Hope Secured by God's Love — Romans 5:6–11

Introduction

• Please turn your Bibles with me to Romans 5. The passage we will be studying today is Romans 5:6–11, and the title of today's sermon is "Secured by God's Love."
• We'll read the first eleven verses of this chapter, but we will focus on verses 6–11.
• Read Romans 5:1–11.

• The American Heritage Dictionary defines anxiety this way: "a state of uneasiness and apprehension, as about future uncertainties." (AHD: 5th ed)
• Today, many of us experience anxiety.
  • Feeling uneasy and apprehensive.
  • Overwhelmed by future uncertainty.
• This passage of Scripture teaches us that despite living in a world full of chaos, our future hope is "secured by God's love."

Context: Romans 1–4

• Romans was written by the Apostle Paul.
• Some consider Romans as Paul's "most comprehensive statement of the gospel...[and his] most comprehensive outline of Christian doctrine." (RSB)
• Paul begins by stating that salvation has come to both Jews and Gentiles through faith. (1:16–17)
• Salvation by faith is necessary because of the problem of sin.
  • Gentiles are lost in sin. (1:18–32)
  • Jews are lost in sin. (2:1–3:8)
  • We are all lost in sin. (3:9–20)
• Once he has delineated our problem, Paul then gives God's solution.
  • All Christians are justified (declared righteous by God) through Christ's sacrifice. (3:21–31)
  • All Christians, like Abraham, are justified through faith. (chap 4)

Context: Romans 5

• Because we have been justified by faith
  1. We have peace with God (5:1)
  2. We have access to God (5:2)
  3. We rejoice in hope (5:3)
• Why can we rejoice in hope? Well, it's because of verse 5.
  • "Hope does not put to shame, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts." (v.5)
  • In other words, Paul, inspired by God, tells us that our future hope is secured by His love.
• And here in verse 6 and following, Paul gives several reasons why we are secured by God's love.
• The first reason Paul gives in this passage is "the timing of God's love."
• We can be assured of God's love toward Christians, first, by its timing.

1. Timing of God’s Love (v.6)

• "For while we were still weak, at the right time..." (v.6)
• “at the right time” (κατὰ καιρὸν)
  • 'appropriate/set time [Danker]
  • Paul uses this prepositional phrase one other time in the NT referring to God's promise to Abraham concerning Isaac.
  • For this is the word of promise: “AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.” (Rom 9:9)
  • Like God's timing concerning when Isaac would be born, God's timing of His love toward us was preordained, prepared, and purposeful.

1. “while we were still weak” (v.6)
   • 'powerless' (NIV), 'helpless' (CSB, NASB), 'without strength' (KJV)
2. “while we were yet sinners” (v.8)
   • 'failure to meet religious or legal expectations' [Danker]
   • We have all "sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Rom 3:23)
3. “while we were enemies” (v.10)
   • "We [were] by nature children of wrath." (Eph 2:3)
   • We were "enemies in mind and in evil deeds." (Col 1:21)
   • Picture in your mind right now who is your worst enemy.
   • Multiply that by 10,000 fold and you get a glimpse of God's disposition with sinners.

So while we were weak, sinners, and enemies, God chose to love us.

Implication:

• God chose to love us not when we were at our best

  • Rather, He determined to love us when we were at our worst.

• At the time when we were at our worst, He resolved to love us unconditionally.

• Therefore, you and I are assured that we will never be outside of God's love.

Illustration: After the wedding day.

• For those of us who are married, we remember that on our first few dates, we were enamored by each other.

  • We were happy, sweet, and kind to each other.
  • Every moment on our dates was bliss.

• But after the wedding day, we see for the first time some of our hidden faults.

  • We learn more about our shortcomings.
  • We saw the best in each other before the wedding day, but once we got married, our imperfections become more visible.

• But that's not the case with God when He chose to love us.

• God knew perfectly well all our faults, every single sin and weakness (past, present, and future).

Application:

• Do you ever feel you're not good enough to be loved by God?
• Do you ever feel like you need to perform to earn and keep God's love and favor?
• He had no false expectations because He had zero expectations.
• So we can rest assured that because of the timing of God's love, we can never fall out of His love.

Not only can we be assured of God's love by its timing. We can be assured because of its demonstration.

2. Demonstration of God’s Love (v.7–8)

Paul helps us understand the superiority of God’s love by comparing it to man’s. Look how Paul describes man’s love in verse 7.

A. Paul describes human love in verse 7.

• Read v.7

• "hardly" (v.7)

  • 'scarcely' (ESV, KJV)
  • 'rarely' (CSB); 'very rarely' (NIV)

• "would dare" (v.7)

  • 'act with apparent abandonment or audacity' [Danker]
  • 'run the risk of dying'

Illustration: Hirohisa Hogaki drowns rescuing his children (July 2023)

• Married with seven children; Hirohisa Hogaki graduated from seminary in the United States in 2020.

• He moved to Japan to plant a new church.

• Earlier this past summer, he brought his entire family to the beach

  • And to his horror, two of his young children were pulled into the ocean.

• He frantically searched for his children and drowned in the process. Both children survived.

• These stories are rare yet powerful. Few in this world "would dare" give up their life for another person.

B. Paul describes divine love in verse 8.

• Read v.8

• “demonstrates” (v.8)

  • 'put beyond doubt', confirm, establish
  • 'to provide evidence of a personal characteristic or claim' [BDAG]
  • "shows" (ESV); "proves" (CSB)
  • This is not just a casual "show and tell" demonstration
  • This is God providing ample evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that God has established his love toward us.

• “Christ died for us.”

  • "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." (Jn 15:13)

• Humanly speaking, "for the good man, someone would dare even to die."

  • God's love is greater. God's love is superior. God's love is incomparable.
  • "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

Application

• Have you ever tried to picture how great God's love really is?
• All our feeble attempts will come woefully short.
• Isaac Watts wrote, "When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died...Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all."

Recap

1. The Timing of God's Love: while we were weak, sinners, and God's enemies.
2. The Demonstration of God's Love: Christ died for us, the ungodly.

A third reason we can trust that our future hope is secured by God's love: the salvation of God’s love.

3. Salvation of God’s Love (v.9–10)

• The opening words of verse 9 are translated "Since" (NIV) and "Since, therefore" (ESV)
  • But the KJV and NASB, we read a more literal translation (πολλῷ οὖν μᾶλλον)
    • "Much more then" or "How much more then" (CSB)
  • This is Paul's way of introducing a "lesser to greater" argument.
  • The logic is this: regarding salvation, If God has already done the more difficult task, He must certainly do the easier task.

A. Greater Task (v.9)

• “having now been justified by his blood” (aorist)
  • Paul had already explained in detail the doctrine of justification back in 3:21–4:25.
  • "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood,(Rom 3:23–25a)

1. Justification is a gift by grace alone. To redeem sinners, Jesus voluntarily gave His life. He was not forced.
   • Jesus said, "No one takes it away from Me, but from Myself, I lay it down. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again." (Jn 10:18a)
   • We did not earn our right standing with God. Justification was freely given to us.
2. Justification required redemption. Christ purchased us through his blood. Like Hosea redeeming and buying back his wife, Christ has redeemed us.
3. Justification required propitiation. The wrath of God (Rom 1:18) was completely satisfied by Christ's blood sacrifice.

• "[God] made [Christ Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor 5:21)
  • All the sins of Christians were placed on Christ when he died, and all his perfect righteousness is credited to us even though we continue to battle sin's presence.
  • It's one thing to give up your life to try to save another.
  • It is quite another to save another's life successfully.
  • Christ's sacrificial death was necessary, sufficient, and efficient to save us.

So the greater task in verse 9 is justification by Christ's atoning sacrifice. What is the lesser task?

B. Lesser Task (v.9)

• “we shall be saved from the wrath of God.” (future)
  • The lesser task is our deliverance from God’s wrath on the final day of judgment.
• When we have been justified by Christ's blood, we receive an irrevocable gift:
  • God's legal declaration of righteousness is credited to us.
  • We have been redeemed.
  • God's wrath has been propitiated and satisfied.
• How can we ever doubt our salvation and deliverance from God's wrath and judgment.
  • A person declared "not guilty" will not and cannot receive punishment.

Illustration: The Most Important Day of the Christian's Life

• Have you ever asked the question, what is the most important day of my life?
  • Your birthday? Your wedding day? Perhaps the day you die and see God face to face in heaven.
• Paul states here in verse nine that the Christian's most substantial day is not the day of our glorification but the day of our conversion.
  • In our conversion, we go from death to life.
  • In our glorification, we are simply passing from life to life.
• Going from death to life is a greater feat than passing from life to life.

C. Greater Task (v.10)

• Most English translation, in verse 10, contain the phrase "much more."
• Using a similar phrase as the one in verse 9, Paul present a second "lesser to greater" argument.
• The greater task described in verse 10 is reconciliation. "For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son."
• The verb "reconcile" simply means to "‘make a friend out of an enemy."
  • It's one thing to hold a grudge against an enemy.
  • It's another to make an enemy your friend.
  • That is exactly what God did "through the death of His Son."

D. Lesser Task (v.10)

• By virtue of Christ's resurrection, we "shall be saved" (future tense) on that final judgment day.

So if God has already completed the most difficult task, (1) declaring us righteous (not guilty) through redemption and propitiation, and (2) reconciling us from enemies to friends, how much more secure is God completing the easier task of shielding us from future judgment?

Application:

• Have you recently pondered the day of your conversion?
• How you were "born again," redeemed, and reconciled to God.
• You were once dead. Now you are alive.
• You were once blind. Now you can see.
• You were once an enemy. Now you are a friend.

So we looked at the timing, demonstration, and salvation of God's love. Let's look at a fourth reason we can be secure in God's love.

4. Boasting of God’s love (v.11)

• Read v.11
• “we also boast in God”
  • verb is translated "rejoice" (ESV), "exult" (NASB), and "boast" (NIV, CSB)
  • This verb means having "pride in being intimately associated or involved with some personal thing, or circumstance." [Danker]
  • This verb is used several times by Paul in his epistles.
  • "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.” (1 Cor 1:30–31)
• When we appreciate God's timing, God's demonstration, and God's salvation, we cannot help but respond by boasting.
• Christ declared it. "It is finished." The game is over. The battle is won.
• Because we did nothing, and God did everything, we can rest assured that our hope in God's future promises is sure.
• We are united with Christ, our Savior and Lord, permanently.
• Nothing can separate us. (Rom 8:38–39)

Illustration: Victory Parade in Buenos Aires after World Cup 2022

• Last year in 2022, amidst all the hardship in the country of Argentina, everyone came out to the victory parade in Buenos Aires, boasting of their soccer team that had returned from the World Cup victorious.
• The citizens of Argentina who were celebrating contributed nothing to the outcome of the soccer tournament, but they boasted simply by their association with the winning team.
• There was some cheering during the tournament, but the true boasting came when the game was over, and the victory was assured.
• Our future hope is secured, and therefore, we boast in God's love.

Conclusion

• There are two groups of people today. Some of you are in the first group.

• You have experienced the most important day of your life and have gone from death to life.

  • You have received God's gift of salvation.
  • You were redeemed, purchased by God.
  • God's wrath over you was satisfied by Christ.

• To you, be secure in God's love. Never doubt your future hope made sure by God's love.

  • The Timing of God's love: God loves us at our worst.
  • The Demonstration of God's love: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
  • The Salvation of God's love: We have been justified and reconciled.
  • The Boasting of God's love: Jesus paid it all. So "let him who boasts, boast in the Lord."

• There is a second group. If you are in this second group,...

  • You have not yet seen the most important day of your life.
  • You have not experienced the new birth that comes from God's Spirit.
  • You remain responsible for the penalty of your sin.
  • You are under the wrath of the One Holy God.
  • You are His sworn enemy, and at any moment, you will fall into final judgment and the condemnation of a literal, physical, and eternal hell.

• To you, I plead with you. "Be reconciled with God."

  • Cry out to Him and acknowledge your helpless state.
  • Repent and confess your sin.
  • Beg for mercy that His death absorbs the wrath of God that should rightly fall on you.
  • Reliquish control of your life, and recognize Christ as Lord.

• Do not leave today until you are reconciled with God.