Romans 5:1-5

"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 this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."



I love this verse. When I first read it I honestly had NO clue what it even meant. It was very confusing. I thought it was saying that because we are Christians we can sin whenever we want because hallelujah Christ died for us. But NO NO NO. That notion couldn't be further from the truth.

The devotional that we are going thru right now called Grace for the Good Girl by Emily P. Freeman quotes this verse and was where I first came in contact with it. I think I spent hours trying to grasp what this verse really meant. I was beginning to get frustrated with myself and with the Apostle Paul for writing the dern thing and not being more clear. My husband advised me to go to sleep and to come back to it in the morning. So when I came back to it in the morning I prayed that God would reveal the meaning behind this message and he did.

I am going to post some follow up verses later to explain how I got to this conclusion but I would really like for y'all to do some digging on your own.

The meaning of this verse is that when Christ died for our sins he clothed us in his grace. Through that grace we are given his forgiveness for our sins. If we die without accepting Christ into their lives they will not receive access into Heaven. But by accepting him into your life you are granted his grace. See Christ knew that us being perfect was unachievable. The whole reason that the 10 Commandments were written was to prove to us as humans that there is no way for us not to ever sin. Now that doesn't mean go on a sin rampage or a purge. But it does mean that God gets it. He knows we are going to screw up. As long as we repent, and I mean truly repent, our sins will be forgiven thru His Grace.

- Erin Nicole