Romans 5:1–2 Commentary – Peace With God

Romans VerseQuest Commentary
Essay 30: Peace With God
Text: Romans 5:1–2

Romans 5:1–2 says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” The word “therefore” reaches backward and gathers up the whole argument Paul has established since Romans 1. The wrath of God was revealed from heaven. The Gentile world was exposed. The moral judge was condemned. The Jew was stripped of his confidence in law and circumcision. Every mouth was stopped. The whole world became guilty before God. No flesh could be justified by the deeds of the law. Then the righteousness of God was manifested without the law, received by faith of Jesus Christ, freely by grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Christ was set forth as the propitiation through faith in His blood. Abraham believed God. David described imputed righteousness. Jesus was delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification. Then Paul writes, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God.” The courtroom verdict has produced a settled peace treaty.

That peace is not a religious feeling produced by music, candles, incense, stained glass, emotional preaching, or a priest assuring a sinner that his latest ceremony temporarily put the account back in order. It is not the calm a man feels after persuading himself that everything will probably work out. It is not positive thinking, psychological balance, mystical stillness, or the temporary relief that comes when conscience gets tired of shouting. Peace with God is an objective standing created by justification. Before justification, the sinner is under wrath, alienated from God, ungodly, and an enemy. After justification, the believer has peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. The hostility has been answered, the guilt has been removed judicially, the righteousness of God has been imputed, and the believer stands accepted on the ground of Christ’s blood. Feelings may shake, but the treaty does not.

Romans 5 opens with results, not requirements. Paul does not say, “Therefore, work hard enough to achieve peace.” He does not say, “Therefore, enter a sacramental system and hope peace accumulates.” He does not say, “Therefore, maintain a flawless performance so God will remain friendly.” He says, “being justified by faith, we have peace.” Justification comes first. Peace follows. Access follows. Standing follows. Rejoicing follows. Religion reverses the order and tells the sinner to behave peacefully, work faithfully, participate sacramentally, and perhaps God will justify him at the end. Paul puts justification at the front and lets every blessing flow from a completed verdict. Religion keeps sending applications to heaven. Grace sends the believer a declaration already signed in blood.

Chapter One: Therefore Being Justified by Faith

Romans 5:1 begins, “Therefore being justified by faith.” The word “therefore” proves Paul is drawing a conclusion from everything established in Romans 3 and 4. Justification is not a vague religious experience floating by itself. It rests on Christ’s redemption, propitiation, blood, death, burial, and resurrection. God is just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Abraham believed God, and righteousness was counted to him. The ungodly believer is justified apart from works. Christ was delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification. Therefore, Paul says, we are justified by faith. The conclusion is not hidden behind theological shrubbery. It stands in the open where any sinner with an honest heart can read it.

“Justified” means declared righteous before God. It is courtroom language, not self-improvement language. God does not merely begin making the sinner righteous in conduct and then wait to see whether he reaches a satisfactory level before death. That is sanctification confused with justification, and confusion is where religious systems build their tollbooths. Justification is a divine verdict. God declares the believer righteous because of the finished work of Christ and the imputed righteousness received by faith. Sanctification concerns the believer’s walk, growth, service, and practical separation after salvation. The believer’s walk may improve slowly, unevenly, and sometimes painfully, but his standing does not crawl. It is granted at once.

“By faith” removes every rival ground. The sinner is not justified by law, baptism, mass, communion, church membership, commandment-keeping, religious heritage, moral reform, emotional surrender, final perseverance, or charitable works. Faith is not one item on a list of cooperative conditions. It is the receiving hand that lays hold upon Christ while refusing confidence in self. Romans 4:5 says, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly.” The Holy Ghost places working and believing on opposite sides of the sentence. Religion keeps trying to join them in marriage, but Paul has already objected to the ceremony.

Chapter Two: Peace With God, Not Merely a Peaceful Feeling

Paul says, “we have peace with God.” He does not first say we feel peaceful. He says we have peace. That is possession, standing, and objective reality. Peace with God concerns the believer’s relationship to God as Judge. Before justification, the sinner is not spiritually neutral. Romans 5:10 will call him an enemy. Colossians 1:21 says sinners were “alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works.” God is not at war with innocent people who happened to misplace their religious directions. He stands in righteous opposition to sin, and the sinner stands guilty under wrath. Peace requires more than soothing language. It requires reconciliation on righteous grounds.

The blood of Christ supplies those grounds. Colossians 1:20 speaks of Christ “having made peace through the blood of his cross.” Peace was made, not imagined. It was purchased, not generated by atmosphere. The cross answered the offence. The blood satisfied justice. The resurrection declared the payment accepted. God does not make peace by pretending His law was too severe or our sins too small to matter. He makes peace by judging our sins in Christ. The believer’s peace is therefore not built upon God becoming less holy. It is built upon Christ satisfying God’s holiness completely. Grace does not ask justice to step outside while mercy signs the papers. Grace presents the blood and lets justice sign first.

This distinguishes peace with God from the peace of God in daily experience. Philippians 4:7 speaks of “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,” guarding hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. That experiential peace can be affected by prayerlessness, fear, disobedience, anxiety, carnality, and failure to cast cares upon the Lord. A justified believer may lose the enjoyment of peace without losing peace with God. His conscience may trouble him, fellowship may be damaged, and the Father may chasten him, but the judicial hostility does not return. A nervous son is still a son. Religious uncertainty confuses emotional weather with legal citizenship and then tells the believer heaven has canceled his passport because clouds appeared.

Chapter Three: Through Our Lord Jesus Christ

Peace with God comes “through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Every word matters. It is through Him, not through ourselves. It is through the Lord, not through a religious institution. It is through Jesus, the incarnate Saviour who died for our sins. It is through Christ, the anointed and risen One. Paul piles the title together so nobody can replace the Mediator with a priest, pope, saint, angel, sacrament, church, prophet, or theological system. First Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” One mediator leaves no vacancy for Rome’s spiritual employment office.

Jesus Christ produces peace because He answered both sides of the problem. God’s righteousness demanded satisfaction; Christ provided it. Man’s guilt required removal; Christ bore it. The law testified against us; Christ bore the curse. Death held sinners under its sentence; Christ rose from the dead. The devil accuses; Christ’s blood answers. Conscience recalls failure; Christ’s finished work stands. The believer does not negotiate peace personally with God as though he were skilled enough to revise the terms. Christ is the Mediator, the propitiation, the Redeemer, and the living Lord through whom peace comes.

The title “our Lord Jesus Christ” also shows that the One who gives peace owns the believer. Grace does not save rebels so they can continue treating Christ as an optional adviser. The believer is not justified by making Jesus Lord through some additional work of commitment; Jesus is Lord whether any sinner acknowledges Him or not. But the justified believer belongs to Him and is called to live under His authority. Peace with God produces grateful submission, not careless independence. Grace removes condemnation, not Christ’s crown. A man who uses eternal security as an excuse to despise the Lord has understood neither security nor the Lord. The Shepherd saves the sheep permanently, and then the sheep should stop pretending the wolf is a lifestyle coach.

Chapter Four: Access by Faith

Romans 5:2 says, “By whom also we have access by faith.” The believer does not merely escape wrath and then remain standing outside heaven’s gate like a pardoned criminal unsure whether he may enter. He has access. The word speaks of approach, admission, welcome, and introduction into the presence and favor of God. Sin barred the way. Christ opened it. The veil was rent when Jesus died. Hebrews 10:19 speaks of “boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.” The believer’s approach is not based on personal worthiness but on the blood-worthiness of Christ.

Access is “by faith,” not by priestly permission. Under the law, Israel had a priesthood, sacrifices, a tabernacle, a temple, and restricted approach. The high priest entered the holiest with blood, and not without careful divine order. In this present dispensation, the believer has direct access through Christ. Ephesians 2:18 says, “For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” No confessional booth stands in the passage. No earthly priest receives the appointment. No dead saint handles the request. No Mary routes the prayer through a heavenly switchboard. The believer comes through Christ. Heaven does not place justified saints on hold while a priest checks his calendar.

This access should change prayer, worship, service, and daily confidence. The believer does not crawl toward God as though the blood might fail while he approaches. Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace.” Boldly does not mean arrogantly. It means with confidence grounded in the High Priest. A beggar who receives a king’s signed invitation does not approach because he has become royal by personal merit. He approaches because the king granted access. Faith holds the invitation. Christ wrote it in blood. The Father recognizes the signature.

Chapter Five: Into This Grace

Paul says we have access “into this grace.” Grace is not merely the doorway through which the believer enters salvation and then leaves behind for a law-based Christian life. He has access into grace as the realm of his standing. Romans 6:14 will say, “for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Grace is not a temporary emergency measure for conversion. It is the governing principle of the believer’s relationship to God in Christ. He was saved by grace, stands in grace, serves by grace, grows through grace, and awaits the coming grace to be revealed.

“This grace” refers to the gracious position established through justification. The believer has not entered an uncertain probation period. He has entered favor provided by God. Grace does not mean God approves every action of the believer. The same Paul who teaches standing in grace will rebuke carnality, command separation, warn against sowing to the flesh, and speak of the Judgment Seat of Christ. But correction occurs within grace, not outside it. The Father chastens sons, not enemies. Grace teaches the believer to deny ungodliness, according to Titus 2:11–12. It does not place ungodliness on the church calendar and call it liberty.

Religious systems often fear grace because grace takes control away from the institution. If the believer stands in grace through Christ, the priest cannot threaten to switch grace off. If grace depends upon the finished work, the denomination cannot make itself the pipeline. If access comes by faith, religious ceremonies cannot charge admission. So religion redefines grace as a substance dispensed through sacraments, maintained by works, recovered by confession, and monitored by clerical authority. Paul’s grace is cleaner than that machinery. It comes through Jesus Christ, is entered by faith, and becomes the standing place of the justified believer.

Chapter Six: Wherein We Stand

Paul says this is the grace “wherein we stand.” Standing is the language of position, firmness, and established acceptance. The believer is not crawling, dangling, drifting, or waiting to see whether God will let him remain. He stands. Romans 14:4 says of the Lord’s servant, “Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.” The stability ultimately comes from God’s ability, not the believer’s flawless balance. A child learning to walk may stumble while his father still holds him securely by the hand. The stumble affects the walk; it does not cancel the relationship.

This standing cannot be overturned by the devil’s accusations. Revelation 12 calls Satan “the accuser of our brethren.” The devil can point to real failures, distorted failures, remembered failures, and imagined failures. He is a prosecuting attorney who never discovered retirement. But the believer’s case has already been settled by a higher court. Romans 8:33 asks, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.” If God has justified, Satan’s brief goes into the trash. The devil may disturb the believer’s emotions, but he cannot reverse God’s verdict.

Neither priest, critic, conscience, nor personal failure can overturn this standing. A priest may claim authority to dispense or withhold grace, but he did not die for the sinner and rise again. A critic may question the believer’s salvation, but the critic does not keep heaven’s ledger. Conscience may accuse, but conscience is not the final court. First John 3:20 says, “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.” The believer should confess sin, judge himself, make wrongs right, and walk honestly, but he should never promote conscience above the blood. A troubled conscience is a poor pope.

Chapter Seven: Rejoicing in Hope of the Glory of God

Paul ends verse 2 by saying we “rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 said all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 5:2 says the justified believer now rejoices in hope of that glory. Grace takes the man who came short and gives him a future connected with glory. That is not optimism. It is biblical hope—confident expectation based upon God’s promise. The believer is not hoping that perhaps his religious efforts will finally pass inspection. He rejoices because justification has secured a future the sinner could never earn.

The glory of God includes the believer’s future transformation into Christ’s likeness. Romans 8:29 says believers are predestinated “to be conformed to the image of his Son.” Philippians 3:21 says Christ “shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.” First John 3:2 says, “when he shall appear, we shall be like him.” The saved man may presently struggle with flesh, weakness, age, sickness, temptation, sorrow, and unfinished growth, but grace has not finished writing. The justified sinner is headed toward glorification. God does not begin with justification and then misplace the believer halfway to glory.

This hope gives rejoicing even when feelings lag behind. The believer may look at himself and see weakness. He looks at Christ and sees destiny. He may see a body decaying. God sees a body scheduled for redemption. He may see unfinished sanctification. God sees the end declared from the beginning. Biblical rejoicing is not pretending pain is pleasant. It is knowing pain is temporary and glory is promised. The world rejoices when circumstances cooperate. Faith rejoices because God cannot fail. A Christian’s hope is not a balloon released into the sky; it is an anchor fastened behind the veil.

Conclusion

Romans 5:1–2 opens the chapter by declaring the settled results of justification. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The believer is no longer standing before God as a condemned enemy under wrath. Christ has made peace through the blood of His cross. The law’s accusations have been answered, sin’s debt has been paid, righteousness has been imputed, and the Judge has declared the believer righteous. Peace with God is therefore not a feeling manufactured by religion. It is a position established by Christ.

Through Jesus Christ, the believer also has access by faith into grace. He does not approach through a priest, ceremony, saint, sacrament, institution, or personal merit. He comes through the one Mediator. The door is not opened by religious performance and slammed shut by emotional failure. It stands open because Christ lives. The believer stands in grace—not in probation, uncertainty, debt, or sacramental suspense. He stands where God placed him, and no devil, priest, critic, or conscience possesses the authority to move him out.

Finally, the justified believer rejoices in hope of the glory of God. The man who once came short of glory is now destined for glory through Christ. His present walk may contain battles, chastening, tears, failures, and growth, but his standing rests on a finished work and his future rests on a faithful God. Religion says peace must be maintained by man. The gospel says peace was made by Christ. Religion says access is supervised by an institution. The gospel says access is through Christ. Religion says standing depends upon performance. The gospel says we stand in grace. When God justifies, peace is not a ceasefire waiting to expire. It is a treaty written in blood, sealed by resurrection, and guaranteed by the Lord Jesus Christ.