Introduction
At the end of chapter 3 and throughout chapter 4 Paul explained to us that sinners are justified through faith in Christ. And justification means God not only forgives us for what we’ve done wrong, but he regards us as if we’ve done everything right.
And he’s able to treat us that way because of Christ who paid for our sins with his life and who shares with us his own record of perfect obedience. Since he paid for our sins, God forgives us. Since he shares his record of perfect obedience with us, God regards us as if we’ve done everything right. And the way for sinners to be justified is by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. We cling to Christ by faith and we’re justified. So, we mustn’t think we can climb up to God by our good deeds. We mustn’t think we can earn our way into his good books by the things we do. We’re justified through faith and through faith alone.
And in the passage we studied last Sunday morning, Paul highlighted for us two of the benefits we receive now that we have been justified through faith in the Saviour. The first benefit we receive is that we have peace with God. Once we were God’s enemies. We were the objects of his wrath. We were justly liable to his wrath and curse and to all miseries in this life and the next. But now that we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God.
And the second benefit we receive is that we have the hope of glory. In chapter 3 Paul said we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. He meant we fall short of the glory of being like God. But now that we have been justified through faith, we can rejoice because the day is coming when God will renew us perfectly in his image and we’ll come into his presence in the life to come, where we’ll see his glory and we’ll become like him.
And last week’s passage ended with Paul saying that God pours out his love into our hearts by his Spirit. By his Spirit, who lives in every believer, God reassures us of the greatness of his love for us in Christ Jesus. So, when we read the Bible for ourselves, or when we hear the reading and preaching of God’s word, or when we receive the Lord’s Supper as we did last week, the Holy Spirit uses these things to reassure us deep down inside of the greatness of God’s overflowing love for us.
And Paul continues to write about the love of God in today’s passage. He wants us to know the full measure of God’s amazing love for us in Christ Jesus. And so, what a joy it is to think about this subject! Some of the young people have been sitting exams. And what a relief, because they’re now over. And it’s not easy, is it? It’s not easy because often they have to study subjects which don’t interest them. And it’s not easy because often they have to study subjects which they find difficult. And it’s not easy because often they have to study many subjects. It’s hard and it’s difficult and you’re glad when the exams are over. But here’s a subject which is a joy to study. What a joy to think about this one thing: the love of God, the overflowing and abounding love of God for sinners like us in Christ Jesus. Here’s a subject which thrills us and which delights us and which prepares us to face all kinds of troubles and trials, because once we know the greatness of God’s love for us, then we can face anything, because we know our loving Father will help us. And here’s a subject that not only thrills and delights and prepares us, but here’s a subject that motivates us to give our all to God. After hearing about the love of God for us, we’re ready to get up and to leave this place and to live our lives for him.
Verses 6 to 8
In verse 5 Paul says that God has poured out his love into our hearts by his Spirit, whom he has given to us. And in verses 6 to 8, Paul shows us the full measure of God’s love.
Now, God demonstrates his love for us in many ways, because hasn’t he given us our life in his world? And hasn’t he filled our life with good things to enjoy? Every good thing we enjoy in this life has come to us from him. And so, he demonstrates his love for us every day in the ways he provides for us and cares for us and protects us and helps us. He demonstrates his love for us in many ways.
But the fullness of God’s love, the abundant greatness of his love, is seen in this one way: at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. And Paul goes on to say in verse 8 that God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And so, here’s how we see the fullness of his love. God’s love is seen in this: at the right time, Christ died for people who were powerless and ungodly and sinful.
Let’s think about what Paul says about the objects of God’s love. He says about us that we were powerless and ungodly and sinful. So, we were powerless. Or we were weak. Have you ever been physically weak? Perhaps you’ve been sick and you’re so sick you can’t get out of bed. You don’t want to get out of bed. But even if you wanted to, you can’t, because you feel so weak. You don’t have the strength to get up. Or if you’ve been to a nursing home, you might have seen the devices the staff have to help them move some of the residents who are too weak to walk. There’s a device called a Sara Stedy, I think, which is for people who can stand, but who can’t walk. The resident stands on this small platform which is on wheels. And a seat swings round for the resident to sit on. And the carers can then wheel the resident from one room to another. Or if the resident is not able to stand, the carer might use a hoist to lift the resident from his bed into a wheel-chair. And then he can be wheeled into another room.
We have these devices to help people who are physically weak. And the point is that when we’re physically weak, we can’t do what we need to do on our own. We can’t manage on our own. On our own, we’re helpless.
And Paul says about us that we were powerless. We were weak. Not physically weak. But weak in a spiritual or moral sense. We were unable to do anything to make peace with God. We were unable to do anything to earn his good favour. We were unable to save ourselves from God’s wrath against sinners. We were under the wrath of God and we were unable to do anything about it. We were helpless.
And we were ungodly. That is to say, we were wicked. We’re all used to Hollywood movies when two people meet and fall in love. That’s what many movies are about. It’s what many novels are about. Two people meet and they fall in love. Usually there’s some obstacle which keeps them apart for a time. But eventually, they overcome the obstacle and they come together. And, of course, in the movies, the two people are always beautiful, aren’t they? They’re always attractive-looking and they’re both interesting and smart and appealing. A handsome man meets a beautiful woman and they fall in love. Why wouldn’t they when they’re both so attractive in different ways?
But the wonder of God’s love for us is that he loved us even though we were ungodly. So, he’s God and we’re the exact opposite to him. He’s God and we’re ungodly. He is Godlike and we are not. He ought to be repelled by us. But instead of being repelled by us, he loves us. It’s remarkable.
And not only were we weak and ungodly, but we were also sinners. And a sinner is someone who has broken God’s laws and commandments. What God forbids, that’s what we have done. What God hates, that’s what we have done. And instead of doing good, which is God’s will for us, we have done evil. No wonder he’s angry with us. No wonder we provoke his wrath. And yet the wonder of the gospel is that he still loves us. He’s angry because of our sins and shortcomings and our rebellion. But still he loves us.
And so, we can see the full measure of God’s love by thinking about the objects of his love. We’re weak and we’re ungodly and we’re sinners. We’re not lovely. There’s nothing loveable about us. And yet, God loves us.
And now, let’s think about what God did for us. What did God do for us? Again, he has done many things for us, but Paul is writing about the chief way that God demonstrates his love for us. And it’s this: Christ died for us. And Paul mentions this twice in verses 6 to 8. It’s there at the end of verse 6: Christ died for the ungodly. And it’s there at the end of verse 8: Christ died for us.
And the little word ‘for’ is important, even though it’s a little word. It means ‘in place of’ or ‘on behalf of’ or ‘for the sake of’. So, Christ died in place of us. He died on our behalf. He died for our sake or for our benefit.
The Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden held out to Adam the hope of everlasting life in the presence of God which God promised to Adam and to us. But by disobeying God, Adam forfeited for himself and for us the right to eat from the Tree of Life and live for ever in the presence of God. And so, death came into the world so that we all die. We all die, because death is the wages for our sin. It’s what we deserve for sinning against God. It’s the penalty we deserve: death instead of life.
But Christ took our place when he died on the cross. He suffered in our place the penalty we deserve. When he died on the cross, he was bearing the punishment we deserve for all that we have done wrong, so that all who believe in him will live for ever.
And let’s remember: for whom did Christ die? For people who were righteous? Did he die for people who always did everything right? Or did he die for people who were good? Did he die for people who were always doing good? No, he didn’t die for people who were always doing what is right and he didn’t die for people who were always doing good. He died for people who were weak and ungodly and sinful. He knew all about our weakness and our ungodliness and all about our sins: everything we would ever do wrong. He knew all our wicked thoughts and desires and inclinations. He knew how bad we are deep down inside. And yet he loved us and gave up his life for us.
Has anyone ever come to you for your help and you’ve groaned inwardly? You can’t be bothered helping this person, because it would be too much trouble for you and this person doesn’t deserve your help anyway. Well, if anyone ever had the right to think like that about us, it’s the Lord, because we don’t deserve his help. But instead of groaning inwardly, he came down from heaven and became one of us so that he could give up his life for us and for our salvation.
And before moving on, notice that, according to Paul, we see the greatness of God’s love for us in the death of Christ. We see the greatness of the Father’s love in the death of his Son. Sometimes people think that the Father hates us and wants to punish us. And God the Son had to convince him to forgive us. They think that the Father was reluctant to forgive us, but the Son persuaded him to do so. But that’s not what the Bible says. The Bible makes clear that God the Father loves us just as much as the Son loves us. Their love for us is one and the same, because they are one God and there’s no difference between them. And so, the Father loved us and sent his Son to die for us. And the Son loved us and came to die for us. The Father loved us and did not spare his Son, but gave him up for us all. And the Son loved us and did not spare himself, but gave himself up for us. And so, in the death of Christ we see the Son’s love for us and we see the Father’s love for us at one and the same time.
And it’s at the cross that we see the full measure of God’s love for us. It’s here that we see the abundance of his love for us. Because of God’s abundant and overflowing love, Christ died for us. And he died for us even though we’re weak and ungodly and sinful. He loved us even though we were unloveable. And he died for us so that we can live for ever.
Verses 9 to 11
And according to Paul in verse 9, since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him. When Paul says we have been justified by his blood, he means we have been justified by his death. Because Christ shed his blood and died, weak, ungodly sinners like us are justified through faith so that God forgives us and accepts us.
And Paul uses the same kind of ‘how much more’ argument in verse 10. So, if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life.
In both verses, Paul refers to something that has already happened and then he says what it means for us in the future. So, what has already happened? According to verse 9 we have already been justified through the death of Christ. And according to verse 10, we have already been reconciled to God through the death of God’s Son.
So, we have been justified and reconciled. That’s related to what we were thinking about last week and how one of the benefits we receive from being justified through faith is that we have peace with God. Once we were God’s enemies. And it’s not so much that that we were against God, but that he was against us. It’s not so much that we regarded him as our enemy, but that he regarded us as his enemies. He regarded us as his enemies, because we rebelled against him. We rejected his purpose for us which was to give us eternal life in his presence. We decided to go our own way and we turned away from him. We were like ungrateful and disobedient children, who receive everything they have from their parents, but who then turn away from their parents. And we receive everything we have from God, including our very life. But we’ve turned away from him. And so, he regarded us as his enemies.
And yet, he still loved us and he sent his Son to make peace between us by his death on the cross. Christ died in our place, bearing in himself the wrath of God which we deserve to suffer. God’s wrath, which was once directed towards us, was directed towards Christ. God’s justice, which required satisfaction, was satisfied by the death of Christ. And as a result, God no longer regards us as his enemies, but as his people.
And so, so long as we’re trusting in Christ for salvation, we have already been justified and we have peace with God for ever.
And what does that mean for us in the future? Paul says in verse 9 that since we have been justified by Christ’s death, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him. And he says in verse 10 that since we’ve been reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more shall we be saved through his life.
And so, since we’ve already been justified and since we already have peace with God, then how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath in the future. Back in chapter 1, we saw that God reveals his wrath in the present by letting unbelievers fall deeper and deeper into the misery of their sins. And so, God is continually revealing his wrath in the present. But the Bible also makes plain that there will be in the future a great and terrible day of judgment when God will judge everyone who every lived and when he will condemn the wicked and send them out of his presence to suffer unbearable punishment in body and in soul for ever and for ever. And so, they will live for ever in body and in soul, but they will suffer endless punishment for all that they have done wrong in this life.
But all those who are trusting in Christ the Saviour for salvation, do not need to fear the coming day of judgment when God will pour out his wrath on the wicked. They do not need to fear that day, because all who trust in Christ will be saved from God’s wrath on the day, because all who trust in Christ have already been justified and they already have peace with God. It’s as if, when we first believed, the day of judgment was brought forward in time and the verdict against us was already passed. And the verdict that was passed was that all the charges against us — past, present and future — were dropped and we received peace with God for ever. It’s as if the day of judgment was brought forward in time to the day we first believed. And the verdict was passed. And the verdict can never be overturned or changed or destroyed.
And since this is true, then we do not need to fear the day of judgment to come. And we do not need to fear the wrath of God in the present or in the future. Since we’ve been reconciled to God through faith in his Son, God will never ever punish his believing people in the present or in the future. He might have to discipline us in the present if we go astray. But when he disciplines us, it’s because he loves us and it’s for our good, because he wants to bring us back to the right way.
And we don’t need to fear his wrath in the life to come, because Christ was punished in our place and no further payment will ever be demanded from those who believe in his Son.
From time to time I hear Christians talk about how they’ll have to answer to God for the things they have said and done in this life. And so, they’re nervous about the day of judgment and what God will say to them about their many failures. But we’ve been justified. We’ve been reconciled. We don’t need to fear the wrath of God. All our sins have been paid for in full by Christ. God has promised to remember our sins no more. And so, on the day of judgment, he will not even bring our sins up, let alone punish us for them. He’ll not even mention them.
And so, what should we do in view of God’s overflowing and abundant love for us? Take a look at verse 11. We should rejoice. We should rejoice in God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received reconciliation. And if we have now received reconciliation, then we don’t need to fear the day of judgment, because Christ died to save us from God’s wrath.
And so, rejoice. Rejoice in God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ. Is he your Lord? Are you trusting in him for salvation? If you’re not, will you do so now? Will you turn to God the Father in prayer and give thanks to him for sending his Son into the world to save sinners. And ask him to save you so that you too can rejoice with us in this wonderful good news about God’s abounding love to weak, ungodly sinners.
Sermons and Stuff 