Romans 5:6-11·~1 min

Christ’s Sacrifice for the Ungodly

Paul names the shape of God's love by contrast with human rarity: people might dare to die for the worthy, but Christ dies for the powerless, the ungodly, and sinners.

F⁶or at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

From that death Paul argues forward. If Christ's blood has already justified enemies and reconciled them to God, then salvation from wrath and life through the risen Son are surer still, and rejoicing ends in God himself.

⁹Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him! ¹⁰For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! ¹¹Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Section summaryChrist dies at the right time for the powerless, the ungodly, and still-sinning people who could not rescue themselves. Paul argues from that death to an even surer future: those justified by Christ's blood and reconciled through his death will be saved through his life, and so they rejoice in God through him.

Role in the chapterThis middle section fixes the peace and hope of the opening verses in the historical act that made them possible. Paul turns from the fruits of justification back to the death of Christ and then forward again to final salvation.