## At Peace With God

## Romans 5:1-6

Standing in a funeral home, looking down at the cold face of someone who has recently passed away, I have heard the statement, "Well, they are at peace now." They say that with no regard for how that person may have lived their lives. I am of the opinion that, for the most part, most people do not know what it means to be at peace with God.

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We are surrounded by people everyday who are not at peace. If doctors could come up with a prescription that would promise and deliver peace with no side effects, the cost wouldn't matter. It would be an instant success. I am not a doctor, but I know the source of peace!

I. The Need For Peace

A. Man Without Christ Is At Enmity With God.

(ROM 5:10) "FOR IF, WHEN WE WERE ENEMIES, WE WERE RECONCILED TO GOD BY THE DEATH OF HIS SON, MUCH MORE, BEING RECONCILED, WE SHALL BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE."

1. Man cannot obey God's law.

2. It doesn't matter how hard a person may try to be acceptable to God, they will fail.

(ROM 7:18) "FOR I KNOW THAT IN ME (THAT IS, IN MY FLESH,) DWELLETH NO GOOD THING: FOR TO WILL IS PRESENT WITH ME; BUT HOW TO PERFORM THAT WHICH IS GOOD I FIND NOT."

3. There is within all of us, an ever present desire to sin and commit evil; it is called the sin nature.

4. A person may want to turn over a new leaf, they may not want to continue on in sin, but the fallen nature will not let them do anything else.

B. This enmity brings condemnation from God.

(JOHN 3:18) "HE THAT BELIEVETH ON HIM IS NOT CONDEMNED: BUT HE THAT BELIEVETH NOT IS CONDEMNED ALREADY, BECAUSE HE HATH NOT BELIEVED IN THE NAME OF THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD."

1. The Bible is very clear, If a person is not a child of God through Jesus Christ, then they are condemned to spend eternity in hell.

2. We need to be at peace with God because the only other option is to be His enemy.

3. What we do in this matter of making peace with God will determine where you spend eternity.

4. A person can ignore it and die and go to hell, or they can make peace with God and go to heaven.

II. What Peace Is Not

(ISA 48:22) "THERE IS NO PEACE, SAITH THE LORD, UNTO THE WICKED."

A. Peace Is Not Trying To Appease God With Human Efforts.

1. Adam and Eve tried to make themselves acceptable unto God with their own efforts.

2. It didn't work then, and it won't work today.

3. God can see right through our attempts to cover up.

4. We can run, but we can't hide... we can pretend but we can't make it a reality.

5. God cannot be fooled, neither can He be satisfied with man's efforts of righteousness.

6. It matters not how hard we may try, we cannot appease God with our human efforts.

B. Peace Is Not Trying To Be At Peace With God.

1. God is either our best friend, or our worst enemy.

2. We don't make Him our friend by being friendly with Him.

3. He doesn't look at our friendliness and count that as righteousness.

4. He will not look at our situation and say, "Oh, well they are trying to do their best, so I will accept that."

5. He doesn't accept us because we are trying to make peace with Him.

6. We can't make peace with God on our own.

7. Try as much as we will, as long as we will, and as hard as we will, and we will come up short.

(ROM 3:23) "FOR ALL HAVE SINNED, AND COME SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD;"

(ROM 3:10) "AS IT IS WRITTEN, THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE:"

C. Peace With God Is Not Being At Peace With Your Neighbor, Nor Your Family.

1. We may be in 'Who's Who", on the dean's list, or be good citizen of the year...but that will not bring peace with God.

2. Social acceptance does not impress God.

3. Many folks feel that just because they are good neighbors, or a good parents they think that will be accepted as their righteousness with God.

4. Social acceptance will not impress God.

D. Peace With God Is Not Having Been Accepted In Church Membership, Being Confirmed, Or Baptized Sometime In The Past.

1. Works of righteousness that we do will not persuade God.

(TITUS 3:5) "NOT BY WORKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH WE HAVE DONE, BUT ACCORDING TO HIS MERCY HE SAVED US, BY THE WASHING OF REGENERATION, AND RENEWING OF THE HOLY GHOST;"

2. Some have been taught that if you are faithful to church that God would accept that as salvation.

3. Some have been taught that if they partake of the wafer and grape juice in Holy Communion that God would accept that as salvation.

4. Others have been taught that if they have been baptized or sprinkled then God will accept them, but that won't be sufficient.

III. You Can Have Peace With God

(ROM 5:1) "THEREFORE BEING JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST:"

NOTE: THE MOMENT A PERSON BELIEVES, GOD WILL DECLARE YOU TO BE RIGHTEOUS, NEVER TO CHANGE HIS MIND.

A. God Has Completely Judged Sin, Upon Christ, Our Substitute.

(ROM 8:3) "FOR WHAT THE LAW COULD NOT DO, IN THAT IT WAS WEAK THROUGH THE FLESH, GOD SENDING HIS OWN SON IN THE LIKENESS OF SINFUL FLESH, AND FOR SIN, CONDEMNED SIN IN THE FLESH:"

(2 COR 5:21) "FOR HE HATH MADE HIM TO BE SIN FOR US, WHO KNEW NO SIN; THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM."

(ROM 5:8) "BUT GOD COMMENDETH HIS LOVE TOWARD US, IN THAT, WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US."

B. God Was Satisfied With What Christ Did On The Cross In Judging Our Sin.

1. His shed blood paid the ransom for all your sin.

2. There is nothing left to be paid. It is all taken care of. "....we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:"

3. God is at total peace with what was done in our behalf.

C. Jesus Christ Averted The Wrath Of God.

1. For God's wrath to be appeased in the O.T. the blood of the sacrifice lamb was be applied to the Mercy Seat.

2. When Christ shed His blood on Calvary, He placed it on the Mercy Seat before God the Father, and He, the Father, accepted that offering of the Sacrificial Lamb, the Son as payment for your sin.

3. God's wrath was averted, and no longer is placed on the sinner, but on Christ.

4. The blood offering has removed the enmity between God and man.

5. We have been reconciled unto Him, through Christ Jesus His Son.

IV. Peace Does Not Come Without A Cost

A. Christ Gave His Life That We Might Have Peace With God.

(ROM 6:23) "FOR THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH; BUT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD."

1. God demands the death penalty for sin; therefore, to make peace with God requires that someone give their life for peace.

2. Peace always costs someone their life.

3. We have special days, like Memorial Day, to remind us of the price of freedom.

(ROM 5:10) "FOR IF, WHEN WE WERE ENEMIES, WE WERE RECONCILED TO GOD BY THE DEATH OF HIS SON, MUCH MORE, BEING RECONCILED, WE SHALL BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE."

B. He Desires That We Give Our Lives To Him.

1. When we receive Christ as Saviour He then becomes the One who leads and controls our life.

2. We begin to live for Him.

3. We want to do what He wants us to do.

4. We want to please Him with our life.

5. That is what it means by giving our life for Him.

Only through Jesus Christ will we experience the peace of God. Do you know Christ today? Have you personally placed your trust in His finished work on Calvary? Do you long for this peace? Come to Christ today. Christian are you at peace with God?