A study of Romas: The Righteousness of God

#15 Free From the Wrath of God

Romans 5:1-5: "Since, then, we have been put into a right relationship with God in consequence of faith, let us enjoy peace with him through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, by faith, we are in possession of an introduction to this grace in which we stand; and let us glory in the hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but let us find a cause of glorying in our troubles; for we know that trouble produces fortitude; and fortitude produces character; and character produces hope; and hope does not prove an illusion, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given unto us"

(Romans 5:1-5 NIV) "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, {2} through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. {3} Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; {4} perseverance, character; and character, hope. {5} And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

Here is one of Paul's great lyrical passages in which he almost sings the intimate joy of his confidence in God. Trusting faith has done what the labour to produce the works of the law could never do; it has given a man peace with God. Before Jesus came, no man could ever be really close to God.

Some, indeed, have seen him, not as the supreme good, but as the supreme evil. Swinburne wrote:

"His hidden face and iron feet, Hath not man known and felt them in their way

Threaten and trample all things every day? Hath he not sent us hunger? Who hath cursed

Spirit and flesh with longing? Filled with thirst  Their lips that cried to him?"

It is only when we realize that God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that there comes into life that intimacy with him, that new relationship, which Paul calls justification.

Through Jesus, says Paul, we have an introduction to this grace in which we stand. The word he uses for introduction is prosagoge. It is a word with two great pictures in it.

(i) It is the regular word for introducing or ushering someone into the presence of royalty; and it is the regular word for the approach of the worshipper to God. It is as if Paul was saying, "Jesus ushers us into the very presence of God. He opens the door for us to the presence of the King of Kings; and when that door is opened what we find is grace; not condemnation, not judgment, not vegeance, but the sheer, undeserved, incredible kindness of God."

(ii) But prosagoge has another picture in it. In late Greek it is the word for the place where ships come in, a harbour or a haven. If we take it that way, it means that so long as we tried to depend on our own efforts we were tempest-tossed, like mariners striving with a sea which threatened to overwhelm them completely, but now that we have heard the word of Christ, we have reached at last the haven of God's grace, and we know the calm of depending, not on what we can do for ourselves, but on what God has done for us.

Because of Jesus we have entry to the presence of the King of Kings and entry to the haven of God's grace.

No sooner has Paul said this than the other side of the matter strikes him. All this is true, and it is glory; but the fact remains that in this life the Christians are up against it. It is hard to be a Christian in Rome. Remembering that, Paul produces a great climax. "Trouble," he said, "produces fortitude." The word he uses for trouble is thlipis, which literally means pressure. All kinds of things may press in upon the Christian-want and straitened circumstances, sorrow, persecution, unpopularity and loneliness. All that pressure, says Paul, produces fortitude. The word he uses for fortitude is hupomone which means more than endurance. It means the spirit which can overcome the world; it means the spirit which does not passively endure but which actively overcomes the trials and tribulations of life.

When Beethoven was threatened with deafness, that most terrible of troubles for a musician, he said: "I will take life by the throat." That is hupomone. When Scott was involved in ruin because of the bankruptcy of his publishers, he said: "No man will say 'Poor fellow!' to me; my own right hand will pay the debt." That is hupomone. Someone once said to a gallant soul who was undergoing a great sorrow: "Sorrow fairly colours life, doesn't it?" Back came the reply: "Yes! And I propose to choose the colour!" That is hupomone. When Henley was lying in Edinburgh Infirmary with one leg amputated, and the prospect that the other must follow, he wrote Invictus.

"Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul."

That is hupomone. Hupomone is not the spirit which lies down and lets the floods go over it; it is the spirit which meets things breastforward and overcomes them.

"Fortitude," Paul goes on, "produces character." The word he uses for character is dokime. Dokime is used of metal which has been passed through the fire so that everything base has been purged out of it. It is used of coinage as we use the word sterling. When affliction is met with fortitude, out of the battle a man emerges stronger, and purer, and better, and nearer God.

"Character," Paul goes on, "produces hope." Two men can meet the same situation. It can drive one of them to despair, and it can spur the other to triumphant action. To the one it can be the end of hope, to the other it can be a challenge to greatness. "I do not like crises," said Lord Reith, "but I do like the opportunities they provide." The difference corresponds to the difference between the men. If a man has let himself become weak and flabby, if he has allowed circumstances to beat him, if he has allowed himself to whine and grovel under affliction, he has made himself such that when the challenge of the crisis comes he cannot do other than despair. If, on the other hand, a man has insisted on meeting life with head up, if he has always faced and, by facing, conquered things, then when the challenge comes, he meets it with eyes aflame with hope. The character which has endured the test always emerges in hope.

Then Paul makes one last great statement: "The Christian hope never proves an illusion for it is founded on the love of God." Omar Khayyam wrote wistfully of human hopes:

"The Worldly Hope men set their hearts upon Turns Ashes-or it prospers; and anon, Like Snow upon the Desert's dusty Face Lighting a little Hour or two-is gone."

When a man's hope is in God, it cannot turn to dust and ashes. When a man's hope is in God, it cannot be disappointed. When a man's hope is in the love of God, it can never be an illusion, for God loves us with an everlasting love backed by an everlasting power.

Since Romans is a book of logic, it is a book of "therefores." We have the "therefore" of condemnation in Romans 3:20, justification in Romans 5:1, no condemnation in Romans 8:1, and dedication in Romans 12:1. In presenting his case, Paul has proved that the whole world is guilty before God, and that no one can be saved by religious deeds, such as keeping the Law. He has explained that God’s way of salvation has always been "by grace, through faith" (Eph. 2:8-9), and he has used Abraham as his illustration. If a reader of the letter stopped at this point, he would know that he needed to and could be saved.

But there is much more the sinner needs to know about justification by faith. Can he be sure that it will last? How is it possible for God to save a sinner through the death of Christ on the cross? Romans 5 is Paul’s explanation of the last two words in Romans 4: "our justification." He explained two basic truths: the blessings of our justification (Rom. 5:1-11), and the basis for our justification (Rom. 5:12-21).

In listing these blessings, Paul accomplished two purposes. First, he told how wonderful it is to be a Christian. Our justification is not simply a guarantee of heaven, as thrilling as that is, but it is also the source of tremendous blessings that we enjoy here and now.

His second purpose was to assure his readers that justification is a lasting thing. His Jewish readers in particular would ask, "Can this spiritual experience last if it does not require obedience to the Law? What about the trials and sufferings of life? What about the coming judgment?"

(5:1-5) Introduction: man is blessed by God through justification, blessed beyond all imagination. Justification and its results are gloriously covered in this passage of Scripture.

1. Justification is by faith (v.1).

2. There is peace with God (v.1).

3. There is access into the grace, the favor and the presence of God (v.2).

4. There is hope for the glory of God (v.2).

5. There is glory in trials and sufferings (v.3-5).

6. There is the continuous experience of God’s love through the indwelling Spirit (v.5).

(5:1) Justification (diakioun): to count someone righteous. It means to reckon, to credit, to account, to judge, to treat, to look upon as righteous. It does not mean to make a man righteous. All Greek verbs which end in "oun" mean not to make someone something, but merely to count, to judge, to treat someone as something.

There are three major points to note about justification.

1. Why justification is necessary:

a. Justification is necessary because of the sin and alienation of man. Man has rebelled against God and taken his life into his own hands. Man lives as he desires...

· fulfilling the lust of the eyes and of the flesh.

· clinging to the pride of life and to the things of the world.

Man has become sinful and ungodly, an enemy of God, pushing God out of his life and wanting little if anything to do with God. Man has separated and alienated himself from God.

b. Justification is necessary because of the anger and wrath of God. "God is angry with the wicked every day" (Psalm 7:11). Sin has aroused God’s anger and wrath.

Man has turned his back upon God, pushing God away and having little to do with Him. Man has not made God the center of his life; man has broken his relationship with God. Therefore, the greatest need in man’s life is to discover the answer to the question: How can the relationship between man and God be restored?

2. Why God justifies a man: God justifies a man because of His Son Jesus Christ. When a man believes in Jesus Christ, God takes that man’s faith and counts it as righteousness. The man is not righteous, but God considers and credits the man’s faith as righteousness. Why is God willing to do this?

a. God is willing to justify man because He loves man that much. God loves man so much that He sent His Son into the world and sacrificed Him in order to justify man (John 3:16; Romans 5:8).

b. God is willing to justify man because of what His Son Jesus Christ has done for man.

Þ Jesus Christ has secured the Ideal righteousness for man. He came to earth to live a sinless and erfect life. As Man He never broke the law of God; He never went contrary to the will of God, not even once. Therefore, He stood before God and before the world as the Ideal Man, the Perfect Man, the Representative Man, the Perfect Righteousness that could stand for the righteousness of every man.

Þ Jesus Christ came into the world to die for man. As the Ideal Man He could take all the sins of the world upon Himself and die for every man. His death could stand for every man. He exchanged places with man by becoming the sinner (2 Cor. 5:19). He bore the wrath of God against sin, bearing the condemnation for every man. Again, He was able to do this because He was the Ideal Man, and as the Ideal Man His death could stand for the death of every man.

Þ Jesus Christ came into the world to arise from the dead and thereby to conquer death for man. As the Ideal Man, His resurrection and exaltation into the presence of God could stand for every man’s desperate need to conquer death and to be acceptable to God. His resurrected life could stand for the resurrected life of the believer.

Now, as stated above, when a man believes in Jesus Christ—really believes—God takes that man’s belief and...

· counts it as the righteousness (perfection) of Christ. The man is counted as righteous in Christ.

· counts it as the death of Christ. The man is counted as having already died in Christ, as having already paid the penalty for sin in the death of Christ.

· counts it as the resurrection of Christ. The man is counted as already having been resurrected in Christ.

Very simply, God loves His Son Jesus Christ so much that He honors any man who honors His Son by believing on Him. He honors the man by taking the man’s faith and counting (crediting) it as righteousness and by giving him the glorious privilege of living with Christ forever in the presence of God.

3. How God justifies a man: the word justify (diakioun) is a legal word taken from the courts. It pictures man on trial before God. Man is seen as having committed the most heinous of crimes; he has rebelled against God and broken his relationship with God. How can he restore that relationship? Within human courts if a man is acquitted, he is declared innocent, but this is not true within the Divine Court. When a man appears before God, he is anything but innocent; he is utterly guilty and condemned accordingly.

But when a man sincerely trusts Christ, then God takes that man’s faith and counts it as righteousness. By such God counts the man—judges him, treats him—as if he was innocent. The man is not made innocent; he is guilty. He knows it and God knows it, but God treats him as innocent. "God justifies the ungodly"—an incredible mercy, a wondrous grace.

How do we know this? How can we know for sure that God is like this? Because Jesus said so. He said that God loves us. We are sinners, yes; but Christ said that we are very, very dear to God.

(5:1) Peace—Justification: the first result of justification is peace with God.

The unsaved person is at "enmity with God" (Rom. 5:10; 8:7) because he cannot obey God’s Law or fulfill God’s will. Two verses from Isaiah make the matter clear: "There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked" (Isa. 48:22); "And the work of righteousness shall be peace" (Isa. 32:17). Condemnation means that God declares us sinners, which is a declaration of war.

Justification means that God declares us righteous, which is a declaration of peace, made possible by Christ’s death on the cross. "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other" (Ps. 85:10). "Because the Law worketh wrath" (Rom. 4:15), nobody condemned by the Law can enjoy peace with God. But when you are justified by faith, you are declared righteous, and the Law cannot condemn you or declare war!

1. The meaning of peace with God is striking. Peace with God does not mean escapsim, a quiet atmosphere, the absence of trouble, the control of situations by positive thinking, the denial of problems, the ability to keep from facing reality. Peace with God means the sense and knowledge...

· that one has restored his relationship with God.

· that one is no longer alienated and separated from God.

· that one is now reconciled with God.

· that one is now accepted by God.

· that one is freed from the wrath and judgment of God.

· that one is freed from fearing God’s wrath and judgment.

· that one is now pleasing God.

· that one is at peace with God.

2. The source of peace is Jesus Christ. Men can have peace with God only because of Jesus Christ. It is He who reconciles men to God. He has made peace by the blood of His cross.

3. The reason we have peace is the glorious truth of justification.

(5:2) Access—Grace: the second result of justification is access into the grace of God.

The Jew was kept from God’s presence by the veil in the temple; and the Gentile was kept out by a wall in the temple with a warning on it that any Gentile who went beyond would be killed. But when Jesus died, He tore the veil (Luke 23:45) and broke down the wall (Eph. 2:14). In Christ, believing Jews and Gentiles have access to God (Eph. 2:18; Heb. 10:19-25); and they can draw on the inexhaustible riches of the grace of God (Eph. 1:7; 2:4; 3:8). We stand "in grace" and not "in Law." Justification has to do with our standing; sanctification has to do with our state. The child of a king can enter his father’s presence no matter how the child looks. The word "access" here means "entrance to the king through the favor of another."

1. Grace (charis) means a gift or a favor, an unmerited and undeserved gift or favor. In the present passage grace is looked upon as a place or a position. Grace is a place to which we are brought, a position into which we are placed. It is the place of God’s presence, the position of salvation. The person who is justified...

· stands in God’s presence.

· stands before God saved.

· stands in the favor of God.

· stands in the privileges of God.

· stands in the promises of God.

2. Note it is through Christ that we have access into this grace. The word "access" (prosagogen) means to bring to, to move to, to introduce, to present. The thought is that of being in a royal court and being presented and introduced to the King of kings. Jesus Christ is the One who throws open the door into God’s presence. He is the One who presents us to God, the Sovereign Majesty of the universe.

Note we "stand" in God’s grace, in His presence.

1) We are not bowed down, intimidated, stricken with fear, and humiliated. Christ has justified us, removed our guilt and shame, and given us great confidence before God. Therefore, we take a stand of honor and dignity before Him, standing in the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus.

2) We are not sitting or lying down, but we are standing. This pictures our service and labor for God. We are brought into His presence for the purpose of service; therefore, there is not time for sitting and lying around. We stand before Him justified, yes, but we stand to receive our orders from Him. (Cp. 1 Cor. 15:58; 2 Cor. 5:18-21.)

(5:2) Hope: the third result of justification is hope, hope for the glory of God. Note that the hope of the believer is for the glory of God.

"Peace with God" takes care of the past: He will no longer hold our sins against us. "Access to God" takes care of the present: we can come to Him at any time for the help we need. "Hope of the glory of God" takes care of the future: one day we shall share in His glory! The word "rejoice" can be translated "boast," not only in Romans 5:2, but also in Romans 5:3 and 11 ("joy"). When we were sinners, there was nothing to boast about (Rom. 3:27), because we fell short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). But in Christ, we boast in His righteousness and glory! Paul will amplify this in Romans 8:18-30.

1. When Scripture speaks of the believer’s hope, it does not mean what the world means by hope. The hope of the world is a desire, a want. The world hopes—wants, desires—that something will happen. But this is not the hope of the believer. The hope of the believer is a surety: it is perfect assurance, confidence, and knowledge. How can hope be so absolute and assured? By being an inward possession. The believer’s hope is based upon the presence of God’s Spirit who dwells within the believer. In fact, the believer possesses the hope of glory only by the Spirit of God who dwells within him.

2. The glory hoped for by the believer is to abundantly exceed the most wonderful experience we can ask or think. Glory means to possess and to be full of perfect light; to dwell in the perfect splendor and magnificence of God.

Note how far short we often come. Instead of rejoicing in the glorious hope God has given...

· we moan, groan, and complain, living a discouraged and defeated life.

· we slip back into the ways of the world: the lust of the flesh and the eyes and pursuing the pride of life and the things of the world. (Cp. 1 John 2:15-16.)

· we become discouraged and defeated, no longer conscious of the glorious hope for the glory of God.

(5:3-5) Trials—Suffering: the fourth result of justification is glory in trials and sufferings. When a man is truly justified, he is no longer defeated by trials and sufferings. Trials and sufferings no longer discourage and swamp him, no longer cast him down into the dungeon of despair and hopelessness. The very opposite is true. Trials and sufferings become purposeful and meaningful. The truly justified man knows...

· that his life and welfare are completely under God’s care and watchful eye.

· therefore, whatever events come into his life—whether good or bad—they are allowed by God for a reason. The justified man knows that God will take the trials and sufferings of this world and work them out for good, even if God has to twist and move every event surrounding the believer.

This passage explains the great benefits of trials and sufferings; it shows exactly how the trials and sufferings of life work good for us. The word "trials" or "tribulations" (thlipsis) means pressure, oppression, affliction, and distress. It means to be pressed together ever so tightly. It means all kinds of pressure ranging from the day to day pressures over to the pressure of confronting the most serious afflictions, even that of death itself.

Justification is no escape from the trials of life. "In this world ye shall have tribulation" (John 16:33). But for the believer, trials work for him and not against him. No amount of suffering can separate us from the Lord (Rom. 8:35-39); instead, trials bring us closer to the Lord and make us more like the Lord. Suffering builds Christian character. The word "experience" in Romans 5:4 means "character that has been proved." The sequence is: tribulation—patience—proven character—hope. Our English word "tribulation" comes from a Latin word tribulum. In Paul’s day, a tribulum was a heavy piece of timber with spikes in it, used for threshing the grain. The tribulum was drawn over the grain and it separated the wheat from the chaff. As we go through tribulations, and depend on God’s grace, the trials only purify us and help to get rid of the chaff.

1. Trials stir patience (hupomone): endurance, fortitude, stedfastness, constancy, perseverance. The word is not passive; it is active. It is not the spirit that just sits back and puts up with the trials of life, taking whatever may come. Rather it is the spirit that stands up and faces life’s trials, that actively goes about conquering and overcoming them. When trials confront a man who is truly justified, he is stirred to arise and face the trials head on. He immediately sets out to conquer and overcome them. He knows that God is allowing the trials in order to teach him more and more patience (endurance).

2. Patience stirs experience (dokimex): character, integrity, strength. The idea is that of proven experience, of gaining strength through the trials of life; therefore, the word is more accurately translated character. When a justified man endures trials, he comes out of it stronger than ever before. He is a man of much stronger character and integrity. He knows much more about the presence and strength of God.

3. Experience stirs hope (elpis): to expect with confidence; to anticipate knowing; to look and long for with surety; to desire with assurance; to rely on with certainty; to trust with the guarantee; to believe with the knowledge. Note that hope is expectation, anticipation, looking and longing for, desiring, relying upon, and trusting. But it is also confidence, knowledge, surety, assurance, certainty, and a guarantee. When a justified man becomes stronger in character, he draws closer to God and the closer he draws to God, the more he hopes for the glory of God.

4. Hope never shames (kataischuno, makes ashamed): never disappoints, deludes, deceives, confounds, confuses. The believer, the person who is truly justified, will never be disappointed or shamed. He will see his hope fulfilled. He will live forever in the presence of God inheriting the promises God has given in His Word.

(5:5) God, Love of—Holy Spirit, Work of: there is the continuous experience of God’s love through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

1. The love of God is demonstrated in His justifying the man who truly believes in His Son Jesus Christ.

2. The Holy Spirit sheds the love of God abroad in our hearts. He grows and matures us in the love of God, increasing our understanding of what God has done and is doing for us. He helps us learn more and more about our justification and more and more of the glorious salvation He promises.

The Holy Spirit...

· makes us conscious and aware of God’s love, and gives us a deep and intimate sense of God’s love.

· makes us conscious and aware of God’s presence, and of His care and concern for all that is involved in salvation.

It is the sense and intimacy of God’s love that is being stressed: a personal manifestation, a personal experience of the presence and love of God, of His justification and care for us as we walk through life moment by moment.

Note: the Holy Spirit is "given unto us." He enters our hearts and lives for the very purpose of sealing or guaranteeing us. He seals or guarantees our justification, and He seals the fact that God loves us and cares for and looks after us. It is because of His indwelling presence that we have the continuous and unbroken experience of God’s love. But remember: this glorious intimacy with God is a result of justification. Only the person who is truly justified experiences the love of God.

Note another fact: the love of God is a gift, a gift deposited in the believer by the Holy Spirit. (Cp. the divine nature which is deposited within us when we truly trust Jesus Christ as our Savior, 2 Peter 1:4.)

"Hope deferred maketh the heart sick" (Prov. 13:12). But as we wait for this hope to be fulfilled, the love of God is "poured out into our hearts" (literal translation). Note how the first three of the "fruit of the Spirit" are experienced: love (Rom. 5:5), joy (Rom. 5:2), and peace (Rom. 5:1). Before we were saved, God proved His love by sending Christ to die for us. Now that we are His children, surely He will love us more. It is the inner experience of this love through the Spirit that sustains us as we go through tribulations.

THE FINAL PROOF OF LOVE

Romans 5:6-11: "While we were still helpless, in God's good time, Christ died for the ungodly. A man will hardly die for a just man. It may be that a man would even dare to die for the good cause. But God proves his love to us by the fact that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Since we have been brought into a right relationship with God at the price of his life's blood, much more through him we shall be saved from the Wrath. For if while we were still at enmity with God, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, now that we have been reconciled, we shall go on being saved by his life. Not only that, but we glory in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have received this reconciliation."

(Romans 5:6-11 NIV) "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. {7} Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. {8} But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. {9} Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! {10} For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! {11} Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."

The fact that Jesus Christ died for us is the final proof of God's love. It would be difficult enough to get a man to die for a just man; it might be possible for a man to be persuaded to die for some great and good principle; a man might have the greater love that would make him lay down his life for his friend. But the wonder of Jesus Christ is that he died for us when we are sinners and in a state of hostility to God. Love can go no further than that.

Then Paul goes on a step. Through Jesus our status with God was changed. Sinners though we were, we were put into a right relationship with God. But that is not enough. Not only our status must be changed but our state. The saved sinner cannot go on being a sinner; he must become good. Christ's death changed our status; his risen life changes our state. He is not dead but alive; he is with us always to help us and guide us, to fill us with his strength so as to overcome temptation, to clothe our lives with something of his radiance. Jesus begins by putting sinners into a right relationship with God even when they are still sinners; he goes on, by his grace, to enable them to quit their sin and become good men. There are technical names for these things. The change of our status is justification; that is where the whole saving process begins. The change of our state is sanctification; that is where the saving process goes on, and never ends, until we see him face to face and are like him.

There is one thing to note here of quite extraordinary importance. Paul is quite clear that the whole saving process, the coming of Christ and the death of Christ, is the proof of God's love. Sometimes the thing is stated as if on the one side there was a gentle and loving Christ, and on the other an angry and vengeful God; and as if Christ had done something which changed God's attitude to men. Nothing could be further from the truth. The whole matter springs from the love of God. Jesus did not come to change God's attitude to men; he came to show what it is and always was. He came to prove unanswerably that God is love.

(5:6-11) Introduction—Love (agape): this passage discusses God’s unbelievable love. It shows the great depth of justification. The passage also gives one of the clearest definitions of agape love. It actually shows the meaning of agape love. Agape love goes much farther than phileo love. Phileo love is brotherly love, a love that gives itself for a brother. But agape love is a new kind of love: it is a godly love, a sacrificial love, a love that gives itself for those without strength (Romans 5:6), for the ungodly (Romans 5:6), for sinners (Romans 5:8), and for enemies (Romans 5:10). (See note—^§ John 21:15-17.)

1. We were ungodly and without strength, yet Christ died for us (v.6-7).

2. We were sinners, yet God demonstrated His love for us (v.8-9).

3. We were enemies, yet God reconciled and saved us (v.10-11).

(5:6-7) Jesus Christ, Death—Man, State of—-God, Love of: we were ungodly and without strength, yet Christ died for us. God’s great love is seen in this unbelievable act.

1. We were "without strength" (asthenon): weak, worthless, useless, helpless, hopeless, destitute, powerless. We were spiritually worthless and useless and unable to help ourselves.

2. We were ungodly (asebon): not like God, different from God, profane, having a different life-style than God. God is godly, that is, perfect; man is ungodly, that is, he is not like God; he is imperfect.

3. It was in "due time" (kata kairon) that Christ died for us. It was in God’s appointed time: His destined time, appropriate time. Men had to be prepared for Christ before God could send Him into the world. Men had to learn that they were without strength and ungodly, that they needed a Savior.

4. Christ died for us. The word "for" (huper) means for our benefit, for our sake, in our behalf, in our stead, as our substitute.

a. Christ died as our sacrifice.

b. Christ died as our ransom.

c. Christ died as our propitiation

"Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God" (Romans 3:25).

"And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2).

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10).

5. God’s love is an uncommon and an unbelievable love. Just think about the illustration given. Some persons attempt to save people who are caught in some desperate tragedy, and others offer their lives to represent leaders in their great purpose.

Þ A few will die for a just and upright man (righteous).

Þ Some will even dare to die for a "good" man.

But this is not what Christ did. Christ did not die for the righteous and godly man, nor for the good and pure man. He went well beyond what men do. Christ...

· died for the ungodly, for those who were the very opposite of righteous and good.

· died for those "without strength": the useless, destitute, worthless, and those without value to society and men.

Christ died for those for whom no man would die, for those who were of no value and of no good. He died for those who were diametrically opposed to God, the very opposite from all that He is. Such is the unbelievable love of God; such is the depth of justification.

(5:8-9) Jesus Christ, Death—Man, State of—God, Love of: we were sinners, yet God proved His love to us. The word "commendeth" (sunistemi) means to show, prove, exhibit, demonstrate. It is the present tense: God is always showing and proving His love to us. The word "sinners" (hamartolon) refers to a man who is sinful, the man who sins...

· by disobeying God’s Word and will (cp. Romans 1:29-31).

· by living selfishly.

· by ignoring God’s commandments.

· by doing his own thing.

· by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes.

· by pursuing the pride of life and the things of the world.

The point is this: it is "while we were yet sinners" that God proved His love to us. This is the unbelievable love of God, that He stooped down to save sinners. We would expect Him to save righteous and good men, but it catches us completely off-guard when it is stated that He saves sinners. Such is the unbelievable love of God.

Now note how God proved His love.

1. God proved His love by giving up His only Son to die for us. Some earthly fathers would be willing to give up their sons for a "good" man or for a great cause. But how many would be willing to give up their sons for a man who committed treason or for a man who murdered one of the greatest men living? Think of the enormous price God paid in proving His love: He gave up His Son to die for the unworthy and useless, the ungodly and sinful, the wicked and depraved—the worst sinners and outcasts imaginable. Just think what God Himself must have gone through: the feelings, the suffering, the hurt, the pain, the terrible emotional strain. Just think what is involved in God giving up His Son:

Þ God had to send His Son out of the spiritual and eternal world (dimension) into the physical and corruptible world (dimension).

Þ God had to humiliate His Son by stripping Him of His eternal glory and insisting that He become clothed with corruptible flesh and die as a man.

Þ God had to watch His Son walk through life being rejected, denied, cursed, abused, arrested, tortured, and murdered. God had to sit back and watch His Son suffer being murdered by the hands of men; He had to sit back when He knew He could reach out and deliver Him.

Þ God had to destine His Son to die upon the cross for the sins of men.

Þ God had to lay all the sins of the world upon His Son and let Him bear them all.

Þ God had to judge His Son as the sinner and condemn Him to death for sin.

Þ God had to turn His back upon Christ in death.

Þ God had to cast His wrath against sin upon Christ.

Þ God has to bear the pain of His Son’s sufferings eternally, for He is eternal and the death of His Son is ever before His face. (Just imagine! It is beyond our comprehension, but the eternal agony is a fact because of the eternal nature of God.)

As stated, God proved His love. He has given up His Son to die for us. We do not deserve it—we never have and we never will—but God loves us with an unbelievable love. Therefore, He has given His Son to die for us, as our substitute, in our behalf.

2. God proves His love by justification through the blood of Christ.

3. God proves His love by saving us from wrath.

Paul argued from the lesser to the greater. If God saved us when we were enemies, surely He will keep on saving us now that we are His children. There is a "wrath to come," but no true believer will experience it (1 Thes. 1:9-10; 5:8-10). Paul further argued that if Christ’s death accomplished so much for us, how much more will He do for us in His life as He intercedes for us in heaven! "Saved by His life" refers to Romans 4:25: "raised again for [on account of] our justification." Because He lives, we are eternally saved (Heb. 7:23-25).

A will is of no effect until the death of the one who wrote it. Then an executor takes over and sees to it that the will is obeyed and the inheritance distributed. But suppose the executor is unscrupulous and wants to get the inheritance for himself? He may figure out many devious ways to circumvent the law and steal the inheritance.

Jesus Christ wrote us into His will, and He wrote the will with His blood. "This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you" (Luke 22:20). He died so that the will would be in force; but then He arose from the dead and returned to heaven that He might enforce the will Himself and distribute the inheritance. Thus, we are "saved by His life."

(5:10-11) Reconciliation—Jesus Christ, Death—Man, State of—God, Love of: we were enemies, yet God has reconciled and saved us. God reconciles and saves us by doing three things.

1. God reconciles us by Christ’s death.

2. God saves us by Christ’s life. "His life" means the life of the living Lord. Christ stands before God as our great Intercessor and Mediator. Standing before God, He stands as the Sinless and Righteous Son of God, as the Ideal and Perfect Man. When we believe in Christ, God takes our belief and counts it as righteousness. The Ideal Righteousness of Christ covers us, and God accepts and saves us because

we trust Christ as the living Lord, as our Intercessor and Mediator before God.

3. God gives us joy through the atonement or reconciliation of Christ. A person who receives so much from God is bound to be filled with joy and rejoicing.

(5:10) Reconcile—Reconciliation (katallasso): to change, to change thoroughly, to exchange, to change from enmity to friendship, to bring together, to restore. The idea is that two persons who should have been together all along are brought together; two persons who had something between them are restored and reunited.

Three points should be noted about reconciliation.

1. The thing that broke the relationship between God and man was sin. Men are said to be enemies of God (Romans 5:10), and the word "enemies" refers back to the sinners and the ungodly (Romans 5:6, 8). The "enemies" of God are the sinners and ungodly of this world. This simply means that every man is an enemy of God, for every man is a sinner and ungodly. This may seem unkind and harsh, but it is exactly what Scripture is saying. The fact is clearly seen by thinking about the matter for a moment.

The sinner cannot be said to be a friend of God’s. He is antagonistic toward God, opposing what God stands for. The sinner is...

When any of us sin, we work against God and promote evil by word and example.

Þ When the sinner lives for himself, he becomes an enemy of God. Why? Because God does not live for Himself. God gave Himself up in the most supreme way possible: He gave His only Son to die for us.

Þ When the sinner lives for the world and worldly things, he becomes an enemy of God. Why? Because he chooses the temporal—that which passes away—over God. He chooses it when God has provided eternal life for him through the death of His Son.

This is the point of God’s great love or reconciliation. He did not reconcile and save us when we were righteous and good. He reconciled and saved us when we were enemies, ignoring and rejecting Him. As stated above, it is because we are sinners and enemies that we need to be reconciled.

2. The way men are reconciled to God is by the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. Very simply stated, when a man believes that Jesus Christ died for him...

· God accepts the death of Jesus Christ for the death of the man.

· God accepts the sins borne by Christ as the sins committed by the man.

· God accepts the condemnation borne by Christ as the condemnation due to the man.

Therefore, the man is freed from his sins and the punishment due his sins. Christ bore both the sins and the punishment for the man. The man who truly believes that God loves that much—enough to give His only begotten Son—becomes acceptable to God, reconciled forever and ever.

3. God is the One who reconciles, not men. Men do not reconcile themselves to God. They cannot do enough work or enough good to become acceptable to God. Reconciliation is entirely the act of God. God is the One who reaches out to men and reconciles them unto Himself. Men receive the reconciliation of God.