Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. —Romans 5:9-10
How can someone who has recognized that God has given him a new heart think that God will grow weary of doing him good? Doubt arises from our weakness, and He understands it. “For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14). But we are not destined to live in fear and uncertainty.
In that storm, Jesus rebuked His disciples: “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4:40). They did not consider who was there or what they represented to Him. Jesus had proven to them that He was God, and had called them, and was equipping them for a mission.
Our passage asserts that if we live according to the light of God’s revelation, we will be certain of our salvation and God’s favor at every moment of our lives until the heavenly Father receives us in His arms.
Paul tells us that having been justified by God guarantees that we will enter into His eternal joy. Later Paul will state that “…those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Romans 8:30).
But the apostle knows that, although we should simply accept what God says to us, we often need to be convinced by arguments that seem reasonable to us. When Jesus calls his disciples to not be anxious, he says to them: “For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing” (Luke 12:23). In other words, if God has given you life and body, won’t He also give you food to sustain that life and clothing to cover that body? It makes sense. If he has given us the greater he will give us the lesser.
And that’s exactly what Paul does here. Humankind’s great problem is that it does not attain the glory of God (Romans 3:23). And what God does is reconcile us to Him (2 Corinthians 5:18), declare us righteous (Romans 1:17), and that through the sacrifice of His Son. If only we meditate that God was able to turn enemies into children, it would make no sense to think that now that we are His children He would no longer favor us. And Paul insists on this when he states: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).
So, beloved brother, you must grow every day in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and the extent of His work; what He really accomplished when He said, “It is finished,” and when you received this benefit by faith.
For Reflection
Have you wondered why you’re afraid about the future?
Do you know enough of Him in whom you have trusted? (2 Timothy 1:12)
Do you often meditate on the immutability of God’s love?
Do you remember that Jesus loved his own to the end? (John 13:1)
Praise the God who will always do you good, the One who will complete the work He has begun.