How Can Sinners Have Peace with a Holy God?

Paul’s encounter with the risen Christ reveals how God’s justice and grace meet at the cross.

Before Paul became a follower of Jesus, he was a Pharisee who cared deeply about the law of God. He was passionate, devoted, and serious about righteousness. But Paul was wrong about Jesus. He believed Jesus was an impostor rather than the risen Lord and Messiah. He became so zealous in his opposition to Christ that he persecuted Christians, locked them in prison, voted against them when they were put to death, and tried to make them blaspheme. His rage against the church even carried him into foreign cities. Paul was sincere. He was religious. He was convinced he was doing what was right. Yet while he thought he was fighting for God, he was actually fighting against God.

That should humble us. Sincerity does not make us right. Religious devotion does not make us right. We can be absolutely convinced of our own rightness and still resist the will of God. Are you so sure of your rightness that you cannot see you may actually be fighting Him? Are you holding on to a sin you refuse to surrender? Are you resisting God’s call because yielding to Him would require you to change?

A Righteousness That Was Not Enough

If anyone appeared qualified to stand before God on the basis of religious achievement, it was Paul. He had the right background, the right training, the right religious connections, and an unmatched zeal for the law.

In Philippians 3, Paul described his impressive spiritual résumé. He was circumcised on the eighth day, an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, and outwardly blameless under the law. But after meeting Christ, Paul realized that none of it could make him right with God. He counted everything he had trusted in as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. He realized that as a sinner, he could not achieve God's standard of righteousness through obedience to the law. He needed the righteousness that comes from God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul’s résumé was woefully inadequate—and so is ours. We cannot justify ourselves before a holy God. We do not become righteous through good works, religious activity, church attendance, or sincere effort. All have sinned and fall short of God’s holy standard (Romans 3:23), and no one will be justified by works of the law (Galatians 2:16).

Apart from Christ, we are not merely imperfect people who need a little improvement. We are enemies of God who deserve His holy justice.

Confronted by the Holy Christ

Paul was traveling to Damascus with authority from the chief priests to continue persecuting Christians. At midday, when the sun was at its brightest, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone around him and those traveling with him. This was not ordinary sunlight. It was the glory of God’s presence. Paul had come face-to-face with the holy Christ. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say:

“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Acts 26:14).

Paul had been persecuting Christians, but Jesus said Paul was persecuting Him. To attack Christ’s people was to attack Christ Himself.

Paul asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The answer must have cut deeply: “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting” (Acts 26:15).

The man who believed Jesus was a dead impostor discovered that Jesus was alive. The One Paul had opposed was truly his Lord and Messiah. Paul had been fighting against the holy God he believed he was serving. He deserved judgment. If the next line had said that God struck Paul dead, God would have been just. But that was not the next line.

He Wasn’t Struck—He Was Sent

Instead of destroying Paul, Jesus told him: “Rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness” (Acts 26:16). Paul did not get struck. He got sent.

The man who had been sent by the chief priests to destroy the church was now sent by Christ to help build it. Jesus commissioned Paul to open people’s eyes so they might turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, receive forgiveness of sins, and receive a place among those sanctified by faith in Christ (Acts 26:18).

Paul had been on the wrong side of everything in that verse. His spiritual eyes were blind. He was living in darkness, under the power of Satan, unforgiven and unsanctified. Yet the holy God Paul opposed showed him unfathomable mercy. Jesus opened his eyes, forgave his sins, called him His own, and sent him to proclaim the gospel he once tried to silence. Paul had experienced the message he was being sent to preach: enemies of the holy God can receive peace with God.

Where Holy Justice and Holy Grace Meet

Paul’s story is our story. In our natural condition, we are enemies of God. We fail to meet His standard of perfect righteousness. We oppose His authority, break His commands, and wage war against Him through our sin. The holy justice of God demands judgment. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Yet the holy God who would be right to give us justice offers us peace through the cross of Christ.

Colossians 1:19–23 teaches that God made peace through the blood of Christ’s cross. Though we were once alienated from God, hostile in mind, and doing evil deeds, Christ reconciles sinners to God through His death. The cross is where God’s holy justice and holy grace meet. Jesus died as our substitute. He received the justice we deserve, even though He did not deserve it. God’s righteous punishment for sin was carried out upon His holy Son so that forgiveness, righteousness, and peace could be offered to unholy sinners.

God moved the battlefield of this holy war from those who waged war against Him to His Son on Calvary’s cross. The battlefield was moved from us to Christ so that God could offer a peace treaty that removes fear and gives hope. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

Has God’s Peace Changed Your Life?

Paul could not return to life as it had been. He had encountered the risen Christ, received mercy instead of judgment, and been given peace with the God he once opposed. So Paul obeyed.

He stopped fighting Christ and surrendered to Him as Lord. He was baptized (Acts 9:18), began preaching the gospel, and gave the rest of his life to the mission Christ had given him (Acts 20:24). The man who had been zealous against Christ became even more zealous for Christ.

That raises an important question for each of us: Has the reality of peace with God completely changed the course of your life? Or is Christianity merely a side item? Is it an ornament you wear, or has the grace of God consumed and reoriented your life?

How can we remain unchanged, unmoved, prideful, or stubborn when we understand that sinful people like us can have peace with the holy God? Those who have received this peace should live in humble awe, repentance, faith, and obedience. We should pursue holiness and carry the message of gospel peace to others.

Peace Is Offered to You

We should be consumed by the holy justice of God. Yet the holy Son of God came to make peace with everyone who repents and believes in Him.

Believer, this is what happened to you. You deserved justice, but God gave you mercy. You were His enemy, but through Christ you have peace with Him.

If you are not a Christian, Paul’s story can become your story. Turn from the sin through which you wage war against God. Stop trusting your own righteousness. Trust in what Jesus accomplished through His death and resurrection.

Receive the forgiveness, righteousness, and peace that only Christ can give—and then be consumed by the wonder that sinners like us are not consumed but saved.

Questions for Reflection

1. Are you trusting in your religious activity, good works, or personal sincerity to make you right with God?
2. Is there an area of your life where you may be resisting God’s will or “kicking against” His call?
3. How has receiving peace with God changed the direction and priorities of your life?
4. Who needs to hear from you that forgiveness and peace with God are available through Jesus Christ?
5. Is your faith merely one part of your life, or has the grace of God reoriented everything?