Standing in Grace

Standing in Grace

(Romans 5:2)

The salvation God accomplished by giving His only begotten Son is not a salvation that keeps a person alive for a while and then gives up on him when circumstances change. God delivers us from the path of eternal destruction, brings us into the realm of grace, and causes us to stand firmly within it.

1. The Way Opened
Originally, sinners could not even stand before God. At Mount Sinai, there were boundaries that could not be crossed, and only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies in the temple, and that only once a year. But at the very moment Christ died, the veil that had blocked the way to God was torn apart. The long tension surrounding the work of atonement came to an end, and the way that no one had been able to enter was opened. Christ brought us, who had once been enemies, into the presence of the Father.

2. A Firm Standing
We are no longer people who merely look at grace from a distance or remain outside the door wondering whether we are allowed to enter. Christ has brought us into the presence of God and given us a standing within grace. This is not a place where we remain for a while only to be driven out later. No one can push us out and make us lose our footing, and no one can cause us to be forced away by filling us with doubt. Having been brought into grace, we now stand within it with permanence and unwavering firmness.

3. Kept to the End
The power by which we can stand so firmly does not come from ourselves. Faith is absolutely necessary, but it is God who saves us and keeps that salvation secure to the end. Even when we fall, we do not need to despair as though our sin were greater than His grace. There is no higher court and no greater Judge who can overturn the verdict by which God has declared us righteous. Yet this secure salvation does not give us freedom to sin as we please. In those who stand in grace, a new heart begins to rise from deep within—a heart that hates sin, loves God, and loves the church even when no one is watching.

Overseer Sung-Hyun Kim