1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

We celebrate Justification. Not only do we experience peace with God but we also “ have gained access into this grace in which we now stand.” Our possession in Christ brings also our position of standing in grace. The word Paul uses is access. The Greek term behind this word ‘access’ is the right to enter or the freedom to enter. This is preceded by the verb “we have. . . obtained, or gained.” The tense of the verb indicates that something happened in the past, but has continuing effects in the present. Therefore, just as we have been justified, we continue to remain justified. As we have obtained access into grace, we continue to have access into this grace in which we stand.          

By the grace of God, we are standing as sons and daughters of Almighty God. We can pray, not through the activities of priests or through the sacrifices of animals, but our access to God is direct due to the sacrifice of Jesus. Of course, we do need to have access to the Father through the one true Mediator, Jesus Christ. He opened the door to the Father and has given us access to the Father's throne room once and forever.          

If you were to have approached the Temple Mount in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus Christ, you would have been confronted with a wall that divided the Courtyard of the Gentiles from what lay beyond. That wall meant what it said. No Gentile could go beyond it. The penalty for violating the sanctity of the inner courtyard was death. Jews could go forward. Even Jewish worshipers would soon come to a second wall. This wall divided the Courtyard of the Women from the Courtyard of the Men. There all Jewish women had to stop.           

Beyond that was still another wall and only Jewish priests could past it through it. They would perform the sacrifices and enter the Holy Place of the temple. But here there was a final barrier, the great curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. Beyond that barrier only one person could ever go and that was the High Priest who could enter only on the Day of Atonement to present the blood of the sacrifice that had been offered for the sins of the people moments before in the outer courtyard.           

That elaborate system taught that the way to God was barred even for the elect people of Israel. God could be approached, but only through the mediation of the priests and animal sacrifices. Gentiles were without access at all, unless they first became Jews and approached by the Jewish route of priestly mediation.           

Now those dividing walls of partition have been broken down and the reason is, that when Jesus died, God removed the ultimate barrier - the curtain that divided the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. Therefore, you can come to God directly at any time of day or in any place and know that He hears you and will answer your prayers.            

Many people will tell you there are many ways to get to God. Liberals will say although they believe in Jesus, God is a God of love. They will tell you He will surely have mercy on people of other world religions who are very sincerely seeking God. Several will tell you there is no difference if you worship Allah or the Great Spirit, or the divine in you. It is the same thing.

No, the Bible is clear. Without our faith in the one and true mediator, Jesus, we have no access to God the Father. In Christ, not only can we come, but come with assurance and confidence. In this we stand. 

In addition, the passage also tells us, in Christ we have hope of the glory of God. We have been justified. We are being sanctified, and we shall be glorified.

That is worth celebrating.

Dale