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“Brothers and sisters: Having been justified by religion, now we have peace with God by way of our Lord Jesus Christ, by way of whom now we have entry by religion into this grace during which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2).
These verses come from Paul’s letter to the Romans, Paul’s longest letter. They provide a message of peace and beauty for the third Sunday of Lent, religion chief Jeremiah Johnston instructed Fox Information Digital.
“God handled Jesus as if He was dwelling your life and mine, so He might deal with you and me as if we have been dwelling the lifetime of Jesus,” Johnston mentioned. He’s pastor of apologetics at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, and president of the Christian Thinkers Society.
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That, he mentioned, is “the wonderful gospel of grace on this third Sunday meditation of Lent.”
He added: “With out Jesus we have no idea the way in which of peace. It’s certainly unattainable.”
St. Paul’s message of peace and beauty reminds us that “with out Jesus we have no idea the way in which of peace,” mentioned the Rev. Jeremiah Johnston of Dallas, Texas. (iStock; Bertuzzi Pictures)
Peace, Johnston famous, eluded St. Paul earlier than his conversion to Christianity.
“A freely provided declaration of God’s peace would have astonished the pagans of the Roman Empire within the first century. Within the Roman world the gods have been feared and even despised,” he mentioned.
The gods of the Romans ‘provided the individuals no peace, no assurance of salvation. In brief, the gods had no love for humanity. They did not care.’
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Conversely, “encountering the risen Jesus modified all the things for Paul,” Johnston mentioned. “In Jesus he discovered peace. He discovered pleasure. And he discovered life.”
Discovering the true that means of peace will “remodel your life,” Johnston urged.
St. Paul gives a message of peace from God in his letter to the Romans, one thing that will have been unknown to the previously pagan Romans, mentioned the Rev. Johnston of Dallas. (iStock)
“For Paul and for us, Jesus is our shalom: peace. In Jesus we expertise peace with God and the peace of God,” he mentioned.
By means of his dying and resurrection, “Jesus established for us a long-lasting, eternal peace,” he mentioned, a peace that’s “accessible to all of us, not on the premise of works, however on the premise of religion in Him.”
Religion, Johnston mentioned, “is what you consider.” It is not what you’re feeling.’
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He continued, “We place our religion—our belief—in Jesus Christ, who is just not solely worthy of our belief and honor, but additionally a worthy object of our religion. Religion doesn’t equal certainty; Trusting God regardless of the uncertainty.”
Christians, Johnston mentioned, may fall into the entice of considering that emotions of peace imply they’re “proper with God.”
Religion, Johnston mentioned, shouldn’t be confused with emotions of consolation and peace. “Even once I’m not feeling properly emotionally, the reality of the Bible is that by way of Christ, God obtained me,” the pastor mentioned. (iStock)
“However here is the important thing: Even once I’m not feeling properly emotionally, the reality of the Bible is that God has me by way of Christ,” he mentioned.
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“All of us discover ourselves on emotional skinny ice at instances, or experiencing moments when our bodily our bodies will not be proper. However that does not change the target fact discovered within the Phrase of God.”
Feelings, Johnston mentioned, can “cloud Biblical fact.”
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“Feelings are actual, however they don’t transcend Biblical actuality and promise. But nowhere is the premise of our peace extra clearly proclaimed than in Romans 5:1: ‘Justified by religion… now we have peace with God.’”
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