There’s a truth in Scripture that touches the deepest question of the human heart, the question of our sinful past and of our broken relationship with God. And the Bible does not leave that question hanging in the air. It states something remarkable. It says we have peace with God. In Romans 51 we read and that’s the words that we had already before us in the last video. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, we have peace and that is the topic of this video. In the last video we have already seen what it means that we have been justified. That is those who believe in the Lord Jesus. Justification means that God declares someone to be just. He says that is a just person. That’s how he looks at us. We have a totally new standing before him. And I, I would like to quickly repeat the seven facts about justification that we have already seen in the last video. The first one is it is God as the highest authority that justifies. Secondly, the righteous foundation on which God justifies is the death of the Lord Jesus #3. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the proof that God has accepted the work on the cross. He was raised, it says at the end of chapter 4 of Romans 4. He has been raised for our justification #4 We are justified freely by His grace. We don’t have to pay anything #5. Justification is on the principle of faith, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Number six, the scope. On the one side, everyone can be justified. The work of the Lord Jesus Christ is enough. It caters for that. But on the other side, only those will benefit, as we have seen already that actually believe and #7 the quality of justification. All of our sins are forgiven. None is left out. Now because we have been justified. Romans 51 continues. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice these two little words it says we have. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace is not something we are chasing after. It is not a goal we are inching toward. It is a definite result because we have been justified by God. Peace with Him is a settled fact. And yet so many believers do not seem to enjoy this peace at all. If you ask them, do you have peace with God? You often hear answers like, well, I’m working on it, I hope so, maybe someday, let’s see. But why is that? Why do people who belong to the Lord live without the peace or with the enjoyment of that peace, that Scripture that the Bible says is already theirs? The reason is that they are relying on the wrong things. They rely on their feelings, they rely on their doings, they rely on their confession, they rely on their experiences. And so they turn inward and they begin to ask themselves a whole series of questions. Have I confessed all my sins? Have I repented enough? Which is only thing that either you have or you have not. Is my faith strong enough? Do I really apportion enough? You will never do. Do I love the Lord Jesus Christ enough? You will never. Do I follow Him enough? And so on and on and on. Do you notice something about all of these questions? Every single one of them is about I. These believers are occupied with themselves. But that is not the right perspective. If we want to enjoy our peace with God, we must stop looking at ourselves and look upon the Lord Jesus and at what He has done there on the cross. That is the cure of how we can really enjoy what is really ours. The Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself so that God could show how He thinks about sin on the cross. God dealt with sin exactly as it deserved in His eyes. In Second Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21, we read Him who knew not sin. He has made sin for us that we might become God’s righteousness in Him. God did to sin what sin deserved. And we could also listen to what the letter to the Roman, how this letter puts it. It says in for what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh. God having sent his own Son in likeness of flesh, of sin, for sin and for sin. He has condemned sin in the flesh. Romans 8/3 He has condemned it, and the result of that work is peace. In Colossians we read that the Lord Jesus Christ has made peace, having made peace by the blood of His cross. Colossians 120 Every righteous demand of God against sin has been fully satisfied. Nothing is left outstanding, and that is how the Lord Jesus Christ has made peace. It is by His death. So how, we might ask ourselves, does this peace now become ours? Now there are three things we need to hold onto. The first thing is the Lord Jesus suffered and died for our sins. There’s nothing to add on our side. We cannot. We must not. Secondly, God. God is the one who on the basis of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ justifies. God justifies. Now when God justifies, it’s not by accident. If you want to put it in a in a nutshell, he does so for two reasons. The first, we have already seen it is because of the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And secondly, when he sees faith in our hearts, God justifies those who believe in the Lord Jesus. And whereas we sometimes have difficulties to really determine whether someone has saving faith or not, God does not have that problem. And then there is a is a third thing that we need to hold on our fundamental peace with God is the result of that justification. Having been justified, we have peace. Scripture ties these together plainly in the Bible verses that we had before us. I let me repeat Romans 51 again. Therefore, having been justified on the principle of faith, we have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The justification has happened and now as a result we have peace. And also in Romans chapter 3 verse 26 we read so that he should be just and justify him, that is of the faith of Jesus. This is the heart of it. Everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is justified by God and therefore, as a result has peace with God. Not only a strong believer, not only the experienced believer, everyone who believes, the one who is just, who just believed in the Lord Jesus Christ 5 minutes ago, as much as the seasoned believer who has known the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior for many decades. They’re equally justified and equally have peace with God. But I think this is the point. And before we continue, I think it is important that we make a different differentiation. We must differentiate the fundamental peace with God that we talked about in this video with the peace that we may or may not have in the various circumstances of life. And the Bible itself makes that differentiation. Let us quickly go to John chapter 14 and there the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 27 himself says peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. And here the Lord Jesus Christ speaks about two, two different kinds of peace and that is also relevant for us. First he says peace I leave with you. That is the peace that we talk about in connection with justification. It is the peace with God, a peace that relies only upon the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have peace. We have this peace. We can talk here about fundamental peace. But then secondly, the Lord Jesus continues and he says my peace I give to you. That is the kind of peace that he experienced while living here as a man upon this earth. When he was, for example, in the boat sleeping while the storm was raging all around him. He had peace. He was not afraid. He trusted in God. And here we can talk about circumstantial, sorry, circumstantial peace, peace in difficult circumstances of life. Now, in the same situation of the storm where we see the Lord Jesus sleeping, the disciples were afraid so much that they walk the Lord Jesus up with the word Lord, don’t you care that we perish? They didn’t have any peace at all. Why not? Because they did not trust the Lord. They were occupied with a storm, they did not bring the Lord Jesus Christ into the storm, so to say. And so it is often times with us. We are going through difficult situation and we are restless, afraid and troubled. Why is that? It is, or let me put that as a question, is it not often times because we don’t commit that situation to the Lord Jesus Christ and trust Him that He is in control? Philippians 46 gives us the recipe of how we can have peace in difficult circumstances that says be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving. Let your request be made known to God and what will be the result. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. It says here the peace of God, but that is the same peace that the Lord Jesus called my peace, peace in various circumstances of life, the same peace that God has. He’s never troubled, He’s never afraid that something may run out of his control. But whether we have this peace in our circumstances or not really depends also on us. Whereas when it comes to our fundamental peace with God, it only depends on the Lord Jesus. We have it and it cannot be shaken, it cannot be taken away. And that is, I think, something very important to remember. Now coming to the end of this video, let’s remember 5 facts about that peace that we have with God. Our fundamental peace. And that is the first point. It is a fundamental peace. This peace defines our whole relationship with God. I know that the question of my sins, my past, my sinful past has been divinely dealt with. I have peace with God #2 it is a full, complete peace. See, peace is peace. It’s a 100% peace. Otherwise, it’s not peace. There’s no such thing as 1/2 piece or 20% piece. We must not and we cannot add anything #3 it is a present piece. We can enjoy this piece right now. We do not have to wait until we reach it, until we reach heaven. No, we have it #4 it is a secure piece. It was wrought entirely outside of us. It’s foundation is the cross of the Lord Jesus. And because the foundation is His cross, no one can ever take this peace away from us. And #5 it is an independent peace. It does not rest on us, not on our feelings, not on our trust in the Lord through changing circumstances, not on our prayer life and not on our faithfulness. Now do not mis not understand me. Faithfulness, devotion, holiness, prayer and many other things. These these things are truly important. They matter enormously in the Christian life, but they have nothing to do with our fundamental peace with God. Nothing. That peace was made by the Lord Jesus at the cross once and for all. Believing in the Lord Jesus, we have been justified by God and as a result, peace with him, we have peace with him. So dear brother, dear sister, stop looking at yourself. If you like that peace, the enjoyment of that peace, I mean look to the Lord Jesus Christ, because in him and through him we have peace with God.