A Peace Accord Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Rom 5:1-2
Back in the early '70's the rally cry of my generation was "PEACE MAN!" We were all about peace, putting peace signs on our shirts, flagging the peace sign to our friends, singing about peace. We thought that peace would come to the world if everyone would just tune in, turn on, and drop out. Ha, we were so wrong. Most of the things we did ended up not being very peaceful, and the end result wasn't peace, but chaos.
I think Paul knew a little something about peace. Having been a Pharisee before coming to Christ, you would have thought that Paul would have been a peaceful man. In actuality, he was anything but; raging against Christians, dragging them out of their houses, and condemning them to death. Looking at Paul's "BC" (before-Christ) story, I would guess that Paul was very much in conflict. Which is why I think it's so cool that Paul finally did find peace, not through religion, but through a relationship with Jesus Christ!
Many people don't realize that without Christ, they're in state of war against God (Colossians 1:21), and sadly, they're not on the winning team!
But when a person becomes a Christian, a new thing happens, they are now in a state of peace with God! The war is over! Technically we lost the battle, but spiritually we won, because we've now been reconciled to Christ! We've signed a Peace Accord, written on the parchment of our hearts, written with the blood of Christ, and guaranteed by the God of the Universe.
And from this new Peace Accord, we now have a new access and standing with God
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
What this means is, "It's finished:" - I don't have to prove my worth to God
- God is my friend, He's always with me.
- God is always accessible to me
- I am now free from the "score sheet" - my account is settled in Jesus
Standing in the grace of Christ; it's a permanent position. It doesn't change with the wind, or with my behavior.
"Lord, thank you for this new standing I have with you! Help me to understand more fully this place of access, standing, and grace that You have given me through Your Son Jesus Christ."
Pastor Clay | 
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