Qualified to stand

Romans 5:1-2 ‘Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.’

I awoke last Monday with this extraordinary truth from Romans 5 going around and around in my mind—‘We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand.’ The emphasis was ‘in which we stand.’ It was a word in season—and, being who I am, I felt like preaching it! Well, what do you know?

Now, when we see a ‘therefore’ in scripture we must ask, “what is the ‘therefore’ there for?” Here, Paul has just concluding a long argument about Abraham being put in right standing with God, not by Law, but because he believed what God told him. His concluding word before this ‘therefore’, is about Jesus, ‘…who was delivered up for our offences and was raised for our justification’ (Rom. 4:25. Our justification took place when the Father showed his acceptance of Jesus’ death by raising him up). So Paul writes, ‘THEREFORE, having been justified.’ What Paul is leading to is our qualifications in Jesus. In him, you qualify for Peace: you qualify to be established and you qualify to hold your head high—even to boast! I want to unpack these.

My question is: Are you standing in all the benefit for which he has already qualified you? Advancing in this temporal world’s terms is usually about qualifications. Do you have the HSC? Have you a University degree or Diploma? Do you have a Master’s or a PhD? Where did you do your training? How much experience have you had? What qualifies you for this job? All of these qualifications require effort on your part. They are qualifications based on your works. But what about the satisfaction of a qualification that comes, not by your work but by that of someone else? It would be counted ridiculous if someone applied for a job requiring an MBA and the applicant said, “Look, I don’t have one, but my older brother said I could use his.” That’s how it is for us! Just as earthly, earned qualifications open doors, so do these ‘graced’ qualifications.

An earned qualification carries certain rights and benefits—not to mention authority to carry out its requirements within a discipline or task. The employer puts at the disposal of the qualified person, all that is necessary to perform the brief, and certain privileges also apply. In our case, we have been qualified by grace, and some, not understanding that, continue to act as though unworthy and so try to earn what they’ve been given! This passage could read like this, “having been already honoured with your qualification of right standing with God, you are free to go ahead by faith and enjoy his peace of integration (as distinct from disintegration) and to access your entitlements to stand erect and be established in all that accrues as a result of your new position, including head-held-high confidence in it!” (This is the meaning of the Greek words used by Paul). The verb ‘justified’ is Aorist, Passive, meaning it happened at a moment in time—and you weren’t active in its occurrence, it happened to you. You were passive! Because it happened at the Resurrection 2000 years ago! I was put into right standing with God 2000 years ago with (and in) the resurrection of Jesus! I was there! You were there! In him! I’m suggesting that (without forcing scripture), the text of Romans 5:1 be read this way with the comma after ‘justified’ thus— “…having been justified,…. by faith (let us) have peace with God…” Note this: the weight of manuscript evidence actually says, ‘let us have peace with God.’ (Young’s Literal Translation allows this).

YOU’VE BEEN QUALIFIED FOR PEACE: Listen again ‘… by faith we have peace with God…” Peace here is eirene, the Greek NT equivalent of Hebrew shalom—satisfaction, completion, fullness. I’ve shared before that biblically, ‘peace’ means fullness or satisfaction in the sense of completing something (shalom=completeness, wholeness, as in the satisfaction of a debt—bringing it to peace). The completion, by effort, of a course of study or training, brings satisfaction and ‘peace’ and people say, “well done… having completed your degree, you now qualify for this job, or this pay level, or this responsibility.” But in our case, we’ve been made qualified by Another! Peace with God has been secured. It is now ours to enjoy….by faith! Let me ask this: are you there today…now? Or is there a foment of anxiety and stress and thoughts of ‘what if this’ or ‘what if that’? or ‘why not that?’ He is saying today— “By faith we have peace”: “by faith we have peace”: “by faith we have peace”. We’ve been qualified for it. He has already secured it for us and we must enter it—or throw back at him all that he did on the cross and in the resurrection (See John 14:1 and 27 etc).

YOU’VE BEEN QUALIFIED TO STAND—ERECT: (Rom. 5:2) ‘Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand.’ Stand here is HISTEMI, to take a stand, to be established! Listen—we once were fallen, but now we stand! Now we are, by faith, being established…in Grace! (Remember Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones that were, at the word of the Lord, given flesh and sinews and breath—and stood as a great army!?) We are very different people with vastly different personalities, natures, thought processes, cultures (macro and micro) as well as widely differing gifts and callings. However, the thing we share in common as believers, is that we have been qualified to STAND, by faith in our full personhood in him. That’s why I can be me and you can be you—in Christ. We need not ever say, ‘why can’t I be like her?’—unless in a matter of sanctification or likeness to Jesus. He did not make you to be like her or him: he made you to be the sanctified, fully-operative ‘you’! Unique…and that’s the journey of this life, the journey he has you taking, into the fullness of you in Him. (His desire is ‘to present you, faultless’! Jude 1:24). My task today is to encourage you in that journey into ‘you-hood’ in Christ! The YOU, you may have been waiting to meet. The ever-emerging You, being transformed day-to-day by the activity of Christ in you (the hope of glory). Accessing by faith the grace in which you have been qualified to stand!

YOU’VE BEEN QUALIFIED TO HOLD YOUR HEAD HIGH & EXULT: Yes, that’s right! “…we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand AND confidently exult in hope of the glory of God.’ Unashamedly rejoice. This is also by faith—Paul is just continuing the sentence! This is another ‘by faith’ blessing for which we’ve been qualified! Some translations have ‘boast’; some have ‘exult.’ The Greek verb (kauchaomai) means to have our ‘head held high’ and even ‘to boast’, to live with God-given confidence! Remember how Paul said, ‘most gladly will I boast in my infirmities.’ That’s the same word.

Not only have we been qualified to stand, but to do so with head held high, unabashed confidence (not diffidence or apology), glorifying Jesus—unashamedly rejoicing in him. Jesus, 2000 years ago qualified you to have PEACE; to BE ESTABLSHED; TO HOLD YOUR HEAD HIGH, UNABASHED! BY FAITH!

Ian Heard, 13/01/19 www.until-we-see.com