Skip to main content

Faith Brings Joy



Faith Brings Joy

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace[a] with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

The precious benefits and privileges which flow from justification are such as should quicken us all to give diligence to make it sure to ourselves that we are justified, and then to take the comfort it renders to us, and to do the duty it calls for from us. The fruits of this tree of life are exceedingly precious.

I.                    We have peace with God, Romans 5:1. It is sin that breeds the quarrel between us and God, creates not only a strangeness, but an enmity; the holy righteous God cannot in honor be at peace with a sinner while he continues under the guilt of sin. Justification takes away the guilt, and so makes way for peace. And such are the benignity and good-will of God to man that, immediately upon the removing of that obstacle, the peace is made. By faith we lay hold of God’s arm and of his strength, and so are at peace.

II.                  We have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, Romans 5:2. This is a further privilege, not only peace, but grace, that is, this favor. Observe,  the saints’ happy state. It is a state of grace, God’s loving-kindness to us and our conformity to God; he that hath God’s love and God’s likeness is in a state of grace.

III.                We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Besides the happiness in hand, there is a happiness in hope, the glory of God, the glory which God will put upon the saints in heaven, glory which will consist in the vision and fruition of God.

IV.              We glory in tribulations also; not only notwithstanding our tribulations (these do not hinder our rejoicing in hope of the glory of God), but even in our tribulations, as they are working for us the weight of glory, 2 Corinthians 4:17. Observe, What a growing increasing happiness the happiness of the saints is: Not only so. One would think such peace, such grace, such glory, and such a joy in hope of it, were more than such poor undeserving creatures as we are could pretend to; and yet it is not only so: there are more instances of our happiness—we glory in tribulations also, especially tribulations for righteousness’ sake, which seemed the greatest objection against the saints’ happiness, whereas really their happiness did not only consist with, but take rise from, those tribulations.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Travel Adventures 2023

Travel Adventures 2023 – So many places to go!   This year my husband and I traveled to Reno, Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park. I took lots of pictures but could only choose a few for this blog. I’ve included a little information about each location we visited, along with a few pictures. Enjoy! Reno is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about 22 miles (35 km) north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry. We stayed at the Nugget Casino & Resort...and no, I did not put any money in the slot machines!!! :-) What's a vacation with shopping - the  Outlets at Legends  proved to be more than shopping. Then off to  Virginia City.   Lake Tahoe is located on the border of California and Nevada. About two-thirds of the lake is in California, with about one-third extending into Nevada at the north and south ends of the lake, and the entire

Happy Labor Day!

  Labor Day is an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers. It is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United States. The holidays stem from the late 1800s when labor activists wanted a federal holiday to recognize workers' contributions to the country.   The first U.S. Labor Day was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882 in New York City, planned by the Central Labor Union.  The Labor Day parade of about 10,000 workers took unpaid leave and marched from City Hall past Union Square uptown to 42nd street and ended in Wendel’s Elm Park at 92nd Street and 9th Avenue for a concert, speeches, and a picnic. Oregon was the first to declare Labor Day an official holiday in 1887. Labor Day is considered the 'unofficial NFL season kickoff.' 99.44 percent of the ti

Juneteenth 2023

Juneteenth  ...is considered the longest-running African-American holiday and has been called "America's second Independence Day." The day was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, when President Joe Biden signed Juneteenth National Independence Day Act the into law.        Blessings!