Romans Five Six

Romans 5:6 (KJV) “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”

What God did for us through Jesus is amazing. Anyone who knows anything about the Christian faith knows that Jesus died for our sins. This can seem distant and impersonal to some. It can be difficult to understand and appropriate. This verse makes an even more startling claim. We are told that Jesus died for us when we were yet without strength, helpless, powerless. Further, we are told that Jesus died in due time, or at just the right time.

Galatians 4:4-5 (KJV) sheds some light on the timing of the coming of Jesus. There we read, “4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” We find an interesting phrase in verse 5. It tells us that Jesus was born under the law to redeem those who were under the law. From this we understand that Jesus came to redeem the Jewish people.

Curiously, Paul continues by adding the Gentiles to his statement on the reason for the timing of the arrival of Jesus. He says that it was so that “we” could be adopted as God’s children. Paul was a Jew, and he wrote that Jesus came to redeem those under the law, which we would take to mean the Jewish people. So, what does he mean by “we?”

He goes on to make that clear in two ways. First, he refers to adoption. The Jews had no need of adoption. They were already chosen by God. Second, he refers to these people in verse six as “you.” Remember, this letter was written to the Gentile believers in Galatia. Here are verses six and seven. Galatians 4:6–7 (KJV) “6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

Jesus came at just the right time because the Jewish people were being ruled by Gentiles. The Roman Empire ruled over an enormous area. This set the stage for Jesus to come to the Jewish people and to be known among the Gentiles as well. Luke’s Gospel was written at the behest of a Roman of some importance. Paul, who was a Jewish Rabbi, was also born a Roman citizen.

More than coming at the right time, Jesus came while we were all powerless. We were helpless regarding our ability to become righteous and have a relationship with God. Ephesians 2:12 (KJV) points out “That at that time ye [Gentiles] were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.”

The Jewish people were also helpless, but they did not realize it. They felt as though they had qualified because of having kept the scriptures and followed the law. Paul puts it this way in Romans 2:17–20 (KJV) “17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, 18 And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; 19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, 20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.”

Jesus did amazing things. He was thinking of us and loving us when we were completely helpless. He was reconciling us to God when we were His enemies. He came to earth at the perfect moment in history for His love to be seen and understood by both Jews and Gentiles. He laid down His life for us before we took a single step in His direction.

Jesus did all this for you. He did all this for every person who will ever live. All that is required from anyone, no matter their past or their current situation, is to believe Him. John 1:12 (KJV) “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”