Romans 5:7-8

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God demonstrates His love for us: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Paul, in v7, illustrates his argument from v6. He shows that it may seem reasonable to give your life to save someone who might in some way be worthy of salvation. It might be noble to sacrifice your own being so that someone of greater potential could go on. Most daddies would be willing to sacrifice their lives for their wives or children, and that’s because our wives and children seem deserving to us. From our perspective, they haven’t done anything to deserve death. A soldier is willing to die for his country, because he sees his nation as being worthy in some way. Nevertheless, the death of a daddy for his family is relatively rare. A bit less rare for a soldier, but the point is the same. Paul says that this love, this willingness to die, is not like the love of God, not like the willingness of Christ to die on our behalf. We cannot even compare that kind of love with the love that God has shown to us in Jesus Christ. Why is the love of God so different, so much more?

God’s love for us in Jesus Christ is not what philosophers call the love of complacency. In other words, God doesn’t look at us and say, “Oh, how lovely. How wonderful. Oh, I just couldn’t go on without those human beings. They are just so excellent, so fine. There’s something in them that compels My love for them.” That’s the love of complacency. That’s the love that attracts men to women. We delight in something in someone else that attracts us to them. That’s not the love of God. The love of God is what philosophers would call love of spontaneity. It dwells up from within Him. It’s not conditioned on something in us. In fact, if it were conditioned on something in us, we wouldn’t have received it in the first place; because we’re unlovely, we’re ungodly. God’s love for us in Christ is not based upon something in us or about us. It’s based wholly and solely on something in Him and about Him. Why He loves us is something that we will spend an eternity never understanding completely. And Paul is saying, “That’s the kind of love that God has for us. It’s not like any other kind of love.”

Paul explains that Christ did not die for the deserving in God’s eyes; He died for the undeserving. He did not die for the righteous or the worthy; rather, He died for the wretched, the unrighteous. Because it’s rare that a human would lay down his life for a righteous and noble and deserving person, how amazing is it that God would give His Son for those who deserve death. We all know, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” But some folks wrestle with the Bible’s authority. So perhaps a better chorus would be, “Jesus loves me this I know, for He died for me, an unworthy sinner.” That’s how we know God loves us.

Paul is not saying that Jesus died merely to show us that God loved us. Jesus’ death is far more significant than being merely the greatest example of God’s love. Christ died, as we’ve already seen, to atone for our sins, to propitiate God’s wrath, to cover our sins, to remove our guilt, to justify us, and make us accepted before God. But as a consequence of those things, we see God’s love for us. Likewise, the cross doesn’t make God the Father love His people. It is the consequence of God’s love for His people. What does it mean to say that Christ died for you?