While We Were Still Sinners,

Christ Died For Us

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—

To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

Romans 5:6-15

What is the meaning of grace? We get something we don’t deserve. Christ is our gift, and He is the grace in our lives. We deserve death because of our sin, yet “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We were unworthy, yet Jesus – sinless and holy – gave up His life so we could escape the penalty of our sin and one day live forever in heaven.

Eternal life is a gift from God. It’s not something we earn by working for is. We are saved by God’s grace, through faith in Christ.

Grace and mercy are unearned blessings.

Our Daily Bread – September 6, 2016