“Having made peace through the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:2020And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. (Colossians 1:20)). “He came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them which were nigh” (Eph. 2:1717And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. (Ephesians 2:17)). “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:11Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1)).
IF Christ made peace, and preached it, the man that does not get it makes a huge mistake for time and eternity. That is certain. If you were told to make this blessed peace, it would be impossible. Christ has made it, as it is written, “HAVING MADE PEACE through the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:2020And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. (Colossians 1:20)). And now He has sat down at the right hand of God, and Scripture says, “He is our peace” (Eph. 2:1414For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; (Ephesians 2:14)).
The person that simply receives Him has it. Do not forget that when. He rose from the dead He preached it. Do you know the very first words He said among the company of His own when He rose from the dead? They were these, “Peace unto you.” Now, what is peace? Well, it is profound calm. Profound calm exists between the soul of the believer and God. To my mind peace is this — there is not one single disturbing element between my soul and God.
“But,” you say, “what about your sins?” Well, thank God, they are not between God and me. Do you know why? Because they were once between God and His Son. “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Heb. 9:2828So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:28)). I know that I am among the many; and when my sins got in between God and His Son, He, in righteousness, forsook Him. It cost Christ His life, and He went down into death. With my sins on Him? Oh, no! He did not take my sins into His grave. If He had, He would be there yet. No, no, He put them away when He bore them upon the tree. And what is the result? They are all gone, and I have peace with God.
Have you not got this peace yet, dear friend? Perhaps it is because you are expecting to feel it. You would like to have the experience of it. Do not forget this, Christ has wrought a work by which all the sins are put away; they are all blotted out; and the evidence that they are gone is this, He sits without sins in glory at God’s right hand. You must get hold of the wonderful fact that He is there without them, though once He bore them. The moment you see Jesus there in glory without your sins, you will get peace. He is in glory. Will you be there?
Ah, friend, if you never made up your mind for this blessed Saviour before, let me urge you, make up your mind now. And if you never had peace bore, God’s blessed wonderful peace, the peace Jesus made by the agonies of the cross, and the peace which He preaches now, oh, take it today. All you have to do is to take in simple faith that which perfect love furnishes.
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:11Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1)), is a glorious fact. Do not make any mistake as to the order here given. Faith in God and what He has done comes first. Justification is the blessed consequence, and peace follows suit.
Perhaps you are saying: “I do not feel very clear about it. Do not we read about being justified by faith, by His grace, and also by His blood?” Yes. “Then are there three ways of being justified?” No, but there are three parties to my justification. “Who are the three parties?” God, Christ, and myself. What is God’s part in it? “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:2424Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (Romans 3:24)). What brought justification to a poor guilty sinner like me? God sent it in the deep blessed grace of His heart. What could secure it? What is its basis? “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Rom. 5:99Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (Romans 5:9)). That is Christ’s death. It is the instrumental means of my justification. It is not your works or my works, but the perfectly finished work of the Lord Jesus. There is the basis of justification.
Now then, how do I get it? What is my part in it? The justification, the peace, the salvation that God presents, and which the death of the Lord Jesus Christ secures, how do I get those blessings? In simple faith I put out my hand and say, “Thank you, Lord, I will take what Thy love provides.” “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:11Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1)).
What is the spring of justification? God’s grace. “What is the basis and groundwork of it? Christ’s work. And what is the principle on which you and I get it? Not works, but simple faith. God furnishes it; Christ secures it; and in simple faith I, though a poor hell-deserving sinner, put out my hand and appropriate what the love of God presents to me. The result is “peace with God.”
Will not you take it? Receive Christ and it together, and then I think you will joyously sing that hymn—
“Oh, joy of the justified, joy of the free,
I’m washed in that crimson tide opened for me.
In Christ my Redeemer rejoicing I stand,
Being saved by His grace and held by His hand.
O sing of His mighty love,
Sing of His mighty love,
Sing of His mighty love,
Mighty to save.”
W. T. P. W.