Standing in Grace

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  - Romans 5:1-2

In many Christian circles the language of salvation is as a past-tense, one time, prayer experience.  "I got saved when I was 5 years old."  While there is absolutely nothing wrong with saying that, I'm encouraged by Romans 5:1-2 to see and experience the "process" of salvation.   

- We have been (past-tense) justified (v1).
- We stand (present-tense) in grace (v2).
- We rejoice in hope (future) (v2).

Believers are not merely "products" of a prayer that is said and forgotten.  When God opens our blind eyes and awakens our dead hearts, we come alive in Christ.  We come into a relationship with God that will continue to grow and change as we learn more and more about Him.  Yes, we are justified the moment that God awakens our hearts with the light of the gospel, and we can look back at that time.  But we also continue, day by day, to stand in His grace.  His grace sustains us and keeps us moment by moment.  And yet we can also say that we look to the future with hope knowing that God's wrath will pass over us.  We will be saved on that day.  Praise God!

We were saved; we are being saved; and we will be saved from the wrath to come.  The gospel that we believed the first moment when we came to trust Christ is the same gospel that sustains us as we move through life.  And it's the same gospel that tells us our future is sure.

The gospel gives us what we desperately need for the day-in and day-out labors that are before us.  The struggles, the hurt, the mundane - all become little arrows that point us back to the cross and forward to the hope that we can rejoice in, knowing that our future is certain.  When life seems painful or maybe just boring, look at the salvation that you are experiencing.  Look at what Christ has done, look at the work set before us as believers, and look at what is to come.  No pain or suffering is worth comparing to this (Romans 8:18)!  Because we were justified, we have peace with God and we have access to His sustaining grace.  Feel and enjoy the grace that He offers day by day.  This gives us hope when all else fails (because all else will eventually fail.)

This makes me excited - excited about what God has done for me, excited about the present relationship that I have with my Savior and the kingdom work I get to be a part of, and it gives me hope for what is to come!  Hope in Christ or it's no hope at all.

I'm standing in His grace today - one day at at time.