Paul’s letter to the Church of Rome is one long theological essay. It is in this letter

that Paul lays out his theology in the most systematic way. The theme of Romans is

1:17—‘For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith, as it is

written, The one who is righteous will live by faith.’ Paul then takes the entire letter to

outline how it is that we are made righteous and what it means to live a life as one who

has been made righteous by God.

Paul uses Abraham as an example of one who was made righteous by God and not by his

own works. Paul is then bringing the notion of what it means to be made righteous for

all people. He is telling the church at Rome that since we are justified by faith, we have

peace with God.

He is announcing that because of God making us righteous before him, this creates a

peace within us.

But what does it mean to have peace with God? For me, I think that having peace with

God is knowing that we have been given the wonderful, marvelous gift of forgiveness of

sin so that we would know of the hope of eternal life. This helps us to understand that

we no longer live under the law and thus subject to the penalty of sin (which is death);

but have been freed by grace to live by the Spirit. This means that we are not bound by

our works and have to live in fear about whether or not we are good enough or have done

enough good deeds in order to avoid the wrath of God. Being made righteous frees us

from the strain of living by the law, so that we can see God as the good and loving God

that He is and can live for Him seeking to give back to God and honor Him through our

life because we desire to do so rather than being required to live this way.

All this should give us a sense of peace with God.

How do you experience peace with God?