Access By Faith

The previous verse states that we are justified by faith and the grace wherein we are standing is the sum total of our full salvation by grace through faith.  Importantly also, notice the order of the words:  access by faith into this grace.

A full segment of Christianity holds to a doctrine which states that by an act of grace the Holy Spirit enters into a person and regenerates him so that he has faith to believe the gospel and be saved.  But this is not what this scripture says at all.  It does not say that we have “access by grace into this faith wherein we stand”, but this doctrine teaches essentially that.  Also, that opens the adherent to wondering if he truly has “real saving faith”, but it is not our faith that saves us.  It is God’s grace that saves us.  We have access to this grace, and a standing in this grace, because God is the justifier of the one that believes in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:26).  We are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24) and our faith is merely the “key” so to speak, that opens up that door.  God is not looking at the greatness of our faith, nor the kind of faith it is, but whether it is faith in Christ Jesus.  Is the object of our faith the finished work of Christ on the cross where He died for our sins, or are we hoping to show our faith true by our works and our properly changed life?

Let me be perfectly clear:  It is not the faith that works that saves anybody.  It is the grace of God given through Jesus Christ to the one that believes the gospel of Christ that is the power of God unto salvation.

God has done a mighty work of salvation, and it is His will that all men would be saved.  Really, that is precisely what the scripture says:

1 Timothy 2:3–6 — “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

As we continue in our study of this scripture, we notice that we have a hope in the glory of God.  To the unsaved sinner, the glory of God is not something to rejoice in.  It is rather a very terrifying proposition that puts him in a very bad spot.

“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord…”

If we read the rest of the scripture of which this is inferring, the glory of the Lord will be revealed, i.e., the revelation of Jesus Christ according to prophecy, as we read in Revelation 19.  He is coming to judge and to make war, and His enemies will not stand in His presence.

But if you are saved…

If you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ unto salvation, the glory of God is the object of your joy.  In this you have hope, because you have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  The glory of the God of all grace is your hope and it is a hope that will sustain you throughout eternity.

Romans 5:3–5 — “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

This is our hope for the present as well, as we patiently await upon the Lord for His glory to be revealed.  In Paul’s epistles, as we read them in the order that they are in our Bibles, this is the first mention of the Holy Ghost, and this is the first mention of His ministry.  Not regenerating the heart of the non-believer so that he can believe, but shedding abroad the love of God in the heart of the believer so that he learns to rejoice in the hope of God’s glory.

Our tribulations (there are truly many) can be dealt with by faith because the glory of God is our future.  It is a hope that will truly be revealed in God’s own time, and because we believe the word of God we trust in that hope.  We stand in grace and trust the Lord for the future, regardless of how the present appears.

As we move forward in this chapter in Romans, we will see how the past actions of God give hope for the glory of the future.  For a little sneak preview, read the next six verses not disconnecting them from what we just read.  We were sinners and enemies when Christ did the hard part of saving us.  The glory that he has promised to those that are saved is just a reasonable conclusion to all that He did for us on the cross.

Romans 8:32 — “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”

The hand of God’s grace is opened to all, and His grace will be given to all who would simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ who died for our sins and rose again.  He wants to give you this grace which is bought and paid for by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 1:7).  There is no one that is too far gone that the grace of God cannot save him, but there is also no one that is without the need to be saved by God’s grace.  Do not let your sins keep you from God’s grace, for Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.  Also don’t think that your sins are all OK or that you have no sins from which you need to be redeemed.

Jesus Christ is all that you need, but you DO NEED HIM!