No time to say 'hello goodbye' I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!

Ah, that blasted white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. . .
Welll, here I am getting these notes out finally. We just finished "Family Guy" with Nicholas Cage - it was a sweet chick flick - it kept me on my toes - so much so in fact that I fell asleep, twice - over the period of two separate times trying to watch it. Maybe the bed is just too comfy, or the light was too dim, or I was just too snuggly or something-er-other. . .

Well this ain't no movie review, so on to BSF. It was a really good lecture this week. I felt like the Lord quickened my heart to new things.

A brief outline - Romans 5:1-11 ~ The Benefits of Salvation
1. Assurance of the past 5:1-2a
2. Rejoicing in the present 5:2b-8
3. Hope for the future 5:9-11

In chapter 5, Paul relates to believers in Rome what the benefits of salvation are. In 3:21-25, he pulls out justification and the provision for salvation. Salvation from what? From the power of sin, from death ultimately.
Because we are justified, you can trust that He has credited us with salvation by His perfect grace through faith. Faith is not measured by the quantity or quality, (see how He hearkens us to have a 'child-like' faith, for instance). But just by having faith in Him allows God to impart His grace to us, His wrath having been turned from us. So, we who have been reconciled to Him have been also justified by Him.
What does that mean? Well, first, we have peace with God. Prior to the knowlege of Him, we were at emnity with Him. Openly we rebelled, estranged from Him. We must be reconciled to Him, not He to us. He did no wrong. He is the Holy One, we are the filthy ones.
This is a reconciliation like no other. It is secure and steadfast and will not be lost.
Second, we have access to God. We may approach Him with confidence. We may enter into His holy threshhold.
Thirdly, we stand in grace. We already possess His grace - we are anchored and we will not be moved.

Ever been to the ocean? I remember one of my favorite things to do there was to stand on the beach and bury my feet ankle deep in the wet sand, and then wait for the tide to wash up on my feet. The undertow on the CA coast is pretty strong, so you would have to make sure you were snug. Each time the water splashed me, I felt a little stronger - the sand would harden around my feet and be more fortified for the next current to come. Cemented in sand, I was 'anchored'. But hallelujah that I stand far more anchored in His grace! :)

John 10:27-30 says that His sheep shall never perish. We are secure because He saved us and keeps our salvation safe. Salvation never depends on us. What God has done cannot be undone.

The character of salvation - We have joy :) We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, knowing that someday, we will see Him and be in His presence. We rejoice in our suffering because we know that God is with us and sees us through our trials to the end. We rejoice because He has promised an end to our sufferings too. We glory in the fact that our suffering is a character shaper. We rejoice because God has given us His Holy Spirit. We are allowed to see His unconditional love, which is like no other love we have ever known. He causes our hearts to become reborn in Him, from spiritual death.