Look inside this book.Where the Bush is Burning: A Daily Devotional by [Thomas Tice]

Tag: Romans 5
Peace With God

Peace With God

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He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. 

Isaiah 53:11 

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…. 

Romans 5:1 

One of the most important results of justification is that we have peace with God. We did not have peace with God originally. Romans 5:10 says, ‘we were enemies.’ If we were enemies of God, then we did not have peace with God. What has made the difference? Christ has made it by the sacrifice of Himself. ‘But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.’ Our peace with God is the direct result of the work of Christ. In Ephesians, Paul writes, ‘But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.’ It is difficult to overstate the value of this transformation. No one who remains as the enemy of God can ultimately succeed. No one who has peace with God can ultimately fail.  This foundational aspect of our relationship with God rests upon the fact of justification which rests upon the work of Christ. Years before the actual event, Isaiah prophesied that Christ would justify many by bearing their iniquities. All Isaiah prophesied came to pass. We are the blessed recipients of Christ’s work. As we continue to follow Him, we never want to lose sight of how we got here. We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. We did not extend the olive branch. Salvation is of the Lord.  

Our Good and Gracious God, 
we rejoice that we have peace with You. 
We praise You that our peace  
rests upon the person and work of Christ. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Peace With God

Peace With God

By |

He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. 

Isaiah 53:11 

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…. 

Romans 5:1 

One of the most important results of justification is that we have peace with God. We did not have peace with God originally. Romans 5:10 says, ‘we were enemies.’ If we were enemies of God, then we did not have peace with God. What has made the difference? Christ has made it by the sacrifice of Himself. ‘But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.’ Our peace with God is the direct result of the work of Christ. In Ephesians, Paul writes, ‘But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.’ It is difficult to overstate the value of this transformation. No one who remains as the enemy of God can ultimately succeed. No one who has peace with God can ultimately fail.  This foundational aspect of our relationship with God rests upon the fact of justification which rests upon the work of Christ. Years before the actual event, Isaiah prophesied that Christ would justify many by bearing their iniquities. All Isaiah prophesied came to pass. We are the blessed recipients of Christ’s work. As we continue to follow Him, we never want to lose sight of how we got here. We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. We did not extend the olive branch. Salvation is of the Lord.  

Our Good and Gracious God, 
we rejoice that we have peace with You. 
We praise You that our peace  
rests upon the person and work of Christ. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Hope Does Not Disappoint

Hope Does Not Disappoint

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Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 5:5

Why does hope not disappoint?   If we consider what hope is, and how we come to have it, we may gain some insight.  Hope is the certain expectation that God will do all that He has promised.  It is related to faith, but is not faith itself.  In our text, the reason Paul gives that hope does not disappoint is ‘because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.’  We have become assured of the love of God by the Holy Spirit who has pointed us to the demonstration of it in the death of Christ for us ‘while we were still sinners.’  We do not have hope apart from Christ, however, because our hope rests upon the Person and work of Christ, it does not disappoint, because He does not disappoint.  We then have the love of God poured out in our hearts as that which we receive and experience.  The result of that experience produces love for Christ in return.  ‘We love Him because He first loved us.’  So ‘hope does not disappoint.’  All our hope is in Christ, by Christ, through Christ, and because of Christ. 

Our Glorious, Living God,
We rejoice that You have given us
hope in Christ which does not disappoint.
We praise You that day-by-day this hope increases
until that day when You fulfill it.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
What Produces Hope?

What Produces Hope?

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And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope.

Romans 5:3-4

What are the events and experiences which produce hope?  As Paul is expounding justification by faith, and the implications of it, he explains how it is that hope comes to be for us, and in us.  What is genuinely fascinating is that the origins of hope lie in tribulation, one of the things we would most sincerely like to avoid.  Yet, as Paul argues, tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance produces character; and character produces hope.  For us to endure the hardship of tribulation, and to continue to persevere through it, causes us to become people of character.  People of character have hope because they understand that there is much more to them and to their existence, than the things they have suffered.  These things which we have endured have brought us to identify with Christ, Who has suffered the greatest of tribulations, shown the most perseverance, and demonstrated the greatest evidence of character.  Christ has hope that all He endured will have the greatest of consequences.  Our tribulations, as they give way to perseverance, character, and hope bring us to understand Christ more thoroughly and to identify with Him more completely.

Our most Wise and Good God,
we rejoice that You have foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.
We praise You that all the things which You have ordained,
work together to give us hope in Christ.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Saved By His Life

Saved By His Life

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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.

Romans 5:10

If we speak of the death of Christ as being for us and His incarnation as being for us, what shall we say of His life?  The incarnation, life, and death of Christ are one unbroken chain.  If the incarnation was for us, and His death was for us, then His life also must be for us as well.  Paul alludes to this in our text for today.  This is true in two contexts.  As Christ lived on earth, He fulfilled the law of God in precept.  His fulfillment of the law demonstrated that He was qualified to be the perfect sacrifice.  His life on earth was also substitutionary because we cannot fulfill the law in precept ourselves.  The life of Christ was for us.  Also, we are ‘saved by His life’ now.  Christ’s perpetual intercession for us in heaven, guarantees our continual acceptance with God.  We are thus, in this second context, ‘saved by His life.’  What we want to bear in mind as we consider these things is that all which Christ has done, is doing and will do, is for us.  He has set His love upon His people and is working all things together for our good and for His ultimate glory.  Thus, we are ‘saved by His life.’

Our Glorious Living Christ,
we rejoice that You ever live.
We praise You that in Your living,
You make intercession for us continuously
and guarantee our acceptance with the God of Glory.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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