In Greek this verse and the next verse are one sentence. Now that we have been put right with God (two words in Greek) stands emphatic in the Greek sentence structure and relates closely to what was said in 4.25. There is, however, a serious textual problem in this verse and the choice of texts is not easy. As far as the written form of the Greek is concerned, there is a difference of only one letter, and evidently the spoken Greek of the first century A.D. did not differentiate in the sounds between the two letters involved. The difference in meaning is whether Paul said we have peace or “let us have peace.” If Paul said “let us have peace,” then it is best taken in the sense represented by the New English Bible (“let us continue at peace”). Otherwise it could imply that the person who has been put into a right relation with God might have the choice of deciding whether or not he wanted to be at peace with God. In Paul’s thinking, however, to be in a right relation with God is to be at peace with God. On the other hand, in support of the reading we have peace is the observation that the entire passage (vv. 1-11) is written in the indicative (except for the possibility of two subjunctive forms in vv. 2 and 3). Moreover, the use of “but not only” (Good News Translation and … also) is more in keeping with the indicative than it is with the subjunctive usage. Finally, it is easy to see how, as this passage was used in preaching, the indicative was changed to the subjunctive in order to make the passage into a type of exhortation to the church of that day. All in all, the context favors the reading of we have peace, though the manuscript evidence points the other way.
The introductory transition now that may, of course, be rendered as cause—for example, “because we have been put right with God.” However, the expression through faith also introduces either means or cause, and the entire initial clause may be rendered as “since God has put us right with himself because we trust him.”
Both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament the term peace has a wide range of meaning. Basically it describes the total well-being of a person’s life; it was even adopted among the Jews as a formula of greeting. This term had such a profound meaning that it could also be used by the Jews as a description of the Messianic salvation. Because of this fact, there are times when it is used almost synonymously with the term rendered “to be in a right relation with God.” Here the term appears to be used as a description of the harmonious relation established between man and God on the basis of God’s having put man right with himself.
Peace with God is often expressed idiomatically—for example, “to have a still heart in the presence of God,” “to sit down in one’s heart with God,” “to be beside God with a sweet liver,” or “our hearts are glad in sitting beside God.”
The phrase through our Lord Jesus Christ indicates secondary agency, which is expressed in some languages by a formula of cause—for example, “our Lord Jesus Christ caused us to be at peace with God” or “God caused us to be at peace with himself; our Lord Jesus Christ did it.”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .