For the first time I recognizing that there's an implication in verse 7 that most people just read right through without realizing it. It's true that someone will die, on a very rare occasion, for a righteous man. You don't hear about it very much. Now when a person lays their life down for another there are 3 possible reasons, indeed three distinct types of love.
1) The one who sacrifices (We'll call him 'A') loves what the one he dies for ('B') represents.
2) A sees that dying for B is the right thing to do.
3) A loves B.
Number one is a bodyguard. B has pledged his love to the system that A loves. In this case, A loves the values; not the person. You also see in this situation that there is a distinct disconnectedness in the sacrifice. It's not a person dying for a person. It's a person dying for principles. This is a very sterile idea. There is passion but not the deep, connected passion that exists in the third possible reason.
In number two, A has values of his own. He sees that B is in danger and knows that sacrificing his life for B is the morally/philosophically responsible path of action. This is even more sterile than number one. There is no passion for B. There is no passion for B and A's shared principles. There is only passion for some disconnected principles that simply exist.
In number three, A has a deep, profound love for B. Not because of anything B has said or done. Not because of what B represents. Not because of any external factors. B is dear to A's heart. Like a family member or a best friend. Not a bodyguard or a member of security personnel.
Now which one is Romans 5:7 talking about? Did Christ die for us because He loves what we have pledged ourselves to? Did He die simply because it was "the right thing to do"? Or did He die for the sheer fact that He loves us? Let's examine each option and then see what Scripture says.
Number one is absolute heresy in this situation. For what we have pledged ourselves to is destruction, sin, and death. Everything that we, in our flesh, hold dear is detestable in the sight of God. It is certainly not number one.
Number two is worthy of some consideration. This might be the conclusion one draws if they see people as victims of sin rather than perpetrators. As a matter of fact, verse 6, at surface value, seems to paint this picture. We were without strength. Victims at sin's merciless attacks. We could no longer hold it off and so Christ died for us because He could not simply stand by and see us destroyed by our enemy. So is this the case? Well I'm not going to go into it (I could write a long series of notes.) but to say people are merely victims of sin is a vast oversimplification. Numerous Scriptures emphasize man's PERSONAL guilt in sin. In one sense, we are victims, but in another sense, we are perpetrators. We must recognize the blood-guilt that David confesses in Psalm 51. We have despised the glory of God. We have been at war with Him. We are personally responsible and one day we will be called to give an account for our earthly lives. Ezekiel 18:20, Luke 10:27, and James 1:23-25 clearly show that man has responsibilities in his relationship to God. It follows, then, that Christ was not at ALL bound to die for us. As a matter of fact, with man's personal responsibility in view, God, if He is truly good, is bound to do the OPPOSITE of what He chose to do. The morally right thing to do is to punish those who violate the law and despised the glory of God. Imagine that you come home one day and every person living at your house has been murdered in cold blood. What's more, the attacker is in the very process of killing the one you love most. The police come. He is arrested. Months later, you are in the courtroom witnessing his trial. The judge smiles down at him and simply says "Don't worry. I am a kind, gracious, loving judge. I pardon you. You can go home." Would you not say that this judge is FAR, FAR, FAR, FAR, UNBELIEVABLY MORE WICKED than that murderer ever was. God's righteousness BINDS Him to punish the sinner. So it is NOT number 2 because man is personally responsible in this situation.
Now we come to the last possibility. Christ died because He loved US. This is it. Verse 8 says so. "But God demonstrates His own love TOWARD US in that while we were still sinners..." It does not say "God demonstrates His own love toward what we represent..." or "God demonstrates His own love toward morality..." His love is toward US.
Now look at the price paid; Jesus Christ, the very Son of God. Look again at the three types of love again. 1) Love of shared principles, 2) Love of morality, 3) Love of a person. What love is shared between the Father and the Son? We're talking about Trinity-level love here! There is rock-solid, cement-like love between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are so knitted together in love that Moses wrote "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!" in Deuteronomy 6:4. Which one but number 3 could possibly be enough to qualify as "oneness"? Look at the juxtaposition. The Trinity has the same love for His children as it does for the Son Himself. Ponder that! Drink that in! Consider the DEEP knittedness of the Heart of God to you, His child!
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