While We Were Still Enemies

Romans 5.10 (CEB):¹ If we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son while we were still enemies, now that we have been reconciled, how much more certain is it that we will be saved by his life?

I shared this verse with a couple of very dear friends with the following commentary:

“... we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son while we were still enemies...”

The Calvinists would say this only applies to the elect, but they’re missing the point. We were reconciled to God before we believed, “while we were still enemies of God.” This proves that all people will return to God because we have already been reconciled.

One friend quickly asked, “What you have shown here only proves that ‘we’ will return to God. According to the context, who is ‘we’? All Romans or just Christian ones?”

I responded that Paul is talking about everyone in Romans 5 and he asked me to make that case. So, here’s me making my case!

In Romans 1, after all of the politically charged statements about Jesus being the “Son of God” and “Lord” and people spreading the “Good News” about him—all of which were used about Caesar—Paul states he’s thankful to God for the faithfulness of the Roman followers of Jesus because their “faithfulness is being spread throughout the whole world” (1.8). He goes on to say that he’s “not ashamed of the Gospel” because it’s “God’s own power for salvation to all who have faith in God, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (1.16). This is an important statement because it shows that, very early on, Gentiles (that is, everyone who’s not Jewish) were part of God’s plan all along (see Acts 15). And that point is Paul’s focus in this letter—both Jews and Gentiles are God’s children.

A little later on, Paul states that “humans are without excuse” because God’s “invisible qualities” are “clearly seen” within creation (1.18-20). Therefore, God “gave them over” to an “unfit mind” and they became “filled with every kind of injustice, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless” (1.28-29; NRSVUE²). Again, this is laid squarely at the feet of “humans,” i.e., all people, both Jews and Gentiles.

In chapter 2, Paul begins by saying, “So every single one of you who judges others is without any excuse. You condemn yourself when you judge another person because the one who is judging is doing the same things” (2.1). “Every single one” of those in the Roman fellowship—both Jews and Gentiles—are “without any excuse.” Paul is laying the groundwork here that neither party is more righteous, nor more sinful, than the other group.

He then declares that, on the one hand, God will grant the Life of the Ages (“eternal life”) and “immortality” based on people’s “patient good work.” On the other hand, however, God will bring about “wrath and anger” for those “acting out of selfishness and disobedience.” He then states:

Romans 2.9-11(CEB): There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. God does not have favorites (emphasis added).³

Here again, we see Paul making his point that God’s justice is for “every human being,” regardless of their heritage. One group is not exempt from this, but “everyone” will receive justice.

Paul then states quite clearly that Gentiles, who don’t have the Mosaic Law, but follow the Law instinctively, have the Law written in their hearts (see Jeremiah 31.33; Hebrews 8.10) and will be judged accordingly. He then turns to the Jews and states they’re no better off because they have the Law, but fail to keep it and are, therefore, “lawbreaker(s).” Those who don’t have the Law, but keep it anyway, i.e., the Gentiles he just mentioned, will judge them.

In Romans 3, Paul writes that “both Jews and [Gentiles] are all under the power of sin” (3.9) and, “All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory” (3.23). So Paul keeps building his case that whatever he’s talking about includes all people, i.e,. both Jews (the “few”) and Gentiles (the “many”).

In chapter 4, Paul points out that Abraham was actually un-circumcised when he completely trusted God and that trust was “credited to him as righteousness” (4.22). Paul points out that when the scripture states that righteousness “was credited to him” (Genesis 15.6; NRSVUE), it wasn’t just for Abraham’s sake but “also for our sake, because it’s going to be credited to us, too. It will be credited to those of us who have faith in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Romans 4.24). The “us” here, is both Jews and Gentiles who believe in God “who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” But, it’s not just them, this “righteousness” extends to anyone after them who believes God “raised Jesus…from the dead.”

Now we get to chapter 5. This is a crucial chapter for our purposes as it contains some of the clearest Christian Universalism/Ultimate Redemption passages found in the Bible. Paul begins with the alarming statement about Christ’s faithfulness— “Therefore, since we have been made righteous through [Christ’s] faithfulness, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus [the] Christ” (5.1). This isn’t about our faithfulness or choices or anything else on our part; it’s all about Jesus. It’s not about lineage or laws or obedience to those laws; it’s about Jesus’ faithfulness. Because of his faithfulness, people—both Jews and Gentiles—were made righteous. Notice the past tense verbs, “we have been made righteous.” It’s already a done deal.

In parallel verses that echoes verse 10 mentioned above, Paul writes, “While we were still weak, at the right moment, Christ died for ungodly people” (5.6) and again in verse 8, “But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” The “we” and “us” here are clearly Paul and the followers of Jesus in Rome. However, as we’ve seen, Paul’s bigger picture is that all people—both Jews and Gentiles—are “ungodly people,” “sinners,” and “enemies,” not just those followers of Jesus in Rome.

In verses 10-11, Paul states we now have a “restored relationship with God” because “we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son.” And that was accomplished because of Christ’s faithfulness “while we were still enemies.” Certainly, Paul means himself and the faithful followers of Jesus in Rome when he wrote “we,” but it goes much further than that. As Paul already pointed out in chapter 3, “both Jews and [Gentiles] (i.e., everyone) are all under the power of sin” (3.9). Reconciliation to God, then, has absolutely nothing to do with our actions or even our faith (I’ll explain why in a moment). As we stated above, God “reconciled all things to [Godself]” (see: Colossians 1.20) because of Jesus’ faithfulness (Romans 5.1).

Next, Paul makes this amazing statement, “Just as through one human being sin came into the world, and death came through sin, so death has come to everyone, since everyone has sinned” (5.12). It’s a closing argument for the sake of sin, if you will. There’s no escaping it; everyone’s included.

And here’s the part about faith I always bring up and I mentioned above. No one had to “repent and believe” to inherit sin and death. It came to “everyone.” Not just the Gentiles, but Jews too. No one is outside of its reach.

Paul goes on to say:

Romans 5.15-16: But the free gift of Christ isn’t like Adam’s failure. If many people died through what one person did wrong, God’s grace is multiplied even more for many people with the gift—of the one person Jesus [the] Christ—that comes through grace. The gift isn’t like the consequences of one person’s sin. The judgment that came from one person’s sin led to punishment, but the free gift that came out of many failures led to the verdict of acquittal.

This is the part that gets me excited! We have limited the scope and reach of God’s grace and “free gift,” i.e., “righteousness.” Here, Paul refers to “many people.” As I’ve already hinted, I see the “many” as referring to the Gentiles. In Deuteronomy, God said that Israel was “the fewest of all peoples” (7.7; NRSVUE; cf. 1 Corinthians 1.26ff), so, naturally, Paul would refer to the Gentiles as “many people.” However, again, Paul’s whole argument is that both Jews and Gentiles are guilty. Adam’s punishment for sin reaches everyone.⁴ But, God’s grace, through Jesus, “is multiplied even more” than the punishment! And “the free gift (of righteousness)…led to the verdict of acquittal.” Just as Adam’s punishment reaches everyone, so does God’s grace.

In verse 18, Paul states:

Romans 5.18 (NLT):⁵ Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.

It’s quite clear. Just as Adam’s sin brings condemnation to everyone, so, too, does Christ’s righteous act brings a “right relationship with God and new life (or the Life of the Ages) for everyone.” This is the main point Paul has been driving toward (up to this point). No one is left out of this. Jews and Gentiles—everyone—have the Life of the Ages because of Christ’s work. Just as everyone died because of Adam, everyone lives because of Christ. Paul says as such:

Romans 5.21 (NLT): So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus [the] Christ our Lord (emphasis added).

Everyone was “ruled over” by sin, but now, because of Jesus, God’s “wonderful grace rules”... over whom? Everyone. Not a single person was outside of the rule of sin, likewise, not a single person is outside of God’s grace and the Life of the Ages. Why? Because God’s grace rules instead of sin. And because God’s grace rules now, we have been given right standing with God and the Life of the Ages through Jesus!

So, when Paul states that we were reconciled to God while we were enemies (5.10), he’s not just speaking about the believers in Rome; he’s referring to humanity as a whole. Simply put, just as sin ruled over all people in death, God’s grace now rules over all people in Life through Jesus the Christ our Lord! Allelujah!

~~~

In the Love of the Three in One,

Br. Jack+, LC

1. Unless otherwise stated, all scripture quotations and references — and scripture quotations marked (CEB) — are taken from The Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible. Used by permission.

2. Scripture quotations marked (NRSVUE) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

3. While we won’t address this in this post, it’s interesting to note that Paul’s first mention of God’s justice is based on people’s good works.

4. Part of the reason Paul wrote this letter, as can be seen in later chapters, is that the Gentiles started thinking they were better off than the Jews. That God had replaced the Jews with faithful Gentiles. Paul makes clear that is not the case.

5. Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation, Inc. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.