Romans 5:9-11

NIV "(9) Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! (10) For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (11) Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."

CEV "(9)But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life's blood, we will also be kept safe from God's anger. (10)Even when we were God's enemies, he made peace with us, because his Son died for us. Yet something even greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, we will be saved by his Son's life. (11)And in addition to everything else, we are happy because God sent our Lord Jesus Christ to make peace with us."

These verses were confusing to me, hence the two versions. The word "justified" seems to throw me off every time. One of the harder thing for me to understand is what Paul meant by being an enemy of God. It took me a few minutes of reading the footnotes in my Bible to realize he was talking about this: Humans are fallen, meaning we sin. God does not sin, so we are always seperated or against God because of our sin. In a very real sense, sin makes us enemies of God.

But Jesus is like a bridge. Jesus' blood allows us to be at peace with God. Picture two sides of a huge war suddenly being at peace. But if that was all Jesus did, the scars of the war would still exist and we all know that scars from war take many years to go away. Think about the trenches dug in World War I or the concentration camps of World War II - they're still there decades later. Thankfully Jesus also allowed our lives to be saved. In my war example peace exists, but the scars are also healed and we're allowed to move forward with life because both sides are saved. No more trenches, no more concentration camps, no more conflict, no more guilt over the past.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to be connected to God? I can tell you that for me it's a comfort to know I can be at peace with the One all-powerful God. I just need to remind myself every day that it's through the blood of Christ and his sacrifice that I can do that.