20250223 Romans 5:6-11 The Demonstration of God’s Love
The Book of Romans • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Welcome to Vertical Church
42 And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.
As a church we seek to uphold the values of the NT church as seen in Acts 2:42 -
We are Trinitarian - while God is one in essence, He is three in person: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit
We believe in the sovereignty of God - sovereign over all creation, sovereign over the affairs of men, sovereign over salvation
We believe in the authority of the Bible - Scripture alone is the Word of God
We are Biblical in our theology - we are a bible teaching church
We believe that the Church is not a building or a denomination but a people - those who are truly in Christ and embrace the truths that were embraced and confessed by the New Testament Church, the apostolic church.
We are evangelical - we believe that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
We are a Vertical Church - we believe that all true worship and living is Vertical, God directed and for the glory of God alone.
Scripture Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, For the glory of God alone - join us on Sundays
Christ alone - Acts 4:12
12 “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
Let us worship God
Call to Worship - Romans 11:33-36
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! 34 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? 35 Or who has first given to Him that it might be repaid to him? 36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
Scripture Reading - Romans 5:6-11
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while 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. 11 And not only this, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Introduction: Romans 5:6-11 The Demonstration of God’s Love
Love in the Bible
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
God’s love in action
(1) The Why of God’s love
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
While we could focus on the death of Christ in this verse, the focus of this verse is on are those who receive God’s love
There are two words in parallel in this verse, weak and ungodly.
The first main meaning is “weak,” or “weakness,” or “to be weak,” originally in the physical sense (cf. Cl. Al. Strom., II, 15, 62, 3: ἀσθένεια σώματος). In the NT the words are hardly ever used of purely physical weakness,4 but frequently a. in the comprehensive sense of the whole man,
Paul is speaking of our spiritual weakness, our spiritual impotence, our spiritual inability
“While we were” shows us that this is our condition before salvation, before we come to Christ
Ungodly - But nearer the mark, and not too far from the Greek either, is the assumption that Paul is here referring in OT fashion to “transgressors.” This is strengthened by R. 5:6
Werner Foerster, “Σέβομαι, Σεβάζομαι, Σέβασμα, Σεβαστός, Εὐσεβής, Εὐσέβεια, Εὐσεβέω, Ἀσεβής, Ἀσέβεια, Ἀσεβέω, Σεμνός, Σεμνότης,” ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964–), 190.
We are spiritually dead, incapable of saving ourselves or even making the decision to be saved
Therefore, the main point of this verse is that God does not wait for us to become righteous before he brings about our redemption.
R. C. Sproul, The Gospel of God: An Exposition of Romans (Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 1994), 96.
Hear this: God is the initiator of your salvation
(2) The What of God’s love
7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
A difficult verse
Righteous - morally obedient
Good - kind, someone you have affection for
But Christ died for sinners - it is not the healthy but the sick who need a doctor and Jesus is the great physician
The Gospel of God: Romans Benefits of Justification (4:23–5:11)
while we were being actively disobedient to God, while we were in a state of rebellion against God, while we were hostile to God, while we were ignoring God, while we were refusing to submit to him, refusing to love him, refusing to worship him, at that time, while we were at enmity with God, Christ died for us.
(3) The How of God’s love
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while 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.
justified by His blood - the key doctrine of the reformation pertaining to salvation is justification by faith - here we are justified by His blood - substitution
saved from the wrath of God through Him
The Gospel of God: Romans Benefits of Justification (4:23–5:11)
People say, ‘I was saved the day I believed in Jesus Christ,’ and they use the term salvation as if it were an exact equivalent to justification. But that’s not the case in the New Testament. Justification is one step in the process of salvation. The concept of salvation is used in a very complex way. It is used in the past tense, the imperfect tense, the present tense, the future tense, and so on. There is a sense in which we are saved, we are being saved and we shall be saved, because the full complex of salvation covers the whole of Christian experience. Justification occurs the moment I believe, and at that point I am brought into a state of salvation; but my salvation is still to be finalised, still to be consummated, still to be fully realised through my sanctification and my glorification. I don’t receive my ultimate salvation until I am in heaven. If I am justified, I will certainly receive that ultimate salvation in heaven.
While we were enemies were were reconciled to God through the death of His Son
We shall be saved by His life
justified - saved - reconciled
by His blood, through Him, through the death of His Son, by His life
(4) The Who of God’s love
11 And not only this, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
we boast in God - the trinitarian work of salvation
through Jesus Christ
we are the receivers of salvation - the gift of salvation, we didn’t make it, we didn’t enable it, we didn’t pay for it - it is the work of Christ our Savior
The depth of our unworthiness and sinfulness will never be greater than the depth of God’s love and the greatness of God’s grace
No matter how unworthy you feel, no matter how great your sin, God’s grace is always greater and God’s love is always deeper
The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may overflow in hope. Amen.
