)
Christ Died for You
7. Anyone willing to die for you?
“God loved you enough to send His Son to die for you.” (McGee, 676)
8. “Before we were saved, God proved His love by sending Christ to die for us…It is the inner experience of this love through the Spirit that sustains us as we go through tribulations.” (Wiersbe, 527)
“God saves us by grace because the guilt of sin has been removed by the death of Christ, and He can hold out His arms and save you today.” (McGee, 677)
9. We are justified by his blood
Remember it was a lambs’ blood that was sacrificed for the sins of the OT people.
Jesus shed His blood for us which was necessary to fulfill the OT imagery of sacrifice.
We shall be saved from wrath through him.
10. “When we were God’s enemies, Christ was able by His death to reconcile us to God. Certainly, now that we are God’s children, the Savior can keep us by His living power.” (MacArthur, 1520)
11. “The word atonement means ‘reconciliation, brought back into fellowship with God.’” (Wiersbe, 528)
“Paul explained how men declared war on God and, because of this deserved to be condemned eternally. But God did not declare war on man. Instead, He sent His Son as the Peacemaker (Ephesians 2:11-18), that men might be reconciled to God.” (Wiersbe, 528)
References
In this article Scripture quotations taken from KJV.
McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible: Volume IV. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983
MacArthur, John, The MacArthur Bible Commentary. Nashville, Thomas Nelson Inc., 2005
Mounce, Robert H, The New American Commentary, Volume 27, Romans. Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995
Wiersbe, Warren W, The Bible Exposition Commentary New Testament Volume 1 Matthew-Galatians. Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2004
