'Therefore we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.'
"......Apart from justification, apart from that which has been done for us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no peace between God and man. There is no peace either on God's side or on man's side, 'for the wrath of God is against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.' We should never forget that, but mankind is always very ready to forget it. That is why so many by-pass the Lord Jesus Christ and all His work. That is why so many pray to God without ever mentioning the Lord Jesus Christ. they see no need of Him. They say, 'God is love' and believe that they can go to God directly just as they are. That is a complete denial of the Christian faith. It is the result of the failure to see that there is no peace between them and God even from God's side, and that the wrath of God is on them because of their ungodliness and unrighteousness. Before there can be peace between God and man, and man and God, something has to happen with respect to the wrath of God, which is a revealed fact.
The Apostle has already told us what has happened, in chapter 3, verses 24-26: 'Being justified freely by His grace through the propitiation that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.' As we have seen, the great problem confronting the mind of God was this: how can God at one and the same time forgive a sinner and remain just and righteous and eternally the same? The answer is that God has sent His Son into the world, and has 'set Him forth' as a 'propitiation' for our sins. That means that He laid our sins upon Him and poured out His wrath against sin upon the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only because He has done that, that God can look upon us with favour and reconcile us unto Himself. This had to happen before the wrath of God could be appeased and He could look upon us and deal with us in a new way. The Apostle asserts here that, in the light of what has happened in Christ, who was 'delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification,' as far as God is concerned, the wrath is no longer there, and He is at peace with all 'that believe in Jesus."
[from Romans: Exposition of Chapter 5: Assurance. Published by Banner of Truth, 1971]
"......Apart from justification, apart from that which has been done for us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no peace between God and man. There is no peace either on God's side or on man's side, 'for the wrath of God is against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.' We should never forget that, but mankind is always very ready to forget it. That is why so many by-pass the Lord Jesus Christ and all His work. That is why so many pray to God without ever mentioning the Lord Jesus Christ. they see no need of Him. They say, 'God is love' and believe that they can go to God directly just as they are. That is a complete denial of the Christian faith. It is the result of the failure to see that there is no peace between them and God even from God's side, and that the wrath of God is on them because of their ungodliness and unrighteousness. Before there can be peace between God and man, and man and God, something has to happen with respect to the wrath of God, which is a revealed fact.
The Apostle has already told us what has happened, in chapter 3, verses 24-26: 'Being justified freely by His grace through the propitiation that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.' As we have seen, the great problem confronting the mind of God was this: how can God at one and the same time forgive a sinner and remain just and righteous and eternally the same? The answer is that God has sent His Son into the world, and has 'set Him forth' as a 'propitiation' for our sins. That means that He laid our sins upon Him and poured out His wrath against sin upon the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only because He has done that, that God can look upon us with favour and reconcile us unto Himself. This had to happen before the wrath of God could be appeased and He could look upon us and deal with us in a new way. The Apostle asserts here that, in the light of what has happened in Christ, who was 'delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification,' as far as God is concerned, the wrath is no longer there, and He is at peace with all 'that believe in Jesus."
[from Romans: Exposition of Chapter 5: Assurance. Published by Banner of Truth, 1971]