They believed that humanity was divided into three
categories of class; the “righteous” (Tzadikim Nistarim) “good men”
(Benim) and finally, “the sinners” or ‘evil-ones.’ (Resha’im)
[1]
The “righteous” were in a category all their
own. They needed no help from God. They were already perfect. Holy. And pure.
The world was still intact and would not spin out of control because there were
at least a few righteous men on the earth at any given time. Sodom and Gomorrah
were destroyed.
Because the Lord could not find any righteous men
living there. Such righteous ones were men such as Abraham, Enoch, Elijah, and
Job just to name a few.
Those reading Paul’s letter for the first time. Were
very serious concerning their faith. Through ritual. A strict following of the
law. And by holy living they remained ethical. Moral. Principled. “Good men.”
Their goal was simple. To be better.
The rest were simply good for nothing. They were
trolls. They were “the dirties” of the world. They were beyond help. They were
to be shunned. They were “the ungodly.”
They were “Helpless.” “Sinners.” Beyond God’s mercy. Stay clear of them.
They were warned. They were to be
avoided. At all costs. So, imagine the
reaction that must have happened when Paul’s audience heard these remarkable
words.
“For while we were still weak, at the right time
Christ died for the ungodly. For one
will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one
would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)
This turned their moral compass upside down! It
literally rocked their world!
So how do you understand words such as love. Mercy, And
grace? The worldly do not grasp what true love means. God’s love for us reveals
true love. Only by knowing Christ’s mercy are you able to show mercy.
Again, this is not a natural characteristic of sinful
humankind. By God’s grace, every believer not only knows these divine words but
also believes them and lives them.
"When you were dead in your sins and in the
un-circumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He
forgave us all our sins." (Colossians 2:13). Thus. God reveals His
love for us.
“GOD DEMONSTRATES HIS OWN LOVE FOR US…”
I. While we were sinners,
II. Christ has died for us.
I. WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS
A. Every
believer lives a similar life to every other human being. Sin infects
everyone’s lives. “While we were still sinners…” Verse 8b Paul comes
straight to the point. No one can escape the effects of sin that affect all of
mankind.
B. “You see,
at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the
ungodly.” Paul includes himself as a sinner when he uses the word “we”.
Sin also lived in him. Sin is destructive. Humans are made “powerless”.
No one can save himself. Sin is evil. “Ungodly” describes every sinful
thought. Word. Or deed of any and every believer.
C. “Very
rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might
possibly dare to die.” Remember. The righteous need no one to take
their place. The good might find a substitute in their place. The
selfishness of sin means that very few are willing to sacrifice their lives for
others.
D. Some try to deny
that sin exists. Others try to explain away sin. Still others try to redefine
the word sin. No matter what people try to do with sin, sin does not and will
not go away.
The old song sings. “Ain't no sunshine...Only
darkness. Every day.” Sin is still
alive and well in our very own lives. Ever since the first sin of Adam no one
can, will, or is able to escape sin.
Each of us has inherited a sinful nature from our very
first parents. We are not born into this world as friends of God but as
enemies. "Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are
wayward and speak lies." (Psalm 58:3). Life begins at conception. Sin
starts with life. We are conceived sinful.
E. By now we
have come to realize the depth of destruction that sin causes in the lives of
every living and breathing person on earth. The world drastically changed
forever after sin entered the world. God promised Adam and Eve (and all
mankind) a Savior. (Genesis 3:15).
Because of sin death entered the world. God drove Adam
and Eve from the Garden of Eden so they would not eat from the tree of life. In
the end, who would really want to live on this globe in this sinful life
forever? "For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as
the son--both alike belong to me.
The soul who sins is the one who will die" (Ezekiel 18:4). No one can escape death. Death
is a result of sin. Man dies because man sins.
F. God’s law
reminds each one of us of our sinfulness. No one likes to hear how bad they
are. We do not want to have all our sins brought up for us to remember. Time
and again, God’s law reminds each of us that we daily fall short of the glory
of God. We sin daily. We sin much. Even worse. Our sinful nature delights in
doing that which is evil. "Wicked men…whose words are perverse, who leave
the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice
in the perverseness of evil." (Proverbs 2:12-14). Such are our sinful
lives.
All too often we leave the path of righteousness. All
too often we walk in dark ways, delight in doing wrong, and rejoice in evil. We
are still sinners. “GOD DEMONSTRATES HIS LOVE FOR US…” We are still,
always sinners. Yet. Despite this condition. Christ has died for us.
II. CHRIST HAS DIED FOR US
A. “You see,
at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the
ungodly.” Believers as sinners are “powerless”. Believers acting as
sinners are “ungodly”. Powerless to save ourselves God sent his son,
Christ, to die for sinners.
B. Paul
explains the depth of the meaning of Christ’s death for these believers who are
powerless.
Verse 8b: “While
we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This is God’s great love for
all. “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we
be saved from God's wrath through him!” Verse 9 Jesus’ blood cleanses all
people from sin, God’s anger is gone.
C. “For if,
when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his
Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”
Enemies of God are now made right (reconciled) with God.
Enemies are now saved by grace.
“Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
Believers’ lives are changed forever!
D. Once again,
we begin to approach the depth of the meaning of God’s great love for each of
us. Our sins condemn us. We are powerless to save ourselves. Every day we sin
against God with terrible thoughts, wicked words, and evil actions. The good
that we ought to do and do not do is also sin. Despite all this our God loves
us and forgives us. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us
has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
(Isaiah 53:6).
E. Graciously. Our
loving Lord does not keep a record of our sins. The fact is that the Lord God
Almighty sees sin as sin. In God’s eyes all sins are the same. Only in man’s
thinking are there different degrees of sin. Big sins. Small sins. Worse sins. And
not so bad sins. Are terms we use to describe sin. God’s term for missing the
mark is simply sin. God’s forgiveness for our sins is simply complete.
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son,
purifies us from all sin." (1 John 1:7). Only by the blood of Jesus is
there forgiveness. This holy blood of Jesus forgives all sin: not a few, some,
or many but ALL sin. God shows us his great love
F. Like every
other believer our lives are dramatically and drastically changed forever. “Powerless,
ungodly” sinners are freely given complete forgiveness. Consider God’s
great love for us undeserving and wretched sinners. We can never, ever repay
the debt of love that God has shown to each of us. Nor does God expect it. Our
lives are changed. "Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from
all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own; eager
to do what is good." (Titus 2:14).
This is the story of grace. Christ gained more than
Adam lost. You are restored back to God through the work of Jesus.
As believers we can turn from that which is evil and
be eager to do what is good. This makes all the difference in the world and for
the world today. You are now the shining lights in today’s darkness. We do not
deserve God’s great love. We cannot earn God’s mercy. It is only by the free
grace of God that we are saved. We are sinners, always.
We are sinners, forgiven of all sins. This is God’s
great love to us and for us. This is also God’s great love to and for all
humankind.
The difference for believers is that we know we are
sinners who have been freely forgiven purely out of God’s divine love, mercy,
and grace. "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in
mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it
is by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:4, 5) “GOD
DEMONSTRATES HIS OWN LOVE FOR US…” Even though we are sinners. Christ has
still died for us.
[1] http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12758-right-and-righteousness
Words – 1,795
Passive Sentences –7.9%
Readability – 83.3%
Reading Level – 3.7
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