Scripture Read: Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him
Application: Stand - ἵστημι histemi - to cause or make to stand, to place, put, set. Here, too, grace is the place where the believer has come to stand, and it is also a means whereby he is kept standing and preserved from falling. [1]
This is something we really need to meditate on – we are to stand in Grace – not works – this is a difficult balance for many of us – we try to understand it but for many the truth is we have not even begun to comprehend it. We understand the grace of salvation because we know we could not save ourselves – but the grace to remain in faith living is where many have a problem. They see too many failures in their walk. We hate our sin yet we give in to it far to easily. Notice that the faith life leads to not only hope – which we all love – but also tribulations – because by faith we see the outcome which is better – but we have to get there via grace – not our determination or works or disciplines. All those things play a part for sure – but the foundation is grace. We need to get a proper hold on this – many spend a lot of time feeling inadequate because of their failures – yes we should feel remorse over sin – but it is clear many do not really understand the grace that God has them in. Lord, we do not want to dilute ourselves and become insensitive to sin – yet we want to come, remain and stand in Your grace. Grant us understanding Holy Spirit. We need Your guidance. We want to sense the power of Your grace!
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