Romans 5:11

And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

Why the hope of the Christian will not put him to shame, will not prove delusive: is now explained by the apostle: For the love of God is poured out in our hearts through the Holy Ghost that is given to us. The love of God, that love which He has toward us, of which He gave us a definite proof and demonstration in the death of His Son, Jesus Christ, that love has been, and continues to be, shed abroad into our hearts, to be communicated to us abundantly. Not in small measure, but in a full and rich stream of divine affection, it spreads itself abroad through the whole soul, filling it with the consciousness and the extreme happiness of His presence and favor. And this has been done through the Holy Ghost that has been given to us, Acts 10:4; Titus 3:6. It is the testimony of the Spirit that convinces us, richly and daily, that God loves us, that His love is our full property in Christ, our Savior; we are absolutely sure and certain of our blessedness. The love of God, resting upon Christ's vicarious death, is the sufficient and certain foundation of our hope of the future salvation.

In what respect the love of God is the surety of the Christian's hope is now explained, v. 6 ff. For Christ already when we were still weak, when we were in a condition of inability to do anything good, at the appointed time, at the time fixed by God in His eternal counsel of love: died for the ungodly. Christ died for us godless people, and that fact reveals the mysteriousness of the divine love. On the part of man there was only a total moral worthlessness; on the part of man there was not a single item to call forth the favorable contemplation of God. It was rather that godlessness had reached a crisis, with no hope held out for the transgressors. But then came the vicarious work of Christ, culminating in His death on the cross, a death in our stead, as our Substitute. 1 John 4:10. Thus was the love of God manifested, thus, in the completeness of Christ's sacrifice, do we have the assurance of the continuance and constancy of the love of God. The apostle brings out the greatness of this love by another comparison, v. 7: For hardly will one die for a righteous man; for a good cause, namely, one might perhaps venture to die. There is some possibility that a man might, under circumstances, die in the stead of a righteous person, as his substitute; there is more probability that a person will give his life in a good cause, as a mere proposition in civic righteousness. Such is the condition among men when all things are peculiarly favorable to an external morality. But God demonstrates and proves His love toward us that, while we mere yet sinners, Christ died in our stead, for our sakes. There was not a single feature to recommend us: we were not righteous, our cause was anything but good and commendable. Therefore the love of God in Christ stands out so prominently by contrast: He proves His love toward us in that which Christ did for us. The salutary effects of the death of Christ continue for all time: they are there today for all men, even if the latter are utterly worthless and do not merit the slightest show of love. That is the singular, incomparable love of God, a love which exceeds all that we can conceive of, which our human mind vainly tries to grasp and to measure, and therefore the apostle: from the fact of God's fervent love for us worthless sinners, draws the conclusion, v. 9. Consequently, if such grace was shown us then, when we were in sin and godlessness, how much more, how much rather, how much more certainly will we now, justified as we have been by the blood of Christ, be saved from the wrath of God through Him! As enemies, we were justified by the blood of Jesus; as being His fellow-participants in peace, we shall be preserved from the wrath and punishment of the last great day. Our justification is our guarantee of our deliverance from the wrath to come; godless we were, but have now become righteous and just, we are exactly as God wants us to be, due to His act of pronouncing us just: therefore we are safe against condemnation. This thought the apostle repeats in order to impress its comforting truth upon the believers. If, when we were enemies, when we were the objects of God's displeasure, we were reconciled to God, were put into possession of His grace, were placed into such a relation toward Him that He no longer had to be our adversary, how much rather will we be saved by His life, since we have been reconciled, since we have been restored to His grace! While objects of the divine hostility, such unbounded mercy was shown to us; therefore it follows that the love which wrought in such a wonderful measure for us in our extremity will undoubtedly carry out our salvation to the end. The same Savior that died for us has arisen to everlasting, perfect life, and His life is devoted to that one end, to sanctify, protect, and save us eternally, to bring us into that wonderful life of divine glory. And so the apostle breaks forth in the joyful exclamation: But not only that, we also glory in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Nothing could illustrate more thoroughly and exactly the complete restitution of the relation of love toward sinners than these words. The reconciliation of God toward the sinners is so thorough that He feels the warmest friendship for them, and that they, in turn, rejoice and glory in their God. Every believer that is reconciled to God through Christ is sure that all further enmity is excluded. "We glory in God that God is ours and we are His, and that we have all goods in common from Him and with Him in all confidence. " (Luther.) This is no self-righteous boasting, for that would result in the immediate loss of all spiritual gifts and blessings, but a cheerfulness and confidence through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has expiated our guilt, canceled our debt. And thus all apprehension as to the final outcome is removed from our hearts; the hope of eternal salvation, which is a consequence of our justification, is a certain and definite hope, a hope which fills the heart of the believers with quiet joy, and causes them to be absorbed with all their mind in the glorious fact of their justification.