Message: At some point all of us ask ourselves, "why would I want to be part of this organization or group?" Paul addresses the point of being a child of God and the benefits. There are 3 Key benefits: 1) When we have peace with God, there is no more wrath and are no longer enemies. He is satisfied and we are no longer rebellious. When we accept Christ, the war ends and live in the promise of eternal peace. 2) We have access to God's grace, through faith in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit's guidance in all spiritual truth. Therefore, God's grace is to and for us, giving us the ability to demonstrate it to others. There will be those who persecute us, but there will also be those who need us. 1 Peter 2 calls us living stones, chosen to offer up acceptable sacrifices to the living God. It causes people to see something different in us. 3) We rejoice, being convinced the One we are boasting about is worthy. We are at peace with God, therefore at peace with others. Our patience is developed by a God who proves Himself over and over. The experiences begin to show favor as God's work, not ours, building trust in His ways. We arrive at the point of knowing the futility of life without God on our side. God is glorified in us, through Jesus Christ the benefits are great and mighty.
Scripture: Romans 5:1-2 "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." - KJV
