Daily Devotion, 2/26/21, More on peace

Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God (Romans 5:1).

Yesterday we saw that we have great peace when we love the law of God. We also saw that it is one thing to love the law of God and quite another thing to keep it. We need a Savior. Paul reminds us that when we place our faith in Jesus, we are justified before God. That is, God receives us as His dear children when we trust in Jesus.

We see in these two verses the difference between salvation and discipleship. Salvation is God’s gift to us when we believe in Jesus (John 3:16). Salvation has nothing to do with how faithfully we keep the law of God. As redeemed souls, we certainly want to please God. We embrace His law as our way of life. We work hard at trying to live our lives in harmony with the will of God. One way to understand this is to see our lives as running on two rails: one rail is the law of God; the other rail is faith in Jesus. I can never reject either rail. If I discard the law of God, it means I have rejected God. If I reject Jesus, I have also rejected God.  While it is a bit of a paradox, the Christian embraces both the law of God and the Savior who forgives our failure to keep God’s law. Keep your feet planted on both rails!

Father, I am so sorry for my failures to obey Your law. I want to be faithful, but I confess that I fall short.  I thank You for providing for my forgiveness by giving Your only begotten Son as my Savior. I love Your law, and I pledge to do my best to obey, and I love Jesus who died to cover my failures. In His name, I pray, Amen.