Romans 5:9-21 “Loving It”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁹Therefore, to much more, having been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath through Him, ¹⁰for, if being enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, to much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life, ¹¹and not only [that], but [we are] also ones reveling in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

¹²Therefore, just as the sin (and the death through the sin) entered into the world through one man, thus also the death passed into all men because all sinned, ¹³for sin was being in [the] world until law (but sin is not being imputed to ones not being of law), ¹⁴but the death reigned from Adam until Moses, even upon the ones not sinning upon the likeness of the trespass of Adam, who is a type of the One about to [be]; ¹⁵but the free gift [is] not as the sin, for if the many died by the sin of the one, to much more the grace of God and the gift by grace abounded into the many by the one man, Jesus Christ, ¹⁶and the gift [is] not like [that which is] through [the] one who sinned, for on the one hand, the judgment [is] out of one into condemnation, but the free gift [is] out of many sins into justification (acquittal); ¹⁷for if the death reigned through the one by the sin of the one, to much more will those ([the] ones receiving the abundance of the grace and the gift of justification) reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. ¹⁸Consequently, therefore, as through one sin into all men into condemnation, thus also through one act of righteousness into all men in justification (acquittal) of life. ¹⁹Just as the many were made sinners through the disobedience of the one man, thus also the many will be made righteous ones through the obedience of the One, ²⁰but law snuck in in order that the sin might abound, but the grace overflowed when the sin abounded, ²¹ in order that just as the sin reigned by the death, thus also the grace might reign through the righteousness into eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This is a very significant passage for me personally. From the time the Lord saved me, I very much enjoyed studying the Bible. Early on, someone showed me how to use a Strong’s Concordance where I could look up the very Greek and Hebrew words upon which our English translations are based. With this tool, I could begin to understand what those words meant. Then too I discovered Vine’s Expository Dictionary which provided much more extensive understandings of the words. I found repeatedly that what they meant was nothing different than what our English translations say – only more. I found the original words of the Bible to be pictures in themselves and, in those pictures, I found profound truths to understand God and to live by.

I went along several years in the delight of those studies. Then, at some point, I came to Romans 5:12: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned,…” As I studied the passage and read various commentaries, I saw great controversy over the meaning of this passage (including the entire section of vv.12-21). However, the controversies didn’t center on the meanings of the words themselves, but rather in the grammar. Writers were appealing to the tense of the verb “for that all have sinned.” It is an aorist, they cried, and I of course had no idea what they meant.

I realized at that point that it’s not just word meanings which are different from one language to another. It’s not just that they have a different word for “tree.” It is also true that they may have a very different way of even expressing their thoughts. We call it their grammar, their way of structuring sentences in order to communicate meaning to one another. For instance, in English, we put our adjectives first and say it is a “blue house.” In Spanish their adjectives rather follow their nouns and they literally say it is a “house blue.”

As another example, in English our word order is very important. If we say, “The boy hit the ball,” we all understand from the very order of the sentence, it is clearly the boy doing the hitting and it is the ball that gets hit. In Greek, the sentence can read in literally any order, “The ball hit the boy,” “Hit the ball the boy,” “Hit the boy the ball,” “The ball the boy hit,” and yet, in the Greek grammar, everyone hearing would know exactly what we mean. In our English, we use word order to make sense of what we’re saying. Because word order isn’t important to Greeks, they can use it for emphasis. In their grammar, they can put a word first in the sentence and then everyone knows they mean to emphasize it. An example of this comes in James 5:16 where we translate it something like, “The prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much.” Actually, in Greek, it says something more like, “Much the prayer of a righteous man accomplishes.” You see the difference – what James was wanting to emphasize was the “much,” so he put it as the very first word in the sentence. In this case, we can do that in English too, but it is more of a narrative device than how we would normally express ourselves.

What I realized that day, pondering Romans 5:12, is that there was another entire treasure trove of truth to be found in not only understanding the original words of the Bible but also by understanding the grammar of how those words fit together. I didn’t know how I could ever gain such skills, but I immediately wished I could.  

Not long after that, the Lord of course provided me the opportunity to actually study Greek and Hebrew. What I found was in fact a treasure trove! Now some 30 years later, here I sit, pondering that exact same passage, Romans 5:12, only now I know exactly what all these guys are talking about. I don’t have to believe a word they say. I can translate the passage myself. I can understand not only the word meanings but the very way the sentences are arranged in the Greek language. I can hear the guys’ arguments and decide for myself whether I think what they’re saying is valid.

Now, I must say, after spending a few weeks studying the passage, once again, it doesn’t mean anything that isn’t obvious in English. Whether you know Greek and Hebrew or not, you can read it and it means what it says. The difference for me is not in what it says, but in my own personal confidence that I know what it says. No one is going to cower me with all their crowing about aorists. I know what it says. I know what it means. I have to say, words cannot express the joy I gain from that confidence.

And so here I am.

After some 30 years, I return to what is supposed to be one of the “most difficult” passages in the Bible. Frankly, what I find is that it isn’t difficult at all. Once again, you can read it in English (especially all of verses 12-21) and it means just what it says. The Greek (for me) only confirms that what we have are perfectly good English translations. The problem, it turns out, is not in understanding what it says, but rather, in letting it say what it says! I like what Butler wrote, “The passage is regarded by expositors as beset with more difficulties perhaps than any other in the New Testament, and more controversy has grown out of it. This arises not so much from any difficulty in the passage itself, as from the attempts to make it support favorite theories.”

Yes, “from the attempts to make it support favorite theories.” That is precisely the problem. The very first thing anyone needs to understand when they turn to the Bible is that it is God’s Word. Not ours. The challenge of exegesis ought to be to determine exactly what God says (and what He does not). How tragic that men who would call themselves theologians would turn this into a “difficult” passage, not because the meaning isn’t clear, but rather because they don’t like that meaning!

And so here I am.

I love this.

I love the freedom of being able to read and study the Bible and sincerely try to simply let God say what He says, then figure out what that means in my own life and thinking. The truth is you can all do that in the plain, simple English. For myself, however, I am an engineer. I love to pull things apart to see how they fit together. I can’t be happy until I’ve dug to the bedrock, until I’ve turned every stone I know there is to turn, until I’m confident I do understand.

And so here I am.

I love this.

Romans 5:6-8 “Today”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁶For, us still being weak ones, Christ died for the ungodly ones, according to season. ⁷For someone will scarcely die on behalf of a righteous one, for someone might even perhaps dare to die for the good one, ⁸but God displays His own love into us because Christ died on behalf of us, while we being still sinners.

Just for the fun of it, I want to take a little excursus and record some thoughts I have. Now, before I even start, I want to acknowledge that what I write will probably appear absolutely useless to 99.9% of all the people who ever read it. However, as always, my hope is that, if I write things like this down, perhaps one of my grandchildren or great-grandchildren might read it and actually find it helpful. Since I passed on to them some of my genes, they might just have the same loose screws as me, and actually enjoy this! I also admit from the beginning this will be way too long, but I don’t know how to shorten it, so I’ll just record these thoughts, then leave them lie.

What I specifically want to address is the words translated above as “according to season.” The NIV translates them “at just the right time.” Jesus died for us “at just the right time.” One should pause and ponder what the Lord means by “at just the right time.” Obviously, a lot of possible understandings could be offered by a lot of people. For me personally, I have been studying the Bible now for over 40 years. I’ve read it cover to cover so many times I’ve completely lost track of the number. I’ve studied entire books. I’ve studied passages. I’ve studied prophetic portions. I’m quite aware there are “schools” of interpretation out there, especially when it comes to prophecy and the interpretations thereof, but I’d like to believe I’ve studied enough and long enough to be confident my opinions are based on my own study, not someone else’s “system,” whatever that may be.

So, given all of that, what does it mean “according to season” or “at just the right time”? What “time”? My own mind runs immediately to Gal. 4:4: “But when the fulness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman…” In God’s mind, there was a specific time when Christ was to come. Jesus made statements on several occasions like, “My time is not yet come,” or “Father, the time has come…” Now, someone could maintain Jesus is using “my time/the time” the way we do. We say that as referring more to the events themselves than necessarily as if that time was something appointed. But in Jesus’ case, there is no doubt in my mind that He is referring to an appointed time.

It is exactly here the “Seventy Weeks of Daniel” come into play. For this, look at Daniel 9:24-27:

²⁴ “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.

²⁵ “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the Ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. ²⁶ After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. ²⁷ He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”

Daniel tells them there will be seventy 7’s, which I believe are sevens of years, so that the total prophecy concerns a period of precisely 490 years. He indicates there will be period of “seven sevens,” followed by “sixty-two sevens,” for a total of sixty-nine. 69x7=483 years. And what happens after that 69^th week, after the 483 years have passed? “The Anointed One will be cut off.” Note we can literally translate that “The Messiah will be cut off.” I doubt that any Christian reading this has any other understanding in mind except that Daniel was clearly speaking of the Crucifixion of Jesus.

What this means is that the Cross itself was part of a timeline revealed at least as early as Daniel’s writings. Now let me do a little math. First of all, one will find that Jewish prophetic years are understood as twelve 30-day months, or 360 days. So what we have are 483 years of 360 days long. In order to consider that in our terms, we have to convert those to solar years. 483x360 = 173,880 days. If we divide 173,880 by 365.25 days/year, it comes out to 476 of our solar years.

Now when does that 476 years start? It says in v.25, it starts with the decree “to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.” Interestingly, it is commonly agreed that Nehemiah was granted permission to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem in 445 BC. If we add 476 to 445 BC (and subtracting 1 for the “0” year which doesn’t exist between BC and AD), we get 30 AD. That is obviously a familiar date to all Christians!

Incidentally, we know Jesus began His ministry when He was “about” thirty years old and was crucified three years later. On that basis, someone may say, “Shouldn’t the crucifixion be in 33 AD?” The answer to that is that we don’t know for sure exactly what year Jesus was born. Whoever decided where to set the “0” could have only claimed to get it “close.” If He was really born in 3 or 4 BC, we’d be right at the 30 AD for the Cross.

My point is this: The Jewish people could have known the exact day when the Messiah would be crucified. They kept scrupulous records of times and dates and no doubt knew exactly the day when Artaxerxes wrote his letters authorizing Nehemiah’s re-building of the wall. Had they taken Daniel’s prophecy seriously, they could have done the math. Actually, I wonder if some people didn’t do that? We know both Simeon and Anna were “waiting for the consolation of Israel.” Once again, we take that as just a general “hope-so.” What if they’d done their math and knew the time was nearing? The Bible even says that Anna spoke of these things “to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.” It’s possible many people did give serious attention to the Bible and knew they were reaching the end of that 69^th week. Although the Pharisees were scrupulous Bible students, it is possible their dark hearts either didn’t see it or chose not to, and that explains why as a nation, no one seemed to know it.

Consider too Jesus’ words as He rode into Jerusalem, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:42). Notice He says “on this day.” In the Greek He is being emphatic, “on this day.” Also notice in Matt. 23:38, He told the Jewish leaders, “Behold, your house is left to you desolate.” At this point, the nation of Israel has officially and finally rejected Jesus as their Messiah, so He in turn “rejects” them. From here on out, His witness on earth will be the Church, not Israel.

Daniel goes on in his prophecy to say that “the people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” This “ruler who will come” is none other than the AntiChrist, who will be of Roman (European) descent. The Romans did in fact destroy the temple and the city in 70 AD.

Then notice we have a mathematical problem. Daniel had said, “Seventy weeks.” We’ve only burned up sixty-nine. There are still 7 more years. Somehow, the Church Age as we know it must end (it’s called the Rapture), and Israel’s 70-week timeline must resume. What will that final seven look like for Israel? In v.27, Daniel says, “He (the ruler to come) will confirm a covenant with many for one week. In the middle of the week, he will put an end to sacrifice and offering, and…he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” The specific event that initiates the final “seven” of years is that the Jewish people will actually enter into some kind of covenant with none other than the very AntiChrist himself.

We’re not told the nature of that covenant, but we know that Israel is always a very small nation and constantly threatened by the entire Arab world. It would make perfect sense if the European Union (revived Roman empire) has become strong by this point and can actually offer Israel protection. It is also true that Israel controls vast stores of natural gas and other valuable resources which the European Union might think they “need” and for which they are willing to enter into a treaty with Israel to protect not just the nation but Europe’s own interest in those resources.

And so, as far as the Seventy Weeks are concerned, at the end of the 69^th, Israel has rejected God’s Messiah, and to initiate the 70^th, they have embraced Satan’s “messiah,” the AntiChrist. Obviously, that doesn’t go well for them. Daniel says, “In the middle of the week (after 3 ½ years), he will put an end to sacrifice” and set up the “abomination that causes desolation.” This is no doubt described in the book of Revelation as the time when the AntiChrist sets up an image of himself in the temple and demands that everyone worship it. This is what the OT calls, the “Day of Jacob’s Trouble.” It is what we call “the Tribulation.”

And how does that end? What did Daniel say the Seventy Weeks were for? Back to his v.24, he said it would “bring in everlasting righteousness.” This is Jesus’ triumphant Return described in Rev. 19, the beginning of the 1,000 years which we call the Millennium.

For the Church, there is no timeline. We are, in essence, a huge parenthesis in God’s dealings with Abraham’s descendants, the people of Israel. We know when the Church Age started, but we only know that of the Rapture, “no man knows the day or the hour.” It has been imminent ever since Jesus left. On the other hand, I would suggest we wouldn’t expect a very long period between the Church’s removal and God’s resumption of the Seventy Week timeline with Israel. I would suggest what we will likely see (and are seeing) is our world lining up perfectly for the AntiChrist to rise to power. I strongly suspect when the Rapture comes, we will leave a world perfectly arranged for the Day of Jacob’s Trouble to begin. Sometimes I wonder, when it says, “No man knows the day or the hour,” on the other hand, is it possible for us to surmise the year? In other words, could it be, in fact, that we will see all these events lining up, then know in fact it must be soon?

I think so. And this leads me back to my original point. Had the Jewish people taken the Scriptures seriously, I believe they could have known the exact day when their Messiah would be rejected. Again, I suspect that many of the common people had “done their math” and, although they perhaps didn’t have access to the kind of precise records the Pharisees and Priests possessed, they could have at least known the time of the Messiah was at hand, and so they were very deliberately “waiting for the consolation of Israel.”

This leads us to today and our world. As I’ve described above, if we take the Scriptures seriously, I believe we can develop a very accurate understanding of exactly where this world is headed and even how we’ll get there. On the one hand, God’s plans usually unfold slowly, so it could yet be 50 years. On the other hand, we also know world events can transpire quickly. Knowing this leaves us informed but still realizing it could be today. There is a European Union, a revived Roman empire, just as Daniel prophesied in his chapters 2 and 7. Israel is as threatened as ever. The recent COVID-19 (supposed) pandemic proved just how much our world already can act in unison. Perhaps another such cataclysmic event will move the entire world toward the inevitable one-world government?

The only clear prophesies regarding the end of the Church Age are in passages like I Thes. 4:13-18, but wherever it is evenly remotely intimated, we are always left with its simple imminence. Likewise, it seems to me that right now there is no way to predict exactly the day or year when the 70^th Week will begin. Once it does, there will be exactly seven years until it ends and Jesus finally returns to rule this world. So, unlike the Jews, we Christians do not have a certain timetable to follow. However, if we take the Scriptures seriously, I believe we can observe world events, see that in fact conditions are lining up perfectly for the AntiChrist to come, and know more and more we are drawing close to the end of the Church Age.

Interestingly, if we assume that all of world history will be comprised of 7,000 years and leave 1,000 of those years for Jesus’ Millennial reign, then we would expect Daniel’s 70^th week to close exactly 6,000 years after the Day of Creation. Jewish calendars put Creation somewhere around 4,000 BC, which would tell us to expect things to be wrapping up somewhere around 2,000 AD, so, once again, here we are. Admittedly, the Bible never says emphatically that there will be those 7,000 years. In addition, we would have to decide who to believe if we wanted to actually designate a specific day and year for Creation. Then, finally, we have the problems of whether to use solar years or 360 day years, and all the additional complications of leap years and such. At this point in time and given what we currently know, I believe the Lord has hidden from us the specific details of the total world timeline. However, it certainly, once again, would lead us to believe the time is near.

The bottom-line is that we believers should be all the more determined to take the Scriptures seriously and to in fact heed Paul’s admonition, “Live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Eph. 4:1,2). If the world ever needed to see grace, it is certainly today, and rest assured, if they see it, it will be in your life and mine. May you and I each be the Jesus in someone’s life today.

Jesus came “at just the right time.” For Him, it was a very clearly prophesied day and year. For you and I, our appointed time is Today.

Romans 5:6-8 “When?”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁶For, us still being weak ones, Christ died for the ungodly ones, according to season. ⁷For someone will scarcely die on behalf of a righteous one, for someone might even perhaps dare to die for the good one, ⁸but God displays His own love into us because Christ died on behalf of us, while we being still sinners.

In reading this passage, I would suggest it is absolutely essential that one pause and ponder deeply on its meaning. Why do I say that? Because I fear its truth is so foundational to everything we are and believe as Christians that we are in great danger of running past it and failing to drink deeply from the fountain of its glorious truth.

We have come to what must surely be one of the most oft-memorized and recited passages in all the Bible: “But God commends His own love to us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

In verse 5, we were reminded that God’s hope doesn’t disappoint, in fact cannot, precisely because the ocean of His love has flooded every corner of our existence. That is a fact, a treasure we may always fondle. However, we may not always feel that love. In those times of seeming disappointment or uncertainly or fear, to what should we look to be assured that love is real?

The question, gloriously, is not “To what shall we look?” but rather “To Whom?”! In our moments of deepest need, it is to Jesus we must look for the final and most consummate expression of God’s love. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Our hope is not just in facts, but rather in a real Person, and that Person is none other than the Jesus who willingly died in our stead!

This is precisely the truth I believe we must pause and ponder. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” In verses 6 & 7, Paul has established the simple fact that rarely ever would anyone die for anyone else, no matter how “good” that person may seem. Certainly, any real parent would die for their children and, growing up, I often heard of men in WW II who threw themselves on a hand grenade to save their fellow servicemen. Yet, no one would argue Paul’s point: People just don’t die for each other unless there is great love, or perhaps some great sense of duty.

But Jesus did, and when did He do it? “While we were yet sinners.” Verse 10 expresses it even more clearly when it sees us as “God’s enemies.” Jesus died for us certainly when we needed Him most, but, when He looked, did He see cute, furry, pitiful people His heart longed to save? At some time or another, we’ve all seen hurt pets. They were in fact cute and adorable and stirred compassion in our hearts. But I’ve also seen wild animals caught in a trap, vicious and hissing. Which picture did Jesus see when He died for us? When He died for us, we were the vicious, hateful, hissing creatures no one would die for! But Jesus did.

What this simple, familiar verse is teaching us is that, when all else fails, if we would be convinced anew of the love of God, then know that in this is that love most clearly and finally placarded: “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus loved you and me when we were at out absolute worst.

You can’t get any worse than “weak” and “ungodly” (v.6), “sinners” (v.8), and “enemies” (v.10). Be sure to let it sink in deeply, that is when Jesus died for us. Remind yourself that starting all the way back in 1:18, we were informed of the problem: “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth in their unrighteousness.” God is rightly angry at us weak, ungodly, sinning enemies who utterly destroy everything in His beautiful Creation, who wantonly slaughter each other, and completely self-destruct ourselves – all in a world He intended to flourish in love and joy and peace.

We often question God’s love in our hearts realizing just how badly we fail Him. Anyone who is honest struggles (often) with such thoughts. But again, we ask, when did Jesus die for us? The answer is “while we were yet sinners” – when we were already at our absolute worst.

“For God so loved the world, He sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16).