October 31

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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 5:1-2

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🔊 This is the great declaration of the power of the New Covenant.  We have been made right with God through an act of God – an act of His supreme sovereign will and grace.  We have simply to believe and enter into the good of what He has done for us.  Then comes the temptation to turn the blessings of being right with God into conditions!  If we have no joy, we doubt whether we are accepted.  If we lack any of the wonderful blessings, then we doubt whether we are right with God at that particular moment.  The wonder of this act of God in justifying us, is that it does not rest at any time on our virtue.  It rests on Him and His faithfulness.  It is precisely because of this that we are invited to partake of such a depth of peace, and such an honoured access into fellowship with God.  At no time are we qualified by our own righteousness to be partakers.  We are qualified by the goodness of God.  This qualification is total and absolute.  It does not rest on how we feel about ourselves, or even whether we sense that we have done well or badly over the last 24 hours.  It rests solely on how God thinks and feels about things.  The unchanging God has made His position clear.  Because we trust Jesus Christ, God links our life, character and destiny with that of His Son.  He ascribes to us all the virtue and matchless character of the Son of God, and undertakes to make us like His Son.  The overwhelming blessings of the Kingdom of God are blessings, not conditions.