“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)
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