It's easy to read over Romans 5:10 rapidly and miss its point.
And yet it's one of the most sublime and poignant passages of Scripture.
"For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
See, we were reconciled to God through the death of Christ. And that is a great truth. Our sins were paid for, the curtain of separation between us and God was taken out of the way. Nothing stood any longer between us and God.
Yet Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that if Christ was not risen from the dead, then we Christians would be pitiful, because we would still be dead in our sins.
How can this be? Wasn't His death on the Cross enough?
Being separated from God by our sins was only part of the problem. We also were spiritually dead. And even if our sins were paid for, it would have been no more valuable than paying for the Purina Dog Chow of a dead Doberman.
There also needed to be Life. New Life. A New Creation.
Being reconciled to God, as wonderful as that is, was not enough, and so the death of Jesus was not enough. He had to be risen from the dead, so that we too could be risen from our awful state, dead in our sins and trespasses.
"...according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead....even when we were dead in trespasses, [He] made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus...", (Ephesians 1:19,20; 2:5,6)
And so Jesus had to rise from the dead, or we would be lost. And fools. And blind leading the blind.
But He did rise from the dead.
And so we have not only the reconciling to God from the death of Christ, but our salvation through New Life, given as a free gift by God through the same power He used to raise Christ from the dead!
And so we have Romans 5:10, with profound meaning that might escape us if we simply read over it rapidly. Romans 5:10...
"For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, WE SHALL BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE."
To All You Readers of Grace For Life,
We Love You.
Happy Easter!
He Is Risen!
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2 comments:
Amen! This is a truth that eluded me for many, many years. It's like you mentioned to me the other day, if it's simply a matter of the old bumper sticker that says, "Christians are not perfect, just forgiven," then a big chunk of the gospel is left out. The part where we actually have Life! This is the necessary part for people in Adam, dead to God, to be made alive to God.
I've been in churches too many times in which the pastor proclaims without a whole lot of vigor, "He is risen," and then the congregation responds with even less vigor, "He is risen indeed." Oh joy.
:)
I like how you highlighted it at the end of your post, and I respond with much joy, "He is risen indeed!"
You quoted one of my favorite verses in the Bible,
"For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, WE SHALL BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE."
Amen!
I am overjoyed, He is risen!
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