In this episode, we dive deep into Romans chapter 5 and uncover a truly remarkable passage about the incredible gift of reconciliation through Jesus Christ. Our discussion emphasizes the genuine nature of Christ’s sacrifice for all, not just those who accept Him, but even those who initially rejected Him. It’s a radical understanding of love and forgiveness, often overlooked in Christian discourse. Through a careful examination of verses 6, 8, and 10, we unravel the beautiful theme of God reaching out to reconcile with humanity, taking on judgment so that we might be drawn back to Him.
Now comes the next section in Romans chapter 5, which again is another remarkable passage. Let me read it to you. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath through him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Now this passage is in chapter 5, which I’ve said to you before, is about freedom from wrath. Remember that wrath is sending away. God’s judgment is to hand people over to the powers of sin. But he took that judgment upon himself and handed himself over to the powers of sin through his son Jesus Christ. So if handing over is God’s wrath, then what is the opposite of God’s wrath? It is reconciliation, which is bringing near, bringing close, reconciling, making one again. And so, you see, the last verse here shows that this is a statement opposite of God’s wrath. For not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Now, Christians very often… diminish what we all do. We can’t help it. We are fallen human beings and we just can’t grab a hold of the greatness and bigness and magnanimity of God. but we diminish the meaning of this by looking at it through, oddly enough, ironically enough, our Christian eyes. We think of God as sacrificing himself for us, Christ dying for us, And we think of him doing that because he foresees that we will become Christians. Or we think of him doing that, dying for our sins, because we can see that we have accepted Christ and therefore this applies to people who have accepted him. But that is a serious mistake. This is not talking about people who have accepted him. It’s talking about people who have rejected him. How do I know that? Well, because of exactly what it says. When we were still without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Who are the ungodly people who rejected him? What about verse 8? But God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Well, who are the sinners? All of us, people who have no regard for God. who turn to their idols instead of the maker of all things. And then verse 10, for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God, well, who are the enemies? The enemies are the world, the people of the world who have become enemies of God by sinning and turning away from Him. Well, do you see then that these verses need to be understood from the viewpoint of ungodly people, not Christians, from the viewpoint of rejecters of God, not acceptors of God. And when we do view these verses from the viewpoint of those who reject God, it is utterly, utterly astonishing. For these verses say that Christ sacrificed himself for people who rejected him.
SPEAKER 01 :
And then it says in verse 8 that Christ died for people who were sinners.
SPEAKER 02 :
But you say, well Colin, yeah, there’s nothing new in that. We know that he died for people who were sinners. Ah yes, but you haven’t gone far enough. Because you see, verses 6 and 8 and 10 are parallel verses. They express the same thought in slightly different words. And verse 10 tells us clearly, reveals to us clearly, what it means in verse 6 and 8 for Christ to die for our sins. Did Christ, did Jesus Christ die for our sins only provisionally? That is on condition that we accept him when we get the news. Did Christ, what therefore is the death of Christ? Is it a sacrifice in place of sinners as long as sinners accept him.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, no. That is not what verse 10 leads us to.
SPEAKER 02 :
So what does verse 10 indeed lead us to? Listen to this. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son… I’ll stop in the middle of the sentence, because do you hear what it says? We were reconciled to God through the death of his Son. So that verse is exemplifying what verses 6 and 8 are saying. So let’s read these three verses together. For when we were still without strength, this is verse 6, for when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Verse 8, but God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Verse 10, For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more having been reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. So Christ’s death in verse 6 and Christ’s death mentioned in verse 8 is explained in verse 10 as God’s reconciliation of sinners through that death. Christ’s death is not merely a provision where he says, I’ll die for you, as long as you accept me afterwards. No, I have reconciled myself to you. Now who? To whom exactly? Well, now let’s see the parallel, not of Christ’s death this time in 6, 8, and 10, but the parallel of our condition. When we were without strength and ungodly, verse 6, and when we were sinners, verse 8, And when we were enemies, verse 10, when the human race was in that condition, God reconciled himself to the human race by taking the judgment of the human race upon himself. Well, why do you say the human race, Colin? It’s surely only for those who died. I just mentioned, I just made it clear to you. Jesus did not die for those who came to believe. Jesus died for ungodly people.
SPEAKER 01 :
That’s all the world, isn’t it? For people without strength. That’s all the world, isn’t it? For people who were sinners. That’s all the world, isn’t it?
SPEAKER 02 :
For people who were enemies. That’s all the world, isn’t it? Yes, it is. You see, then, that Paul is gradually expanding the message of the good news of Christ to all humanity, and God has reconciled himself to all humanity by taking the judgment of all humanity upon himself. Which means, if he has reconciled himself to all humanity, that he is going to draw all humanity to himself, for his reconciliation is not powerless. Well, we’ve looked at the breadth of this. We’ve looked at the enormity of it. But come now to your little minuscule life and mine. We get troubled by our sins. We are overwhelmed by our shortcomings. We feel so weak in regard to our devotion to God. And we feel, therefore, that we’re not worthy to be redeemed. But it is precisely unredeemed people that God has reconciled, don’t you see? You know, I have taught this book of Romans for decades, and yet only in the last, what, six or ten years has God opened it up to me in a more expansive way. I’ve seen behind the scenes in these verses now in ways that I couldn’t see before. I could only limit these verses to the people who had faith. But when you read them carefully, then you see that he’s talking about all humanity. But back to our minuscule lives. Don’t be overwhelmed with your sins. Yes, be humbled. Yes, be crushed in a way. But come before God with the crushing and your being overwhelmed and say, Oh, Father, my sinfulness reveals to me that there’s no hope in my humanity. but in your mercy there is, in your great love for me, in your grace, to have reconciled yourself to me, to have taken my judgment upon yourself. This is just beyond my comprehension, Lord God, and yet you are giving me the faith to believe it. And so, you see, you don’t allow your addiction to drugs or alcohol to bring you down, to overwhelm you. You say, God’s reconciliation is greater than my addiction, greater than my alcoholism, greater than my drug addiction. Father, in Jesus, I believe that I am reconciled to your heart. So let’s read these verses once again. And I want you now to read them as an unbeliever. Read them as an enemy. Read them as someone without strength and a sinner and ungodly. For they are addressed to such people, which is all of us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more, then, having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Thank you for listening, everyone, today. Colin Cook here. And again, I want to refer you to my newly published book because it takes several chapters in unveiling this atoning sacrifice of Christ, this work of God who took our judgment upon him so that he can redeem the whole world. The book is called The God’s Unbreakable Oath, God’s Unbreakable Oath, and it’s about the salvation of all the world. But don’t think that that’s simply one theme. I show in this book how God does that. And so I really think that my book will give you enormous courage of faith and great times of study. So I recommend it to you, God’s Unbreakable Oath. It’s available to you easily on Amazon. Thank you for listening today. If you’d like to make a donation, please do. It helps the ministry. And you can do that online at faithquestradio.com See you next time. Cheerio and God bless.
