The Undeniable and Undeserved Love of God

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath [of God]. 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. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Rom. 5:6-11, ESV).

Our Woeful Predicament

Paul summarizes his opening indictment of the human condition (1:18-32), depicted here as “weak,” the opposite of a strong Abraham-like faith (4:19) and characteristic of the deficiency of misguided law observance (8:3). The adj. “ungodly” describes the irreligious state apart from God and apart from his gracious justification (4:5). The ones contrasted with “righteous” and “good” persons are “sinners” (cf. v. 19; 3:7; 7:13),¹ guilty of “sin” (cf. v. 12) and subject to divine “wrath” (cf. 1:18; 2:5, 8; 3:5; 4:15; 9:22; 12:19); and “enemies” (cf. 11:28; 12:20), the opposite of those having “peace with God” (5:1).

Proof of God’s Love

Despite the woeful predicament of mankind, what God has done through Christ is “much more” [πολλῷ μᾶλλον], a major point of emphasis in this chapter (vv. 9, 10, 15, 17). The love of God (vv. 5, 8) “for [εἰς–‘unto’] us” is undeterred, and not just “his love” (ESV) but τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀγάπην, emphatically “the of himself love” or “his own love,” initiated within his very nature rather than from external prompting. God “shows” or “demonstrates” [συνίστησιν] (the first word of the sentence for emphasis!) his own love in that “Christ died for [ὑπέρ–‘on behalf of’] us,”² accomplished “at the right time” (cf. 3:26; Gal. 4:4).³

The law [of Moses] had operated for centuries and had served to expose the weakness and inability of man to measure up to the divine standard of righteousness. No further testing was needed. It was the right time…. It was for ‘sinners’ Christ died, for men who were neither ‘righteous’ nor ‘good.’ The contrast is between the tremendous worth of the life laid down and the unworthiness of those who stand to benefit from it. Back of the death of Christ for sinners is the love of God …⁴ 

Justified, Saved, Reconciled

To be “justified” by God is to be “reconciled” to God, which is to be “saved” from the wrath of God, accomplished because of the love of God shown through the atoning death of the Son of God: “Christ died … Christ died … by his blood … by him … by the death … by his life … through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom …”

To “be reconciled” and to receive “reconciliation” (cf. 11:15) is, according to Paul, a state of affairs “brought about by God alone” (BAGD 414), albeit with conditions to be met by willing recipients (cf. 2 Cor. 5:18-20). We therefore “rejoice”—presently and continuously—because God’s gift of reconciliation through Christ “is ground enough for ceaseless exultation.”⁵

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ From the verbal ἁμαρτάνω (to “sin” or “miss the mark”), vv. 12, 14, 16; 2:12; 3:23; 6:15; and the noun ἁμαρτία (“sin” or “sinful deed”), vv. 12, 13, 20, 21; 3:9, 20; 4:7, 8; 6:1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23; 7:5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 17, 20, 23, 25; 8:2, 3, 10; 11:27; 14:23. Note the heavy concentration (thirty-one explicit references!) in chaps. 6–7.

     ² To die ὑπέρ is to die “on behalf of,” vv. 6, 7, 8; 8:32, 34; 14:15; 1 Cor. 11:24; 15:3; 2 Cor. 5:14-15, 21; Gal. 1:4; 2:20; 3:13; Eph. 5:2, 25; 1 Thess. 5:10; 1 Tim. 2:6; Tit. 2:14; cf. Mark 14:24; Luke 22:19-20; John 6:51; 10:11, 15; 11:50-52; 15:13; 18:14; 1 Cor. 1:13; Heb. 2:9; 6:20; 10:12; 1 Pet. 2:21; 3:18; 1 John 3:16.

     ³ Cf. also 2 Cor. 6:2; Eph. 1:10; 1 Tim 2:6; Tit. 1:3.

     ⁴ E. F. Harrison, “Romans,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol 10. Eds. Frank E. Gaebelein and J. D. Douglas (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976): 58-59.

     ⁵ C. E. B. Cranfield, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. ICC. 2 vols (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1980): 1:268-69. 

Related Posts: Rejoice in Sufferings (Rom 5:3-5), Broad Reach of Justification (Rom 5:12-21): Part 1, Baptism (Rom 6:1-4) 

Related articles: Tracy Watts, Daniel's Prayer

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Where there is No Law there is No Transgression (Romans 4:15b)

“For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression” (Rom. 4:13-15, ESV).

Some have concluded from the above text that if there is no law against a practice, then the practice is divinely sanctioned (e.g., infant baptism, mechanical instruments in Christian worship, et al.). However, careful attention to Paul’s argument in the context in which it was given provides a clearer understanding of what is affirmed and what is not affirmed.  

The Law Brings Wrath

The “law” that Paul has consistently been referencing in his letter to the Romans is the old Jewish Mosaic legal system, which Christians are not amenable to (Rom. 3:19; 6:14-15) and therefore cannot transgress. “For the law brings wrath” (cf. 1:18; 2:5-12; 5:9), because when the Mosaic law was in force and was violated, it could not extend grace or forgiveness or provide justification. So what does Paul mean when he observes, “where there is no law there is no transgression”? 

The term “transgression” [parábasis] (cf. 2:23; 5:14) means “overstepping” (BAGD 611), implying a set standard already in place that can be contravened. There cannot be “transgression” in the technical sense without “law.” Nevertheless, there can certainly be sinful (ungodly, unrighteous) attitudes and behaviors contrary to the divine will and subject to God’s wrath (cf. 1:18-32; 2:12; 3:9, 20, 23; etc.). Comparable expressions include “sin” [hamartía] (cf. 3:9) and its verbal form (cf. 2:12b), “lawless” [anómōs] (cf. 2:12a), and “trespass” [paráptōma] (4:25; 5:15, 16, 17, 18, 20; 11:11-12).

Conclusion:

What does “law” mean if it does not refer to either a positive affirmation or a negative condemnation of a practice? Paul is merely informing the Christians in Rome that they cannot be guilty of transgressing the old Jewish law because Christians are not amenable to it. But since all have sinned (Rom. 3:23), it follows that Rom. 4:15b is a simple concession that everyone is amenable to divine law (cf. 1 Cor. 9:21; note also John 15:22-24).

--Kevin L. Moore

Related Posts: Instruments in Worship, Abraham Believed God (Rom 4:3)

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We Rejoice in Our Sufferings

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5, ESV).

Christian Suffering

While “we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:2), there is another reason for rejoicing. Allusion here to “our sufferings” is a prelude to the upcoming discussion affirming, “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (8:18 ff.). This offers awareness and reassurance, while countering potential objections about the real-life challenges experienced by those who are justified by God through Christ.

Benefits of Suffering

Parallel to James 1:2-3, 12, Paul says that we “rejoice” [καυχάομαι] in our “sufferings” [θλίψεις], because, unlike the Law of Moses “producing” or “bringing about” [κατεργάζομαι] wrath (4:15), these “tribulations” (ASV, NASB, N/KJV) or “afflictions” (CSB, LSB) bring about “endurance” [ὑπομονὴ], “steadfastness” (ASV), “perseverance” (NASB, NIV, NKJV), conveying the sense of “fortitude” (Weymouth).

This in turn produces “approvedness” [δοκιμή] (ASV), “a spiritual state which has shown itself proof under trial,” thus “character,”¹ i.e., “proven character” (CSB, NAB, NASB, WEB). This, then, leads to “hope” (cf. v. 2), facilitating the joy that is confirmed rather than shaken by afflictions and hardships. “For persecution only generates fortitude, or resolute endurance under trials: and then fortitude leads on to the approved courage of the veteran; and that in turn strengthens the hope out of which it originally sprang.”² Awareness of what lies ahead offers the anticipatory assurance of hope founded upon the undeniable proof of “God’s love,” clearly demonstrated in all that he has done through Christ (vv. 1-11). 

The Gift of the Holy Spirit

While the term πνεῦμα (“spirit”) has been employed multiple times already in the letter (1:4, 9; 2:29), this is the first explicit reference to “the Holy Spirit.” Unlike the apostle’s initial experience with uninformed disciples in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-2), here he assumes preexisting knowledge among the Romans of God’s Spirit,³ through whom “God’s love has been poured into our hearts” [καρδίαι] and “has been given to us.” Since Paul earlier expressed his desire to travel to Rome “that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you” (1:11), a non-miraculous manifestation of the divine Spirit seems to be in view here. 

The apostle knows that the Roman Christians have obeyed from the “heart” [καρδία] the “standard of teaching” [τύπον διδαχῆς] they were delivered, freed from sin as penitent baptized believers (6:4, 17-18). Note also the instrumentality of the Spirit-inspired “word” (10:8) and intercession in prayer (8:26-27). Paul’s understanding of the gospel message is the same as his apostolic colleagues,⁴ involving an obedient faith-response that includes belief, repentance, confession, and baptism, resulting in forgiveness of sins and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit.⁵ Thereafter God’s Spirit indwells the redeemed in Christ as a “seal” of divine ownership and “guarantee” of God’s inheritance.⁶

Conclusion

It is only from a Christian perspective that one can rejoice in the midst of suffering. While there is no joy in the suffering itself, we value the benefits gained therefrom. Without the imperfections of this world and the inevitable trials we face, there can be no development of much-needed qualities like endurance, proven character, and confident hope. Nor would we fully appreciate the love of God and his gift of the Holy Spirit.

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes: 

     ¹ J. Denney, “Romans” 624. Cf. ESV, ISV, NET, NIV, NKJV, NRSV; “strength of character” (NLT), “experience” (KJV, LSV).

     ² W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans 118.

     ³ Cf. also Rom. 9:1; 14:17; 15:13, 16.

     ⁴ 1 Cor. 15:11; Gal. 1:7-9; 3:26-27.

     ⁵ Acts 2:37-38; 5:32; 22:16.

     ⁶ Cf. 1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14; 3:16; 4:30; 1 John 3:24; 4:13. See K. L. Moore, “God’s Indwelling Spirit,” Moore Perspective (26 August 2015), <Link>. Nonetheless, God cannot recognize as his those who continue to practice iniquity (2 Tim. 2:16-21). Since it is possible to forfeit salvation by falling back into a sinful life (cf. 2 Pet. 2:20-22), it must therefore be possible to lose salvation’s guarantee. Whatever the Holy Spirit does or does not do, personal accountability, decision-making, and self-control are not eliminated (cf. Rom. 7:18; 12:3).

Related Posts: Justification (Rom 5:1-2)

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Justification = Peace with God, Grace, Hope, Rejoicing, and Glory

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2, ESV). 

Justified by God

“Therefore” [οὖν], flowing from the last two verses of the previous chapter, this conjunction signals what is to be concluded from all that Paul has been saying about being “justified by faith” (1:16–4:25). The aorist tense of “justified” [δικαιωθέντες] “is not a once-for-all act of God. It is rather the initial acceptance by God into restored relationship. But thereafter the relationship could not be sustained without God continuing to exercise his justifying righteousness with a view to the final act of judgment and acquittal.”¹

Peace with God

As justified believers we now enjoy incredible blessings. The first two listed here (“peace” and “grace”) comprise the opening greeting of every Pauline letter and recur near the end of almost all of them. The idea of “peace [εἰρήνη]² with God” means his wrath has been appeased (cf. 1:18; 3:25) to enable reconciliation. This is “an objective state of peace, not simply a feeling of peacefulness…. enmity is exchanged for peaceful relations.”³ As such, peace with God is not the absence of external turmoil (v. 3) but is synonymous with justification, salvation, and reconciliation (vv. 9-10). It is “our duty to enjoy to the full the new state of peace with Him which we owe to our Lord Jesus Messiah.”⁴

Grace of God

There is also “grace” [χάρις].⁵ Of the 154 occurrences of χάρις in the NT, almost two-thirds are in Paul’s writings, with the heaviest concentration in Romans. The expression essentially conveys God’s “undeserved favor,” a primary motivator in the apostle’s own life and ministry.⁶ “The theology of Paul was neither born nor sustained by or as a purely cerebral exercise. It was his own experience of grace which lay at its heart.”⁷

Hope in God

Next is “hope” [ἐλπίς] (cf. vv. 4-5),⁸ introduced at 4:18-21 and inextricably linked to faith. This is not a frail expression of uncertainty but an unshakable confidence in God, an earnest expectation of something sure. There seems to be somewhat of a tension in Paul (and other NT writers) between now and not yet. Our justification grants us immediate procurement of “peace” and “grace,” while “hope” looks to the future (cf. 8:24-25). “Clearly no scope is even envisaged for a wholly ‘realized’ understanding of the process of salvation …. its wholeness belonging to the not yet.”⁹

At the same time, because of this confident hope, Paul not only speaks of salvation in terms of the future¹⁰ but also of the past,¹¹ present,¹² and both simultaneously,¹³ albeit contingent upon ongoing faithfulness.¹⁴ This is something in which we “rejoice” [καυχάομαι] (cf. vv. 3, 11; contrast 2:17, 23). Although on our own merits we fall short of God’s “glory” [δόξα] (3:23), “we rejoice in hope” of the glorious future with him in view of his grace and peace (cf. 1:23; 3:7; 4:20; 6:4; 11:36; 15:7; 16:27).

Our Faith Response

All this is possible “through our Lord Jesus Christ” (cf. v. 11). Over half of this chapter’s first eleven verses highlight the Lord’s propitiatory/expiatory work, with particular emphasis on his sacrificial death (1, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11; cf. 3:25; 4:25). The occasion of having “obtained access by faith into this grace” is clarified further in the next chapter in regard to the faith-response of baptism “into his death” (6:3-4). A penitent believer’s relation to God drastically changes when sins are forgiven by Christ’s blood at baptism,¹⁵ which Paul himself had experienced,¹⁶ appropriating the “grace in which we stand.” 

The verbal ἵστημι (to “stand”), a complementary metaphor of “walk,”¹⁷ is applied to the firm steadfastness of “this grace,” as well as faith (11:20; 2 Cor. 1:24), gospel obedience (1 Cor. 15:1), and confidence in God’s will (Col. 4:12; cf. 2 Tim. 2:19).

Conclusion

All that God has accomplished through our Lord Jesus Christ is accessible by faith, trusting in him to do what he promised when we believe and do what he says. As a result we have peace with God, access to grace, rejoicing in hope of our future glory.

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ J. D. G. Dunn, Theology of Paul the Apostle 386. Cf. also D. J. Moo, Romans 298-99. 

     ² Cf. Rom. 1:7; 2:10; 3:17; 8:6; 14:17, 19; 15:13, 33; 16:20.

     ³ S. E. Porter, “Peace, Reconciliation,” in DPL 695.

     ⁴ W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans 118.

     ⁵ Cf. Rom. 1:5, 7; 3:24; 4:4, 16; 5:15, 17, 20, 21; 6:1, 14, 15, 17; 7:25; 11:5, 6; 12:3, 6; 15:15; 16:20, 24. Every letter in the Pauline corpus concludes with a “grace” benediction in which the divine source of grace is the Lord Jesus, while the peace benedictions attribute the divine source of peace to God.

     ⁶ 1 Cor. 15:10; cf. 1 Cor. 9:16-23; Gal. 1:15-16; Eph. 2:7; 3:8; 1 Tim. 1:14; Tit. 2:11-14.

     ⁷ J. D. G. Dunn, Theology of Paul the Apostle 179. “Every line of this passage breathes St. Paul's personal experience, and his intense hold upon the objective facts which are the grounds of a Christian's confidence” (W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans 119).

     ⁸ Cf. Rom. 4:18; 8:20, 24; 12:12; 15:4, 13.

     ⁹ J. D. G. Dunn, Theology of Paul the Apostle 471. 

     ¹⁰ Rom. 5:9-10; 9:27; 10:9, 13; 11:26; 1 Cor. 3:15; 5:5.

     ¹¹ Rom. 8:24; Tit. 3:5.

     ¹² Rom. 10:10; 1 Cor. 1:18; 15:2; 2 Cor. 2:15; 2 Thess. 2:13.

     ¹³ Eph. 2:5, 8; 2 Tim. 1:9.

     ¹⁴ 1 Cor. 5:1-5, 11; 8:11; 9:27; 15:1-2; 2 Cor. 2:15; 6:1; Gal. 1:6-9; 5:4; 1 Thess. 3:5; 1 Tim. 1:19; 4:1; cf. Matt. 18:12; 26:31; 24:13, 42, 44-51; John 6:66, 70-71; Heb. 2:1-3; 3:12-14; 4:1, 11; 6:4-8, 11; 10:23, 26-38; 12:1-7, 15, 25; Jas. 5:19-20; 1 Pet. 2:25; 2 Pet. 2:1-3, 18-21; Rev. 2–3. 

     ¹⁵ Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; John 3:3-5; Acts 2:37-41, 47; 8:12, 35-39; 10:33, 47-48; 16:14-15, 29-34; 18:8; 19:1-5; Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 1:14, 16; 12:13; Gal. 3:26-27; Eph. 4:5; 5:26; Col. 2:12; Tit. 3:5; Heb. 10:22; 1 Pet. 3:20-21; 1 John 5:6-8.

     ¹⁶ Acts 9:18b; 22:16; cf. 1 Cor. 12:13.  

     ¹⁷ Rom. 4:12; 6:4; 8:1, 4; 13:13.

Related Posts: Rejoice in Sufferings (Rom 5:3-5), Broad Reach of Justification (Rom 5:12-21): Part 1, Baptism: Death, Burial, Resurrection (Rom 6:1-4) 

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