‘Having therefore been accounted as in the right by faith, we have peace with God (or ‘let us continue to have peace with God') through our Lord Jesus Christ,'
Paul now explains that because we have been accounted as righteous once for all (made acceptable in God's eyes through the gift of His righteousness) through believing in ‘our Lord, Jesus Christ' we have peace with God. His anger at sin is no longer directed against us, the enmity against sin has been removed, and we are reconciled to Him and He to us. No longer do we live in fear of the judgment. No longer are we afraid of the record of sin that stands against us. No longer do we have to fear the pointed finger. God our erstwhile Judge is now our friend, and our Father and is smiling on us. All is at peace between God and ourselves. We enjoy peace with God because we have been accounted as righteous by faith.
No condemnation now I dread,
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine,
Alive in Him my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine.
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown through Christ my own.
This ‘having been accounted as in the right by faith' is the basis of all that follows. That is why Paul has so emphasised it. The aorist verb points in this context to an act of justification which is permanent and complete. The point is that whereas our spiritual state may vary, our acceptance before God is assured once and for all once we truly ‘believe into Him'. And it is because of that acceptance that we can have and enjoy continual ‘peace with God'. The main idea behind that peace is the peace of reconciliation (Romans 5:10-11), the peace of salvation (Isaiah 52:7). We enter into God's covenant of peace (Ezekiel 34:25). And as a result there is no more enmity between us and God (Romans 5:10-11). On our part we have laid down our arms and surrendered, something demonstrated by our believing response, and on His part His wrath (His antipathy against our sin which necessitates His acting against it) has been satisfied because He has brought to us His own righteousness. All has been made right between us. And this is all on the basis of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us, as indeed Romans 5:6-11 will emphasise. Our having been justified by faith is thus the rock on which our eternal security is guaranteed. It is the grounds of our continual peace with God.
But being at peace with God will necessarily result in us having peace in our hearts, just as ‘being in the right with God' through receiving God-given righteousness will necessarily result in a hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matthew 5:6). Thus ‘justification' is the foundation of both our future righteousness and of our peace. The Hebrew for ‘peace' means ‘well-being'. Thus from ‘our peace with God' will flow our peace from God (Romans 1:7), the certainty of our spiritual well-being, and the peace of God which passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).
‘We have peace with God' or ‘let us continue at peace with God'. This depends on whether we read the indicative or the subjunctive. The latter is supported by Aleph and B (although soon ‘corrected' to the former), along with D and the Latin versions, but if accepted must be seen in context as signifying that we do have peace with God, for the certainty of that peace continues on through the verses that follow.