Romans 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Have you ever been issued an access card to gain entry into a job site? Someone might steal your card and gain entry. There is identity theft where all that is needed is your social security number and date of birth. Computer passcodes are hacked regularly. So what is so secure in this access of grace wherein we stand?

By whom we have access refers to Jesus Christ. Yesterday I began this foray into results of faith with Romans 5:1 and now continue in context with Romans 5:2 indicating that it is Jesus Christ Himself that is our access.

Ephesians 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

Access to grace in granted by the presence of Jesus Christ in our hearts. If grace is a result of faith then what is grace to us? The common definition is unmerited favor which is not specific in content, only form.

The International Standard Bible Encycolpaedia makes this distinction of the Greek word for Grace. “In the English New Testament the word “grace” is always a translation of (charis), a word that occurs in the Greek text something over 170 times (the reading is uncertain in places). In secular Greek of all periods it is also a very common word, and in both Biblical and secular Greek it is used with far more meanings than can be represented by any one term in English Primarily” ISBE

Looking at the Hebrew and its first use we discover it is a result of how God sees Noah.

Genesis 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

No matter how you want to define or use grace, it should be seen from God’s point of view, not our own.

Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Here Paul describes a result of faith as being justified. Justification is a complicated issue because it requires a deeper understanding of the just character of God. God’s dealing with the unjust in the Old Testament economy is frightful. We should not take the issue lightly and examine the method by which God the Father justifies us by faith.

While researching justification I discovered in the Easton Bible Dictionary a new term which I had not come across before. It begins like this; “a forensic term, opposed to condemnation” EBD. I thought carefully about this forensic term before deciding to draw any conclusions. The science of forensics is discovering truth in a matter. The comment “opposed to condemnation” would imply that the cause of death, or why the body was put to death is not the reason for the examination.

Philippians 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Christ is not dead, so the forensic examination is not for cause of death, which we know is sin, but to discover who is in Christ. Interestingly there is this one point in which the faith of Christ is responsible for our righteousness. The reason it is interesting is because one of the definitions of righteousness is a right standing before God.

This takes the definition of justification from the forensic to the judicial. In the courts of heaven the only legal recourse we have is Christ’s faithfulness. We are guilty of all the sins we have committed and nothing we can say or do will justify our actions. We are guilty. If we are found forensically to be in Christ then we were crucified with Christ. All this occurs as a result of faith.