…[Jesus] who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification. 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. (Romans 4:25–5:2—NKJV)

Common among men is the failing to retain the wonder of a gift. We all have fond childhood memories of wanting some particular, treasured object, receiving it, enjoying it for a time, and then moving on.

Such behavior is not relegated to our childhood. Remember your wedding day? The anticipation and the newness of cherishing love most certainly will tarnish without a little polishing now and then. Lack of vigilant diligence allows things to become devalued by time.

Your estimation of the glorious salvation found in Jesus Christ can fall prey to the same forces in your fallen heart and mind. What once seemed Gospel news too good to be true and too incredible to believe, that Jesus Christ had freely paid the penalty for your sin, may now be such a commonplace afterthought in your life, that it is like some long ago coveted gift of childhood gathering dust in your attic.

Paul’s preaching in the context of our passage speaks to this weakness of our heart by employing terms which are quite lofty. Justification, faith, peace, access, grace, hope and glory are words defining the quality of the gift of salvation only received through the work of the Divine Savior. Human effort is vanquished as a means of gaining grace. You will notice that the work of Jesus is expressly personal. His grace must not be confused with some current cultural misguided view of salvation, as if it were some nebulously impersonal salvation of an individual being saved through a group. This kind of salvation is both hard to quantify and impossible to know when it has reached its conclusion and come to full fruit.

Plainly, the Gospel message of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection was not merely to provide a way of salvation, but it was to actually purchase individual lost souls, to open the way for God to declare these souls justified, to procure for these souls the state of being at peace with God no matter what rough seas they may go through in life, to lay the line of access to God directly to the heart’s door of these souls, and to promote great joy in these souls with each reminder of the hope of glory. That is a saving work worthy of the Sovereign Savior alone!

These great doctrinal truths deserve great words to prompt thoughtful meditation. Please allow me to put them into something of a chronological order:

  1. Repentance: A change of mind—a new attitude toward God
  2. Regeneration: A change of nature—a new heart from God
  3. Conversion: A change of direction—a new life from God
  4. Justification: A change of state—a new standing before God
  5. Adoption: A change of family—a new relationship with God
  6. Peace: A change of circumstance—a new tranquility with God
  7. Sanctification: A change of usefulness—a new devotion to God
  8. Glorification: A change of condition—a new prospect with God.

Paul’s verses encompass the past, present, and future of the personal salvation purchased by the personal sacrifice of the Son of God. This is why he boldly speaks of this salvation as something we “have” and “in which we stand.” Your salvation is not something you place away in the attic of your mind, it is something upon which you bestow vigilant diligence lest you devalue it in heart, thought, and action.

Do you value your salvation according to its cost? Do you cherish the saving work of Jesus Christ and promote His Gospel in word and deed? Trust and obey.