In verse 9 we saw that we have been justified by the blood of Christ. We looked at what Paul had said previously - Christ died for the ungodly, Christ died for us. Now Paul goes a step further to describe the sad, condemned state we where in when God saved us.
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God
What does it mean to be an enemy of God?
enemy (Greek): hateful (passively odious, or actively hostile); usually as a noun, an adversary (especially Satan): - enemy, foe. used of men at enmity with God by their sin, opposing God in the mind
enemy (English): a person who feels hatred for, fosters harmful designs against, or engages in antagonistic activities against another; an adversary or opponent. persons, nations, etc., that are hostile to one another
These definitions paint a clear picture of who we are in our relationship to God, how He sees us in our sinful, unforgiven state. We are enemies of God - we oppose Him, we hate Him, we are His adversaries.
Some verses that describe this further:
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. John 3:19
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. John 3:20
No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Mathew 6:24
By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. 1 John 3:10
These verses explain the truth that while we are in darkness we hate the light, we can only serve one master, and we are either children of God or children of Satan - there is no in between. From these verses and what Paul has written in Romans we should come away understanding that before we are forgiven we are evil creatures, children of Satan serving only Satan, lost lovers of darkness wanting nothing to do with God who is perfect light.
One might wonder about those who are not Christians yet seem to be "good" people. People who give money to the poor, who donate millions to charity, people who are moral and upright even if they don't love God or have a relationship with Him. There are people who are "good" from our perspective, but we must look at things from God's perspective. God is the foundation and standard of good, and anything that is truly good will come from Him and glorify Him.
Anyone who seems to do "good" things without a relationship with God is merely imitating, in a very fractured and incomplete way, what God has revealed about Himself to the world - things that are moral, ethical, and right.
At the end of the day, God has told us that we either serve Him or the Devil, we either love Him or we hate Him, we are either His children or His enemy.
So, what does Scripture say about those of us that are now children of God? We were saved while we were enemies of Him! The bible doesn't say that we were people who no longer wanted to be enemies of God and He saved us. The bible doesn't say that we began to hate the darkness and as we looked for the light God saved us. The bible doesn't say that we realized our condemned state and began to clean ourselves up in search of God. No - the bible says that while we were enemies - while we actively opposed God, while we actively hated God, while we were actively serving Satan, while we actively despised the Light, God saved us from our condemnation.
Salvation is not a reward for moving away from our sinful, lost, condemned state - Salvation is God removing us from our sinful, lost, condemned state.
It's very important for us to try to understand this, because it is laid out as truth in Scripture and the more we can grasp the truth of Scripture the more God is glorified in our lives. When we realize that God saved us in the midst of our sinfulness, while we were His enemies, we remove ourselves from the equation of salvation. This is very important because salvation is by grace through faith, having nothing to do with us, or our ability. When we can remove ourselves from the equation, salvation becomes only about God saving us from condemnation, by an act of pure grace on His part - and as Paul said - apart from any of our works.
we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son
Paul has said previously that we were justified by faith in Christ, we were justified by His blood, and now we are reconciled to God by the death of His Son. Jesus had everything to do with our relationship with God being restored - there is no other way we can come to know God other than through His Son that paid the ultimate price.
What does it mean to be reconciled?
In the Greek, the word reconcile means to change or exchange, to return to favor with, to receive one into favor. In English, the word reconcile mean to win over to friendliness, to compose or settle a quarrel, to bring into agreement or harmony, to make compatible or consistent.
God has promised us that, while we were His enemies (hating Him, opposing Him, adversaries of His serving the Devil), He has reconciled us to Himself (changed us, returned us to favor with Him, settled the hatred, brought us into harmony with Him, made us compatible with Him) through the death of His Son! What an awesome, loving, holy God!
much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life
Mathew Henry, in his commentary, made a point I don't want to miss on the last part of this verse, and how verse 9 and 10 tie together as one truth. Here the the two verses in order, with the parts I want to emphasize highlighted:
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (verse 9)
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (verse 10)
We can see that we were justified and reconciled, and much more than that, we are saved from the wrath of God by the life of our risen Christ. I have included part of Henry's commentary as he explains this with such beautiful clarity:
Hence results salvation from wrath: Saved from wrath, saved by his life. When that which hinders our salvation is taken away, the salvation must needs follow. Nay, the argument holds very strongly; if God justified and reconciled us when we were enemies, and put himself to so much charge to do it, much more will he save us when we are justified and reconciled. He that has done the greater, which is of enemies to make us friends, will certainly the less, which is when we are friends to use us friendly and to be kind to us. And therefore the apostle, once and again, speaks of it with a much more. He that hath digged so deep to lay the foundation will no doubt build upon that foundation. - We shall be saved from wrath, from hell and damnation. It is the wrath of God that is the fire of hell; the wrath to come. The final justification and absolution of believers at the great day, together with the fitting and preparing of them for it, are the salvation from wrath here spoken of; it is the perfecting of the work of grace. - Reconciled by his death, saved by his life. His life here spoken of is not to be understood of his life in the flesh, but his life in heaven, that life which ensued after his death.
I highlighted to two major points that stuck out to me. Will not God, who saved us from condemnation through the brutal death of His Son, not follow through and bring us now to an eternal life with Him, through His risen Son? Hallelujah!
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