Romans 5
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Christ died for us at a time when we were without strength and could not fulfill God’s will. We were ungodly, filthy, sinners and entirely unworthy. And yet He did not wait for us to get our act together, start living holy, become good people and so forth. He died for us when we did not deserve it.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
It is possible for someone to die for someone else. In fact it has happened before. Parents die for their children, a husband can die for a wife he loves, a wife can die for a husband she loves, brothers and sisters can die for each other. All of this is possible. We can give our lives for the people we love and cherish. However God went a step further to demonstrate His love for us.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
When we were sinners. When we were unworthy, filthy and deserving of punishment God died for us. We weren’t just passive sinners. We were actively engaged in sin. We were going our own way and doing our own thing. We had rejected God, rejected His Word, rejected His purpose and did not want anything to do with Him.
And yet this is the time when He sent Jesus to die for us. Jesus died for us when we were God’s enemies. When we were terrible. When we hated God and despised Him and His righteousness. We were entirely unworthy. We were dirty and filthy.
Imagine the most unworthy person you can think of. Maybe it is Joseph Kony or Bin Laden or Hitler or Idi Amin or some politician or public figure. Someone you really don’t like. Someone you think is deserving of hell. Would you be willing to die for them? Moreover by crucifixion? God did that for us.
MUCH MORE;
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
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.
It is true that God loved us deeply even when we were filthy sinners and proved His love for us by sacrificing Jesus on the Cross for us. Most of us accept and even believe this wonderful truth about God’s love for the sinner. We all agree with this. And yet that is not the point Paul is making. Paul is using that wonderful truth as a stepping stone to an even more wonderful truth.
If God loved you so deeply when you were a filthy sinner, when you were entirely unworthy, when you were His sworn enemy, surely He loves you much more now that His blood has washed you and you belong to Him and are pursuing His will and purpose. He doesn’t love you less. He loves you much more now that you are His.
Religion and most Christians believe that God loves us unconditionally when we are a sinner and that He will not treat us according to our sins and failures but will give us mercy and grace. However religion and most Christians don’t believe that God loves a believer the same way. Before we are saved we are told God loves us and that we should come as we are. We weren’t fasting and praying and tithing.
After we are saved we are told to start living holy and do right things all else God will stop loving us, He will judge us, He will punish us, He will cause bad things to happen to us if we don’t pray, read the bible, tithe, go to church, fast and so on.
In other words, we are told that God loves us much less when we get born again than He did when we were filthy sinners and His enemies.
This means that the quality of His love for us diminishes instead of increasing.
It is no longer the unconditional love of God that flows from who He is and His nature and character.
It is now a conditional love that is based on our good behavior and holy living. He stops loving us as only God can and starts loving us the way other people love us. According to our good deeds.
This is ridiculous and yet most of us believe it and live our lives like this. The truth is that God loves us much more now than He did before our salvation. And before our salvation, He loved us so much that He died for us. He loves us even more now.
It would have been wonderful if after we got born again God continued to love us with the same love that He had for us when we were still sinners that He even sacrificed His Son for us on the Cross. That would have been great.
But Paul is saying that God loves us much more now that we have been justified by Jesus’ blood than He did before. This is a wonderful truth.
Being loved the same would be great, more would have been awesome, but much more is beyond our ability to comprehend. However much you think God loves you, He loves you much more.
God’s kind of love has nothing to do with you or what you do. It is not about you. You are not the source of it. God is.
Matthew5
43 You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?
48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
God loves those who hate Him, He blesses those who curse Him, He does good to those who hate Him, and helps those who despitefully use Him and persecute Him. Many of us believe that God’s love for us is proportional to our holiness and goodness. We don’t understand that it is impossible to obtain God’s love by being good, living holy and obeying all the rules. Agape love is unconditional. It has nothing to do with you or what you do.
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