John 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
What could Christ mean by exclaiming peace be unto you? He meant peace, there is peace between God and man. That which separated man from God was gone and peace remained. Peace because the stain of sin had been removed. Peace because righteousness had been imputed. Peace because we were justified. Peace had come by His cross. Salvation had come. This was the salvation that Abraham looked forward to and that salvation that we look back upon. It is the salvation that by the Spirit through the preaching of the gospel of Christ is revealed to us. When was this salvation accomplished? When our Lord and Savior cried “it is finished.” Peace/salvation came by those nail scarred hands that He presented to the disciples in verse 20 above. Peace prevailed. Peace prevailed by His faith alone. Establishing peace and satisfying His holy justice was what God was doing in the body and soul of Jesus Christ upon the cross. By the revelation of the Holy Spirit, we see that peace that has been made. By that revelation, by faith, we have peace toward God. Through faith we see what Christ has accomplished. Faith that comes by the Holy Spirit in connection with the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is nothing to add to His completed salvation. No works of the law, no decision, no acceptance, no faith. To add to His work is to say it was not completed. We rest in the satisfaction rendered by the shed blood of Christ.
There is no other book like Romans in which this process of salvation is described in detail. Salvation PURPOSED by God the Father. Salvation ACCOMPLISHED by God the Son. Salvation REVEALED by God the Holy Spirit. Paul’s writing shows us how God accomplished our salvation through His faith alone. Let us move through the first 5 chapters of Romans to see how God was in Christ reconciling us to Himself. Let us see the completed salvation whereby God requires nothing from the sinner for Christ was able to perform what God had promised from the beginning.