by John H. Gerstner

The second proof of one's salvation that the apostle mentions is a gracious state: "We have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand." The grace here mentioned signifies a condition of fellowship with God. It introduces us to a second level of Christian experience. It is a distinct advance upon the previously mentioned peace which we have and may experience with God. There could have been peace established without any subsequent fellowship. Peace itself merely signifies the cessation of hostilities; it does not necessarily mean the resumption or even the introduction of friendship. It could be an armed truce or a state of belligerency or a cold war. Peace simply means the absence of expressed hostility.

Of course the peace of God is more than a mere armed truce. It does signify that there is no remaining hostility, inward or outward, hot or cold. Nevertheless, the word "peace" itself does not signify anything more than precisely that. Peace can be established without a condition of intimacy and love and fellowship obtaining. But this word "grace" signifies precisely that a condition of fellowship and love does obtain after the peace has been established.

This grace which follows the peace of God could only follow peace. That is, there is no possibility of anyone having a cordial relationship of friendship and love with the living God until peace is first established between them. So long as the war was on between the soul and heaven, the soul could not suppose that God was his Friend and was pleased with him. So long as the soul was at enmity with God, there could be nothing but a sense of apprehension, fear, shame, and fleeing rather than boldness, rejoicing, and loving communion. As was previously stated, peace could be established without communion necessarily following. But now we are noticing the other side of the coin, namely that there could be no communion without this peace.

Indeed, a part of this blessedness of fellowship with God consists in the realization of the peace that has been established. Just as truly as the fear of God's wrath and judgment destroys any tranquility between the soul and God, so the overcoming of that wrath of God suffuses the soul with great joy. Not only does the soul experience a vast relief, which follows the knowledge that God is no longer angry, but a positive joy as well in this wonderful knowledge.

Perhaps the most blessed characteristic of this Christian experience of fellowship with God is its inalienability: It cannot be lost. Paul indicates this by saying that it is the grace "in which we stand." The word Paul uses that we translate "stand" signifies "stand rooted" or "immovable." So this fellowship, exquisite as it is in itself, is also of permanent duration.

All other joys with which we ever have any acquaintance in this life are what I call "furlough" pleasures. I pastored during the Korean War, and often visited families that had been torn apart by the demands of military service. Sometimes I visited these families when a beloved husband, son, or brother was home on furlough. What a joyous occasion it was to have the family circle completed again, even if only for a few days. But I doubt if I ever visited on occasions like that without seeing a mother or a wife in tears. Why? Because she usually would be anticipating that in three days or a week the loved one would be gone again. Even when she was enjoying the company of her husband or son, the joy was spoiled to some degree by the realization that it was soon coming to an end.

Is this not true of all earthly pleasures? Ought they not to be properly called "furlough" pleasures? They all have a terminal date; sooner or later they will come to an end. The awareness of this fleetingness of the most exquisite of our pleasures diminishes the pleasure itself greatly. The anticipation of the termination spoils the present enjoyment. Perhaps, in an ultimate sense, we are incapable of complete happiness unless we are relieved of the apprehension that the present phase of that happiness will either be lost or diminished.

On the other hand, how wonderfully the knowledge that these pleasures will continue contributes to the present enjoyment of them. Just as truly as the realization that a present pleasure is coming to an end tends to spoil the pleasure even now, the realization that a present pleasure is never coming to an end tends to augment the pleasure even now. When I realize that some joy will never come to an end, that realization in itself is a joy and accentuates the original joy, just as thinking that a present joy will come to an end is a disturbance, and that disturbance detracts from the present joy itself.

Christian joy, fellowship in the Holy Ghost, is the only kind of pleasure that we are familiar with in this world which is pure, unalloyed, and augmented pleasure because it is a grace in which we stand rooted and immovable. This is what our Lord had in mind when He said that He came that we may have life, and that more abundantly. This is what the apostle was speaking of when he called Christians "more than conquerors" through Christ Jesus. This is the blessedness of those who have and to whom it shall be given, that contrasts so sharply with the misery of those who have not and from whom shall be taken even that which they have.

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This is part twenty-three of John H. Gerstner's small book entitled Theology for Everyman, originally published in 1965 (Moody Press, Chicago). That book was subsequently republished in 1991. It has since fallen out of print and we thought it would be good to revisit this book here on the blog. Over the next couple of months, we'll work our way through the book. Here is where we've been so far: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6 and Chapter 7.