“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”-Romans 5:1-2
Faith and hope, pillars of the gospel. Essential ingredients to salvation. One might set out flour, yeast, and salt, but unless they are combined you will stand there and starve to death. United together you have fresh bread, to be baked and consumed to give life.
Christ was the unity of salvation, gifted for all men. You would expect that if a man could choose the place of his birth, he would choose a wealthy family. A fine home, and all the creature comforts. Christ didn’t come this way; he entered the world among the humble and lowly. His nurses were livestock. His crib a manger. Yet, in his coming, and in his ministry, we find the essential ingredients to salvation. Within these essential ingredients: faith and hope. Glorious hope! Saving faith! What salvation can we expect through faith? Look again at Romans five versus one and two. You see man is not born into this world equal to God, no, we are unequal. Of all the problems that confront us today. Poverty, war, conflict, discrimination, racism, mental illness, inequality; of all the problems that confront us, the greatest is sin. It is that God is holy and just, and we are not. We are lost, unrighteous, unholy, and prone to break the holy commandments and sin against a holy God. I have a precious daughter who is seven years old. She is the sweetest thing, most of the time. Yet, I tell you now if I sat her down at the table and put a plate of cookies nearby and told her “Don’t touch.” She might obey for a moment, but not long after she will find a way to sneak a cookie and then justify to me how and why she did it. People are the same way, we cheat, lie, commit adultery, etc. Instead of coming clean we try to justify ourselves and cover it up. Little realizing that we are bound in chains, and the condemnation of sin has us imprisoned. We are caught up in an irreconcilable debt that we cannot pay. Have you ever been in debt? Are you currently in debt? Have you ever borrowed, and spent with the intent to pay it back? The word of God says that “the borrower is servant to the lender.” If you have not believed in Jesus there is a sin debt owed, you are a servant to it, and unless someone pays the debt then there can be no salvation. There can be no peace. A man stands before a judge with a charge of murder, the judge holds the man’s life in his hands. Even if the accused pleads guilty, does that mean there is peace between him and the judge? No, why not? Because he is still waiting for the sentence. They are not going to have peace while the penalty remains. So, it is with us. There is no peace while the penalty remains. However, because Jesus came, paid the debt and is there as an advocate for us, we can be justified, and saved from the: curse, condemnation, penalty, and practice of sin. Liberty is liberty, and Christ has power enough to take you out of sin and keep you out of sin. Stop and take all this in. Really pause and consider the awful shape humanity would be in without Jesus. Without hope, without love, without peace, without assurance of faith, and unable to enter heaven. This was the fate of all peoples, before Christ came. It was the reality of a small band of shepherds keeping watch over sheep by night, when an angel came with a proclamation of glorious hope, and saving faith. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)
God didn’t cast us aside or leave us in our sin. Christ is the hope and salvation of all people. The conquering king, the payment for sin. Our hope, our pardon, our payment, our prophet, our peace, our Redeemer, our Savior! Jesus Christ. He came on a silent night, born to a virgin Mary, in a stable; with only angels, animals, and shepherds to keep him company. He came bringing salvation and that salvation can be obtained by faith. Faith in Christ the Lord.
