- When We were Enemies We

6. “When We were Enemies We Were Reconciled”

Romans 5:10 states that God reconciled us when we were still enemies, “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.”

We were reconciled to God when we were enemies. Reconciliation is the direct effect of justification, the removal of condemnation and the declaration of righteousness. Paul has been speaking of the blessed fruits of justification evidenced by faith in Christ. One of these fruits is the shedding abroad of the love of God in the heart – love of God consciously and personally experienced. Then he dwells upon the manifestation of that love in the death of Christ. It was a love that was displayed to the loveless elect. He argues that if in our sinful and unloving state we were embraced by the love of God, then that love would not be less now that it has already begun to take effect, i.e., it has been applied, and experienced by faith. If He loved us sufficiently to give His Son to die for our salvation when we were under His condemnation, much more shall His love bestow upon us the manifold blessings secured by that death. “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” (Ro 5:9).

It is well to note the fact and reality of divine wrath. There is “wrath” on the part of God against sin and sinners who are His own elect. One of the key thoughts of the apostle in the epistle of Romans is that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Ro 1:18), and the coming day of judgment are “the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Ro 2:5). And because of this stern fact, the gospel is a revelation not only of love, but specifically “a righteousness of God” (Ro 1:17). And he shows that the essence of the gospel is found in the propitiatory death of the Lord Jesus Christ (Ro 3:24,25,26), through whom alone can men who have been “brought under the judgment of God” (Ro 3:19) find justification, reconciliation and deliverance from the wrath of God (Ro 4:25; 5:1-6). It is not necessary to add that the wrath of God is not to be thought of as having any capricious element in it; it is the settled opposition of His holy nature against sin.

Reconciliation is both God-ward, as well as man-ward. The apostle proceeds (Ro 5:10): “For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” It is not just that the elect in their sinful nature are at enmity against God. God’s holy hatred towards sin and His holy wrath against His elect must be appeased. God took the initiative to reconcile Himself to His elect through the death of His Son. In the death of Christ, God’s holy anger and just wrath was propitiated and He was reconciled to His elect. Through the atoning death of His Son, the cause of God’s wrath and anger was removed. God is reconciled to His people, who are still enemies. They have to be effectually called to life at God’s appointed and approved time. The verse is parallel to the preceding, and the being reconciled is on the same plane as being justified, the being justified was God’s action, and so is the reconciling. Justification delivers from “the wrath of God”; reconciliation takes effect upon enemies. Justification and reconciliation are two sides of the same coin. They are God’s gracious act without the elect’s co-operation.

The word “enemies” is significant. By those who take the man-ward aspect of reconciliation as the only one, it is held that the word must be taken actively—those who hate God. But the passive meaning, “hated of God,” seems far the preferable, and is indeed demanded by the context. Paul uses the verb echthroi, “enemies,” in Ro 11:28, in antithesis to “beloved” of God, and that is the consistent sense here. The enemies are those who are the objects of the wrath of the previous verse. And when we were thus hated of God, the objects of His just displeasure on account of our sin, “we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.” God laid aside His enmity, and in the propitiatory death of Christ showed Himself willing to receive us into His favor. God laid aside His hatred of us when He justified us. He reconciled us by justifying us at effectual calling to life.

I conclude that those who teach justification conditioned upon man’s act of faith fail to do justice to the Biblical evidence of Romans 5:10 where we are told that God reconciled us when we were enemies, i.e., just as He justified us when we were still enemies. He reconciled us so that we may believe him at gospel call. Believing Him, we are blessed with that conscious experience of being righteous before Him, and at peace with Him