Sermon 2587. "Much More"

(No. 2587)

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1898.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ONLORDS-DAYEVENING, MAY 13, 1883.

"Much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Romans 5:10.

THE first great message of mercy to a sinner is put into four short words in the eighth verse of this chapter-"Christ diedfor us." A preacher can never be wrong in lifting up Christ Crucified! It is the glory of a congregation if it can be trulysaid, "Before your eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth, crucified among you." Well did the Apostle make this hisboast-"We preach Christ Crucified." Still, we must always remember that there is a great deal about Christ besides His Crucifixionand, however glorious His death may be-and we are not disposed to rank it second to anything else-yet there is another glory,another form of His excellency which is seen, not in His death, but in His life! It is of this that the Apostle speaks here-"Muchmore, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."

Before we come to the consideration of that subject, dear Friends, let us think of what the death of Christ has done for someof us. The former part of the verse from which our text is taken says, "When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God bythe death of His Son." What was that reconciliation? Of what did it consist? We will not talk so much doctrinally, as practicallyand experimentally. We were once enemies of God, but we are not enemies of God any longer. God was once angry with us, butGod is not angry with us any more. If we have believed in Jesus Christ, a complete reconciliation has been effected betweenthe offended God and the offending sinner. In this reconciliation, I see, first, that God, who is always Love, and has alwaysloved His people, being just, was unable to deal with the guilty sinner except upon the footing of justice-and justice demandedthat the sinning soul should die! But Christ has come that God, as the great moral Ruler, might be able, without violationof His holiness, to deal mercy with sinful men.

Let there be no mistake about the objective and purpose of Christ's Sacrifice! John Kent's hymn rightly says-

"'Twaas not to make Jehovah's love

Towards the sinner flame,

That Jesus, from His Throne above,

A suffering Man became.

'Twaas not the death which He endured,

Nor all the pangs He bore,

That God's eternal love procured,

For God was Love before."

He was always Love to His people, but, until Christ came to earth and died, the Just for the unjust, that love could not freelyflow. There was a dam that blocked up the stream. There was a great rock in the channel and the rivers of love could not flow.But by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, that impediment has been removed. God can now be "just and the Justifier of himwhich believes in Jesus." I have already said that in His heart of hearts, there was always love towards His people, but asthe Judge upon the Judgment Seat, He could not display that love-He could only manifest His indignation against every soulof man that did evil.

Now, this most righteous wrath of God was removed by the death of Jesus Christ and could not have been removed by any othermanner. The sword must find its victim and Christ bared His breast to let infinite Justice spend its full force on Him. Thedebt had to be paid and Jesus paid it to the last penny with His own life which He poured out upon the Cross. The cup of wrathmust be drained-there was no putting it aside-so Jesus took it and, after saying, "O My Father, if this cup may not pass awayfrom Me, except I drink it, Your will be done." He put it to His lips and never took it away till He had drained it to itslast drop. There was a necessity for Christ's death, "it behooved Christ to suffer," and by His suffering He appeased thewrath of the great Judge of All, so that He could justly look upon guilty men with complacency. That wondrous change was workedby Christ's death and now the very justice of God demands our salvation. It is indeed marvelous that the righteousness ofGod, which was against us, should be made to be for us and that the Justice of God, which pronounced the sentence of deathupon us, should be so transformed that Justice, itself, now decrees our eternal life! This is a wonderful part of the reconciliation.

But the Apostle speaks of our being reconciled-our being reconciled. Well, that comes about in this way. We felt in our consciencethat we had sinned against God. I am not speaking of all here present, but I am speaking of all those upon whom the Spiritof God has worked salvation-our conscience felt a secret sting, as though a burning poison had entered into the veins of ourspirit. I remember when the thought that I had offended God seemed to drink up my very life. Of course I did not love Himand I could not, for it is according to the nature of our sinful heart that if we do anyone an injury, we are sure to hatehim. We do not always hate the man who injures us, but if we injure him, our hatred is almost certain to follow. And inasmuchas we had broken all God's Laws and did not wish to admit it, we hated the Law itself. We kicked against it and tried to persuadeourselves that it was the root of the offense instead of our own willful hearts being the source of the evil. We knew Godto be holy, but we did not love holiness-in fact, having no holiness of our own, we could not endure even to hear or readabout it! We set up a counterfeit righteousness of our own and pretended that we were good, and all the while we were despisingthe true holiness and the perfect righteousness of God.

But, Beloved, when we saw Christ dying in our place, "the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God," then consciencesaid, "God is satisfied and so am I." When we saw that God's anger was removed because Christ had died, then our pettish,proud anger was removed, too, and we said, "Now are we reconciled to God by the death of His dear Son." Oh, with what swiftfeet we fled to the Mercy Seat! With what confidence, though with a holy trembling, we pleaded the merits of the dear Redeemer!And what joy and peace filled our mind! Then we no longer hated God, or hated holiness, or hated the Law of God, but we submittedourselves unconditionally. We said, "The Law is holy and God is gracious-blessed be His glorious name." Thus, the death ofChrist worked reconciliation, the anger of God was removed and so was the trouble of our conscience. Then were our heartswon! Shall I speak for all God's people here? I think I shall if I speak for myself and say-

"Law and terrors do but harden All the while they work alone, But a sense of blood-bought pardon Soon dissolves a heart ofstone."

Oh, how our hearts were dissolved when we found that Christ loved us and that He had given Himself for us! When we saw Godto be reconciled, how we longed for Him! Our heart and our flesh cried out for God, for the living God, and we said, "Whenshall we come and appear before God?" And that longing is still upon us-we delight in fellowship with Him. We are longingto be like He and we are expecting to be with Him where He is! And this is all the Heaven that we desire. Oh, blessed be God,it is a bleeding Christ who has reconciled us even on earth! It is a bleeding Christ who has put out the fires of enmity!It is a bleeding Christ who has slain forever the warfare in our spirit against God. Now are we reconciled unto God by thedeath of His Son.

Do not let me go a step further, dear Friends, until you can all get as far as this. If there is any man here who is not reconciledto God, let him remember what a terrible state he is in. He is God's enemy! How would any one of you like to have that titlebranded on your brow tonight, "God's enemy"? Remember that you will never be reconciled to God except through the bleedingSavior, so seek Him now! Before even a word is said about the ever-living Christ, come and put your finger into the printof the nails of the dead Christ! Come and wash in the fountain which He has filled from His own veins! Come and accept thegreat atoning Sacrifice now! God help you, by His Divine Spirit, to do so, for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake!

This brings us to the special subject mentioned in our text. "Much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."The Apostle Paul here bids us remember that Christ is still alive and that although we are reconciled to God, we still needto be kept and preserved, or, as he calls it, "saved." And he tells us that as Christ's death has been effectual to reconcileus, we may be quite sure that His life will be effectual to save us. No, he says, "Much more." If the death of Christ hasreconciled us, "much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."

I want you, dear Friends, to do three things as you think of our text. First, consider what the life of Christ is to us. Secondly,consider why the words, "much more, "may be applied to it. And, thirdly, consider how we can use this life.

I. First, then, briefly consider WHAT THE LIFE OF CHRIST IS TO US. If a man were to show me a picture of Christ on the Cross,I would say to him, "What is that?" If he were to answer, "A picture of my Lord," I would reply, "It is not a picture of mySavior as He now is. It may be a representation of Him as He once was, but not as He is now, enthroned in Glory." If a personwere to carry about in his pocket the likeness of his mother taken after death, and were to draw it out, and say, "That ismy mother," I would say, "I would prefer to remember her as she was at her best, not as she was in the agonies of death, orafter death." So, I pray you, do not look upon any representation of Christ upon the Cross as the main representation of ourLord Jesus! He was dead but for a very little while. He was on the Cross only for a few hours. Our Savior lives, never moreto die! The Christ of the Church of Rome, as I have often told you, is a dead Christ on the Cross, or else a baby Christ inMary's arms-but the Christ of the Church of God is a living Christ! We say of the grave, as the angel said to the women, "Heis not here: for He is risen, as He said." We say of the Cross, "He is not here. He has put an end to death in making an endof sin by His own death." The main thought concerning Christ, to those of us who really know Him, should be that He is thelivingChrist-

"He lives, the great Redeemer lives, What joy the blest assurance gives!"

What has Christ's risen life to do with us? Well, first, Christ's resurrection from the dead is to us who believe in Him thepledge that He has saved us. When our Lord Jesus Christ died, He was, as it were, put in prison as a hostage for His people.And He was kept there till Divine Omniscience had searched His Sacrifice and searched His obedience to see whether they werecomplete. And when it was certified that Christ had finished all the work which His Father had given Him to do, then the sheriffsofficer of Heaven, "the angel of the Lord," was sent down to roll away the stone and bid the Captive come out. And when JesusChrist came out of the grave, all His people came out of prison with their great Representative! In His own release from thetomb there was a token given to Him from God that their sins were forgiven and that His righteousness was accepted on theirbehalf. "He died for our sins," says the Apostle, but He also "rose again for our justification." Therefore, wrap not yourhearts in the grave clothes which He left behind, but clothe them in the golden apparel wherewith the rising Christ girdedHimself, for you are justified because He has risen!

Believing in the resurrection of Christ, we view Him as living and continuing to live-"Christ being raised from the dead diesno more; death has no more dominion over Him." What has that to do with us? Why, just what our Lord said to His disciples-"BecauseI live, you shall live also." Beloved, because Christ has risen from the dead, so all His people shall rise. And because,having once risen, Christ dies no more, so His rising saints shall be perfectly safe through all the future-they shall liveforever because they are partakers of His eternal life. Is not that a subject for great rejoicing? I live because He died,for that death redeemed me from death. But yet more, I live because He lives. "For you are dead, and your life is hid withChrist in God. When Christ, who is your life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in Glory."

Now follow with me this living Christ. We have seen that He is risen and living, what comes next? A few days after this livingChrist rose from the grave, a little throng gathered about Him on "the mount called Olivet" and, to their surprise, He beganto ascend. Scattering benedictions with both His hands, He confirmed to ascend till, at last, "a cloud received Him out oftheir sight." What has that ascension to do with us? Why, just this. He said to His disciples, "I go to prepare a place foryou." He has gone up into Glory, as our Representative, to take possession of eternal joy for us. He has gone within the veilthat He may represent us before His Father's face, that, by-and-by, we may join Him and be with Him where He is, to go nomore out forever! Therefore, Beloved, let us rejoice. As the Lord our Savior has ascended into Heaven, so shall we, in Hisown good time. I always admire that line of Dr. Watts, where he says that our Lord, in His ascension to Heaven, has "taughtour feet the way"-

"Up to our Good our feet shall fly, On the great rising day."

Earth cannot permanently hold us down now Christ has gone up into His Glory! The living Christ is a greater attraction thanany other force. We who believe are one with Him and, as He has ascended, we also shall rise to Him and be forever with Him!

After He had ascended, He took His seat at the right hand of God, even the Father, clothed with honor, majesty, power, dominionand might. Listen, Brothers and Sisters! What has this fact to do with us? Why, just this-you who believe cannot perish, forChrist lives! You must conquer, for Jesus reigns! All power is given unto Him in Heaven and in earth and, "He is able alsoto save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He alwayslives to make intercession for them." A reigningChrist, an enthroned Christ-this is the Christ to depend upon! I can risk my whole soul upon His blood and know that thereis no risk in the matter-I feel a deep and growing confidence in the life that He now lives upon the Throne of God.

But what else? Well, our glorified Redeemer spends much of His time in intercession. Up there at the right hand of God, Hecontinues to plead for His people. He can truly say in the fullest meaning of the words, "For Zion's sake will I not holdMy peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until the righteousness thereof goes forth as brightness, and the salvationthereof as a lamp that burns." Continually does He present the rich incense of His merit before the eternal Throne of God.And here is something more for us, for if Jesus pleads for us, we are forever safe. If He is pleading before the Throne, wemay come to it with holy confidence. If Christ is there, the way is clear for you and for me to approach! We have only toget behind Him and to look through His wounds at God, as God will look through the wounds of Christ at us-and all will bewell! Oh, what do we not owe to the living Christ! My theme expands as I try to handle it. How my heart rejoices in it! Doyou not know, Beloved, how every part of that risen life of Jesus-His Second Coming, His final conquest of Satan and of theworld, His eternal Glory-all has to do with us, for we are sharers in all that Christ has! We are joint-heirs with Him ofall His glories and His triumphs!

This, then, is just a brief summary of what the life of Christ has to do with us.

II. Now, secondly, WHY DOES THE APOSTLE PUT A, "MUCH MORE," IN HERE? "Much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by Hislife."

I think it is because we are so apt to put a, "much less," to it It is not often that we preach and talk as we ought aboutthis living Savior of ours. Brothers and Sisters, the great Testator is dead. That makes His last will and testament valid.Listen once more-He who made the will is alive, again, so He is His own Executor to carry out His own will! Is not that ablessing for you and for me? He made the will valid by His death, but, by rising again, He has come to see that every jotand tittle of it shall be carried out! We have not to depend upon somebody else executing our dying Savior's will. He hasrisen from the dead, clothed with all power and might, to accomplish that upon which He has set His heart!

Paul says, "For 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." How can it be much more? I answer, first, because when our Savior reconciled us by His death,it was the time of His weakness. Look, He is nailed to the Cross, the fever burns Him up, He cries, "I thirst." He says, "Iam a worm, and no man." Weakness has come upon Him to the uttermost. He closes His eyes in the last dread sleep of death.They take down His poor body and wrap it in white linen, with sweet spices, and put it away in Joseph's tomb. There couldnot be greater weakness, could there, than in the Crucified Christ? Yet, even then, He reconciled us! But now He is clothedwith power! He is Head over all things, Lord of angels, King of kings! All Heaven resounds with His praises. Do you not seethe drift of my argument? If, when He was in His uttermost weakness, He redeemed us by His death, "much more," now that Heis in all His power and Glory, He must be able to save His people by His life!

Look at this expression again. When our Lord died, He was in the servant's place. He had, for our sake, laid aside His Glory."He made Himself of no reputation." He emptied Himself. He had become like ourselves, feeble and weak. But, beside that, Hewas bound to do the Father's will and to suffer it even to the last extremity! As the Mediator between God and man, He hadmade Himself inferior to God. He had taken a subordinate place so that He could truly say, "My Father is greater than I."But remember, Brothers and Sisters-

"The head that once was crowed with thorns,

Is crowned with glory now!

A royal diadem adorns

The mighty Victor's brow!

The highest place that Heaven affords Is His, is His by right, The King of kings and Lord of lords, And Heaven's eternal light"

Now He wears again the Glory which He had with His Father before the earth was. Do you not see, then, that it is, "much more,"that He can do for His people under such circumstances? If, when He took an inferior place and condescended for our sake tobe a servant, so that-

"With cries and tears He offered up

His humble suit below"-

if then He reconciled us-"much more" can He now save us when He has taken to Himself His great power and with authority pleadsbefore His Father's face, "I will that they, also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold myGlory, which You have given Me: for You loved Me before the foundation of the world." If I can trust a dying Savior with mysoul and feel perfectly safe in doing so, how easy it is to trust a living Savior and to roll myself upon His almighty loveand feel eternally secure!

Furthermore, dear Brothers and Sisters, when our Lord took upon Himself the work of saving us, He did, in a certain sense,come under the displeasure of God. Not that He ever could be really displeasing to God, for in Him was no sin, and the Fathernever had a greater delight in Christ than when He hid His face from Him. Still, according to the Word of God, Jehovah bruisedHim-Jehovah hid His face from Him till Jesus cried, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" He came under the curse, for,"cursed is every one that hangs on a tree." For your sakes and mine, He bore the scourging of Infinite Justice and the frownof the offended Majesty of Heaven! This was diving very low and if, even then, He was able to reconcile us to God, how, "muchmore," must He be able to save us now that the Father's well-beloved Son has come Home, again, and lives in the eternal sunlightof His dear Father's smile? "Much more" now that God delights in Him, all Heaven is lit up with the gleaming of the Father'sjoy, every angel bows before Him and, night and day, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" rises in perpetual waves of praiseup to the Throne of Glory where He is adored and worshipped!

Yet once again, when the Savior died, there was a certain aspect of defeat about His death He stood alone, that dreadful day,in deadly conflict with the powers of darkness. All the battalions of Hell were mustered and they made one tremendous attackupon the Prince of Life and Glory. Single-handed He fought them all and His own right hand and His holy arm gained Him thevictory! But, for a while, it looked like defeat. He closed His eyes in death, saying, "It is finished," and He gave up theghost. Those nail-prints, that gory side and that pallid Countenance looked as if Death had won the victory, though it wasnot really so. Yet, Beloved, He reconciled us even then! Oh, could we see Him now! I suppose we could not-our eyes are notyet formed for that Beatific Vision. But what a sight it would be if we could see Him with His eyes like a flame of fire andHis feet like fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace! One said, "You cannot see Christ's face and live," and another answered,"Well, be it so. Then let me see His face and die." And I have often felt that I could say the same and I have sung, withgood Dr. Watts-

"Oh, for a sight, a pleasing sight,

Of our Almighty Father's Throne!

There sits our Savior crowned with light,

Clothed in a body like our own.

Adoring saints around Him stand,

And thrones and powers before Him fall!

The God shines gracious through the Man,

And sheds sweet glories on them all.

Oh, what amazing joys they feel

While with their golden harps they sing,

And sit on every heavenly hill,

And spread the triumphs of their King!

When shall the day, dear Lord, appear,

That I shall mount to dwell above,

And stand and bow among them there,

And view Your face, and sing, and love?"

Well now, if, when He lay there, all blood-bespattered and dead, defeated as it seemed, He reconciled us to God, my Brothersand Sisters, what can He notdo, now that He is in all the splendor of His majesty, the delight of Heaven and of all holy beings?He must be able to save us! Well may we entrust our souls to Him and say, with the Apostle, "I am not ashamed: for I knowwhom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day."

III. So now I close by asking you to CONSIDER HOW WE CAN USE THIS LIFE OF CHRIST.

If Christ is still alive and if there is, in a certain sense, "much more" power to save in His life than there was of powerto reconcile in His death, then, first, all fear of our being overcome ought to vanish He is victorious! Therefore we shallbe victorious! Christ was assaulted by all the powers of death and Hell, and yet He conquered and He lives. We, too, shallconquer, for He is in us, He is with us, He is over us-and we shall live though we die-and we shall win though we are apparentlyovercome!

How shall we use this life of Christ? Why, next, let us use it in prayer When you feel that you cannot pray-and there aresuch times with all of us-then say, "He can pray, for He lives to make intercession for us."-

"Give Him, my Soul, your cause to plead, Nor doubt the Father's Grace."

When it goes hard with you on your knees and you seem as if you could not prevail, then remember that Jesus is pleading, andHe must prevail! Put your case into His hands and He will present His mighty pleas on your behalf-and then you cannot be baffled.Is not that a sweet thought?

Another use to make of Christ's life is this. Are you lonely?In this modern Babylon of London, there are many persons whoare quite alone, and there is no solitude so terrible as that which can be found in a great city. Perhaps you live in a streetwhere there are hundreds of Christians, but you do not know one of them. I will tell you what to do-Jesus lives, get awayto Him, for there is no company like His. If He comes into that little room of yours, it will be like a temple! Solomon'sTemple, in all its glory, was never so bright as that upper room of yours will be when Christ comes there! I know how youhave to stitch away all day long to earn a scanty living. I know, too, how sometimes you cannot sleep at night because ofthe severe pain you have to suffer. But if your Lord is there, it shall be sweet work, and sweet suffering, too, with thatbest of workers and sufferers to sit at your side! Jesus l ives! Jesus lives! You have not to go to Calvary to think aboutHis Cross. You have not to go to the tomb and weep because He is dead. He lives and He is with His people always, even untothe end of the world. Therefore, in your prayers, and in your solitude, comfort yourselves.

I suppose, too, that many of you are sorely tempted. Is there a Christian man or woman among us who is not tempted by thedevil? Well, Jesus lives, and He was tempted in all points like as we are, though without sin! He is able to sympathize withyou, for He, Himself, was compassed with infirmity. Get to your living High Priest! Tell Him what the devil is trying to doto you. It is a good thing to never dispute with the devil. I have heard that if a man brings a lawsuit against you, you hadbetter never say anything to him, but transfer the whole affair to your lawyer. And if the man writes to you, say, "I havenothing to do with the matter. You must apply to my legal adviser, he will attend to it for me." "He who is his own lawyerhas a fool for a client," says one of our proverbs. So, whenever the devil comes to you, remember that he knows a great dealmore than you do, and if you try to answer him, he will soon trip you up. You had better say to him, "I will have nothingto do with you, Satan. I refer you to my Solicitor, my Advocate." Then the devil will ask His name, and when you give himthe name of the Lord Jesus Christ, he will drop that suit, for he has suffered severe defeat many a time from that same JesusChrist, ages and ages ago! He remembers the wilderness and how the Master soon sent him about his business. So, refer himto Christ. Do not be your own champion-let Christ be Champion for you and all will be well!

In other words, dear Brothers and Sisters, since Christ lives, let us live with Him, let us make the Lord Jesus Christ ourdaily Companion. I know that there are some Christians who cannot understand this advice, or cannot believe that they mayput it into practice. But you will never know the very juice and marrow of the Gospel until you do understand it and get tofeel that Christ is not a mere historical Person who was upon the earth hundreds of years ago, but a living, personal Christwho is, even now, accessible, who can be spoken to and who can speak to us in reply-and with whom we may live even now! Oh,if you can get into personal contact with Jesus Christ, then you have learned how to live! Then is the dying Savior inexpressiblydear to you and then, also, the living Christ is, if possible, even more dear as you live through Him-with Him-for Him-andHe lives in you!

So may God make it to be, for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ROMAANS5.

Verse 1. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Do not let us simply readthese words, but let us, each one, say in our hearts, "That is true. I have believed in Christ, therefore I am justified inthe sight of God and, therefore, I have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord." There is nothing in the world thatis half as valuable as the two precious gems in this verse-justification and the peace which follows it.

2. By whom also we have access by faith into this Grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the Glory of God. See whatwe owe to Christ-not only justification and peace, but we have access into the Grace in which we stand, for, when a man isat peace with God, then he longs to get to God and to speak with God. Christ is the Door, and Christ is the Way-we come toGod by Jesus Christ. This is no small privilege. Oh, you who have ever felt what it is to be shut out from God, let your heartsing as you know that you now have access by faith into this Grace wherein you stand! Well may the Apostle add, "We rejoicein hope of the Glory of God." Or, if there is any man who may and must rejoice, it is the man who has peace with God and expectsto dwell with God forever, having access to God by Jesus Christ!

3. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also. Paul is going upstairs, as it were-rising from one platform to another.There is enough of Glory in Christ to wrap up all our troubles-it makes the black, white, and the dark, bright.

3. Knowing that tribulation works patience. A man who never suffers does not know what patience means. But trial works patience,yet not of itself. Trials work peevishness and murmuring and discontent-but Grace brings sweet out of bitter and-"tribulationworks patience."

4, 5. And patience, experience, and experience, hope: and hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad inour hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us. Do you know what this means, dear Friend, or is it all Greek to you?The Lord make it, indeed, plain everyday English to you! May you understand it, feel it, know it, prove it, taste it, enjoyit! If you do so, happy, indeed, are you.

6. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Not, "Christ died for saints, because thesaints were such gracious people." No, no! But, "when we were yet without strength"-when we could lift neither hand nor footto help ourselves-"in due time Christ died for the ungodly."

7. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die. For a man who is perfectly just, there are few who would be willing to diefor him.

7. Yet, perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die. For a generous, noble-hearted man, some might be willing to die.Yet there is a, "perhaps," even about that.

8. But God commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. When we were not righteous,when we certainly were not good, when the whole description of our character could be summed up in that one word, "sinners"-rebelsoffending against God-"while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

9. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. He died for us when we wereunrighteous, so now that He has made us righteous in His own righteousness, He will never cast us away! That doctrine of Believersfalling from Grace and perishing is clean contrary to Scripture! "Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shallbe saved from wrath through Him."

10. 11. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shallbe saved by His life. And not only so, but we also joy in God. See, the Apostle has gone up to another platform. The Gospelis a tale that we may be always telling, but it can never be fully told! It is a light that keeps on breaking upon us moreand more-and even when we have come to what we suppose is the full noontide of it, there is still seven times as much Gloryyet to be revealed! Yes, we go "from strength to strength." "And not only so, but we also joy in

God."

11-21. Through ourLordJesus Christ, by whom we have nowreceived the Atonement. Therefore, as by one man sin enteredinto theworld, and death by sin, andso death passed upon allmen, for that allhave sinned-(for until the Law, sin was in the world:but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinnedafter the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of Him who was to come. But not as the offense, so also isthe free gift. For if through the offense of one, many are dead, much more the Grace of God, and the gift by Grace, whichis by one Man, Jesus Christ, has abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgmentwas by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. For if by one man's offense death reignedby one; much more they which receive abundance of Grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, JesusChrist). Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of One,the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so bythe obedience of One shall many be made righteous. Moreover the Law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sinabounded Grace did much more abound: that as sin has reigned unto death, even so might Grace reign through righteousness untoeternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.