Romans 5:6
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Truth to Learn
God did it all for us in spite of the fact that we didn’t deserve it.
Behind the Words
The word translated “without strength” is the Greek word asthenēs, which is made up of the privative a, meaning “not” or “without” and a form of sthenos, meaning “strength,” Hence, asthenēs means “without strength, powerless, or without ability.”
This word “ungodly” is from asebēs. This is made up of a, meaning “not” or “without” and a form of sebomai, meaning “to revere or worship.” So, we see that asebēs means, “without reverence, or one who does not worship.”
Word Order – In Greek, word order is used for emphasis. A word-order literal translation of this verse is “for Christ, we being without ability, in due time for the irreverent died.” The emphasis of this verse is on Christ.
Meaning Explained
In Romans chapter four Paul showed us that it is not through works that we are justified before God, rather it is through faith. Because we believe the promise of God, He chose to declare us righteous (even though we aren’t righteous, He chose to declare us so). Paul ended the last chapter with the statement that Christ was delivered on account of our offenses and He was raised again to provide for our justification. In the first five verses of this chapter, we learned that there are a number of benefits to this justification by faith.
He now goes back to the subject of Christ’s death so that we can understand better why Christ died for us. He sets this up by pointing out that we couldn’t do it ourselves. Because of our own lack of righteousness (remember, there is none righteous, not even one) we were without strength. Because of our sinfulness we were unable to stand in the presence of a sinless God, and we did not possess the ability to make ourselves righteous. As a result, because God is a righteous God and must punish the guilty sinner (that means you and me), we would have stood condemned in His presence unless someone who is righteous was willing to pay our penalty for us.
Which is exactly what Paul says happened. The last half of this verse says that Christ (the sinless, righteous one) died for the ungodly. We were irreverent sinners who would stand condemned before God when Christ gave Himself for us.
It’s easy to imagine a wealthy benefactor giving money to a poor child who does nice things for others in spite of his or her own poverty. However, it’s hard to imagine that this same wealthy benefactor would give money to an obnoxious, mean, spiteful young child no matter how poor. What Paul is saying in this and the following verses is that in spite of our being obnoxious, mean, and spiteful (a.k.a. sinful) and without the ability to change ourselves, Jesus the Christ (the anointed one) died for us so that we can stand as sinless and righteous before our Holy God.
Application
It’s easy to get cavalier about our salvation until we realize how much God did for us, how ungodly we are without Him, how powerless we are to save ourselves, and how undeserving we are. In spite of all this, while we were ungodly and unable to do anything about it, Christ died for us. Hallelujah!
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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