Romans 5:6-8 Commentary

I will be posting a full commentary on Romans 5-8 here on "Reimagining Paul." My plan is to publish this as a concise, handy paperback (and also an eBook) under the title: The Law of the Spirit of Life, A Concise, Practical Commentary on Romans 5-8. The whole text will be available free here on the blog.

Helpless. Ungodly. Sinners. That's what we were. Human reasoning suggests that God is only fair if he gives people what they deserve. God's wisdom says otherwise: he gives good things to the undeserving. The common understanding of salvation is that you still have to earn it—you earn it by your faith. This is supposedly okay as long as you're not trying to earn it by "being good" or keeping the Law. God says we don't earn it at all. He gives it for free to those who are helpless, ungodly, sinners. In another place, Paul says, "You were dead in your offenses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). The dead cannot help themselves, nor can they find faith in themselves. Who will rescue us? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit!

The outline is as follows: God's Help at the Right Time (vs. 6), God's Strange Martyrdom (vss. 7-8).

GOD'S HELP AT THE RIGHT TIME (vs. 6). While we were still helpless. This one saying gives the lie to the notion that we have to do something to earn salvation. Most people understand Christianity as saying we do not have to become morally perfect for God to save us, but think we have to develop our own faith and repentance. God will come to us, they think, if we plow the soil of our hearts first to prepare for the seed of Christ's love. Nonsense! We do nothing; God does all. Christ saves the helpless. At the right time. A friend loves even in adversity. Anyone can love when times are good. God's love comes at the right time, just when we need it, while we are undeserving. Died for the ungodly. In case the message has not been clear, Paul is repetitive. Christ helps the helpless at the right time, the ungodly.

GOD'S STRANGE MARTYRDOM (vss. 7-8). One will hardly die for a righteous person. Love willing to die for the beloved is a rare thing. When it happens, it is generally because the beloved seems deserving. People will die for a great leader, for a spouse, for a child, or perhaps for a person they admire or respect. But even in those cases, we consider it to be a great love that would lay down life for someone else. While we were still sinners. Thanks be to God! This is the right time to be saved: while we are helpless, sinners, ungodly. God loves the undeserving, seeing the potential in sinners before they see it in themselves. There is a false notion that we must become repentant first, humble ourselves first—and then, and only then, will God see us a love-worthy. But in truth he saves us as unrepentant sinners and then puts repentance in our hearts. Christ died for us. He did it for the Father. He did it for his own reasons. But he also did it for us. Love has two parties: the Lover and the Beloved. Hard as it is to believe, we are the Beloved he felt worth dying for.

PRACTICAL LESSONS: Think correctly about the state of your own soul and think correctly about other people. Gratitude, not pride, should accompany our thoughts about the fact that we have been saved—the fact that God knew us before time and chose us to be transformed into the image of Christ. God pulled us up from the dust of our own unworthiness and made us worthy. He will do it for others too. There is no boasting or superiority. But more than this, the image of Divine Unconditional Love is Jesus on the cross forgiving his tormentors, and how could we not be in awe forever of this incomparable love? Meditate on it. Look at people the way God sees them—and imagine how he saw you and how he sees you now. Are you still living as a sinner under his Grace? Is that what you think of such unconditional love? Let this love of Christ permeate your soul. Let it affect your outlook on other sinners, on unpleasant people, on strangers who cross your path. God loves them as much as he loves you and how should that affect your view of people?

PRAYER: How great is your love, O Lord! Beyond all imagining, you have loved us sinners and raised us up to be your Sons and Daughters. Let your love permeate my soul, so that I comprehend the magnitude of your gifts to me. Let me desire this gift for all of the people I will encounter today.