Romans 5:1-11 Receiving Reconcilication
Scripture
“Like Adam, Israel sinned and broke my covenant” (Hos 6:7). Yet God promised through the prophets that on the basis of another covenant (in continuity with the promise made to Abraham), God himself would transfer the guilt of his people to the Suffering Servant and transfer to them this obedient son’s righteousness (Is 53)
Peace with God Through Faith
5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6 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. 9 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. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation
5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 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. 11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement
The Blessings of Justification—A New Peace and Hope in Christ (5:1–11) After detailing the meaning and process of justification by grace through faith, Paul now proceeds to the consequences of justification—reconciliation and peace with God. An atmosphere of joy predominates as Paul celebrates the privileges of being a Christian and part of the new covenant. Three concepts dominate the section: peace/reconciliation (vv. 1, 10, 11), hope (vv. 2, 4, 5), and boast/joy (vv. 2, 3). A number of scholars believe that hope is the central theme (Godet 1969; Dunn 1988a; Moo 1996; Schreiner 1998), while others make peace the unifying theme (Cranfield 1975; Käsemann 1980). It is best to see not one but a cluster of themes standing equally here. Fitzmyer says (1993b:394), “The emphasis in the paragraph is on God’s love, on Christ Jesus as the mediator of that love, and on reconciliation as the effect produced by that love.” This comes closest, for love appears at critical junctures (vv. 5, 8), but it is best to see all these concepts clustering together to produce the basic theme: the blessings that result from justification. There are two sections: (1) verses 1–5, centering on the hope we have in Christ, and (2) verses 6–11, centering on the reconciliation that has resulted from Christ’s death for us. The first section has two parts: (a) verses 1–2, tracing the process of salvation from justification to peace and grace and then to boasting in our new hope, and (b) verses 3–5, showing why we boast in suffering because suffering leads to endurance, character and hope. The second section also has two parts: (a) verses 6–8, which demonstrate the love of God as shown in Christ’s death for us, and (b) verses 9–11, which trace the reconciliation and salvation resulting from Christ’s death for us.
Peace and Hope in Christ (5:1–5) Whenever something particularly joyous occurs (say a promotion or an incredible gift), one of the first things we do is think of the difference it will make in our lives. This is what Paul does here. The beginning statement, since we have been justified through faith, is a summary of the message of 1:18–4:25. Since Paul is addressing the Roman church, he presents this justification as a past experience, obviously referring to their conversion. This is at the heart of the gospel message: we who once were sinners destined for final judgment (1:18–3:8, 23) have been redeemed through Christ’s blood and justified or declared right with God on the basis of our faith (3:21–4:25). Note the centrality of we in verses 1–11. McDonald (1990:87–88) calls this a “rhetorical bridge” that brings Paul together with his readers in a united experience. As one group, they have all experienced the blessings of justification. Paul has described the basis and nature of justification in the preceding chapters, and now he begins to probe the results of that blessed gift. The first blessing enumerated is peace with God, intended in the Old Testament sense of the Hebrew shalom, a “sense of general well-being, the source and giver of which is Yahweh alone” and “approximates closely to the idea of salvation” (Beck and Brown 1976:777). In the early church it was connected to the eschatological promise of the peace God would bring with his kingdom in the last days (see Is 32:17; 48:20–22; 52:7; 53:5; Jer 37:21; Ezek 34:25). On the basis of the added with God, it approximates the “reconciliation” of verses 10–11 below. Our sins have been forgiven (4:7–8) and our guilt removed (4:25), and we have been made right with God. This peace comes to us through our Lord Jesus Christ. The emphasis on Christ as Lord was also seen in 4:24 and highlights his exaltation to cosmic Lord as the result of his death and resurrection. He is both the means of our salvation and the Lord of our life. There is no possibility of experiencing the peace brought about by salvation except through him. Moo notes that Romans contains no extended christological discussion, but yet in chapters 5–8 every blessing the Christian experiences comes through Christ (peace, 5:1; access to grace, 5:2; boasting in God, 5:11; eternal life, 5:21 and 6:23; thanks for deliverance, 7:25; the absolute love of God, 8:39). Thus “christology, we might say, is not the topic of any part of Rom. 5–8, but it is the basis for everything in these chapters” (Moo 1996:300).
The second result of justification is access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. By access Paul could mean cultic “access to the sanctuary as the place of God’s presence” (Käsemann 1980:133; this is the connotation in Eph 2:18), but more likely here the word has a connotation of royalty, signifying entrance into the audience chamber of the King of kings (Dunn 1988a; Fitzmyer 1993b). There is a twofold basis for this entrance: Christ (whose death made it possible, vv. 6–8) and faith (the means emphasized in 3:21–4:25). It is interesting that Paul says this grace, referring to the grace of God highlighted in 3:24 (“justified freely by his grace”) and 4:16 (“the promise comes … by grace”). However, there it referred to the character of God, while here it refers to the realm of grace that we experience in Christ, namely, the grace in which we now stand. In fact, the perfect tenses here, have gained and now stand (“have stood” in the Greek), express the idea of a “given state of affairs” to which a person belongs (Porter 1994:22). We now not only have access to but actually stand or have our being in God’s realm. As in Philippians 3:20, “our citizenship is in heaven.” This grace includes our new status as justified and also all the blessings enumerated in 5:1–11.
Yet we not only have peace and access to grace, but we also have an entirely new basis for “boasting” (rejoice in the NIV). In 3:27 Paul said that all “boasting” in the law is “excluded” on the basis of the principle of “faith” (see also 2:17, 23). In 4:2–3 he noted that Abraham had nothing “to boast about” because he believed God rather than depended on his works. Yet here there is ground for boasting, namely, in the hope of the glory of God. The earlier passages forbade bragging over human achievement while here pride is encouraged regarding what God has accomplished on our behalf. Pride is sin when it centers on self but valid when centered on the accomplishments of another (like your children or especially your God!). The basis of this pride in God, the hope of the glory of God, is almost certainly not the present glory of the believer (seen in Jn 17:22; Rom 8:30; 1 Cor 11:7; Heb 2:10; 1 Pet 4:14) but the final glory that will be ours at the eschaton (Rom 8:17, 18, 21; Eph 1:18; Col 1:27). Our hope, as in verses 5:4, 5 and 8:20, 24 is a glorious trust in and anticipation of the promises God has given regarding the future. In light of this, Cranfield (1975:260) calls the glory of God “that illumination of man’s whole being by the radiance of the divine glory which is man’s true destiny but which was lost through sin, as it will be restored … when man’s redemption is finally consummated at the parousia of Jesus Christ.” The hope that every sacrifice will be rewarded is the basis for the Christian life with its mandate to live separately from the world; for every earthly glory surrendered, God will recompense an eternal glory (Mt 6:19–21; Mk 10:29–31).
The second half of this section (vv. 3–5) turns to the primary challenge to the joy of our salvation, namely, our sufferings or “afflictions,” probably including trials in general and persecution in particular (Rom 8:35; 12:12; 2 Cor 2:4; 7:4; Phil 1:17). It is common to see these specifically as the eschatological sufferings of the end time (Mk 13:19, 24), especially since the already/not yet tension is predominant here (so Dunn 1988a:250). While the end-time suffering (inaugurated now in the church) is part of the meaning, the term here almost certainly refers to affliction in general (1 Pet 1:6–7). Paul says Christians should rejoice or “exult” in their difficulties (note the parallel in Jas 1:2–4), not meaning that they should be happy in their troubles (see Heb 12:11) but that they should delight in what those troubles will do in their lives, as is made clear in the list that follows. The New Testament teaching on trials is quite illuminating. In Hebrews 12:5–11 trials are looked at from the standpoint of God, a loving Father who must “discipline” his children. 1 Peter 1:6–7 looks at trials from the standpoint of who we are, namely, “of greater weight than gold.” If gold must be purified “by fire,” how much more do we need the purifying effects of “all kinds of trials” to be made pure. Finally, James 1:2–4 looks at trials from the standpoint of their results; through them we learn “perseverance” and thereby become “mature and complete, not lacking anything.” In all three passages the true goal of trials is to increase our “faith,” meaning a God-centered, God-dependent way of life. The list here follows a similar pattern.
Paul shows the results of our afflictions, beginning with because we know, indicating the reasons that we can rejoice in suffering. What follows is a chain of qualities similar to that in Romans 8:29–30 and especially to the chain attached to trials in James 1:3–4. It is indeed possible that the two passages (as well as 1 Pet 1:6–7) belong to the same catechetical tradition in the early church. In fact, the very first quality produced by suffering is the same as in James 1:3—“endurance” (perseverance in the NIV), an “independent, unyielding … perseverance in the face of aggressive misfortune … made possible by Christian hope (Rom 8:25)” (Radl 1993:405). It is often connected with faith in God during hard times (2 Thess 1:4; 3:5; 1 Tim 6:11; 2 Tim 3:10), especially in Revelation (1:9; 2:2, 3, 19; 3:10; 13:10; 14:12). It is clear that in adverse circumstances believers are expected to display a steadfast hope that enables them to remain faithful to God and to run the race of life in the way that God has “marked out for us” (Heb 12:1). Endurance then will produce proper Christian character (Greek dokimē), a term also found in James 1:3 and 1 Peter 1:7, connoting a proven character produced by “testing.” The Greek word for testing occurs only in Paul’s writings in the New Testament but is part of a word group used of testing or purifying gold by bringing it to the boiling point, thus allowing the lighter minerals (gold is one of the heaviest of metals) to rise to the surface where the goldsmith can skim them off. This is the message in 1 Peter 1:7, where our faith is refined or “tested” in the crucible of life to make it purer. In the context of Romans 5:3–5 (as in James and 1 Peter) trials “test” the Christian and give them both endurance and a proven character. This was certainly the case with Abraham as discussed in Romans 4, and it was also true for Paul (read 2 Cor 11:16–33, where Paul uses “boast” three times to describe the effects of his own sufferings). Finally, tested character will produce hope, used already in 4:18 to describe how Abraham “in hope believed” and therefore became “the father of many nations” through Isaac. There is a circularity in this. Hope makes it possible to endure, and at the same time the process of enduring and the godly character it produces increases our hope by making us continually reflect on the future realities guaranteed by God. So the four—sufferings, perseverance, character, hope—interrelate and define the Christian approach to life in this world. Bieringer (1995:305–25) shows that hope is at all times active rather than passive; that is, it must always be demonstrated in the kind of victorious living that results from the experience of Christ and brings glory to God in difficult times.
Paul then elaborates on the meaning of hope by saying that it does not disappoint us (v. 5). Since hope begins and ends this section (vv. 2, 5), it is probably the major theme (Godet 1969; Moo 1996; Schreiner 1998). Christ has died for us, and to be justified by faith is evidence of God’s love (vv. 5, 8) and proof that we are delivered from his wrath (v. 9). That is the basis of our hope. Not disappoint means literally “will not put us to shame” and alludes to Old Testament passages that teach that the child of God does not need to fear “shame” or judgment because of relationship to God (Ps 22:5; 25:3, 20; 31:1; 71:1; Is 28:16; 50:7; 54:4). Thus there is a connection with verse 9, which says that, because we have been justified, we need not fear the wrath of God. Here we have hope because God has poured out his love into our hearts. His love (“the love of God” in the Greek) is probably not our love for God (so Augustine) but God’s love for us (so Calvin 1948 and nearly all today). This is the first time Paul has mentioned God’s love in Romans, but it will become a major theme. Interestingly, in many places it is God’s wrath that is poured out (Ps 65:9; Hos 5:10; Rev 16:1–17 [nine times]), but here Paul has already explicitly stated that the believer has no fear of that. The verb refers to a flood of love that God has poured into our lives. Two further points are critical. First, this love is poured out into our hearts, meaning we realize God’s love as an inner, spiritual experience at the deepest level of our being. Second, the means by which we experience this is the Holy Spirit whom he has given us. In several passages it is the Holy Spirit who is “poured out” (Joel 2:28; Ezek 36:25–27; Acts 2:17–18, 33; Tit 3:6), but here the Spirit is the means by which God’s love is poured into our lives. The Holy Spirit is the supreme gift that makes it possible for us to know the gift of God’s love. As Augustine says, “It is not by ourselves but by the Holy Spirit who is given to us that this charity, shown by the apostle to be God’s gift, is the reason why tribulation does not destroy patience but rather gives rise to it” (Bray 1998:130). The Holy Spirit fills us with the love of God and gives us the strength to endure.
Love and Reconciliation in Christ (5:6–11) Paul now elaborates on his statement in verse 5 that God’s love has been poured out into our lives. There our hope is grounded in the depth of his love. In verses 6–8 this depth is plumbed, as the divine love is exemplified especially in the sacrificial death of Christ. The gar (“for,” omitted by the NIV) that begins the verse shows that this section continues the basis for our hope that was discussed in verse 5. There is an ABA pattern in these verses; Christ’s death for sinners (A, vv. 6, 8) is set in bold relief by comparing it with the deepest example of human love, namely, dying for a good person (B, v. 7). The emphasis in the first part is on still, which appears twice in the Greek for emphasis, when we were still powerless. The point is that all of us were still in a state of sin when Christ died for us. Fitzmyer says (1993b:399) that this “stresses the persistence of the condition. In the face of such persistent weakness and helplessness stands God’s action in Christ.”
Two terms are used to characterize that sinful condition. Powerless, or better “weak,” often refers to physical incapacitation but here refers to the complete inability of every sinful person to accomplish anything of eternal consequence. This does not mean that human beings are incapable of good (Calvin 1979:194–95) called this “common grace,” the ability of the natural person to do good since all are made in the image of God), but it conveys that they can do nothing that will make them right with God. In 1:18–19 Paul described the total depravity of the non-Christian, and this is connected to that doctrine, describing the helpless condition of the unsaved to earn salvation. Ungodly is a stronger term and refers to “living without regard to proper religious beliefs and practice” (Louw and Nida 1988:533). It appeared in a similar context in Romans 4:5 to describe those whom God “justifies,” the “wicked,” or ungodly. Here it is used to depict those for whom Christ died. The language of Christ “dying for” us is quite common (four times in 5:6–8; 14:15; Jn 11:50, 51; 1 Cor 15:3; 2 Cor 5:15) and connotes substitutionary atonement, describing Christ’s vicarious death “for” us or in place of us (see Harris 1978:1196–97, who states that hyper means both representation and substitution). Moreover, this sacrificial death of Christ occurred at just the right time, which could mean “at that very time when we were weak” (Käsemann 1980; Moo 1996) but more likely modifies “Christ died for the ungodly,” paralleling “when the time had fully come” in Galatians 4:4 and meaning the perfect time in history for God to carry out his plan of salvation (Barrett 1957; Cranfield 1975).
In contrast to Christ’s death for the ungodly, Paul goes on to say, human love at its highest level will sometimes move a person to die for a righteous or good person (v. 7). He presents the concept in an ascending pair of statements. First, the “righteous” person would be a morally upright individual, perhaps a zealot (Dunn 1988a), one for whom we have respect but no particular attachment (Moo 1996). The “good” person is one with whom we have close relations, possibly a “benefactor” (Cranfield 1975; Schreiner 1998) or a relative who has done us significant “good.” Paul’s point is in part that we might be slightly more willing to die for a good person than for a righteous one, but it is more important to emphasize the astonishing love of Christ. The highest example of human love is a rare willingness to die for a righteous person and the slightly more common impulse to die for a good person. On the other hand, Christ died for the ungodly who deserved nothing and wanted nothing to do with him.
This is especially seen in the fact that God not only loves us but demonstrates his own love for us, that is, has concretely “proven” this love in the greatest possible way (v. 8). This justly famous verse is the apex of biblical statements on divine love. Anyone who loves another person tries to give concrete proof of that love via certain actions, perhaps buying presents or flowers or surprising them with a romantic getaway. God proved the depths of his love in a way none of us would want to do, by giving his Son to die for us. Yet it is far more than that: he did so while we were still sinners, that is, when we were his enemies, godless sinners. This is the primary point Paul is making. Christ did not die for righteous people or for friends; he died for sinful human beings in all their degrading depravity, for those who “suppress the truth by their wickedness” (1:18) and do “not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God” (1:28), who are “filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity” (1:29). Therefore we deserved to experience the wrath of God and eternal judgment, but Christ took our punishment upon himself and paid the penalty in our place, thereby procuring redemption on our behalf (3:21–26).
The second half of this section (vv. 9–11) describes the natural conclusion (oun, “therefore,” omitted by the NIV) to this act of divine love. We are justified, saved from his wrath and reconciled to him. The result of Christ’s atoning death is that we have now been justified by his blood, the message of 3:21–4:25. There have been several ways of signifying the means of justification in this section: “by his grace” in 3:24, in his blood in 3:25 and 5:9, “by faith” in 3:28, his resurrection in 4:25, and through his life in 5:10. The emphasis on his blood here emphasizes the sacrificial, atoning aspect of his death, bringing out the idea of the ransom price behind “redemption” language (see on 3:24). Moreover, it is a present reality (now) and force in our lives. Paul’s point, however, is that since our justification is a fact, how much more (first in the Greek for emphasis) is it true that we are saved from God’s wrath through him! This uses a Jewish hermeneutical technique called “from the weightier to the lighter,” that is, from the more difficult to the less (Cranfield 1975; Moo 1996; Schreiner 1998; Dunn 1988a shows it is used four times—vv. 9, 10, 15, 17). Since God has done the more difficult, justified the ungodly, how much more can he achieve the easier, delivering those who have been declared innocent from his wrath. Saved in this context refers not to spiritual salvation but to being “delivered” from wrath, namely, God’s wrath at the last judgment (see 2:5, 8 on final wrath; 1:18; 3:5; 4:15; 9:22; 12:19 on present wrath). Moo (1996:310–11 n.) has a good summary, pointing out that Paul often uses this term “to depict the final deliverance of the Christian from the power of sin, the evils of this life, and especially judgment (e.g., 1 Cor. 3:15; 5:5; Phil. 2:12).” Paul pictures the Christian as having been saved, as looking forward to being saved, and even as in the process of being saved (cf. 2 Cor 2:15; 2 Thess 2:10).
The following verse (v. 10) repeats the argument from a different perspective. Here the death of his Son has resulted in our being reconciled to him. Reconciliation is the natural result of justification. After God has declared us righteous on the basis of Christ’s sacrificial death, he establishes a new relationship with us. The language moves from the legal to the personal. Cranfield (1975:267) says reconciliation language was never used in the religious language of the Hellenistic world because it was too deeply personal, but Paul (Rom 5:10, 11; 11:15; 2 Cor 5:18–20) uses it to show the new personal relationship established by God’s justification. Here those who are God’s enemies have been both justified and reconciled … through the death of his Son. That is the thrust of being reconciled, to bring enemies into proper relationship with each other. Note the two directions—hostility from the unbeliever due to sin and hostility from God due to his judgment on sin. But as a result of Christ’s death, that hostility has been removed from both sides, and a new relationship has ensued. So if this exceedingly difficult thing has taken place, how much easier it is for God to have saved us through his life. As in verse 9, saved must mean deliverance from his final wrath. But what does through his life connote? Most likely it refers to his resurrection as the means of reconciliation (cf. 4:25; 8:34). Christ’s death and resurrection are a single event in salvation history and together constitute the basis of our salvation (see on 4:25).
The concluding idea of this section is once again that of boasting, thus framing the paragraph with the theme of boasting or exulting—we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The natural reaction to all that God has done for us through … Christ (see vv. 1, 2, 9, 10 for the centrality of Christ as the means of salvation) is joy. Paul says here that God not only has saved us from his future wrath (vv. 9–10) but … also has given us the joy of our present reconciliation. We have both future hope (vv. 2, 5, 9–10) and present salvation. What joy! And that joy is in God, showing that the highest action anyone can perform is worship, and this worship is a continuous activity. The Christian life is God-centered, and Christ is the instrument whose death on the Cross made this possible. God has given us salvation, and thus we have received an entirely new relationship (reconciliation) from him.
