CHRIST DIED FOR US
Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace [unmerited favor] wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Romans 5:6 “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 5:7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:1 (Amplified Version) “Therefore, since we are justified--acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God--through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation] to hold and to enjoy, peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One. 5:2 Through Him also we have [our] access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace--state of God’s favor--in which we [firmly and safely] stand. And let us rejoice and exult in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God.”
Romans 5:6 “While we were yet in weakness--powerless to help ourselves--at the fitting time Christ died for (in behalf of) the ungodly. 5:7 Now it is an extraordinary thing for one to give his life even for an upright man, though perhaps for a noble and lovable and generous benefactor someone might even dare to die. 5:8 But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, died for us.”
"In the whole Bible there is hardly another chapter which can equal this triumphant text.” Martin Luther
I. WE WERE
A. At War
1. With God
a. Romans 5:10 “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
b. By Christ, we have peace with God. (Rom. 5:1) The warring is over
between us and God when we surrender.
2. Because of the Adam Nature
a. Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
b. Romans 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”
c. Romans 7:18 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Romans 7:23 “But I see another law in my members, warring against the
law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which
is in my members.”
3. Being Alienated
a. Ephesians 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the
blindness of their heart:
b. Colossians 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.
4. Due to Sin
Psalm 59:2 “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and
your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”
B. Helpless
1. Romans 5:6 “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for
the ungodly.”
C. Hopeless
Ephesians 2:12 “That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:”
II. HE WAS
A. Able
1. To Commend
Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
4921 sunistao {soon-is-tah'-o} or (strengthened) sunistano {soon-is-tan'-o} or sunistemi {soon-is'-tay-mee} from 4862 and 2478 (including its collat. forms); TNDT - 7:896,1120; v AV- commend 10, approve 2, consist 1, make 1, stand 1, stand with 1; 16
1) to place together, to set in the same place, to bring or band together
1a) to stand with (or near)
2) to set one with another
2a) by way of presenting or introducing him
2b) to comprehend
3) to put together by way of composition or combination, to teach by combining and comparing
3a) to show, prove, establish, exhibit
4) to put together, unite parts into one whole
4a) to be composed of, consist
2. The expression here employed strictly means "to set two things side by side," and it has two meanings in the New Testament, both derived from that original signification.
It sometimes means to set two persons side by side, in the way of introducing and recommending the one to the other. It sometimes means to set two things side by side, in the way of confirming or proving the one by the other. It is used in the latter sense here. God not merely "commends," but "proves," His love by Christ's death. It is the one evidence which makes that often-doubted fact certain. Through it alone is it possible to hold the conviction that, in spite of all that seems to contradict the belief, God is Love.
Alexander Maclaren
3. To Save
Hebrews 7:25 “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for
them.”
B. In Love
1. Unconditional Love
a. How sad is it when you have to depend on people whose love is conditioned upon feelings, circumstances or personal favor. Paul Fritz “How Does God Demonstrate His Love?” Sermoncentral
b. Agape
26 agape {ag-ah'-pay} from 25; TDNT - 1:21,5; n f AV - love 86, charity 27, dear 1, charitably+2596 1, feast of charity 1; 116
1) brotherly love, affection, good will, love, benevolence
2) love feasts
This is not the love of complacency, or affection, that is, it was not drawn out by any excellency in its objects. It was an exercise of the Divine will in deliberate choice,
made without assignable cause save that which lies in the nature of God Himself. It
expresses the deep and constant "love" and interest of a perfect Being towards entirely unworthy objects, producing and fostering a reverential "love" in them towards the Giver, and a practical "love" towards those who are partakers of the same, and a desire to help others to seek the Giver. Vine’s Dictionary
This is so much like God and so much unlike humans. Don Robinson
c. "There is nothing you can to do make God love you more! There is nothing you can do to make God love you less! His love is Unconditional, Impartial, Everlasting, Infinite, Perfect!" - Richard C. Halverson.
2. With Us
a. The sinner.
268 hamartolos {ham-ar-to-los'} from 264; TDNT - 1:317,51; adj AV - sinner 43, sinful 4; 47
1) devoted to sin, a sinner
1a) not free from sin
1b) pre-eminently sinful, especially wicked
1b1) all wicked men
1b2) specifically of men stained with certain definite vices or crimes
1b2a) tax collectors, heathen
b. Not in love with the sin, but in love with the sinner. Not in love with the systems of this world, but the inhabitants of this world.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life
for his friends.”
I John 3:16 “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
3. Forever
Romans 8:35 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
Romans 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
III. WE HAVE
A. Access
1. By Faith
a. Romans 3:28 “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”
Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ:”
Galatians 3:22 “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”
Galations 3:26 “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 3:17 “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,”
Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
Shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved.”
2. By Grace
a. Grace (God's undeserved favor towards us) is not only the means by which we are saved, it is also a description of our present standing before God. It is not only the beginning principle of our Christian life, it is the continuing principle. David Guzik
b. Many Christians begin in grace, but then think that they will go on to perfection and maturity by dealing with God on the principle of law, based on the ideas of earning and deserving. David Guzik
c. A standing in grace reassures us: God's present attitude towards the believer in Christ Jesus is one of favor, seeing them in terms of joy, beauty and pleasure - He doesn't just love us, He likes us because we are in Jesus. David Guzik
Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
CONCLUSION: HE DIED
Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
A. For Us All
Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth
say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely.”
B. That We Might Live
John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I
am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly.”
