Peace In Christ

Q: What does the Bible say about peace in Christ?

The Bible teaches that true peace with God comes through faith in Jesus Christ, who justifies us and reconciles us to God. According to Romans 5:1, being justified by faith means that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. This peace is not based on our own efforts or righteousness, but solely on the work of Christ, who fulfilled the law on our behalf. Paul emphasizes that before justification, we are at war with God due to our sin, but through Christ, we are reconciled and have access to God's grace. This peace is essential for believers as it assures us of our standing before God and helps us to rest in His promises.

Q: How do we know justification by faith is true?

Justification by faith is affirmed in Scripture, particularly in Romans 3:28, which states that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law. The doctrine of justification by faith is grounded in the authority of Scripture. Romans 3:28 declares that 'a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.' This means that our standing before God is not based on our own actions or merits but on our trust in Christ's finished work. Furthermore, the apostle Paul explains in Romans that Christ's obedience and sacrifice bring us into a state of grace, where we are accepted by God. The consistency of this message throughout the New Testament literature provides a solid foundation for the truth of justification by faith.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to understand they are not under the law?

Understanding that Christians are not under the law is crucial as it assures believers that their justification and peace with God come solely through Christ. The distinction of being under grace rather than under the law is foundational in Reformed theology. For believers, this means that Christ has fulfilled the law perfectly, and thus, the law no longer has dominion over us. Romans 6:14 states that we are not under the law but under grace, which liberates us from the curse of the law and allows us to live in the freedom of Christ. This understanding is vital as it encourages believers to rely on Christ for their standing before God, rather than their own failures or efforts. It fosters assurance and peace, helping believers to live out their faith confidently in the grace of God.

Q: What role does faith play in the Christian life according to the sermon?

Faith is central to the Christian life, serving as the means through which believers receive justification and access to God's grace. In the sermon, the preacher emphasizes that faith is the channel through which we are justified and experience peace with God. Romans 5:2 indicates that we 'have access by faith into this grace,' highlighting that it is through faith that we enter into a relationship with God. This relationship is characterized by grace, assurance, and the hope of glory. Moreover, faith enables believers to rejoice even in trials because it cultivates perseverance and maturity in the faith journey. Thus, faith is not merely intellectual assent but an active trust in Christ that transforms every aspect of a believer's life.

All right, let's open our Bibles
now to Romans 5. Romans chapter 5. The fifth chapter of Romans begins
with the word, therefore, which means, as a result of what I
have been saying, then the following is true. That's what it means
when you come upon the word, therefore. Barnard used to say,
try to find out what it's there for. Therefore, because of what
I've been saying in chapter 1, 2, 3, and 4, as a result of what
I've been teaching you, Paul said, then what I'm about to
say is true. Now, what has he been saying?
Well, go back to verse, chapter 3, verse 28. And this is the
conclusion. What I was preaching this morning,
most of you were here and heard the message this morning, and
this is his conclusion. Verse 28, Romans 3, Therefore
we conclude that a man is justified by faith. A man is justified,
accepted, counted righteous before God by faith. by the deeds of the law, without
the deeds of the law. Now, if you were to ask me tonight,
preacher, what is your position on the law? I remember several
years ago, a young man came to the church here from somewhere,
and that's the first thing he asked me. For some reason or
another, I do not know, but we sat down in my office and he
looked at me and he said, what's your position on the law? Well,
I wish then that I had the answer I believe that God's given me
now. I didn't have it then, but I believe I have a good answer
now. My position on the law depends entirely on the person to whom
I'm speaking. My position on the law depends
entirely on the person to whom I'm speaking. If I'm addressing
an unbeliever, if an unbeliever, a person who does not know God,
does not know Christ, he comes to me and said, what's your position
on the law? Are we under the law? I'd say,
yes sir, you are. You're under every precept, every
stature, every commandment, every law in God's Word to fulfill
it perfectly. or be damned as a consequence.
You're under the law. And I believe I can prove that
by Romans 3.19, back just a few verses, because it says here
in Romans 3.19, now we know that what thing soever the law saith,
it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped,
and the whole world become guilty before God. everybody who's not in Christ
is under the law. And the law pronounces him guilty
and condemned, and he'll be brought into judgment and judged by that
man, Christ Jesus, but he'll be judged because of his sins
against God. All right. Secondly, now suppose
that I'm addressing, suppose that I'm addressing a professor
of A person who claims to be saved. A man like the man to whom James
is speaking, who claims to have faith without works and without
obedience. A man who claims to know God
and yet he walks in disobedience and he walks in sin. I would
reply to him if he looked at me and said, Do you think we're
under law? I'd say, yes sir, you're under
the law. You're under the law. It doesn't
matter about your profession, it doesn't matter about your
claims to believe the gospel, because James says your faith
is dead. And if your faith is dead and
you're not in Christ, you're under the law. And every man
will be judged out of the books according to his works. Isn't
that what Scripture says? So a man out of Christ, whether
he's in the church or in the world, if he does not have Christ,
he's under the law. He's in subjection to the law
of God and he'll be judged by the law of God. And then thirdly, suppose I'm
talking to a true believer. person like most of you here
tonight who loves Christ, who loves the gospel, who loves the
Word of God, who believes and rests in the Son of God. And
yet you grieve over your inability, though you try, and though you
put forth every effort, and though you pray about it, but you grieve
over your inability to walk in holiness and perfection. And
you say, I love God's law, but I break God's law, in thought,
in word, too often indeed. But I hate my sins, and I love
Christ, and I long to be like Christ, and yet I see in me so
much sin and so much weakness and so much imperfection. Oh,
what shall I do? I say to you, you're not under
the law. You're not under the law. Christ has fulfilled the
law for you. You're under the grace of God. You're not under the law. Don't
let the law cause your heart to be fearful. Don't let the
law cause you to entertain doubts. If you genuinely believe on Christ
and love Christ and have fled to Christ and are seeking in
your heart to be like Christ, the law has no claim on you. You're not under its curse, you're
not under it as a covenant, you're not under it as a rule of life.
Christ is your rule of life. And that's the only man who's
not under the law. Is that right? The only person
in this building who's not under the law is the person for whom
Christ has fully satisfied the law. Because that law is going
to be honored. It's going to be satisfied. The
only person who's not under the law is that man or woman for
whom Jesus Christ the Lord perfectly obeyed the law and died under
the sentence of the law. You're not under the law. That's
right. It says, look at Romans 4. This
is what David is saying here in Romans 4, verse 6. Even as
David also described it, the blessedness, happiness, the happiness
of the man unto whom God imputed righteousness without law, without
words. Who is that? Well, that's not
the unbeliever. That's not the false professor.
That's not the religionist who lives in darkness and sin. That's
the man whom God had chosen. That's the man for whom Christ
has died. That's the man whom the Holy
Spirit has brought to faith in Christ. God imputes to that person
righteousness. The law has been fulfilled. The
law has no claims. I've made its claims in Christ,
and I have a perfect righteousness. Say, look at verse 7, Blessed
are they, happy are they, whose iniquities are forgiven. Whatever
we've done is forgiven. Whatever we've said is forgiven.
Whatever we have done is forgotten. Christ paid the debt. Now remember
their sins no more. Their iniquities are forgiven.
Watch it. And their sins are covered. Their sins are covered. And even these are not charged
to nor held against us. They're covered. The blood of
Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. And our present and
future sins are covered. And not only that, but look here.
Blessed is the man to whom, verse 8, God will not charge sin. In other words, not only are
iniquities forgiven and our sins covered, but God in Christ actually
considers us to be holy, perfectly holy. Now that's so perfectly
holy. Hold your place there and turn
to Colossians 1. Oh, what a promise. What a blessing. Our iniquities forgiven, forgotten. Our sins covered, not only past
but present and future. They're not held against us,
they're not charged to us, but God actually counts us to be
holy. Colossians 1 verse 21. We have no sin, we do no sin,
we're holy. Listen to Colossians 1 verse
21. And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body
of his flesh through death to present you holy. I know that's so difficult for
us to get a hold of, but that's what it says. Holy, listen, and
unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight. How else could
God accept us? How else could God walk with
us? How else could we fellowship with him? Only if we're holy,
as holy as God. And that's what the songwriter
is saying when he says, with his spotless garments on, I'm
as holy as God's own Son. And near, so near to God, nearer
I cannot be, for in the person of his Son I'm as near as he.
Already crucified with Christ, risen with Christ, and seated
with Christ, and in Christ I have no sin. You mean preachers right
now? or in the next few moments, or
the next hour, tomorrow, or next week, the things we think, the
things we do, that they're not charged again? No, that's what
it says. You mean God does not hold those
to our account? No, sir, in Christ I have no
sin. In Christ I do no sin. In Christ
I am, in God's sight, perfectly holy. Is that what it says? That's
exactly what it says. Perfectly righteous. I mean right
now. Now. Perfectly holy. Now that
is a blessed state. But that's only to those who
are in Christ. Holy, unblameable, and unreprovable. Now chapter 5, our text. Therefore. Therefore. Man's justified without the law.
And in Christ, our iniquities are all forgiven, our sins are
covered and forgotten, and we are perfectly holy and righteous
in God's presence. We do no sin, we have no sin,
God accepts us in the Beloved, in the Beloved, righteous and
free. Therefore, all right. This being so, being justified,
being sanctified, being righteous, being redeemed by faith, then
we have peace. And that's the only place you
can find peace. If you're trying to conjure up peace, if you're
trying to strive to get peace, if you're trying to do certain
things to give yourself peace, Peace is only found in resting
in Christ. There's no peace in this flesh.
Let me show you that. Here's a scripture I want you
to read in Isaiah. I don't know why I've never preached
from this text, and I don't know why I've never heard a message
from this text, but I don't recall hearing one. In Isaiah chapter
32, Isaiah 32 verse 1, I preach from verse 2, but I
mean what I'm going to add to it here the rest of the chapter.
Listen to this. I read this to get to where I'm going. Isaiah
32.1, Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, holiness, and
princes shall rule in judgment, and a man, that's Jesus Christ
our Lord, the God-man, and a man, the representative man, and a
man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from
the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, and as a shadow
of a great rock in a weary land." That's Christ our Lord. Now verse
17, And this work of righteousness, this king is going to accomplish
this righteousness and reign in righteousness and be seated
in righteousness, verse 17, and the work of righteousness shall
be what? Peace. And the effect of righteousness,
quietness and assurance forever. But that's when you've entered
by faith into his rest. personally, sincerely, definitely, trusting, faithfully believing,
cease from my works and enter into his rest. That's when that
quietness and assurance takes over. Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace whose mind is stayed on thee. It can't be Christ in my
baptism. It can't be Christ in my profession.
I hear this all the time. Well, I know I'm saved because
I made a profession. It can't be that. It can't be
that. Well, I know everything's right
with God because I've turned it over to Him. You hadn't done
anything. He turned it over to Christ,
and Christ did it. I will keep Him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on Thee. The work of righteousness shall
be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever,
and my people shall dwell in a peaceful habitation, and in
sure dwellings in a quiet resting place." That's when you can stop
arguing religion. That's when you can stop debating
doctrine. That's when you can stop being uneasy about your
relationship with God. enter into Christ and be peaceful. That's it. But it can't be a
mixture. Can't do it, can't do it. You
can't look back five seconds. An old experience that stays
old is old. That's all it's good for right
now. Therefore, back to my text, chapter
5, be justified by faith. Without the law, without the
deeds of the law, without the help of the law, I have peace
with God. I have peace with God. Now, it's through our Lord Jesus
Christ. You see, out of Christ, it doesn't
matter whether man's in the pulpit or in the pew or in the world,
out of Christ, he's at war with God. He's at war with the living
God. He's at war with the God of the
Bible. See, the natural mind is enmity against God. The Bible doesn't say the natural
mind's at enmity with God. It is enmity. And a man out of
Christ, it does not matter what he professes or what he claims
or who he is or what he's done. If he's out of Christ, he's at
war with God. And not only that, and I know
everywhere you can't say this, but God's at war with him. And I know it sounds good for
the preacher to be on television, saw one last night do this from
a certain church somewhere, and there he was. He was just so
kind and so sweet and so sentimental and so lovable and so gracious. He just smiled. He said, our
church loves you. And I love you, and my friends
most of all, and God loves every one of you. That sounds good,
doesn't it? But it is not so. That just is not so. The only way a holy God can love
you or me is in Christ. There's nothing in us, there's
nothing from us, there's nothing about us. that could cause a
holy God to love you. God hates the workers of iniquity. Is that too hard? Now let me
tell you, every one of you, I tell you, God hates the workers of
iniquity. God is angry with the wicked
every day. I don't care who they are. I
don't care if they're somebody's sweet mama. I don't care if they're
somebody's sweet, lovable daddy. They hate God and God hates them. Is that too hard? But so, he
that believeth on the Son hath life. He that believeth not the
Son shall not see life. The what? The wrath of God abideth
on him. Right now. And I know preachers
say, well, you know, preacher, now, God hates sin. God hates sin. God loves the
sinner. My friends, you can't separate
those two. There is no sin without the sinner.
Do you know there's no sin on this earth without you and me?
If God takes every human being out of this world, he takes sin
out of this world. By one man's disobedience, many
were made sinners. And the sinner is sin. That's
the reason God can love us. We don't have any sin. You see
what I'm saying? I just read that. We're holy. God has caused to love me now. I'm holy. God has caused to love
you. You're unblameable. He has no
reason not to love you. You're unreprovable in his sight.
You're holy. You're righteous. He loves righteousness. He hates unrighteousness. That's
right. The love of God's in Christ.
Everything's in Christ. Peace is in Christ. Rest is in
Christ. Reconciliation's in Christ. Wisdom's
in Christ. Redemption's in Christ. Sanctification's
in Christ. Accepted in the Beloved. That's where it is. And out of
Christ, God is a consuming fire. And we'll find that out at the
judgment. God reconciled us to himself
in Christ. Read, look at verse 2, Romans
5 verse 1, and therefore, verse 1 says, being justified, we have
peace. Then the conclusion I draw, if
we're not justified, we don't have peace. Is that right? Being justified, I have peace
with God. If I'm not justified, I don't
have peace with God, I'm at war with God, and he's at war with
me. And it's through our Lord Jesus Christ. It's not through
what I've done, it's what He did. It's not through who I am,
it's who Christ is. Now look at verse 2. By whom? By Christ also we have access
by faith into this grace, into this state of favor. by Christ's
obedience, by his blood, by his love, by his intercession, by
his standing, then this eternal grace, this state of favor, this
sonship, this acceptance, this holiness is mine in him, in whom,
by whom we have access. If you're not in Christ, you're
outside the favor of God. You're outside the kingdom of
God. You're outside the love of God, you're outside the grace
of God, but by Christ we have access. I'm the door, he said,
by me if any man enter in, he'll be saved. That's how you enter
into God's favor, enter into God's mercy, is by the door.
I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. No man comes to the
Father but by me. I don't know how I can make that
clearer. I don't mean to offend my generation. I've got to preach
to them. I pray for them. But I'm not
going to help them lying to them like these preachers are doing. I'm not going to help people
by looking at them and telling them what God doesn't tell them.
God loves you. Barnard used to say, well, if God loves me and
Christ died for me, I'm all right. I would say that's so, wouldn't
you? If God loves me, And Christ died for me? Well, who can lay
anything to my charge? Who can do anything to me? God
won't because He loves me. And we rejoice, listen, and we
rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And that hope is Christ. Christ in you, that's the hope
of glory. And there is no other hope. Martin Luther wrote this,
and I don't think you can improve on it. We rejoice in hope of
the glory of God. We shall rise. We shall be like
Christ. We shall enjoy eternal glory.
And he said, although I am a sinner, yet I despair not. For Christ,
who is my Redeemer and my righteousness, liveth at the right hand of God.
And in Christ, I have no sin. In Christ, I have no fear. In Christ, I have no sting of
conscience. In Christ, I have no fear of
death or judgment. For in Christ, God said there's
no condemnation to them who are in Christ. I am indeed a sinner. I don't
doubt that nor deny that. I am a sinner as touching this
present life, but I have a righteousness of God which is above this life. I have already in Christ passed
from death to life. And that righteousness which
I have before God and in God's sight is Christ my Lord. I do not rejoice in myself nor
my works, I rejoice in Him. Isn't that good? There's peace. There's peace. All right, now
let's go to verse 3. I want to say something about
verse 3. Let me see if I can do something with this and help
you before you leave here. And not only so, not only so
what? we rejoice in this hope, we rejoice
in this peace, we rejoice in our Lord Jesus Christ. We rejoice
in that. But not only do we rejoice in
our future hope and our future glory, but we rejoice even also
in this present life of trial and trouble and tribulation. Now, I know Many of us have not
had too many trials and too many real tests of faith. The good possibility before the
journey's over, we will. But what Paul is saying here,
and Paul is a man who experienced more trials and suffering, I
suppose, than any other preacher. But he said, I've learned the
glory in these troubles and trials. I've learned the glory in them.
Now what does he mean? I know this. We don't glory in
the trial itself. Nobody can rejoice in suffering. Now you just can't take sickness,
for example, you lie there on the bed and you're hurting and
the night's so long and the morning's so long and coming and the pain
is wracking your body and You have all these difficulties,
you can't lie there and laugh and say, I like this. I don't
like it. You don't like it, let's be honest.
God steps in and takes away one that you love, and so suddenly,
so unexpectedly, and your heart is just crushed and broken, and
you can't say, I'm enjoying this. I don't enjoy it. Can't do it, can you? Don't lie. Let's don't lie. We don't enjoy
it. We wish it hadn't happened. So
Paul's not saying I'm rejoicing in my suffering. He's not saying
I'm rejoicing in the trial itself. It's grievous and painful. What Paul is saying, I rejoice
in the effect of it and what God's going to do for me and
in me as a result of it. Now let me see if I can illustrate.
We have a number of nurses in this congregation. And I tell you, I'm grateful
for our school teachers, I'm grateful for our nurses, and
there are a lot of them in this congregation, a lot of them here
tonight. Suppose a young woman, 19, 20 years of age, aspires
to be a nurse. And she aspires to be a good
one, a capable, knowledgeable, gifted nurse. Someday to be a
supervisor of nurses on her floor or at her nurse's station, to
save lives, to heal the sick, to relieve pain and distress,
to help patients, to train others. How shall it be? How's she going
to get there? Well, she's not just suddenly
going to be a nurse of that quality and that caliber. What's she
got to do? She's got to go through some
difficult times, four, five, six, seven years, a very difficult
time. There are hours of study, there
are books to read, there are papers to write, there are things
to be learned. There's times when her body's
going to be so tired and so weary as she studies all these things
that she doesn't understand, things she's never looked at
before, and she says, oh, why don't I just quit? No, I'm not
going to quit. I'm going to keep this up because
of my goal. See, she rejoices in learning. And then there are beds to be
changed. You don't get to be superintendent
of the nurses until you've been changing some beds. I mean some
dirty beds and some bloody beds. Isn't that right, girls? You're
the nurses. There's some tough times. There's
bedpans to empty. Supervisors don't empty them.
Trainees do. All right? There's some bodies
to be washed. There's some grouchy, hard-to-get-along-with
patients to put up with. There's some unpleasant work
to be done. Does she enjoy it? No, sir. She's going to be a nurse. and
it's necessary. She's got to go through this.
And then there's some pain to inflict. I often wondered if
these ladies enjoyed sticking me with that needle, you know.
Well, they may, but the young girls don't, the ones that are
learning. They can't stick one in an orange without fainting,
you know. But there's pain to be inflicted, there's shots to
give, there's blood to wash away. There's some awful sights to
see, there's death to be experienced, there's menial tasks to be performed. Does she enjoy those four or
five years? No, sir. Can't enjoy that kind of stuff.
But I'll tell you this, does she enjoy the pain and the blood
and the hard tasks? No. But she rejoices in all of
it, knowing that every experience makes her a better nurse. Every
experience, every hard thing she has to learn by experiencing
it and going through it will make her equipped to do what
she wants to do. Isn't that right? Well, that's
what Paul's saying here. I don't rejoice in the trial.
I don't rejoice... Nobody rejoices in lying awake
at night and tears wetting your pillow, but I'll tell you this. Listen to what it says down here
in verse 3. I know this. I rejoice in trials because tribulation
and trials work patience. I can't have patience without
testing and trial. Is that right? Patience. What's that? That's submission
to God's will. That's content with God's way. That's waiting upon the Lord.
That's the opposite of complaining and covetous. And the only way
I can attain that or have that gift is to go through this experience. That's right. It works patience. And then what's this? And patience,
it works experience. You know what experience is?
The word is maturity. Maturity. Ah, for maturity. We desire to grow in grace and
the knowledge of Christ, and that is not possible without
trial. And you've got some people here
that are well up in years, and you young people watch them and
listen to them, you wonder about their, they just don't get upset,
they have a gentle spirit, they have a quiet spirit. How'd they
get that way? They got that way coming through
all that rough stuff. That's right. That's how they
got that right. You don't really experience maturity
and growth without those trials. That's just what Paul's saying.
That's the reason to rejoice in. We don't rejoice in the,
when you step on that stone, but you rejoice in what it's
going to accomplish in you, in me. And not only that, but maturity
worketh hope. See, the trials bring patience,
and the patience bring maturity, and the maturity worketh hope. As I grow in grace and as I mature
in faith, my hope in Christ increases, and my assurance and my confidence
is strengthened. And verse 5, and that hope, that
blessed hope maketh not ashamed. In other words, those who profess
a good hope in Christ will never be ashamed of that hope. I've never understood how an older preacher, a man that's
been studying the Bible for years and preaching the gospel, could ever take the edge off that gospel
or compromise it. I understand how a very young
man who hasn't been living very long or hasn't been over the
road. I can understand how he can vacillate or maybe listen
to some other voices and maybe read some so-called scholars
and be shaky, but a man who knows what life is and knows who God
is and knows what he is, how he could ever not believe the
gospel of God's grace? How he could ever, Cecil, take
the edge of it off, I don't know. How he could ever compromise
it, I do not know. Because, you see, this tribulation
works patience, and patience, maturity, and maturity, hope,
and hope, good hope, is never ashamed. I'm not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ, Paul said. I'm not ashamed. I know whom
I have believed. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed,
and will never be put to shame. Now those who have a false profession
are going to be put to shame. But hope make it not a shame,
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts for the
Holy Ghost, which is given to us. Now one more verse, and I'll
quit. Listen to verse six. Five. When we were without strength.
When? When we were without strength.
Without hope, without help, without God, without strength. In due
time, in God's time, who died? Christ died. Christ the Lord.
Did what? He died. A death of shame and
under the wrath of God. Why did He die? He died, He died
in our stead. For, for what? For us. Christ died for us. substitution
in our place, in our stead. For whom did He die? The ungodly. That's why we have what we have. That's why we are where we are. That's why we have a blessed
hope. That's why we're accepted in
the Beloved. Christ died for the ungodly. May God bless the Word to your
heart. And we'll sing a closing hymn, and then we'll go back
and visit with the young people.

Peace In Christ

What does the Bible say about peace in Christ?

How do we know justification by faith is true?

Why is it important for Christians to understand they are not under the law?

What role does faith play in the Christian life according to the sermon?

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Peace In Christ

What does the Bible say about peace in Christ?

How do we know justification by faith is true?

Why is it important for Christians to understand they are not under the law?

What role does faith play in the Christian life according to the sermon?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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