The concepts of justification and peace with God are intimately tied together. After all, how would someone who is not justified and therefore an enemy of God, have peace with that same God? But how does that justification occur? It occurs by faith, which is our belief and trusting in Christ for our salvation.

Here is the way the Apostle Paul was inspired to describe it in Romans 4:1-8.

“What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.

“But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,

And whose sins are covered;

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”

Later in the passage in verses 23-25, Paul summed it up this way:

“Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

With that as the background, Paul was inspired to write the following about the way that is related to justification and peace.

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, [a]we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 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

In Israel today, there is no peace. Even on days when no warfare takes place, there is not peace. You cannot have true peace if there is the constant threat of war breaking out. This is why our relationship with God can be described as “peace”.  Due to our justification, there is no more possibility of war with God. The wrath that was due for our sins was borne by Jesus on the cross. That’s why he is called “the propitiation for our sins”. 

But many will say that it cannot be by faith alone.  Surely works must be added to it in order to receive salvation. We have to “do something” we can see to receive this salvation. But faith is not something you can see, and neither is the new birth! (John 3:3) Yet what about James 2? Doesn’t James say we are justified by faith AND works? Let’s take a look at what James says.

“You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” James 2:24

But in James, the subject of salvation is not being addressed. James is talking about how faith is proven genuine in the sight of others.  Justification does not always refer to salvation. The context determines the meaning, and in this case salvation is not the subject.  Here is an example of another place in the New Testament where Jesus uses the same word in this way.

Luke 7:34-36 New King James Version (NKJV)

“The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a [a]winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by all her children.”

In this passage, wisdom is proven genuine in the sight of others by those who are following its principles. No one would say that “wisdom is declared righteous and saved by her children”. That is definitely not what Jesus was trying to say. In the same way, James is saying that others know our faith is genuine because they see it walk out in our actions.

So we have peace with God because we have been justified by faith, and also because we are no longer having sin imputed to us. Like Paul says in Romans 4:8, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”  We could never have true peace, which is the absence of the threat of war, if we are one big sin or incorrect doctrine away from losing our salvation.  That’s why it is so blessed that the Lord no longer imputes sin to our account! So if you have trusted in Christ for salvation and done what Paul said later in Romans 10:9-10, you are justified and truly have peace with God!

I can’t stand that sinking feeling I have when I am going into a meeting unprepared. Can you imagine going into court to be judged and being unsure if you will be found innocent or guilty? Well the apostle John takes time in his first letter to reassure the persecuted disciples and to help them to be sure that they were in fact saved. Later on in chapter 5:13 John will state that we can know we have eternal life. At the end of chapter 2 he restates some things to emphasize his point.

And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.
If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. (1 John 2:28, 29 ESV)

John revisits the promise God has given us from verse 25, which is eternal life. Eternal life is not just life that does not end, but rather includes a quality of life that is only possible in the presence of God. So we are not just talking about existing forever. But how do we know that we have that life now, and will also inherit that life in the end? By whether we “practice righteousness” or not.

First of all, we need to know what this does NOT mean. It does not mean constant sinless perfection. If that we’re the case, we would be constantly slipping in and out of salvation as we sin and then confess. If this were the case, our entire eternity would be based on the timing of our death. And you had better hope you never committed a sin and didn’t realize it, especially if you have forgotten about it!

John also is not saying that by the performance of one righteous deed we are saved. We can no more earn heaven than long jump to the moon. The righteousness we have is as the result of appropriating what Jesus Christ has done for us, and not trusting in our own merit for salvation. In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul said:

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB)

Our righteousness is the result of being in Christ. But you cannot be “in Christ” and not have it change you. But even as fruit requires growth, often slow growth, we must realize that we are not going to instantly be sinless, but will need time to mature as we bear steadily increasing fruit.

We have to realize why it says “practices” here. John is talking about a lifestyle characterized by trying to do what is right. Are we following after Jesus, or are we following after the world? Ae we acting in faith, or have we decided to define good and evil for ourselves? So let us test ourselves to see if we are growing in righteousness. In 2 Corinthians, Paul puts it this way:

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-unless indeed you fail the test? (2 Corinthians 13:5 NASB)

When reading the Bible, ask God to open your eyes to areas that need fixing in your life, but also see where you are doing well and begin to increase in those areas. But know this — don’t stay there constantly wondering if you are saved. Be about the Lords work and be confident that when he does appear, He will say to you “well done”.