Romans 5:6-8 - God's Display of His Love

Romans 5:6-8 - 6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Message: What Christ's Death accomplished

Time: The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans from the Greek city of Corinth in AD 57, just three years after the 16 year old Nero had ascended to the throne as Emperor of Rome. Persecution of Christians wouldn't begin until AD 64. The church was experiencing times of relative peace. From where he wrote, Corinth, was a hotbed of sexual immorality and idol worship.

What the Lord is Saying:

The Set-Up
Here in Romans 5, Paul, after having shown how a person is justified by faith, credited righteousness, describes the results of that justification. I have peace with God through what Jesus has done for me (verse 1). my position has changed to one of hope, a certain future of being with God in His glory, and this makes me boast (verse 2), and now I see that the tribulations in my life are there for a reason and nurture in me patience , and overall show how much God loves me (verse 3-5).

A short gospel message
Q: Do you think good people go to heaven?
Q: Is anyone completely good because being good is not the standard, but being perfect is?
Q: I thought I was good, but then when I looked at God's standard, the Law, I saw something different. I lied. I stole. I used God's name as a curse word. I had lust in my heart toward individuals not my wife. I wanted things that belonged to others so bad that I felt like I wouldn't be happy unless I had them. I disobeyed my parents. And not only these things, but my conscience tells me when I have done wrong. Behind his back, I make my boss out to be a bad person. I change people's opinion of him based upon my words. I know that is wrong, but I do it anyway.
Q: So, I asked you, is anyone complete good and never sinned. There is Jesus. Now a lot has been said of Jesus, but this is what is significant with Him. He lived a perfect life, so he equaled God's standard. And despite being perfect, people didn't like Him and sentenced Him to die. And He submitted to this authority even though he knew He had done nothing wrong. He went to the cross, died, and then did something crazy, He rose from the dead. Christmas, we celebrate His birth and life. Easter, we celebrate His rising again.
Q: Here is what God did for you and I. He said, "Believe in Jesus and you will be saved." To Believe means I (1) believe I am not perfect; (2) believe Jesus is and His sin covers mine and (3) follow Him. When I put my trust in something like a chair, first of all, I could make my own chair, but it would be hard on me. I could do it, but I couldn't do it for a long time. So, I see the chair and trust it that it will hold me up. And then while I am sitting, I can do things. I can read, look at my phone, I can work, make a living.
Q: This is what it is to be a follower of Christ.  

Jesus died for those unable to help themselves
Verse 6 answers a person's question that could be raised in verse 5. It was in verse 5 that I saw that Christ's love has been poured out. The context of that verse was in talking about tribulations. In Christ, I can look at tribulations differently. They serve a big purpose in my life and assure me that I am in Christ. And so it is a testimony of God's love for me. And so how do I know that God loves me? Verse 6.

While I was unable to help myself, Christ died for me. Helpless is the Greek word asthenes which means without strength. Without strength I can not produce results. No matter how much I desire or want to receiving something, I can't. I may want to be a great person, a good person, get to God on my own. I may desire all these things, but the reality is, I am helpless and without strength. I don't have the ability to justify myself through my works. I am helpless.

Christ died. Again, is this the complete message of justifying the sinner? No. It's a partial message. John 3:16 starts, "For God so loved he world that He gave His son." The gave that is being talked about here is the death of Jesus. God shows his love by giving up His only Son to die for us. Jesus died for the helpless.

One may die for a good man
In verses 7 and 8, Paul further clarifies what has occurred in verse 6. There are two realities in verse 6. (1) man is helpless; on his own, man is helpless or without strength; man must see that he can't get to God on His own. (2) man is ungodly. Jesus died for the ungodly. The reality is that man is really has no respect or reverence for things of God. The issue before God isn't that I have some strength and some ability and do some good works and live some sort of good life. Jesus didn't die for good people. That isn't the focus. Man wants it to be the focus because man's pride in himself and his accomplishments is something he desires will merit him something in the after life. Man knows that being good merits good things on earth, so man thinks also that being pretty good over the course of a lifetime will merit something good in the afterlife. The problem is, this is what man thinks. The reality is, God knows we are ungodly. It's not the good that is the focus. The focus is that a person has sinned. And sin separates us from God. And our good deeds don't thing bring us back to God. That's the mistake people make. They think that what they do brings them closer to God. The reality is that man is ungodly.

Verse 7 is a great verse because, to me, it expresses the idea that most people think and that is that Jesus would probably die for someone good. It makes sense to us and it is what we want to believe in ourselves, that we are good and therefore I merit salvation because Christ died for me, a pretty good person. 

But no one would die for a bad man
But the reality is verse 8. God doesn't die for the good. God dies for the sinner. Sin must be presented in the gospel message. It is the focus of the gospel. I am helpless. I am ungodly. I am a sinner. I am without strength, I am not like God. I am a sinner. It's almost like this progression of thought. At first, I see that I am not perfect, meaning I have strength, but not completely. Then I see that I am not like God. I am ungodly. But, then I see that I am a sinner. I have broken God's commandments. I am all these three: helpless, ungodly, a sinner.

God shows His love for me by His Son dying for me. That is some great love. That is God pouring out His love for me.

Promise: God loves the weak, the ungodly, the sinner and yet promises to give them life abundantly.