What happens to our status as an enemy when we are justified?
When justified by faith, a person is declared just as if they had never sinned, and the old sin nature is reckoned dead. Justification brings peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, so the believer is no longer an enemy. Instead, they are now His and can enjoy His fellowship.
Les explains from Romans 5:1 that being justified by faith puts us back like Adam was before the fall. God has reckoned the old sin nature dead and gone, and we are declared just as if we had never sinned. Since the slate has been wiped clean, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The unbeliever can never experience that peace, but lives in turmoil, as Scripture speaks of them like the waves roaring. Justification brings about the peace with God, so we are no longer an enemy. We are now His, and we can enjoy His fellowship moment by moment, regardless of how well we have been able to behave. We still have that constant fellowship because of our justification, which gave us the peace with God. Philippians chapter 4 also speaks of the peace of God.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: