Romans 5:6-11 - The Love of God Explained
Romans 5:6-11
6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Additional Text:
John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
Romans 5:1-5 Paul talks about how believers in Jesus are justified by faith. He begins talking about “the love of God” and how it “has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
I. Misinterpretations of phrase, "God loves you.'
A. Some think “Yes, and therefore I will continue to embrace sin because God loves me anyway.”
B. Others think, “Yes, and therefore I will continue to largely ignore God because He still loves me anyway.”
C. Still others think, “No He doesn’t, because my life seems to be nothing more than an endless sequence of tragedies.”
II. How does the Bible explain God’s love?
A. It is a Trinitarian act. - The love of God the Father has been poured into the hearts of those who believe in Jesus by the Holy Spirit.
1. persistent false teachings - God of the Old Testament is solely a God of judgment while Jesus in the New Testament is solely a God of love.
a. In the Old Testament God the Father restores the Israelites again and again despite their continual unfaithfulness, and in the New Testament Jesus promises to come back to judge the living and the dead.
b. All three persons of the one true Triune God demonstrate both love and judgment.
B. God in His holiness loves what is good and hates what is evil. But God’s love is so great that He will even bring good things out of evil things. (Romans 8:28)
III. Romans 5: 6
A. “without strength” communicates ideas of being weak, sick, and helpless.
1. No amount of good works can make up for evil things done.
2. Letting 10 people live doesn’t make up for murdering one person; telling the truth ten times doesn’t make up for telling one terrible lie.
B. “in due time” (or “at just the right time”) “Christ died for the ungodly.”
1. Right location
a. Israel connects Africa, Asia, and Europe - to travel or trade between those three continents by land you go through Israel.
b. Best place to start to spread the good news of salvation all over the world
2. Right time
a. From 27 BC to 180 AD the world enjoyed it’s very first prolonged period of relative peace.
b. Christ’s good news of salvation is quickly able to spread throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe without large wars slowing it down.
IV. “Christ died for the ungodly.”
A. The standard of goodness
1. isn’t based on how you compare to other people.
2. instead based on God’s standard of absolute moral perfection.
a. Jesus “knew no sin.” (2 Corinthians 5:21); is “without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) and God cannot even lie (Titus 1:2)
b. God can’t do anything wrong!!!
B. You can either get mad about that assessment or you can humble yourself and get saved.
V. Romans 5:7-9.
A. You wouldn’t give up your life for just anybody.because your life is precious to you.
B. Romans 5:8: “But, God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
C. None of us deserve God’s love.
VI. Romans 5: 9-10
A. uses legal terms such as “justified” and “reconciled.”
B. In the divine court of law all of us are guilty of sinning against God.
1. We’ve lied, we’ve stolen; we’ve dishonored our parents
2. Worst of all we’ve worshiped the gods of money, power, and self instead of the God
C. But if you repent of your sins and have faith in Jesus Christ you have now been justified by His blood.
1. To be “justified” means “to be declared righteous” or “to be declared as being in right standing before God.”
2. In a legal sense Jesus bled and died on that cross to take the punishment for your sins upon Himself.
VII. Death
A. Romans 6:23 will say later “the wages of sin is death” or what we earn from the sins we commit is death.
B. The underlying reason why all of us are vulnerable to death is because of sin - Both the sin that we ourselves commit and the sin that we inherit from Adam.
C. Jesus Christ as the Son of God didn’t have to die and yet He both bled and died in our place so that through faith in Him we could be saved from the just wrath of death and hell.
VIII. Romans 5:10-11.
A. “enemies” of God.
1. Through faith Christ’s sacrifice reconciles your relationship with God.
a. Need of reconciliation - Isaiah 59:2 "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear."
b. Romans 5:10 says, “we shall be saved by His life.”
2. As important as Christ’s death is for our justification and reconciliation we need the resurrected life of Jesus Christ in order to give us the hope of our own resurrection into eternal life.
3. If you are a follower of Jesus then you have the Holy Spirit so even if your body dies it will live again in the paradise of the new heaven and new earth where Revelation 21:4 says, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
4. We who were once “without strength,” “ungodly,” “sinners,” and “enemies” of God are now through faith in Jesus Christ “justified,” “saved,” and “reconciled” and this makes us “rejoice.”
a. Every Sunday is the Lord’s Day.
b. Every Sunday we rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead because His resurrection guarantees our own.
Conclusion:
This is what God’s love is really like. It’s not sappy or sentimental. It doesn’t simply overlook your bad behavior. Instead it’s very honest about how far all of us have fallen. Yet despite how terrible you and I have been God showed His great love in a bloody cross and an empty tomb so that you could be saved. So if you haven’t done so already, become a disciple (become a student of everything Christ has commanded you) and He will be with you always.
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Do you feel an emptiness in your life? Are you seeking answers but don't know where to look? Have you ever wondered if you are good enough? Please read the summary of the gospel message, "Four Things You Need to Know About God"
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