5. God has given the gift of the Holy Spirit poured into our hearts.
6. Christ died for the helpless and wicked in God’s chosen time. That we are helpless and wicked shows God’s deep love for us, as broken as we are.
7-8. God’s limitless love for us is shown in Jesus Christ’s dying for us while we are steeped in sin. Jesus did not die for the righteous, for no one is righteous; we are all sinners. He died for the sinners of the world.
9. We are put right with God through the blood Jesus shed on the cross, not by anything that we did or can ever do. Our justification comes from the blood of Jesus offered in love for us on the cross.
10. Our sinfulness and broken lives made us God’s enemies. But through the death of Jesus Christ, his son, we are no longer enemies but friends.
11. We then can rejoice not through our pseudo-righteous behavior and religious observances but because of what God has done for us by offering his only son on the cross to redeem the unrighteous -- everyone! Through our Lord’s willful sacrifice, his ultimate offer of love on the cross, we are made right, made friends, with God.
In this passage, Paul alludes to the holy Trinity: The gift of the Spirit poured in us, God’s love for us, and Jesus’ willful death on the cross, his act of sacrificial love, offered up for each one of us. And Paul clearly explains the magnitude of God's unbridled love. We are helpless sinners, Paul reminds us, loved by an infinite God who wants each one of us with him eternally. The only way this can happen is if God himself dies for us since we are incapable of righting our own sins. Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, lovingly offers his life to the Father for us. We are made right with God through Jesus' salvific love.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for doing what I, in my state of sinfulness, could never do. Thank you, Jesus, for offering up your sacred life for me on the cross, for being my Redeemer and Deliverer. In return, I offer you my life, Lord. Let all you have given me be laid at your sacred feet. Use me, Lord, your redeemed, to be a loving, merciful presence in this world. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me, thank you, heavenly Father, for loving me, and thank you, Spirit of God, for living in me! Amen.
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