We have been spending a lot of time talking about this chapter, because it is such a powerful lesson on grace. I memorized the entire chapter of Romans 5 in the ESV in 2006 for several reasons, one is because it contains such powerful truths which I cannot let go of. Please take the time to look over Romans 5 on your own, and if our Bible study helps you out, so be it. God bless and grace and peace be multiplied to the saints of God.
Reconciled to God
Romans 5:6-11 ESV:
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die - 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, 9 since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Verse 6
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
(Literally: "For while we were without strength, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.") 1 Timothy 1:15 says, "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am foremost." Romans 3:10 says, "as it is written: 'None is righteous, no, not one;" and Romans 3:23 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,".
Do you know what it means to be without strength? It means to be weak, unable to do anything.
Who was weak according to verse 6? "While we were still weak..." While we were still unable to do anything to be righteous, because we were without strength. We are by nature sinners, so there is no way we are strong enough to obey God's holy law in our flesh. We were powerless to do what is right.
At what time did Christ die? "At the right time..." That means at the appointed time, the time God had set, the time for the prophecies in the Scriptures to be fulfilled.
Who did Christ die for? For the ungodly.
What does it mean to be ungodly? It means to be irreverent toward God, to be disrespectful to God. As we see in verse 8, it means to be a sinner; verse 9 shows us it means to be under the wrath of God; and verse 10 says it means to be an enemy of God. So the ungodly are disrespectful, unholy, unrighteous, irreverent, sinful, under God's wrath and condemnation and are His enemies. That is what characterizes the kind of people the Christ (the Messiah or Anointed One) died for. For evil, no good, people that God's justice must punish in order to uphold His righteousness and satisfy His righteous indignation. But as we learned in Romans 3:25-26, that God gave His Son to be a propitiation in order to demonstrate His justice or righteousness when He forgives a sinner who in repentance trusts in His blood to be cleansed.
Verse 7
For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die -
People may die for other people, right? But as we will see, who would die for a worthless criminal? Why would a righteous man, who had no guilt, voluntarily stand in place of a cold-blooded murderer? But that is exactly what Jesus did for everyone who believes!
Verse 8
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
How do you know God loves you? Look at what Jesus Christ, His Son did - Christ (the Anointed One, the promised Ruler of Israel and Redeemer of God's people) died for us.
When did Christ die for us? While we were still sinners.
What does that mean? A sinner is someone who breaks God's laws and disregards His commands. In effect, a sinner is saying, "God, I know you are righteous and Holy and that your commands are good, but I don't care about you." That is a sinner. And Christ died for us while WE were like that!
Let us each examine ourselves with this question: Am I a sinner? Do I deserve hell? If so, then look again at the verse, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." That is how God shows His great love (See John 3:16).
Verse 9
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
What does it mean to be justified? It means to be considered just or righteous. It means God looks at us as being perfect people, never having done wrong. Have you ever done wrong? I have all my life. But the person who is justified before God does not have any of that counted against him, he/she is considered perfect if justified.
Why? How is that made possible? It says, "by His blood."
Do you know what it means to be justified by Christ's blood? It means God killed His Son and Christ shed His innocent pure blood on the cross, so that you could be counted worthy of eternal life. That is what it means to be justified by His blood. Christ became a substitute, He died instead of those who have faith in Him.
Notice two very important words in verse 9... they both start with an "m"? Do you know what they are? "Much more!" What does that mean? Much more than what? Much more than having been justified or counted righteous by Christ's blood, we shall be what? "Saved!"
Saved from what? Saved from the wrath of God. And notice, it says, much more shall we be saved BY HIM from the wrath of God. God did not send Jesus to condemn the world, but to save it from His wrath and condemnation by taking away our sins at the cross (See John 3:17-18).
Verse 10
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
We already learned from this passage that God sent Jesus to die for the ungodly, that His love is shown in that Christ died for us while we were still sinners, that He gave His life in order that now much more we shall be saved by Him from the wrath of God. Now we just learned something else, that while we were God's faithful followers and friends we were reconciled? No! What does it say? "While we were enemies..."
Let's take a look at some other verses speaking about God's enemies:
Psalm 37:20
But the wicked will perish; the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish - like smoke they vanish away.
Psalm 66:3
Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
>>Psalm 68:1-2
God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered; and those who hate him shall flee before him! As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away; as wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God!
>>Psalm 68:21-23
But God will strike the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways. The Lord said, "I will bring them back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea, that you may strike your feet in their blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe."
>>Psalm 83:2 says,
"For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads."
Then verses 9-10 says,
"Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, who were destroyed at En-dor, who became dung for the ground.
verse 16-18
"Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O LORD. Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth."
>>Psalm 139:19-21 says,
"Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain! Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
Now, just one more from Isaiah 66:14-16,
"You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like the grass; and the hand of the LORD shall be known to his servants, and he shall show his indignation against his enemies. "For behold, the LORD will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will the LORD enter into judgment, and by his sword, with all flesh; and those slain by the LORD shall be many."
Now, with verses like that in mind... we read that while WE were enemies, God did what? It says, we were reconciled while we were His enemies.
But not all are reconciled, because that last verse in Isaiah is talking about the future day of judgment. So those who are enemies are still going to be destroyed forever in hell by fire.
But it is those of us who are reconciled to God by faith in Christ (Rom. 5:1), who have been brought near to God, had our sins washed clean by His blood, have been born of the Holy Spirit, have been given a new life in Christ. We now have peace with God, have been saved from His wrath through Christ... and now look at the end of Romans 5:10 with me:
“Much more, now that we are reconciled [we who were His enemies], shall we be saved by his life”! That is pure grace! Those who are reconciled have been brought back from being God's enemies to being His friends. They are justified by the death of Jesus Christ our Lord, and are saved forever by His life! That is good news - to know that you are saved forever and ever, because Jesus Christ lives! He rose from the dead to give eternal life to all who are found safely hidden in Him. God's wrath will never touch us if we are saved, because it was all poured out on Christ at the cross.
Those who are justified, saved from God's wrath, and reconciled back to God the Father through the death of His Son, are saved forever and ever, and can never be lost or condemned. Not ever! That is something to rejoice about if it is for you! And that is what Paul says in the next verse:
Verse 11
More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
What does this mean? More than what? More than being reconciled to God while we were His enemies?! Yes... more than that, we also rejoice! Rejoice in what? We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Do you rejoice in God through Jesus Christ our Lord? Have you received the reconciliation through His death and life? Are you justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:24)?
Let's just think one more time about this word: Reconciliation. What does it mean?
Here is one verse that really describes this well:
Colossians 1:19-23 says about Jesus Christ,
“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”
From those verses, we learn that Jesus made peace by the blood of His cross in order to reconcile all things back to God. And it tells us what we are like before we are reconciled and what we are like after. It says that we were once alienated (foreign to God, separated) and hostile in mind (enemies, unyielding, rebellious), that we were doing evil deeds (doing things we know are sinful and wrong, and continuing to practice them anyway). That is what every Christian is like before they are reconciled back to God. Now (for us who are born of the Spirit) it says, Christ has now reconciled us in his human body by dying in our place, in order to present us as holy and without any blame (with no fault) and above reproach before Him. This is all really, really good news, and there is one condition though. That is, that this is true for us only if we continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting not turning from the hope of the good news (the gospel, which I've been teaching you every Sunday) which you heard.
Let's ask ourselves these questions:
1. Do we recognize that we are totally helpless to be good people – that there is nothing in us that can make us good or right before God?
Do we recognize that Christ died for the ungodly, sinners?
Do we realize that is who we are, and that is who God has chosen to display His great love to?
Do we rejoice in being reconciled back to God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ more than anything? In other words, do we rejoice in God because of who He is more than we rejoice in getting the things we want, more than in being saved from hell, or more than in being forgiven, or more than anything we enjoy in this world? Do we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation?
