RECONCILED WITH GOD
Romans 5:6-11
Eighteenth in the sermon series, “Romans: Gospel Blueprint.”
Paul announced the settled privileges of everyone justified by faith: we have peace with God, we stand in grace, and we can even rejoice in suffering because God has poured his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. He assured the believers, calling God’s love the anchor that keeps our hope from ever putting us to shame (Ro 5:1-5). The apostle will explain that the love that was poured out was expressed through Christ’s death while the believers were still sinners. God’s love was not mere talk; it was proven on the cross. The writer gave a clear contrast. God is righteous, but He poured out His love? To whom? To the weak, the impious, sinners, and enemies.
Proven Love
Paul uses “For while” indicating the timing of the cross. Related to timing, the writer also uses the phrase “still sinners.”[1] The apostle wants the leader to understand how profound God’s love is. Why would He die for the unrighteous? Such is unthinkable, but this love is real.
Romans 5:6-8: For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Notice he says God demonstrates His love through the death of Christ. The Father and Son acting together, so that the cross measures the very heart of God toward those who have faith. The love of God is not proven by the believers’ circumstance; it was proven through the death of Christ.
Enemies Reconciled
Paul explains that being justified by the death of Christ, the believer is also saved from God’s wrath (Ro 1:18). Then the apostle shows the real picture: that the believer was an enemy of God, reconciled through the resurrection, but with so much more grace.[2] So Christ’s blood (death) and His life (resurrection) save the believer.
Romans 5:9-10: Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
Paul introduces a rich word here: reconciled. Peace back in verse 1 was the headline; reconciliation is the detailed story behind it. It means two warring parties brought back together. In the ancient world, people always assumed humans had to work to appease an angry God. Paul flips it. God took the initiative, at His own expense, while the sinners wanted nothing to do with him.
Rejoice
Paul could have stopped at “you’re safe from judgment.” But he says, in effect, “and not only that.”[3] Future security is not the finish line; the present joy is. The reconciled believer doesn’t just wait nervously for heaven; they boast in God right now.
Romans 5:11: More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
And notice that word “now.” It states, “we have now received reconciliation.” This is a present possession, something the believer already holds in his/her hands today, through “our Lord Jesus Christ.” Peace with God turns out to be a costly reconciliation, achieved by God’s own initiative, guaranteed by a living Lord.
Application
1. Many of us secretly believe God’s love for us rises and falls with our behavior, that He loves us more on our obedient days and less on our failing ones. But Paul locates the proof of God’s love entirely outside us, at the cross, at the moment we were at our worst.
2. Let us be grateful to the Lord for dying for us while we were yet His enemies. May we always remember that Christ is the way to reconcile the believer to the Father. Through His death and resurrection, we are saved from God’s wrath and judgment.
3. Reconciliation isn’t meant to make you merely relieved; it’s meant to make you glad. This week, build in deliberate moments to rejoice in His name out loud, in prayer or with a friend or in song. Joy is not a personality trait for the naturally cheerful; it is the natural overflow of a heart that grasps it has “now received reconciliation.”
[1] Frank S. Thielman, Romans, ed. Clinton E. Arnold, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Zondervan Academic, 2018), 5:6.
[2] Stanley E. Porter and David I. Yoon, Romans: A Handbook of the Greek Text (Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2023), 5:9. An emphasized contrast is indicated.
[3] Thomas R. Schreiner, Romans (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament), 2nd ed. (Baker Academic, 2018), 272. The phrase “not only that” may refer to the preceding verse or all the way to verse 3.
Poem
RECONCILIATION
by Ed Pilapil Jr.
While we were weak and far from good
God’s enemies, that’s where we stood
He made a way to save and call
All who believe the Lord of all
Know this: reconciliation
Effect of justification
Through Christ, there is now belonging
And it’s not of our doing
Not one human is deserving
Yet He decided on saving
Reconciling the enemies
Salvation, the Lord guarantees
Not to all, but those having faith
It’s a faith that does not betray
True to His word and the gospel
Fully convinced, that’s His people
Study Guide
1. Explain why Paul uses “still” and “at just the right time.” What do weak, ungodly, sinners describe? (Ro 5:6-8)
2. What has God already done for us? Why can we be sure he’ll finish it? Explain what it means to be “reconciled” to God. (Ro 5:9-10)
3. Is your faith more joyful or more anxious? Explain why reconciliation gives us reason to rejoice today. (Ro 5:11)
