βWhen we were enemiesβ (Rom.5:10).
Think of it! God has good news for us even in our willfulness, our enmity against Him! βWhen we were enemiesβ, says Paul, βWe were reconciled to God by the death of His Sonβ.
Here we can almost hear some reader object: βOf all things, donβt charge me with being an enemy of God. Iβm a religious person, I go to church regularly, I even give to the churchβ. Ah, but God does not say that the unsaved are not religious. Perhaps 999 out of 1,000 are religious. The point is that by your ungodly, sinful life, and certainly by rejecting Godβs gift of salvation, you have made yourself an enemy of God. You may not be an enemy against the βGodβ you have conjured up in your own mind, but you are certainly an enemy against God, the God of the Bible.
But despite all this God still sends His ambassadors out to offer reconciliation to all His enemies everywhere β βby the death of His Sonβ. Think of it! We who believe are reconciled to God, not by some effort or payment offered by us to placate God, but βby the death of HIS Sonβ. He bore the enmity as His own creatures mocked Him, spat in His face and nailed Him to a tree. This is grace indeed! And this is not all, for the whole passage reads:
βFor if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonementβ (Rom.5: 10,11).
The argument of this passage is that if, as His enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more βbeing reconciledβ, we may be assured that our living Savior will keep us safe. And not only are believers safe in Christ, but all the while we βjoy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now receivedβ, not only help in our helplessness, or the forgiveness of our sins, but βthe reconciliationβ, by which we are brought nigh to God and experience His love toward us. source
