Romans 5:6-9
6. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
As many of you who know me or have graciously read what I have written you know that I am a traditionalist in nature. Thanksgiving time is a day of proper thanksgiving to the Lord first, remembering traditions and taking time to listen to old familiar stories. No football game - no problem, family first, not the TV. When I think of old times and the way Thanksgiving meals used to be, you may recall in your mind that title of the old song, "Over the River and Through The Woods." We can see that old white wooden house nestled in a meadow or on a hill. You see the fields that were sewn, harvested and now the hay in stacks. On the table you see all the fixings we think of, except these were not bought at a grocery store, nor did the pumpkin pie come out of a can, but all through hard work all year round we see the bounty of harvest. I think of the Pilgrim's and how much they labored, suffered and died for what they believed in. They truly enjoyed their hard work's bounty, it was one of very few bright spots in the New World.
Spiritually speaking, we have a bounty of thanksgiving to celebrate that was wrought by not only hard work but hard suffering. Our bounty of thanksgiving came as a pre-planned act of benevolence that could not be explained if the word "grace" did not exist. All that we are and even all the material blessings of bounty we enjoy stems from this singular and eternally profound offering of Jesus Christ for you and me.
The vast difference between our bounty in Christ and our bounty in the fruits of this earth is that we did absolutely no work to receive it. If you have ever been invited to a home where Thanksgiving dinner was prepared and you sit down to a beautifully set table, the first impression may be, "wow look at all the work that went into this," the second, "I am really blessed, I am invited as a guest to freely partake without personal expense." That table or whatever expression of unlabored kindness you may experience is what the Apostle Paul speaks of in the Romans passage.
Let us examine what is meant by a bounty without labor:
First, there is examination.
None of us like to go to the doctor. However, it is necessary, especially when we suspect something is wrong. There is another type of exam, and that is like an evaluation test to see where we place in a certain classification. This type of test is what we see ourselves in from verse 6. "When we were yet without strength..." What type of strength? The physical cannot be mentioned because it cannot apply. The spiritual strength cannot be measured because we simply don't have any to cope with our eternal needs. Christ saw that we have no strength to withstand and pay for our huge sin debt. Unlike the prison work farms, we cannot pay for our sins by labor. Simply we are stuck because of our weakness. So when God examines and evaluates the condition of the human race, He has two choices, 1. Let them die, 2. Let His Son die for them. He chose the latter. We failed our examination, but Christ passed the sin exam Who knew no sin himself but became sin for every man. Thus He came into the world and labored and died for us.
Second, there is classification. Verse 7 lists two types of people whom some would seem worthy perhaps, maybe, possibly, scarcely to be worth dying for, and we didn't make the list. The "righteous" man is not a man without sin in the context, but, a man who could be considered blameless of a certain accusation, thus, this man was righteous in this setting. Unfortunately Jesus told us that if we break one commandment of God's law, we are a violator of the whole law. So from that we know that no matter what the sin, what the case, eternally we are still condemned, it matters not how righteous we are in any one given situation.
Then we have a "good" man. This is a notch down from the righteous man. The good man is one who is generally known for not being a trouble maker or a reviler or rabble. We might call such a one as a good law biding citizen who keeps to himself and may even be involved in charitable acts. However again Jesus said that unless a person's good works exceed the works of the Pharisees and scribes, admission cannot be had into Heaven. Paul reminds us what is written in the Psalms that there is in Ps 53:3 Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. So even if one were to die for a "good" man, it would be a waste. So Jesus Christ laid the foundation for eternal destiny, that we might be made righteous through Him. We could not sew good works like seed to reap eternal life. Christ however can make you fit for Heaven simply by taking on the blood of His Son. The working came about as the Master walked the Earth teaching the people and providing an example of service that we could follow after. Laying all of this foundation that we might be righteous is a job that even Christ performs now as He represents the Christian before the bench of the Father while Satan tries his best to accuse us beyond what the blood of Christ covers, in vain.
Third, there is justification.
Romans 5:8-9 is a favored verse of us all. This verse ties it all together with the preceding verses. The first word may be well, in our perspective, be the most important. The word is "But." You see the whole descriptive examination and classification left us with the most grim of sentence we could ever receive. No criminals ever heard such a condemnation, no patient ever heard such a dark prognosis, nor anyone faced such a horrible future as the implied state every man finds himself in before 5:8. So in knowing all this, the word "but" is introduced. Oh the mercy, the pardon, the favor, the turning of wrath to love is all wrapped up in this word. God said in effect, "Yes its true the man doesn't measure up, he doesn't have holiness, he doesn't have my righteousness, but, but, but, he will after My Son is finished doing what I have commanded Him to do."
"God commendeth His love towards us." This phrase could be perhaps the greatest single string of words that has impacted man the most. Why? Because we got what we did NOT deserve in place of the fruits of our being. Depravity never had such a benefactor as Jesus Christ. It is of little wonder why Satan hates the believer. We whom Satan tried to encapsulate the whole human race into the same condemnation as he, has a way of escape that he never had, nor ever will. There is not one mention in all the Holy Writ, that God ever commended His love towards Satan or any of the fallen angels.
"while we were yet sinners."
You see, you cannot clean yourselves up to come to God. Christ died for us in our default eternal state. He didn't wait to see if man could do better. God knew man's sin disease was terminal and getting worse day by day. Jude tells us that exceeding joy is given when Christ will present us before the Father, why? Because, He cleaned us up! We didn't fit, measure up or anything, yet we were made clean through His blood in vs. 9, this is Justification. The definition is: "one declared righteous and put in the standing of a righteous person, that never had been righteous before."
"Christ died for us."
The one thing He never deserved, Christ got. He deserved a kingdom, which He will have. He deserved a praise from all creation, which he has and will have. He deserves glory and honor, which He has. Never though did He deserve a cross. No amount of understanding can be mounted to take in the colossal words of this part of the verse. Again there is great emphasis put on seemingly small words. The key word here is "died," but the greater object word is "us." Who is us, beyond the physical meaning of man? "Us" means the most despicable, defiled, rotten, garbage laden, blaspheming, hell bent, cursing, fornicating, slimy, dismal wretches there were in all the creation. For such, the antithesis of all these adjectives, died for us.
What a thanksgiving bounty! What a joyous shout we should give! Bounty that we did not work for and could not, became ours for the asking.
Our eternity, a endless frame, beyond this life is settled to those who freely receive it. No payment to make, its made.
Because of Christ's work, the smell of fire no longer lingers on us who believe.
Heavenly Father, There is no words to adequately express what bounty has been provided for us at Christ's expense. Help us at this time of Thanksgiving, to treasure, and to share that which is provided beyond measure. Thank you. For your Praise we give our thanks, Amen.
