“For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” Romans 5:10.
We were expecting our first child; I was seated in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, completely thrilled as I read the letter to the Romans for the first time. I saw the truth in the tenses of the verbs, ‘having been justified by faith’, ‘having now been justified by His blood’, ‘we were reconciled to God.’ Repeated were the phrases that declared my salvation complete, I could be assured of eternal bliss, and I could be free from the anxiety of death that dogged me for so long. They were all in the past tense, as if God had said, ‘Now don’t miss this, I want you to know how final your salvation is.’
It’s been more than three decades since that personal revelation, and one thing has become certain to me, walking with Jesus in this world is not a walk in the park. The world, the flesh, and the devil make the Christian life an all out war, what is at stake is our joy, Christian testimony, and the glory God derives from our obedience.
Victory depends upon our faith in God keeping His promise to bring us home victoriously; hence we read two very important words in our verse, ‘much more.’ When we were His enemies, put to death His Son, stiffened our necks at respecting Him, ran away from obeying Him, He reconciled us by the death of His Son; how much more now that we belong to Him as beloved children and friends will He bring us home and save us by the life of His Son.
“Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” Ephesians 7:25
He will save the Christian for His Son’s glory – we have His word on it!