Romans 5:6–8

The effects of justification

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

In the English language, there are widely varying levels of attachment expressed by the solitary verb love. We love God; we love our spouses; we love family and friends; we love animals; we love the outdoors; we love chocolate cake.

The Greek language had a number of verbs to differentiate, to some extent at least, between varying levels of affection and attachment. It is important to realize that the word used here for God’s love is agape, the term indicating a one-way, unreciprocated love coming entirely from God. There were no endearing qualities in rebellious humanity that moved or influenced God. It wasn’t like in human friendship where both parties bring endearing qualities to the relationship so that a mutual affection develops. No, in the situation Paul is describing, all the good things originate on God’s side of the relationship.

Note first of all the timing. The apostle says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” In writing to the Galatians, he said, “When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman” (4:4). Christ came according to God’s timetable, not in response to any human choosing or planning.

Note, furthermore, that Christ came when we were “powerless.” Even if we had wanted him to come, which was not the case, we couldn’t have done anything positive to bring it about. But the infinitely worse situation was that by nature we didn’t want anything to do with God and his promised Savior, because we were “ungodly.” And yet, for such ungodly people as us, the Father sent his Son to die. That’s one-way love, the kind one can hardly find even the faintest approximation of in the human experience. Note the negative adverbs “very rarely” and “might possibly” when the apostle writes, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.” This verse has been interpreted in several ways. In the NIV the perceived difference lies between a righteous man and a good man.

The point is that even if a person has all kinds of legal and logical reasons to expect help and support from others, only very rarely will someone step in to die for him. For a good man—that is, one whose position of power or prestige strongly argues that he should be spared for the public good—somebody “might possibly dare” to die. The message in either statement, however, is clear: Don’t expect it!

Other interpreters have chosen the linguistic possibility of substituting the meaning “cause” for man, particularly in the second instance. The point then being that very rarely will anybody die for a righteousness person, but for a good cause “someone might possibly dare to die.” Examples such as that of a soldier throwing himself on a live grenade to spare the members of his squadron are usually envisioned. Again, that might possibly happen, but don’t count on it!

Whichever interpretation one takes, the point is the same, namely, that human love generally doesn’t extend to the point of a person’s dying for his neighbor. What doesn’t happen among people, however, God did. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Do you want to know if God loves you? Look at what he has been willing to do for you. When you were not just weak and “powerless” but an “ungodly” sinner actively opposed to him, Christ died for you—as he did for everyone. That is God’s one-way love in action. It is the love that allows Paul to say that God is a God who “justifies the wicked” (4:5).