"Peace With God"

However; we can not forget about the chastening of God upon His children; which does not mean that we have necessarily done anything wrong, but just that we are not perfect; yet! And it is not as though He expects us to be perfect, but to know how perfect He is and how imperfect we really are. In knowing this we are made aware of how much He loves and cares for us; because in spite of who we are He still died for us! This is what we must come to realize: That we have peace with God, not because of who we are, but because we are His children through who Christ is; and we are not His children because of what we do, but because of what Christ did. In so knowing this, we are naturally drawn to be as Christ was and to act as a child of God. But of course we can not be as He was, because He was perfect and sinless; which is why He was counted worthy to pay the price for our sins: He that knew no sin, took on sin, that we could be made perfect. Now; it is because of this perfect condition that we have been given that we are chastised; not for the lack of the perfectness that is in us, but for the perfectness of His Son, and His desire for us; not to necessarily live perfect, of which He does not expect, but to know what perfect is, and to try to attain it as we strive to draw closer to Him. But yet through all of our attempts to attain, we still have peace with Him, and yet not because we have attained, but because Christ has attained for us. And in knowing this we strive all the more to hold onto our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who is the Author and the Finisher of our Faith. "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless, afterward it yeildeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the Way; but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright." (Hebrews 12:11-16)