Romans 5:1
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”
One of the negotiating tools people use when determining whether to take a job are the benefits that are offered. Benefits can add substantial income to one’s portfolio. Knowing those benefits will oftentimes determine whether or not someone accepts the offer of employment.
God shows us the benefits of faith. The faith that is being offered is eternal life through Jesus Christ. You would think that this alone would be good enough for anyone to accept. When you consider that the alternative of accepting faith in Jesus Christ is an eternity in Hell, you would think that anyone would jump at the offer; however, there are many who still will not accept Christ as their Saviour. To make this offer look better, as if Heaven and an eternity with Jesus Christ is not good enough, God offers several more benefits with this faith.
First, He offers justification. In other words, if a person will accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour by faith, God promises to make you righteous in His sight. In other words, your sins are wiped away when you place your faith in Jesus Christ.
Second, He offers peace with faith in Jesus Christ. This is not just peace with God, but it is also peace with yourself. One of the greatest things to see when someone gets saved is the relief that comes over their being. When they accept Christ as Saviour, they experienced a peace within themselves that they had never experienced before. Faith in Jesus Christ will give you this peace.
Third, He offers access with faith in Jesus Christ. Putting your faith in Jesus Christ allows you to be able to go to God in prayer at any time. Before a person gets saved they had not access to the Father, but one of the benefits of getting saved is that you are given an open line to the Father. Whenever you have a need, you can go to Him in prayer because faith gives you that access.
Fourth, He offers grace with this faith. Grace gives us standing with God. It says in verse 2, “…by faith into this grace wherein we stand…” Notice that grace gives us the confidence we need to stand before God. As a Christian, God’s grace should give you the confidence to live victoriously understanding that God has justified you. As bad as we are, God’s grace allows us to be able to stand and have confidence that He will still use us.
Fifth, He offers hope with this faith. God says that we can “rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” What is this hope? It is the hope that one day Jesus Christ will return to take us to Heaven. When your world is caving in, the one hope that every Christian has is that Jesus is coming again.
Friend, the benefits of faith are enormous. You will always have these benefits whether or not you use them. The way to use them in found in Romans 10:17 when He says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Hearing God’s Word and reading It will strengthen your confidence in these areas. God has given the Christian these benefits to use. These benefits are your tools to use to help you live the victorious Christian life. If you are living a defeated life, it is only because you are not accessing these benefits.