Romans 5:1-5
Peace with God changes our standing. Through faith in Jesus, we have been reconciled to God, and we now stand in the center of his grace. Grace is God’s unmerited favor. To stand in his grace means we stand where God is pouring out goodness into our lives that we have never earned. The goodness of God is beyond our full comprehension or appreciation. Before we stood in opposition to God’s will, we now stand in the center of his will.

Standing in the center of God’s will, does not change the fact we still stand in a world full of conflict. Because of sin and the conflict it creates, we still suffer. The suffering has not changed, but we have. We once suffered in fear, rage, hate and despair. We now suffer with perseverance. We do not give up, and our perseverance builds our character and gives us hope. Our hope is not in our own strength, but we place our hope in God, in whose grace we stand. Our hope is justified; God always comes through for us. He pours out his love into our hearts through His Holy Spirit.
Before peace with God, we faced the conflicts of the world alone. In our own strength, we always lost the war. Now in the strength of the Holy Spirit, the world cannot stand against us. We are, and we will be victorious. Trusting in Jesus, we never again need to allow sin to shame us. In Christ, we stand victorious. In our victory, God reveals His glory for the entire world to see.

Through our new relationship with Christ, the Holy Spirit begins the work of changing our relationships with everyone and everything in the world. With time, work and obedience, the grace of God renews all of our relationships and makes them right. In our righteousness, we have cause to boast. We do not boast in ourselves, because in ourselves we were losers. We boast in God; for we know, to God is all the Glory.