“In which we now stand . . . ”

“In which we now stand . . . ”

I started to read Romans a while back and stopped to “rest” in Chapter 5. Therefore, I would like to share a "picture" from Verse 2 of Romans Chapter 5. However, this is somewhat dangerous because what I “saw” might be just for me so that I could get a deeper understanding of what I was reading. Yet, I will take that chance in hopes that some of you might “see” what I “saw”.

Romans 5:1-2
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into the grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Now follow me as I paint this “picture”:
I am walking along a road in the countryside. It’s a place dressed in its finest summer raiment. As I walk along, I reach a gate that leads into a deeper pasture with trees and extensive fields. I open the gate and, as I walk through the gate, I realize I have stepped into something. I look down and realize that I am standing in . . . GRACE.
When I look around, I see that GRACE is everywhere. There isn’t one inch that isn’t covered with GRACE. I am actually stuck in GRACE. I turn around and see a person leaning on the gate, looking at my surprised appearance and me. He does not speak but looks at me and I just know who the gate actually is and why I am stuck in GRACE.

Well … I sent this to my Jewish friend Carol, and Carol was kind enough to add to my thoughts:

“As for the gate, I believe this explains it…”No man comes unto the Father but through the Son.” What you saw in the scenery sounds so beautiful and peaceful, a resting place. You said, “I was stuck in grace” yet you were also able to turn and see the person leaning on the gate. The grace became a support to your wish to move about. And no matter if you had chosen to move forward, from side to side, or even if you chose to turn back and run to the gate I believe the grace would have expanded and you would still be in that saving grace never to go beyond our “gate keeper" Yeshua.”

Yes, GRACE is a resting place, a support, and lifesaving state to be “stuck” in and it is all because of Jesus. The Apostle Paul is saying, “in which we now stand” in contrast to where he had been standing before. He had lived an irreproachable life according to the Law, he had kept his life clean according to his tradition and he was zealous for God. Yet when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, there was a revelation inside Paul, there was something else going on. He was fighting the GRACE itself. Paul needed to get new eyes; he needed to know about the gate and enter through it into GRACE no matter how well he had lived his life according to his beliefs.

I would say that the life of Apostle Paul took a more difficult but wonderful turn. He was just as zealous for God as before but with a different perspective. He no longer had to achieve righteousness by his own works but could live a righteous life through faith in Jesus; and, in this faith, he had a hope far better than before. He could rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Moreover, so can I. I tend to forget that. Rejoicing does not come easy to me and I think that is why the Holy Spirit pointed out GRACE to me in this way. I needed the reminder.
One evening when I fetched the newspaper, I noticed a piece of paper at the bottom of the mailbox. I did not have my glasses on and, had it not been for the color, I would have missed it. It was red and shaped in the form of a heart. There was something handwritten on it but I could not read it until I came inside to put on my glasses. It said:

When you realize how incredible
much God loves you
you cannot do otherwise
than live your life
spreading that love.

I have no idea who wrote it or even when it might have been placed in the mailbox. Yet, as I look at it now on my desk, I realize that I have yet to fathom the full depth of “incredible much” and all the wonder and GRACE that comes along with the love of God.
Sincerely yours, Ida