DAY THREE: FAITH

12/3/24

“1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:1-2

What does it mean to be saved? We talk about salvation in our worship songs, our theology books, our sermons, but what did Paul mean when he wrote, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9)? The Bible says that salvation is a gift that comes through faith in Jesus, and Paul teaches that one of the greatest joys of salvation is that we have peace with God: “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God” (Rom. 5:1).

The Greek word for “peace” is eiréné, deriving from the verb eirō, which means “to join” or “to tie together into a whole.” When we say we have peace with God, what we really mean is that we are joined together with Him through our faith in Jesus. This is why the Bible refers to salvation as being “in Christ” 89 times!

Being saved is so much more than being assured you’ll go to heaven one day. Salvation means you are united with the God of the universe through faith in Him! In the month of Advent, believers around the world rejoice in the hope of the glory of God because we know there is no condemnation for those who have peace with Him—for those who are in Christ Jesus.

-Dane Bateman