What are the signs that you are rejoicing in God?
1. Your mind is deeply satisfied with the doctrine of justification by faith. You rejoice in it by studying it and speaking about it to others.
2. You only think of your past in terms of it. You don’t say: What a mess I made of it there! Instead you say: Me, a Christian! Despite my deep flaws, despite my record! Yet it is absolutely true!
3. When you discover in yourself some surprising new character flaw, a fearfulness or a lack of self-control, etc, the discovery does not make you doubt God’s love. Rather, it makes you feel closer to him, and his grace to you becomes more precious in your sight.
4. When your conscience accuses you and says: How could God love you after what you’ve done? you don’t try to answer with reference to your performance. In other words, you don’t say: I had a bad day! or: I was under pressure! You say something like: Jesus died for me!
5. When you face death, you do it with serenity because you are going to a friend.
Abridged from Timothy Keller, Romans 1-7 For You
“Therefore, since we have peace with God…we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1,2 ESV)