The Nature of Faith, part 9

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.
Romans 5:1-2, NKJV

Faith is what saves us, at least as far as our part is concerned. We don't have to work for our salvation; it can't be bought or earned. We don't have to provide it for ourselves; that was done through Jesus Christ and His redemptive sacrifice on Calvary's Cross. We don't have to do anything to save ourselves; we only have to believe.

The Bible says that whoever believes, the same shall be saved. And what must be believed? That Jesus Christ, the real and unique Son of God, who was miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, who was God made flesh to dwell among men, who lived a completely perfect and sinless life, died for us. That He was buried, and that after three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, He was resurrected, never to die again.

After belief comes confession--that Jesus Christ is Lord. That Jesus Christ is the everlasting God, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Master of the Universe, the Ruler of Everything. Belief, confession, and submission to who He is in a personal way. That's what saves us, and it starts with faith.

Because Abraham believed, he was counted righteous. Because he acted in faith upon what God had said, he was counted righteous. Because he lived by faith in the Living God, he was justified by that same faith and counted righteous. The same is true for us today. If we believe and live in faith in this same God, we also shall be counted righteous by Him. We shall be justified from our sins, and we will become as "just if I'd" never sinned. Jesus did all the work, paid the price, and offered salvation freely to all. The one and only thing we have to do is believe and live by that faith.

When we believe and are justified, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ. The enmity, the hatefulness of sin is put to death, and God receives us as children and friends, accepted and adopted through Jesus Christ. When we believe and are justified and accepted, we have access into grace, the unmerited favor and undeserved blessing that is the free gift of God. We can enter in and be safe in grace, we can stand in grace before God, completely forgiven and whole, saved by grace through faith that comes not from ourselves, but which is given to us by God. Even when we fall, we fall in grace and can again receive forgiveness to keep standing in grace.

And when we stand in grace, having believed and been saved through our faith, we can also rejoice in hope, that hope being that the glory of God, the manifested excellency of His person and power has been made real in us, is being made real in us, and will ultimately be made real in us when we become like Christ in life, in death, and in resurrection!

This is our hope--Christ in us, the guarantee of God's glory!