Verse of the Day Devotion:  Romans 5:8 

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8

Paul is speaking here in this verse about the love of God that goes beyond anyone else’s love.  And this is a love that He has manifest to us.  He fully demonstrated His deep love for us.  And He has absolutely confirmed this love as well.  And how did He show us this love? It is stated in our focus verse.  “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8. 

In an earlier verse, he includes an additional word that clarifies the why.  “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:6.  So, when we put these ideas together we see this, while we were still sinners and helpless to do anything to redeem ourselves, Christ died for all these  ungodly sinners, of which this group we were also affiliated with.  From the very beginning when Eve and Adam disobeyed God and ate the fruit, and even before because He knows the end from the beginning, He loved us enough to address our dilemma. This shows the infinite love God has for us. 

This brings up another question.  Would anyone else die for another?  He answers this in the following verse.  “For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.” Romans 5:7.  This verse shows that the love God has for us is matchless and unparalleled.  When Paul uses the words ‘righteous’ and ‘good’, he does not mean a truly gracious and holy man that is made righteous by the obedience of Christ.  This righteousness and goodness is what he and others deem righteous and good outside of how God deems it, through Christ’s sacrifice.  Those who being outwardly moral and righteous before men who keeps to the letter of the law and what man deems and imagines as good, such as the Pharisees in Paul’s time period where goodness is determined by outward behavior.  In other words, most men who do not have a relationship with God  does not truly have a sacrificial love that helps others, even if it means their own death.  

 However, this shows the infinite love that God has for us.  For while we were still in sin and doing wrong, and while we had no means to make it right with God, and even before we knew about our situation, God sent His only begotten Son to die for us so our sins can be forgiven.  Even when we have denounced Him and refused to obey Him.  This is true love and this is the love He has for us.  If it were not for this love that God has for us, we would ultimately die in our sins and be eternally separated from God into a horrendous place.

 And finally, the kind of love God has for us is the kind we are to have for others.  “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35.  We are to love our brothers and sisters in Christ AND those who are not yet Christians.  He loved all men and gave access to all men through Christ.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” John 3:16-17.  We should care enough for the lost that we will do anything we can to introduce them to Christ, and we should love our fellow Christians enough to help them in any need.  Christ loved us enough to give His life for us. Do we love each other in the same way?

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.