FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture Reference: Romans 5:1-11

The love of God is completely supernatural and otherworldly. He demonstrated or shows His marvelous love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. If we ask why He did it, we must look for the answer in the sovereign will of God Himself. There was no good in us to call forth such love.

Now a new set of conditions exists. We are no longer reckoned as guilty sinners. At the enormous cost of the Savior’s blood, shed for us a Calvary, we have been counted righteous by God. Since He went to such tremendous cost to justify us when we were sinners, won’t He much more save us from the wrath of God through Christ? If He has already paid the greatest price to bring us into His favor, is it likely that He would allow us to perish in the end?

Saved from the wrath of God means “to be delivered from any contact with wrath.” We are saved away, apart from any contact with the wrath of God, either in time or in eternity.

Going back to what we were and what we now are, think of it this way. It was while we were enemies that we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. We were hostile toward the Lord and quite content to have it so. Left to ourselves, we felt no need of being reconciled to Him. Think of it, enemies of God Almighty, the Creator of all that ever was, is or will be!

God did not share our attitude in the matter. He intervened in a display of pure grace. The substitutionary death of Christ removed the cause of our hostility toward God, namely, our sins. By faith in Christ we have been reconciled to God.

If God purchased our reconciliation so dearly, will He ever let us go? If we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, which is a symbol of utter weakness, shall we not be preserved to the end by the present life of Christ at the right hand of God, a life of infinite power? If His death had such power to save us, how much more will His life have power to keep us!

6. Now we come to the sixth benefit of justification: we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We not only rejoice in His gifts but in the Giver Himself. Before we were saved we found our joys elsewhere. Now we exult whenever we remember Him, and we are sad only when we forget Him. What has produced this marvelous change, so that we can now be glad in God? It is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like all our other blessings, this joy comes to us through Him.

7. The seventh benefit enjoyed by the justified is found in the words we have now received reconciliation. Reconciliation refers to the establishment or in the case of humanity, the re-establishment of harmony between God and man through the sacrificial work of the Savior; once lost through the man Adam, now regained through the Man Christ Jesus. The entrance of sin had brought estrangement, alienation, and enmity between man and God. By putting away sin, which had caused the alienation, the Lord Jesus restored those who believe on Him to a state of harmony with God. We should note, in passing, that God did not need to be reconciled. It was man who needed it, because it was man who was the enemy, at odds with God.

Are you reconciled to God, the Father today? It’s as easy as accepting the gift of Christ Jesus’ death and resurrection that is offered to you. Today He is knocking on the door of your heart. Will you answer?

Adapted and modified excerpts from William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: Romans 5:1-11

Hope does not put us to shame. The NKJV says, “hope does not disappoint.” If we were to hope for something but then later find that we were never going to get it, our hope would cause us to feel shame or disappointment. But the hope of our salvation will never be put to shame. We will never be disappointed or find that we have rested on a false confidence. How can we be so sure? Because God’s love has been poured into our hearts. The love of God here means His love for us. Verses 6–20 rehearse some of the great proofs of God’s love for us. The Holy Spirit who has been given to us the moment we believe, floods our hearts with these expressions of God’s eternal love, and by these we are assured that He will see us safely home to His heavenly kingdom. After we receive the Spirit, we absolutely sense that God sincerely and truly loves us. This is not a vague, mystical feeling that “Somebody up there” cares about humanity, but the deep-seated conviction that a personal God really loves each of us as an individual.

5. In verses 6–20, Paul argues from the lesser to the greater. His logic is that if God’s love went out to us when we were His ungodly enemies, how much more will He preserve us now that we belong to Him? This brings us to the fifth benefit of our justification; we are most assuredly secure in Christ. In developing this theme, the apostle introduces five “much mores.”

• The “much more” of deliverance from wrath (Romans 5:9).
• The “much more” of preservation by His resurrection life (Romans 5:10).
• The “much more” of the gift of grace (Romans 5:15).
• The “much more” of the believer’s reign in life (Romans 5:17).
• The “much more” of abounding grace (Romans 5:20).

In verses 6 through 8 Paul emphasizes that while we were still weak (without strength – NKJV) while we were still enemies and sinners, yet that is when Christ died for the ungodly. In verses 9 and 10 he emphasizes what we are now (justified by His [Christ’s] blood, reconciled to God by the [Christ’s] death) and the resulting certainty of what the Savior will do for us by delivering us from the wrath of God, and thus preserved or saved [us] by His life.

First we are reminded that we were weak, helpless, without strength, and unable to save ourselves. But at the predetermined time, the right time, the Lord Jesus Christ visited our world and died for men. And He did not die for good men, as some might suppose, but for the ungodly. There was no virtue, no excellence in us to commend us to God. We were utterly unworthy, yet still, Christ died for us anyway.

This act of divine love was unique and unparalleled by anything in human experience. The average man’s life is precious to him, and he would not think of throwing it away for an unworthy person. For example, he would not die for a murderer, an adulterer, or a mobster. In fact, he would be reluctant to die even for a righteous person, one who is honest and dependable but not especially warmhearted. It is possible, in an extreme case, that he would die for a good person, meaning one who is kind, friendly, loving, and lovable.

To Be Continued

Adapted and modified excerpts from William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: Romans 5:1-11

In the previous chapter of Romans, Paul touches on justification and here the apostle carries his case for justification forward another step by taking up the question: What are the benefits of justification in the believer’s life? In other words, does it really work? His answer is a resounding yes, as he enumerates seven major blessings that every believer possesses. These blessings flow to the believer through Christ. He is the Mediator between God and man, and all God’s gifts are channeled through Him. We will touch on all seven, one by one.

1. The first great benefit enjoyed by those of us who have been justified by faith is peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The war is over. Hostilities have ceased. Through the work of Christ all causes of enmity between our souls and God, the Father, have been removed. We have been changed from foes to friends and heirs by a miracle of grace.

2. We have also obtained access into an indescribable position of favor with God. We are accepted in the Beloved One; therefore we are as near and dear to God as His own Beloved Son. The Father extends the golden scepter to us and welcomes us as sons, not strangers. This grace, or unmerited, unearned favor, embraces every aspect of our position before God, a position that is as perfect and permanent as Christ’s because we are abiding in Him and He is abiding in us.

3. As if that were not enough, we also rejoice in hope of the glory of God. This means that we joyfully look forward to the time when we will not only gaze on the splendor of God, but will ourselves be manifested in glory (see John 17:22; Colossians 3:4). We can’t comprehend the full significance of that hope here on earth, and I can’t imagine we will ever get over the wonder of it through all eternity.

4. The fourth blessing that flows from justification is that we have to ability to rejoice in our sufferings, not so much in their present discomforts, but rather, in their eventual results (see Hebrews 12:11). It is one of the delightful paradoxes of the Christian faith that joy can coexist with affliction. Remember, unlike “happiness,” joy is not dependent on outward circumstances. The opposite of joy is sin, not suffering. One of the by-products of sufferings (or tribulations as earlier translations term it) is that it produces endurance, steadfastness, or as the New King James Version terms, perseverance. We could never develop endurance if our lives were trouble-free.

Paul now goes on to explain that the endurance developed in us also produces character. When God sees us bearing up under our trials and looking to Him to work out His purposes through them, He awards us His “Good Endurance Seal of Approval.” We have been tested and approved. The resulting impact of this sense of His approval fills us with hope. We know He is working in our lives, developing our character. This gives us confidence that, having begun a good work in us, He will see it through to completion (Philippians 1:6).

To Be Continued

Adapted and modified excerpts from William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.