What are the characteristics of one who has been declared righteous, justified in the eyes of God by the sacrifice of Jesus? Well, it depends upon who eyes are doing the looking. Man looks at the outward appearance but the God looks at the heart…

1 Sam 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” ESV

James tells us that proof of our salvation from man’s perspective is works. But Paul in Romans tells us that proof from God’s perspective is that He sees what He did within us when we were declared righteous in Christ. He sees where we “stand…

Rom 5:2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ESV

They are both correct, so where do we go from that point? We stand in His grace but we can’t stand “in one place.” We need to move on from the cross and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as He leads and counsels us toward spiritual maturity. We need to stand in the midst of this world and grow spiritually and witness to the glory of God that has been placed in our heart.

I once read that the journey is like building a house. The first two chapters of Romans are like the bulldozer clearing away the ground; destroying all hope of man’s participation in salvation through his own efforts. The next two chapters reflect salvation provided by Jesus and the foundation is laid down. Now the walls begin to go up as the effects of the new life within us begin to develop and the house starts to become as it was designed …

 Rom 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ESV

As we begin to realize the presence of the Holy Spirit and respond to His leading, we learn to “stand in His grace.” This is the path that Paul lays out in the last five chapters of his letter to the Romans. The child of God leaves the milk of the Word behind and feeds on the meat of the Word. It is the process of entering into the responsibility of being a mature Christian. That process is like seeing ourselves as a pair of empty gloves through which God’s hand can perform tasks that are impossible to achieve in our old nature. It’s when we step into heaven that the works of our righteousness will have prepared and fitted us to exercise our function in the kingdom with God forever.

It’s all the result of our developing our relationship with Jesus as we stand in His grace and receive all the blessings that are there for us along our journey … Chosen, Called, Saved, and Matured.