Both Jews and Gentiles are saved by grace
This would be a terrifying chapter if not for the fact that Paul can continue with a “but.” That three-letter conjunction is the pivotal point of this chapter, yes, of the whole letter—in fact, of all Scripture. Mankind as a group has made a terrible mess of things. In their wickedness and perversity, all people are at odds with God. All are spiritually dead and enemies of God. All deserve the severest punishment,
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
These verses contain three enormously important words that give us a look into the heart and mind of our God. Paul can speak of a momentous change in our situation. Why? “Because of his [God’s] great love for us.” The Greek term for love used here is not the word that speaks of friendship between two people—people who see endearing qualities in each other and on that basis like each other. Instead, it speaks of a love and affection that is totally one way. It all comes from God. Nothing in man the sinner, the God-hater, the spiritual corpse, drew God to him. Love resided only in the heart of God.
The second great term describing our Savior-God is “mercy.” Paul speaks of him as “God, who is rich in mercy.” Mercy is a positive quality that certainly has much in common with love. But it is also somewhat different. Mercy is the attitude in the mind and heart of God that moves him to take pity on us when he sees our lost and wretched state. Mercy prompts him to action.
And what did God’s love and mercy prompt him to do? We were rightly the objects of divine wrath, “but because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.”
Paul has already told us about the incomparably great power God used to raise Christ from the dead. But that use of God’s power in raising Christ has far-reaching implications also for the whole human race. Raising Christ from physical death signaled the completion of Christ’s saving work and sealed our redemption. It made possible our resurrection from spiritual death.
When Paul says, “God . . . made us alive with Christ,” he is referring to the miracle of conversion. When we could not lift a finger to help ourselves, God through Word and sacrament worked faith in our hearts, creating life where formerly there had been none. In this way he “made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.”
God’s love and mercy in action, converting and making spiritually dead people alive, is such a marvelous and amazing thing that Paul spontaneously exclaims, “It is by grace you have been saved.” Together with love and mercy, “grace” is the third term that requires our attention. But actually, Paul is getting a little ahead of himself. He’ll treat the concept of grace more fully beginning at verse 8. First he continues to explain what God’s love and mercy have done for us.