“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”-{Rom 5:1-2}.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. “-{Romans 5;8-9}. Because He has declared us right with Him, we have peace with Him which comes about through the Person and work of our LORD Jesus. We have Access, acceptance with God in which we now “stand,” in full acceptance and assurance, eternally so. We boast, exult in the glory of God. We are recipients of the Love of God demonstrated by the cross of Jesus Christ and having been justified by his blood, His death, we shall be saved from His wrath which is upon sinners. As Noah was safe and secure from God’s wrath in the ark, so we “In Christ” under His protection are delivered, safe and secure from God’s wrath. This is His promise!
Our Hope is based on The Righteousness of Christ as our sole means of justification! Not our”works of righteousness,” our ‘good deeds,” our “merit’s” for they are as Isaiah wrote, “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.“-{Isaiah 64;6}. “Filthy rags is ‘a garment of menstruation’; bodily discharges were considered a defilement because they were the ‘outflow’ of a sinful, fallen human nature. So, even what we might consider to be in our favour, righteous acts, partake of the defilement of fallenness.” (Motyer).
Our “righteousness” is compared to a woman’s menstrual cloth, being offered to God as something He should accept as worthy! It is atrocious, sinful, unacceptable. “But God…” has provided His Son and His righteousness alone is our grounds of Justification! “He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. “-{Titus 3;5 NLT}.
This is the Ground of our Hope, The Righteousness Of Christ our Justification!