Grace is what distinguishes Christianity from all other world religions and it never ceases to amaze me. I would like to take a look at how Paul addresses the concept of grace in Romans 5:1-21. As with most of Paul’s writings, there is a lot packed into these 21 verses, so this is by no means intended to be a comprehensive study of the passage, or of grace itself.
Romans 5:1-7
In the first seven verses, Paul explains that through Christ, we access grace through faith. It is through faith in Christ that we are covered by God’s grace. Because of our sin, we are separated from God and our relationship with him is broken. In order to restore that relationship and have reconciliation with God, we need to have faith in Jesus Christ who suffered and died on the cross to provide salvation for us. Jesus is the only one who can bridge the gap between us and God that is caused by our sin. There is nothing we can do by our own efforts to earn God’s grace or to earn salvation. Salvation is the free gift of God when we put our faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8). We are reminded for whom Christ died when we read verses 6 and 7: “Christ died for the ungodly.” The object of God’s love through Christ is the ungodly. We are the object of God’s love even though we are unworthy and do not deserve it. Since we have received God’s love and grace, should we not show that same love and grace to others?
Romans 5:8-11
In the next five verses, verses 8-11, Paul explains that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (v. 8). He was willing to save us even though we were sinning and separating ourselves from God! Paul also explains this in Ephesians 2:4-5: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.” What if God had looked at us and only seen our sin? What if He only saw the bad in us, and not the good? We would have no hope of salvation. Zero. None. Fortunately, that is not the case, as Jesus states in John 3:16-17: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” While we were in our sinful state and at enmity with God, he chose to reconcile us, or make us right, with him through Christ.
Reconcile, or katalasso in Greek, means, “the exchange of hostility for a friendly relationship”[1] or “the restoration of a harmonious relationship between two parties.”[2] The use of katalasso with reference to humanity’s relationship with God is unique to Paul’s writings. It is used twice in Romans 5:10 to explain that God reconciled humanity while it was still at enmity with him, and that humanity is saved by the life of Christ after his death. Paul uses it in the next verse as well, as something they have already received from God.
In order for us to be reconciled to God, to exchange our hostility for friendly relationship or to bring us into harmonious relationship with him, requires repentance. Our sin separates us from God and creates a chasm between us and God. God gives us prevenient grace (the grace that “goes before” and enables us to turn to him), but we have to truly repent of our sin before the chasm can close and we have reconciliation with God. We have to acknowledge our sin, ask forgiveness for our sin, and turn away from sin.
Romans 5:12-17
We must turn to Christ for forgiveness of sin and salvation. There is no other way. In Verses 12-17, Paul reminds us that we are in total depravity because of the Fall of Adam. Sin entered the world through Adam’s sin and sin spread throughout all of humanity. We are made aware of our sin through the Old Testament law, but the law is powerless to save (8:3). However, just as death was brought by one man, grace was also brought by one man. Adam and Christ brought opposite conditions. Adam brought death, but Christ brought salvation. There is a link between Adam’s sin and death for all, but there is also a link between Christ’s death and salvation for all. The link between Christ’s death and salvation for all is grace. Without Christ, our sin brings judgment from God and no forgiveness. With Christ, we are justified and forgiven by grace through faith. Jesus paid the ultimate price by laying down his life for all of humanity.
Romans 5:18-21
In the final verses of chapter 5, verses 18-21, Paul explains that while sin reigned in death, grace abounded where sin increased. There is no limit to God’s grace – it is always sufficient. Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer distinguishes between two types of grace – cheap grace and costly grace: “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance…Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.”[3] God’s grace increases where sin increases, however it is cheap grace when we have an attitude of “It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission,” which Paul addresses in 6:1-2 (“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”). The kind of grace the Apostle Paul and Bonhoeffer refer to is the grace we seek by following Christ and laying down our lives for him. Costly grace is not taken for granted.
We are changed through grace as God draws us to himself. It is not through laws that we are changed, but through grace. Laws may attempt to force us to be good, but grace makes us want to be good. Grace means that there is nothing we can do by our own power to make God love us more, but it also means that there is nothing we can do that will make God love us less. God loves us, and the grace he extends to us through salvation in Jesus Christ is a gift from him to us. It is up to us to receive it and to live a life worthy of it.
[1] Frederick William Danker, ed., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd Edition (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2000), 521.
[2] Allen C. Myers, ed., The Eerdman’s Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1987), 875.
[3] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (revised) (New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1976), 47.
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