Faith, of course, must have an object. In Romans 5:1, Paul does not directly mention that object, but he certainly indirectly mentions it in the final four words: “our Lord Jesus Christ.” Elsewhere he directly says that the Lord Jesus Christ must be the object of saving faith (Acts 20:21; Eph. 1:15). And this is where so many people are mistaken, because they make the object of their faith a doctrine about salvation, or even a doctrine about Jesus. For example, they believe they are saved because they believe that justification is by faith and not works. But the object of saving faith must be, not it a doctrine but in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And who is He? He is, as we just read, the Lord. Those who truly believe in Him treat Him like He’s Lord. So they strive to obey Him. Only when we do that do we have “peace with God.”

The implication in Romans 5:1 is that, prior to being justified, we did not possess peace with God. We were actually His enemies (see Rom. 5:10), as indicated by our lack of submission to Him, and we were destined to suffer His wrath. We were rebels who deserved hell. But, once we are forgiven and made innocent in God’s eyes, we are at peace with Him. Hallelujah!

Now, just stop and think for five seconds about how silly of an idea it is to imagine that one who is forgiven could then continue in his disobedience and maintain peace with God. That would require God to change His essential character. He would no longer be righteous if He is OK with sin. The idea is also silly because of its impossibility—as if faith can be void of works. As James challenged his readers, “Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (Jas. 2:18).

All of this is to say that Romans 5:1 only applies to those who have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and who consequently are striving to do His will. Recall that John wrote, “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:10). That’s quite plain. John said people’s spiritual state is obvious by their righteousness and love. (That’s the exact opposite of the common claim that, because we don’t know what is in anyone’s heart, we can’t judge their spiritual state.)

Let’s read Romans 5:1 again: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Justification and the subsequent peace with God only belong to those who believe, and thus follow, the Lord Jesus Christ. Anyone who imagines that they have peace with God who aren’t following Jesus are self-deceived.

Romans 5:1 is like most of the promises in the New Testament epistles—in which we find the phrases “our Lord” and “my Lord” a total of about 70 times. The phrase “Lord Jesus” is found about 80 times. In the book of Romans alone, Paul mentions Jesus as Lord 16 times. If Jesus is not your Lord, the New Testament epistles have no relevance to you. They were all written to people who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In contrast, Jesus is mentioned as “Savior” less than 20 times in the New Testament epistles. Thank God that He is indeed Savior, but He is only Savior of those who have believed in Him as their Lord. Yet so many oddly claim that we are saved by “accepting Jesus as Savior” (a phrase found nowhere in Scripture and a concept that is a contradiction, as Lords aren’t “accepted”), after which we have the option of making Him Lord.

If Jesus is not your Lord, you don’t believe in Him, at least not yet. You can, of course, change that right now.

And don’t be duped by the standard straw man argument that I’m claiming you must attain sinless perfection in order to claim that Jesus is your Lord. Anyone who actually has read the New Testament epistles knows how silly that idea is. If Jesus is your Lord, pleasing Him in the most important thing in your life, which is characterized by the daily practice of righteousness (1 John 3:10). But we still “all stumble in many ways” (Jas. 3:2). To “stumble” implies non-intentionality. Genuine Christians oppose all sin in their hearts, and because they do, it shows up in their lives.

Beyond that we are promised, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Obviously, Christians sometimes need to be cleansed from “unrighteousness.” And when they do, it shows they obviously don’t possess a permanent state of perfect righteousness as is advocated by some.

Being truly born again is wonderful and miraculous. If it hasn’t happened to you yet, it can! But you must stop imagining that Jesus is your Savior if He is not your Lord. Jesus cannot be divided: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20). You must stop thinking that Jesus is your friend even though He is not your Lord. Jesus has never offered friendship apart from lordship. He said, “You are My friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:14).

Jesus died and rose again to be Lord: “For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living” (Rom. 14:9). How absurd it is to think that one could benefit from Jesus’ death and resurrection apart from Him being Lord!

“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved” (Rom. 10:9).