16 The Triumph of Faith – Part 2

Paul concluded the opening portion of Romans 5, by describing the outpouring of God’s love upon His people:

Romans 5:5

Paul then began the next portion of the chapter by describing the character of that love:

1 Character of God’s Love

Paul spoke of how the character of God’s love, reveals His heart:

Romans 5:6-8

Verse 6 shows how the Lord reached down to man in our greatest need we were “still without strength”. That points to the fact that man is unable to do anything to earn our own justification.

None have the ability to remedy their personal sin condition, which points to a state of hopelessness.

Verse 6 then shows that God had the remedy:

“in due time Christ died for the ungodly”.

That statement makes clear, that God’s timing is always perfect. Paul spoke to that issue when he addressed the Galatian church:

Galatians 4:4-5

God the Father, sent His Son at the right time to redeem fallen mankind, however in His foreknowledge, He had determined to do so even before He created man, knowing that we would sin, and thus require salvation.

That itself, shows the greatness of God’s love, showing how God created us with the knowledge that we would rebel and sin against Him.

Because everyone is conceived in sin, we are therefore helpless, “without strength” and in need of the Savior. Jesus alone qualified for that since He alone is God and therefore without sin.

The Father sent His Son into the world at “due time” for each person as well.

Paul then established how “Christ died for the ungodly”. Which again speaks of the substitutionary aspect of the Lord’s sacrifice:

2 Corinthians 5:21

Paul had similarly addressed the issue earlier in Romans:

Romans 3:25

In Romans 5:7, Paul desired to show how the depth of the Father’s love, and that how it goes well beyond that which one person might have for another.

He suggests that it might be possible for someone to sacrifice their life for someone they consider as “good”, it would be unimaginable that someone would sacrifice their life for someone they knew to be guilty.

He then showed how the Father’s great love separated Himself for everyone else:

Romans 5:8

That constitutes the next great doctrine of the chapter, showing the depth of the Father’s love. But again, it shows the timing, as the Father sent Jesus while we were still sinners.

That again shows how sinful man cannot do anything to facilitate his salvation, and to present himself as righteous before God.

The cross is the ultimate symbol and representation of God’s love.

2 Spared of God’s Wrath

Paul then spoke of another benefit of salvation, which is that the believer is spared from God’s wrath:

Romans 5:9-11

Paul connects the believer’s receipt of God’s grace, with their avoidance of God’s wrath. He shows that, by the way began verse 9, “Much more then”.

The statement shows how Christ’s sacrifice and His blood, not only cleansed out sins, but it keeps the saved from the punishment reserved for the unregenerate.

Paul also spoke to that in his epistle to the Colossians:

Colossians 1:20

In that scripture, Paul joined the believer’s reconciliation and their “peace with God “and showed how both were accomplished through the blood of Christ at Calvary.

The logical fact that the saved are reconciled to God by the blood of Christ, therefore shows that the unsaved have not been reconciled, and therefore remain estranged from God.

Prior to salvation, everyone lacks a spiritual relationship with God, and shows that no matter what attempts they might make, they remain unreconciled to God.

The only way anyone may be reconciled to God, is for their sins to be expunged so that they might be accounted as righteous, which Paul spoke of in earlier chapters of the epistle. And that, only occurs by the blood of Christ:

1 John 1:9

The word “cleanse” in this passage, speaks of a continual cleansing.

Therefore, even though Jesus died once and for all, His blood is able to cleanse us from all sins (those past, present, and future).

In verse 10, Paul made it abundantly clear, that prior to salvation everyone is an enemy of God.

At the end of the verse, he should that there are even greater benefits for the believer, by showing that in addition to having been reconciled, the believer is saved by the Lord’s life, or literally “unto His life”. That shows how the believer is a recipient of eternal life.

On verse 11, the apostle speaks of yet another benefit, which is to rejoice in God. Our salvation, and being exempted from the wrath of God, should indeed cause the believer to continually rejoice in the Lord and His love for us.