Romans 5:1

King James Version (KJV)

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

Therefore being justified by faith - The apostle takes it for granted that he has proved that justification is by faith, and that the Gentiles have an equal title with the Jews to salvation by faith. And now he proceeds to show the effects produced in the hearts of the believing Gentiles by this doctrine. We are justified - have all our sins pardoned by faith, as the instrumental cause; for, being sinners, we have no works of righteousness that we can plead.

We have peace with God - Before, while sinners, we were in a state of enmity with God, which was sufficiently proved by our rebellion against his authority, and our transgression of his laws; but now, being reconciled, we have peace with God. Before, while under a sense of the guilt of sin, we had nothing but terror and dismay in our own consciences; now, having our sin forgiven, we have peace in our hearts, feeling that all our guilt is taken away. Peace is generally the first-fruits of our justification.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ - His passion and death being the sole cause of our reconciliation to God.

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Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

Therefore - οὖν ounSince we are thus justified, or as a consequence of being justified, we have peace.

Being justified by faith - See the notes at Romans 1:17; Romans 3:24; Romans 4:5.

We - That is, all who are justified. The apostle is evidently speaking of true Christians.

Have peace with God - see the note at John 14:27. True religion is often represented as peace with God; see Acts 10:36; Romans 8:6; Romans 10:15; Romans 14:17; Galatians 5:22; see also Isaiah 32:17.

“And the work of righteousness shall be peace,

And the effect of righteousness.

Quietness and assurance forever:”

This is called peace, because,

(1)The sinner is represented as the enemy of God, Romans 8:7; Ephesians 2:16; James 4:4; John 15:18, John 15:24; John 17:14; Romans 1:30.

(2)the state of a sinner‘s mind is far from peace. He is often agitated, alarmed, trembling. He feels that he is alienated from God. For,

“The wicked are like the troubled sea.

For it never can be at rest;

Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.”

Isaiah 57:20.

The sinner in this state regards God as his enemy. He trembles when he thinks of his Law; fears his judgments; is alarmed when he thinks of hell. His bosom is a stranger to peace. This has been felt in all lands, alike under the thunders of the Law of Sinai among the Jews; in the pagan world; and in lands where the gospel is preached. It is the effect of an alarmed and troubled conscience.

(3) the plan of salvation by Christ reveals God as willing to be reconciled. He is ready to pardon, and to be at peace. If the sinner repents and believes, God can now consistently forgive him, and admit him to favor. It is therefore a plan by which the mind of God and of the sinner can become reconciled, or united in feeling and in purpose. The obstacles on the part of God to reconciliation, arising from his justice and Law, have been removed, and he is now willing to be at peace. The obstacles on the part of man, arising from his sin, his rebellion, and his conscious guilt, may be taken away, and he can now regard God as his friend.

(4) the effect of this plan, when the sinner embraces it, is to produce peace in his own mind. He experiences peace; a peace which the world gives not, and which the world cannot take away, Philemon 4:7; 1 Peter 1:8; John 16:22. Usually in the work of conversion to God, this peace is the first evidence that is felt of the change of heart. Before, the sinner was agitated and troubled. But often suddenly, a peace and calmness is felt, which is before unknown. The alarm subsides; the heart is calm; the fears die away, like the waves of the ocean after a storm. A sweet tranquillity visits the heart - a pure shining light, like the sunbeams that break through the opening clouds after a tempest. The views, the feelings, the desires are changed; and the bosom that was just before filled with agitation and alarm, that regarded God as its enemy, is now at peace with him, and with all the world.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ - By means of the atonement of the Lord Jesus. It is his mediation that has procured it.

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Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

A blessed change takes place in the sinner's state, when he becomes a true believer, whatever he has been. Being justified by faith he has peace with God. The holy, righteous God, cannot be at peace with a sinner, while under the guilt of sin. Justification takes away the guilt, and so makes way for peace. This is through our Lord Jesus Christ; through him as the great Peace-maker, the Mediator between God and man. The saints' happy state is a state of grace. Into this grace we are brought, which teaches that we were not born in this state. We could not have got into it of ourselves, but we are led into it, as pardoned offenders. Therein we stand, a posture that denotes perseverance; we stand firm and safe, upheld by the power of the enemy. And those who have hope for the glory of God hereafter, have enough to rejoice in now. Tribulation worketh patience, not in and of itself, but the powerful grace of God working in and with the tribulation. Patient sufferers have most of the Divine consolations, which abound as afflictions abound. It works needful experience of ourselves. This hope will not disappoint, because it is sealed with the Holy Spirit as a Spirit of love. It is the gracious work of the blessed Spirit to shed abroad the love of God in the hearts of all the saints. A right sense of God's love to us, will make us not ashamed, either of our hope, or of our sufferings for him.

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SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7

1. Therefore. That is, in view of the statement in the preceding verse and of the whole argument and evidence of chs. 1-4. Paul has plainly shown that all men, Jews and Gentiles alike, are sinners under condemnation and in need of righteousness. He has proved that this need of righteousness cannot be met legalistically by works of obedience (ch. 3:20). But, as revealed in the good news of the gospel, God has done everything necessary to supply man’s need. God offers to everyone, as a free gift of His grace, complete pardon and reconciliation through faith in Jesus Christ, who has lived, died, and risen again for the redemption and restoration of fallen man. Having thus established the doctrine of righteousness by faith as the only way in which Jews and Gentiles together may, like Abraham, obtain justification, Paul now proceeds to explain some of the benefits that come to those who have shared in this saving experience.

Being justified. Or, “having been justified.” See on chs. 3:20, 28; 4:8, 25.

We have peace. Textual evidence is divided (cf. p. 10) between this and the reading “let us have peace.” Manuscript evidence alone favors the latter reading. However, many commentators and translators have objected to it on the ground that it does not fit the context. They maintain that it is quite unlikely that Paul would be exhorting those who have been justified to seek to have peace. They believe that he is assuring the believers that they already possess peace as a result of their justification.

However, there is a way of translating this phrase that makes it possible to accept the reading favored by the manuscripts and still give an interpretation that is appropriate to the context. The form of the verb translated “let us have” permits the translation “let us go on having peace,” meaning, “let us enjoy the peace we have,” or “let us enjoy peace.” If Paul had meant to say “let us obtain peace,” the form of the Greek verb would have been different. It occurs in this different form in Matt. 21:38 and is there translated “let us seize on his inheritance.” Since justification in its full sense implies reconciliation and peace, Paul is here saying, “Since we have been justified by faith, let us retain [or, “let us enjoy”] the peace that we now possess.”

If, however, the reading “we have peace” is preferred, the meaning is not essentially different. The emphasis is on the blessing of peace that comes with the experience of being pardoned and set right with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

True religion is often represented in the Bible as an experience of peace (Isa. 32:17; Acts 10:36; Rom. 8:6; 14:17; Gal. 5:22). Paul often calls God the “God of peace” (Rom. 15:33; 1 Thess. 5:23; Heb. 13:20; cf. 2 Cor. 13:11; 2 Thess. 3:16). Sinners are described as enemies of God (Rom. 5:10; cf. Rom. 8:7; John 15:18, 24; 17:14; James 4:4). For them there is no peace, no quietness and assurance (Isa 57:20). But the effect of God’s provision of righteousness by faith is to bring peace to the sinner’s once troubled and alienated soul. Before the experience of justification the sinner is in a state of enmity against God, as shown by his rebellion against God’s authority and his transgression of God’s laws. But after he is reconciled, he has peace with God. Before, while still under a sense of the guilt of sin, he has nothing but fear and unrest in his conscience. Now, with his sins forgiven, he has peace in his heart, realizing that all his guilt has been taken away.

Paul’s association of peace with justification by faith makes it still clearer that justification is no mere adjustment of a sinner’s legal status with God (see on Rom. 3:20, 28; 4:25). Forgiveness alone does not necessarily bring peace. The man who has been pardoned for some crime may feel a sense of gratitude toward his benefactor, but at the same time he may also be filled with such shame and embarrassment that he seeks to avoid the company of even the one who pardoned him. Though pardoned, he may feel hardly better than a released criminal. His self-respect is gone, and there is little motivation for a life of righteousness.

If justification meant no more than that, it would actually work against God’s plan for our restoration. The only way in which the divine image can be restored in fallen man is by a confident and loving fellowship with Christ by faith. Therefore, God not only forgives, He also reconciles. He sets us right with Himself. He even treats us as if we had never sinned, by imputing the righteousness of His Son to cover our sinful past (see on ch. 4:8). He invites us to a fellowship with Jesus that will inspire us with courage for the future and provide us with an example after which we may pattern our lives.

This understanding of justification by faith shows the place of conversion and rebirth in the experience of the repentant sinner. It would not be possible for fallen man to enter into the new spiritual relationship of peace to which justification entitles and admits him, except for the miraculous change accomplished by a spiritual rebirth (John 3:3; 1 Cor. 2:14). Therefore, when God justifies the converted sinner, He also creates a clean heart and renews a right spirit within him (see Ps. 51:10). For the relationship between conversion, rebirth, and justification see COL 163; GC 470; SC 52, 53.

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Ellen G. White
The Acts of the Apostles, 476

“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. Through the power of Christ, men and women have broken the chains of sinful habit. They have renounced selfishness. The profane have become reverent, the drunken sober, the profligate pure. Souls that have borne the likeness of Satan have become transformed into the image of God. This change is in itself the miracle of miracles. A change wrought by the Word, it is one of the deepest mysteries of the Word. We cannot understand it; we can only believe, as declared by the Scriptures, it is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” AA 476.1

When the Spirit of God controls mind and heart, the converted soul breaks forth into a new song; for he realizes that in his experience the promise of God has been fulfilled, that his transgression has been forgiven, his sin covered. He has exercised repentance toward God for the violation of the divine law, and faith toward Christ, who died for man's justification. “Being justified by faith,” he has “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1. AA 476.2

But because this experience is his, the Christian is not therefore to fold his hands, content with that which has been accomplished for him. He who has determined to enter the spiritual kingdom will find that all the powers and passions of unregenerate nature, backed by the forces of the kingdom of darkness, are arrayed against him. Each day he must renew his consecration, each day do battle with evil. Old habits, hereditary tendencies to wrong, will strive for the mastery, and against these he is to be ever on guard, striving in Christ's strength for victory. AA 476.3

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Ellen G. White
The Desire of Ages, 337

In the early morning the Saviour and His companions came to shore, and the light of the rising sun touched sea and land as with the benediction of peace. But no sooner had they stepped upon the beach than their eyes were greeted by a sight more terrible than the fury of the tempest. From some hiding place among the tombs, two madmen rushed upon them as if to tear them in pieces. Hanging about these men were parts of chains which they had broken in escaping from confinement. Their flesh was torn and bleeding where they had cut themselves with sharp stones. Their eyes glared out from their long and matted hair, the very likeness of humanity seemed to have been blotted out by the demons that possessed them, and they looked more like wild beasts than like men. DA 337.1

The disciples and their companions fled in terror; but presently they noticed that Jesus was not with them, and they turned to look for Him. He was standing where they had left Him. He who had stilled the tempest, who had before met Satan and conquered him, did not flee before these demons. When the men, gnashing their teeth, and foaming at the mouth, approached Him, Jesus raised that hand which had beckoned the waves to rest, and the men could come no nearer. They stood raging but helpless before Him. DA 337.2

With authority He bade the unclean spirits come out of them. His words penetrated the darkened minds of the unfortunate men. They realized dimly that One was near who could save them from the tormenting demons. They fell at the Saviour's feet to worship Him; but when their lips were opened to entreat His mercy, the demons spoke through them, crying vehemently, “What have I to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God most high? I beseech Thee, torment me not.” DA 337.3

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Ellen G. White
Faith and Works, 18.1

The danger has been presented to me again and again of entertaining, as a people, false ideas of justification by faith. I have been shown for years that Satan would work in a special manner to confuse the mind on this point. The law of God has been largely dwelt upon and has been presented to congregations, almost as destitute of the knowledge of Jesus Christ and His relation to the law as was the offering of Cain. I have been shown that many have been kept from the faith because of the mixed, confused ideas of salvation, because the ministers have worked in a wrong manner to reach hearts. The point that has been urged upon my mind for years is the imputed righteousness of Christ. I have wondered that this matter was not made the subject of discourses in our churches throughout the land, when the matter has been kept so constantly urged upon me, and I have made it the subject of nearly every discourse and talk that I have given to the people. FW 18.1

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Ellen G. White
Faith and Works, 107.2

We have a living Saviour. He is not in Joseph's new tomb; He is risen from the dead and has ascended on high as a Substitute and Surety for every believing soul. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). The sinner is justified through the merits of Jesus, and this is God's acknowledgment of the perfection of the ransom paid for man. That Christ was obedient even unto the death of the cross is a pledge of the repenting sinner's acceptance with the Father. Then shall we permit ourselves to have a vacillating experience of doubting and believing, believing and doubting? Jesus is the pledge of our acceptance with God. We stand in favor before God, not because of any merit in ourselves, but because of our faith in “the Lord our righteousness.” FW 107.2

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