Posted on 07/25/2020 5:29:38 PM PDT by pastorbillrandles
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. ( Romans 5:11)
Romans chapter Five is one of those places in the Bible which “established (me) in Righteousness”(Isaiah 54).
I had a very finely tuned conscience, I was keenly aware of the “sinfulness of (my) sin” and needed constant reinforcement of the assurance of salvation. I needed to know that in spite of my sins, I was right with God.
How can a righteous and Holy God accept a grievous sinner such as myself? How can He go on loving me, who stumbles, falters and falls daily as his disciple?
But here in Romans we learn that God loved us, before we were saved and before he brought us into his family. Though We were enemies, estranged from God himself, haters of God and all that is truly Holy, God set his Love upon us.
If God loved us when we were at our worst, How much more does He love us since we have been reconciled to Him through the death of his Son?
The LORD doesn’t wait for us to clean up our lives, or even to turn to Him, in order to love us. God’s love took the initiative, He loved us in our unsaved conditioned, and sent His Son to Redeem us!
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (Romans 5: 8-9)
If God could love me while I was an estranged enemy from Him, running from him, cursing and rejecting Him, How Much More does He love you and I who have accepted the justification which he purchased for us by His blood?
God loves You! It is no wonder, that often with trembling lips and upraised hands we sing “Amazing Love, How Can it be, that thou my God shouldst die for me?”. Another hymn that brings to us the astounding truth, “Oh How He loves you and me, Oh how He loves you and ME! He gave his life, what more could He give, Oh how He loves you, Oh How he loves me, Oh How he loves you and Me!”.
In the logic of Romans 5, if God could love us in our miserable, fallen state, what of those of us, who have accepted his offer of salvation? Even in spite of our constant false starts, lapses and stumbling steps, does He love us less now or More?
Ephesians 2 expresses a similar thought,
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, (Ephesians 2:1-4)
What a dismal picture of our true condition! Dead, rotting in sn and lust, slaves to the enemy of God, Satan, on a well oiled path, (the course of this God rejecting World), and even liable to the Wrath of the Holy God, which is sure to come upon the world, and rightly so…
BUT GOD… (so rich in mercy) …It staggers us, that God could love us so, in that state of rebellion and estrangement, when we were unholy, ungodly, unrighteous, BUT GOD… think about it and rejoice!
FOR THE GREAT LOVE WHEREWITH HE HATH LOVED US… did that love come before or after you were born again? It preceded it.
God knew we would fall from the very foundation of the world, and made the provision, which his Righteousness would require. God loved us…God loves us…God will always love us, in Jesus.
Yes, but does God love Antifa and BLM when they burn, loot, and murder?
Honestly, for the first time in my life I’m beginning to believe in limited atonement and double predestination.
Some people just prove by their evil lives that they have rejected Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. While all things are possible through God’s grace, it’s pretty clear in practical terms that some people are unlikely to change their evil ways.
The reprobate mind is really the point where God becomes a gentleman and allows them to give into their free will and live according to their sins.
There is a point of no return in my opinion. Book of Hebrews covers it.
I can’t to H3LL because Satan has a restraining order against me.
As does Romans 1.
Agreed, very much so!
When I think of where I was before the Lord saved me, I wonder how close I was to “being given over to a reprobate mind”?
“Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!” Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole.””.
I’m pretty sure you are not alone in that claim.
We’ve all been close to the abyss at one point or another.
The Lord is indeed Most Merciful!!!
Anyone who is saved, at some point, will come to realize just what they’ve been saved from. And it’s a wonder. It’s why we love Him!
Amen! Glory to God for the gift of His Son!
Yes, amen. Enjoy your Lord’s Day tomorrow. Worship Him!
Thanks for responding to my post.
Dostoevsky’s “The Devils” isn’t his best-known novels, but it’s startlingly modern in its expose of revolutionary movements.
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