Reconciliation in Romans 5:10-11

In Romans 5:10, the apostle Paul employs the a fortiori argument in order to teach his readers that if they were reconciled to God through His Son’s death while His enemies, how much more will they be delivered by His Son’s life.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, because we have been justified by means of faith as a source, we, as an eternal spiritual truth, always have peace in the presence of God through our Lord who is Jesus, who is the Christ. 2 Through whom also, we have as a permanent possession access to this gracious benefit in which we forever stand and in addition we make it a habit to rejoice upon the confident expectation of sharing God’s glory. 3 In fact, not only this but we also make it a habit to rejoice on account of our adversities because we know for certain that adversity, as an eternal spiritual truth, produces perseverance. 4 And in addition, perseverance, as an eternal spiritual truth produces tested character and in addition tested character, as an eternal spiritual truth, produces confidence. 5 In fact, this confidence, as an eternal spiritual truth, never disappoints because God’s love is always being poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us for our benefit. 6 For a while, we were, as an eternal spiritual truth, still helpless, still, at that particular appointed moment in history, Christ died as a substitute for the benefit of the ungodly. 7 For, it is unlikely, anyone will die as a substitute for the benefit of a righteous person. 8 In fact, possibly, someone might also have the courage to voluntarily die as a substitute for the benefit of the good person. But, God (the Father), as an eternal spiritual truth and fact of history, proves His own divine-love for the benefit of all of us by the fact that while we were, as an eternal spiritual truth, still sinners, Christ died as a substitute for the benefit of all of us. 9 Therefore, because we have been justified on the basis of His blood, how much more will we be delivered from His righteous indignation through Him. 10 For if, while, we were, as an eternal spiritual truth, enemies, we were reconciled to God (the Father) by means of the death of His Son? Of course, we believe that this is true! How much more then because, we have been reconciled will we be delivered on account of His life. 11 Furthermore, not only this but also we make it a habit to rejoice on account of our relationship with God through our Lord, who is Jesus, who is the Christ through whom we have now received this reconciliation. (Lecturer’s translation)

In Romans 5:10, “for” is the “explanatory” use of the post-positive conjunction gar, which introduces a first class conditional statement that “explains” Paul’s statement in Romans 5:9.

Therefore, the conjunction gar introduces a first class conditional statement that “explains the reason why” the sinner justified by faith on the basis of Jesus Christ’s spiritual and physical deaths on the cross will be that much more delivered from the wrath of God.

Namely, if they were reconciled to God through the death of His Son while they were His enemies, how much more will they be delivered by His Son’s life!

If God sacrificed His beloved Son Jesus Christ for the sake of His enemies, He will certainly deliver from His wrath those who have trusted in His Son Jesus Christ as Savior!

“If” is the conditional particle ei, which introduces a protasis of a first class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument.

The idea behind the first class condition is not “since” but rather, “if-and let us assume that it’s true for the sake of argument, then...”

This would encourage Paul’s audience to respond and come to the conclusion of the apodosis in Romans 5:10.

Therefore, Paul is employing the first class condition as a tool of persuasion with his Christian audience.

In Romans 5:10, the protasis is “if while we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son” and the apodosis is “(then) how much more, having been reconciled, will we be delivered from the wrath of God in the future by His Son’s life.”

The response to Paul’s protasis by his Christian readership would be obvious.

Of course they believe that they were reconciled to God through the death of His Son while they were enemies of God!

They would agree emphatically with his protasis that they were reconciled to God through the death of His Son while they were yet enemies of God.

Thus, we call this a “responsive” condition.

He is not attempting to prove that his protasis is true rather he is saying with the first class condition that we agree that this is true that we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son while we were His enemies.

The first class condition would then persuade them to respond to the conclusion found in the apodosis that they will emphatically be delivered from the wrath of God.

Therefore, Paul’s audience would have to come to his conclusion if they submit to this line of argumentation.

The basic relation that the protasis has to the apodosis is “evidence-inference.”

The “evidence” is that while the Christian was an enemy of God, they were reconciled to God through the death of His Son Jesus Christ.

The “inference” would be that if the Christian is reconciled to God through faith in His Son Jesus Christ, then how much more will they be delivered from the wrath of God in the future by the life of Jesus Christ.

“Enemies” is the adjective echthros, which is used in the passive sense to describe unregenerate humanity as being regarded by God as His enemy.

“We were reconciled” is the first person plural aorist passive indicative form of the verb katallasso, which means, “to reconcile” and is used of God reconciling Himself to sinful humanity through the death of His Son Jesus Christ.

“Through the death of His Son” is indicating that the Lord Jesus Christ’s spiritual and physical deaths on the cross were the “means” by which sinful humanity was reconciled to God the Father.

The expression pollo mallon introduces the argument that if Christ had done the “greater” work of providing the basis for the justification of sinners by dying for them as their substitute, He will certainly then perform the comparatively “lesser” or simple task of delivering them from the Lake of Fire now that they are reconciled to Him.

The “most difficult” or “greatest” problem facing God when dealing with sinful humanity was reconciling Himself to sinful humanity since He not only had to fulfill the demands of His holiness that required that sin and sinners face His righteous indignation but also at the same time He needed to express His love for sinners in providing them a way of avoiding His righteous indignation.

So the logical argument of a fortiori as expressed by the words pollo mallon emphasizes that if God the Father who was hostile to sinful humanity due to His holiness, sent His Son to die for them while His enemies, it follows that He will deliver those who have been reconciled to Him through faith in His Son.

If God can do the greater work, it follows a fortiori that He can do the lesser.

The “greater” is the work of reconciling a holy God to sinful humanity through Jesus Christ’s spiritual and physical deaths on the cross, which is an accomplished fact of history.

The “less” is God protecting, sustaining and delivering the believer in time and blessing him in the future and delivering him from the eternal Lake of Fire by means of His Son’s life.

“Having been reconciled” is the verb katallasso, which means, “to reconcile” and is used of God who is holy, reconciling Himself to sinful humanity through the death of His Son Jesus Christ.

The participle form of the verb katallasso is a “causal” participle since the rule of grammar states that the causal participle normally precedes the verb it modifies, which in Romans 5:10 is the future tense of the verb sozo, “we shall be saved.”

As a “causal” participle it answers the question as to “why” the believer will certainly be delivered from wrath of God by means of the life of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

The believer will be delivered from the wrath of God by the life of Jesus Christ “because” he has been reconciled to a holy God through the death of Jesus Christ.

In Romans 5:11, the apostle Paul states that he and his fellow like-minded Christians confidently rejoiced on account of their new relationship with God, which they received by means of spiritual and physical deaths of the Lord Jesus Christ and which deaths reconciled them to God.

Romans 5:11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. (NASB95)

“The reconciliation” is the noun katallage, which like the verb katallasso, “reconcile” that appears in Romans 5:10, is used of God reconciling Himself to sinful humanity through the death of His Son Jesus Christ.

Both words refer to the doctrine of reconciliation, which we noted that along with the doctrines of propitiation and redemption form the three major doctrines of Soteriology (the study of salvation) as well as the “Finished Work” of Jesus Christ on the cross.

“Now” is adverb of time nun, which is employed with the aorist tense of the verb lambano in order to emphasize the believer’s present state of being reconciled to God through the spiritual and physical deaths of the Lord Jesus Christ the moment they were declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.