2021-05-05 Romans 5

Romans 5:6–11 ESV

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.

I. While we were still weak...

Romans 5:6–11 (ESV): 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

A. Without Christ we are incapable of living godly lives.

Romans 5:6–11 (ESV): 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

I want to start with making an important distinction here in this text. There is a distinction in who you were and who you are in Christ.

But I want to make sure and draw another line as well. When God saves you, there is still a fleshly sinful part of you at war against God. That means that even until the day you die and God makes you new, there will always be a battle waging war in your flesh.

Paul major point in this passage is to show who we are, and who God is. It is to show our deprevity, helplessness, and broken condition so that we see the goodness of God in salvation.

He wants you to see that beyond a shadow of a doubt there is no question that we bring nothing to the table, and it is God and God alone that works.

Paul begins by stating that we are weak. We are incapable of doing good. We are incapable of any righteousness. We fall short of the glory of God.

Saying that you did anything in making yourself right before God is like getting on a plane and saying you flew across the country. You did not fly. The airplane flew, the pilot directed the airplane, but you sat in a chair in an airplane which flew.

You might ask, but don’t things change when I become a believer. Am I not a new creation. Yes, you are forgiven, declared righteous by Christ, and given God’s Spirit, but your old flesh still remains, and you still live at war with God.

Romans 7:15–20 ESV

15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

B. Christ died to accomplish in us what we could not on our own.

Romans 5:6 (ESV): 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

Illus: Faith is not faith if you did it.

Hear me out. It is good to embrace your incapability in following Jesus. It is only in admitting your utter failure to handle your life that you find the desperation to trust in Jesus.

I know it goes against what we feel. We feel we need to be stronger. The Bible teaches to embrace your weakness because only in your weakness can the strength of Christ be seen.

It is only in admitting that you are to weak to fix yourself that you can embrace Jesus’ righteousness alone for life.

Hear me. In some Christian circles they will say that you can earn grace through confessing your sin, getting baptized, praying a prayer, or even being a member of the church. This is no where in scripture, and actually cripples you from trusting God.

The only way you can approach God is empty handed completely dependent on him for life.

Philippians 3:7–9 ESV

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

II. While we were sinners...

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.

A. We don’t just sin, we are sinners. Because sin defined us, we were destined for wrath.

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.

The question is often asked why God would send some one to hell for a little lie or a angry thought. They wonder does the punishment fit the crime.

There is a false starting point to the question. It assumes that people are genuinly good and occasionally do bad things. The question the person is asking is, how can I a good person get in trouble for occasionally messing up.

The lying, anger, gossip point to a bigger problem. Those are simply the symptoms of the much greater problem. At the core of who we are the cancer of sin has gripped our heart and mind. Sin within us manifests itself through our lives.

We are not good people who occasionally sin, we are sinful people who do what is natural to us.

That core characteristic of us is why God destines us to hell.

Sinful people deserve God’s wrath. Scripture wants you to openly admit your sinfulness. It wants you to diagnose the death within you.

John 3:18–20 ESV

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

B. Christ took the wrath we deserve because he is love.

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.

Illus: The Bible is saying clearly, Jesus did not die because you deserved it. You are not the good person that one would die for. You are the sinner that Jesus died for.

That’s important.

It is important to help you to the the magnitude of God’s love. If you were the treasure worth dying for, it would minimize the love of God.

God died for you the sinner because God IS LOVE. that is who God is.

How great the fathers love for us that he should give his only son to make a wretch his treasure.

We are the treasure and child of God because of what God did, not because of how we started.

How did he do it? Jesus Christ took the fullness of wrath for you.

When you want to know how much God hates sin, look at the cross.

The only escape from our sinful demise facing the wrath of God is for God to take the wrath for us.

The Bible says we are justified by God’s blood. What that means is that we are declared righteous. God says, because of the blood of Christ, all the wickedness that you were and all the wrath that you deserve is paid for. You are now righteous because the price for your sins has been paid.

John 3:16–17 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

III. While we were enemies...

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.

A. We are weak, sinful, enemies whom God has reconciled to himself.

I want to challenge you to both own who you are without Christ so that you might understand who you are in Christ.

If you don’t understand you weak, sinful place as an enemy of God you cannot approach God in the gratitude of faith knowing He alone is your righteousness.

Without Christ, God said stay away. Stay away because the moment you step into my presence you will face the unending eternal wrath you deserve.

That is why God expelled Adam and Eve from the garden. If Adam and Eve would have stayed in the garden, they would have certainly faced the fullness of God’s punishment for their wickedness.

But God is saying, you can come back. Come back because your sins have been payed for. Come back because are not righteous in my site. Come back because you have been made my child.

Colossians 1:19–22 ESV

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,