Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world. Jesus died for me. This is one of the beliefs at the heart of the Christian faith. On its most fundamental level, belief in the statement that “Jesus died for me and rose again” is the basic truth that gives salvation. But what exactly does Jesus’ death for me accomplish? That’s what we are exploring this morning as we continue to go through the book of Romans.
In some ways, today’s epistle is hard to preach on simply because there is so much to choose from, theme-wise. This is not a one-thought passage. Paul brings together a number of different things in these verses. But under the theme of “what does Jesus’ death do?” it all comes together quite well.
The first thing to note is that Jesus dies for the ungodly. And in the word “ungodly” is implied all the unholiness, unrighteousness, and unniceness you’d like to include. The Greek word has at its heart the concept of not really caring about God, being impious and godless, as well as ungodly. Jesus died at the right time for those who didn’t even care about Him. Please remember this; Jesus didn’t “need” to die on the Cross. As the Son of God, that was His calling and His role, and He carried it out in willing submission to His Father, in order that all could be saved. He did this for the ungodly, who needed it in order to be brought back to God. But Jesus Himself had no wrong to be punished and no sin of His own to bring the punishment of death on Himself. He died for the ungodly, for the impious, for those whose hearts are set on themselves rather than on God.
That word, “ungodly” really does stick out like a sore thumb here. It is irksome because it means that you have to see yourself in this word, “ungodly”. We like to think of ourselves at times as somehow being better than others because we believe, but Jesus came to die for those who could care less about God. Jesus came to die for the worst, for the lowest of the low—for you, you in your self-delusion, you in those times when things are going so well that Jesus becomes an option rather than the heart of your being, you, in those moments when God is the furthest thing from your awareness. For you, for me.
Paul points out just how scandalous this is by a quick analogy. Who would you die for? Probably your spouse or your kids. Maybe for your siblings or your best friends. But how about for that woman down the street who has the annoying high-pitched laugh, or the drug addict living in a cardboard box at Higgins and Main in the city, or the terrorists who knocked down the World Trade Centre? Would you die for them? As Paul notes, for righteous people it’s rare that someone would die. For a good person, especially, the phrasing implies, someone who’s been particularly good to you, you might dare to die. Charles Dickens’ classic novel “A Tale of Two Cities” involves precisely that sort of interchange of persons, one dying on behalf of another. But there’s no question that at the end of the day, you and I love life enough that we would not want to stand in the place of most people. Our lists of people we’d die for is short. If you’d scarcely die for a righteous person, it goes without saying that for an enemy, for someone who’s not in line with who you are and what you stand for, there’s no chance you’d be willing to die.
Jesus’ list, on the other hand, is infinitely long. He died as much for Judas who betrayed Him and the Pharisees who hated Him and the idolaters and the Roman soldiers and the evil ones as He did for those who love Him and who strive to stay on His path. Jesus’ death is for sinners. Big sinners and little sinners, wilful sinners and inadvertent sinners, for as the apostle James notes, all sinners are equally guilty before God. Whoever holds the entire law and yet fails in one point is accountable for all of it. (James 2:10) Under this standard, you need Jesus’ death, and I need Jesus’ death, for under this standard, under God’s standard, you and I are just as ungodly as Clifford Olsen or Paul Bernardo. You and I are just as sinful as Stalin or Mao Zedong. Remember that this is precisely the case that Paul stated back in Romans 2-3, that as far as the Law is concerned, all equally are crushed by its conclusions, all equally are held accountable and will not be justified by it.
For if you study the Law, as summed up in the Ten Commandments, for what it says and what Jesus demonstrated it means in His Sermon on the Mount, there is not a person on this earth, save Christ Himself, who has ever lived up to it, or can ever live up to all its demands. For there is not a person on this earth who loves God with their whole being and loves their neighbour as themselves. We’re much more likely to ask the question “who is my neighbour?” than simply love and sacrifice ourselves for others in need. Again, just think of your own neighbours. Do you do everything you can for them all the time–let alone even just be nice to them? This is our calling, according to God’s law.
It is also true that all are equally saved and redeemed by the blood of Christ. That redemption is there for all who receive it in faith. Apart from faith, this redemption is not received and so has no effect. But in faith, the promise becomes ours. It’s kind of like receiving a cheque but never depositing or cashing it. It doesn’t make the cheque any less real, but the results of the cheque never come. Faith, which is itself the gift of God worked in you through the Gospel in Baptism and in the hearing of the Word, is what applies this universal salvation directly to you.
We have been justified by Jesus’ blood and are now saved from the wrath of God. Jesus’ death is what reconciles, brings us back, to God. It’s not our own doing, it’s not a result of our faith or our works or our anything; it is given to us through Jesus’ death and received by faith. While Jesus’ death reconciles us, Paul also notes that it’s Jesus’ life that saves us. The pattern of the new life, given to you in Baptism, is death then life. We die to sin, God raises us to new life through His Word, through His promise, quite apart from any merit or worthiness on our part. Jesus’ death frees you from sin, Jesus’ life is accounted to you. This is the teaching of the “great exchange” which we often speak of in confirmation classes. Our sin and death goes on Jesus, and His life and righteousness goes on us.
In this way, Jesus’ death on the cross breaks the power of sin on you. Next week we will have a little closer look at the distinction between the kingdom of sin and death and the kingdom of God. By Jesus’ blood we have been purchased from the power of sin and death. It does not hold sway anymore unless we let it hold sway. God is now in charge. God is now in control. The Holy Spirit has been given you in Baptism in order to guide you in God’s will and lead you in God’s ways—to “sanctify and keep you in the one true faith.” That is the heart of living the Christian life, staying in the Word and the fellowship of the local congregation in order to continually receive and be strengthened by the Holy Spirit. Make time for devotions each and every day, a chance to confess and be forgiven by the Lord. Make time for church even during your summer vacation. You belong to God, live like you belong to Him.
Leaving life to your own devices, inclinations, or abilities is dangerous at best. The devil is like a roaring lion, seeking self-centred souls to devour. But living a life of trust in Christ, guided by the Word and the Spirit—that is freedom itself. For in Christ we have freedom from the old Adam, from the power of sin, death and the devil. We have freedom to serve our neighbour in love and self-sacrifice.
Although without the Law there is no specific basis on which to lay the charges of sin—the term for counted is in the sense of reckoning or accounting, enumerating—yet death reigned. Death comes from sin, so if people have been dying, people must be sinners. That’s the simple equation. Sin equals Death. There’s no way around it. That’s just how it works. And yet the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection is so much more powerful than that of sin. For although in Adam all die, although through that first sin the direction of all hearts were turned away from God and turned in on themselves, although through sin all have earned the terror of death, yet the grace is stronger again than the trespass. For the power of sin was that each person subsequent to it sinned and died, but the power of God’s grace is that sin is no longer counted to each one who trusts in Christ. Their own evil and sins are no longer counted. Your own sins and failures are no longer reckoned but only the new life given to you in Christ Jesus. The weight of death is no longer something to fear, for in Christ, you have been made new. In Christ your slate has been wiped clean.
In Jesus’ death and resurrection, at just the right time, the ungodly, the godless, you, are made God’s own. In Jesus’ death the reckoning and tallying of sin against your account has been wiped clean. In Jesus’ death you have been removed from the reign of sin and death and brought instead into the reign of life and righteousness. Jesus has died for you that you might live unto Him. Jesus lives for you that you might reign forever with Him. Truly this is a wondrous mystery, that the Son of God should die for sinners—but thanks be to God that He did, in order that we might be His own, and live under Him in His kingdom, forever and ever. Amen.
Last updated June 2008 by the webmaster.