Timing is everything
Jan 23
Being a keen cricketer, and especially since I batted a lot, or at least tried to bat for long periods of time in my day, I know that in cricket as a batsman, timing is everything. Even more so in golf. It is all about bringing all the parts of your swing action together at just the right time to effect a good shot.
In Romans 5: 1-3 there are a number of statements that are so profound and which explain our position in Christ and which remind us of what it means to live a life in Christ. Each of these statements are enhanced by the tense. So in verse 1 it says “we have been justified through faith”. This is past tense. We have already been justified – this has already happened. We don’t have to wait until the second coming and our resurrection to see our justification. It has already been done. If we have been, then we are!
Justified means we are in a righteous good standing with God. It is just as if I’d never sinned. God sees me as perfect and holy and pure because of the work of Jesus.
It goes on to say in verse 1 that “we have peace with God”. We already have it. This peace is a right standing with God, it is not referring to the peace that comes with the calmness of walking with him in life. It is referring to peace – as in we are now no longer outside of God’s family and plan. We have peace as far as our eternal destiny is concerned.