Martin Luther was terrified by the righteousness of God. He knew God was holy and hell was real. He knew himself well enough to understand that he could never stand comfortably beside that holiness. So he tried to close the distance. He became a monk. He fasted until his health suffered. He disciplined his body and pressed himself harder, hoping righteousness might somehow be earned through enough devotion. The harder he tried, the more his conscience accused him. Then Scripture opened. While studying Psalm 22, Luther came to Christ’s cry from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He began to see that Jesus was forsaken so sinners could be received. Later, while lecturing through Romans, another phrase broke through the darkness: “a righteousness from God.” What had frightened him for years suddenly became good news. The righteousness God requires is the righteousness God gives through faith in Christ. That discovery explains why Romans 5:1 has carried such comfort to so many people: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Peace with God…those words are larger than a peaceful feeling. Paul is announcing that the hostility is over. The sinner who stood guilty before God can now stand accepted before Him because of Jesus Christ. To understand that peace, we have to understand justification. The word belongs in a courtroom. A judge hears the case and issues a declaration. One man is pronounced righteous, another guilty. Our problem is that Scripture has already told us which side of the courtroom we occupy: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” So how can a righteous God declare a sinner righteous? The gospel answers through another word worth learning: imputation. Think of this wonderfully ordinary picture. A man once received a letter from his bank telling him he had fifty-one dollars left in his account. He had recently been paid, so he went to find out what happened. The bank eventually discovered the mistake. His salary had been credited to his son’s account. Something belonging to one person had been placed on another person’s account. That is imputation. At the cross, our sin was charged to Christ. He bore its penalty in His own body. In the same saving transaction, His righteousness is credited to the believer. Our guilt goes to His account. His obedience comes to ours. The gospel gives more than a wiped-clean record. It gives the sinner the righteousness of Jesus Christ. For thirty-three and a half years, He lived on this earth without one sinful thought, one corrupt word, one act that displeased His Father. He was tempted and remained pure. He obeyed where we failed. He loved perfectly where our love fractured. That life is counted to the believer. This is why faith can never become another achievement. Faith is simply the hand that receives the gift. The reason God accepts us is Jesus Christ. And justification happens as an act. Picture two women. One has followed Christ for forty years. The other believed forty minutes ago. The older Christian understands more. Years of obedience have shaped her character. She may have greater usefulness, steadier habits, deeper wisdom. Yet, she does not possess more righteousness. The newest believer stands before God with the same Christ credited to her account. That is why peace with God can become so sweet. Your standing before Him does not rise and fall with the quality of your week. A miserable day cannot stain Christ’s obedience. You may wake one morning and pray with warmth. Scripture seems alive. Gratitude comes easily. By evening, you are ashamed of something you said, disappointed by a thought you entertained, painfully aware that you failed someone you love. Repent. Confess it. Keep walking with Christ. Yet do not imagine the war with God has started again. The peace Paul describes rests on something stronger than your emotional weather. It rests on a declaration God has already made because of His Son. This is where many Christians quietly suffer. They know Christ died for sinners, yet they still live as though each day produces a new verdict. A good day feels like acceptance. A bad day feels like distance. Romans 5:1 pulls us off that treadmill. “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God.” The sentence looks backward to a completed act and forward into a settled relationship. God has dealt with our guilt in Christ. The war is over. Of course, that does not make sin small. The cross proves how serious sin is. It also tells us where its punishment fell. Every sanction the believer deserved was laid upon Christ. The righteousness we needed was supplied by Him. That is why the Christian can be safe for time, death, resurrection, judgment and eternity. After preaching about the cross, the pastor stood near the church door as people left. A woman came toward him. She stopped and said, “I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me.” Then she went on her way. There is something beautiful in that kind of settledness. She was not presenting a theological system in the doorway. She was resting in a Savior. That is what Romans 5:1 gives the believer. Tomorrow your feelings may change. Your conscience may ache over fresh failure. Circumstances may become harder than they are today. Christ will still be righteous. His cross will still have answered for your sin. The Father’s verdict will still stand. And because it stands, you can say something the guilty sinner could never have said on his own: I have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.