While Yet Sinners

Q: What does the Bible say about the love of God for sinners?

The Bible reveals that God demonstrates His love for sinners by sending Christ to die for them while they are yet sinners (Romans 5:8). The love of God for sinners is powerfully illustrated in Romans 5:8, where it states that 'But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' This declaration emphasizes that God's love is not contingent upon human righteousness or moral improvement. Instead, it is a sovereign love that reaches out to the undeserving. All humans are described as sinners who have transgressed God's law, thus making them offensive to God. Yet, in His mercy, God offers salvation through Christ's sacrifice, demonstrating love even in the face of human rebellion and unworthiness.

Q: How do we know that Christ's sacrifice is sufficient for our sins?

We can be assured of Christ's sufficiency because He bore the full wrath of God for our sins, ensuring that our debt is paid in full (Romans 5:8). The sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice is affirmed in the doctrine of substitutionary atonement, where Christ took upon Himself the penalty for our sins. As mentioned in the sermon, 'the debt that you and I could never pay was laid on Him, and He paid it in full.' This concept is rooted in Romans 5:8, which assures us that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. If our sins were not fully accounted for, God would not be just in justifying the ungodly. Thus, by placing our faith in Christ, we rely on the completed work of the cross, which guarantees that our sins are paid for and we stand justified before God.

Q: Why is understanding our sinfulness important for Christians?

Recognizing our sinfulness is crucial as it highlights our need for grace and underscores the depth of God's love in Christ's sacrifice for us (Romans 5:8). Understanding our sinfulness is pivotal for Christians as it aligns with the biblical truth that all are sinners who fall short of God's glory. This acknowledgment of our sinful nature helps dismantle self-righteousness and pride, leading to a heartfelt appreciation of God's grace. The sermon articulates this reality by stating that 'we are not just undeserving; we are children of wrath.' When we grasp the depth of our depravity, we can fully appreciate the grace given to us through Jesus, who died while we were yet sinners. This acknowledgment fuels gratitude and worship, driving our dependence on God's mercy rather than our own works.

Q: What is the significance of Christ dying for the ungodly?

Christ dying for the ungodly signifies God's merciful initiative to save those who cannot save themselves (Romans 5:6-8). The significance of Christ's death for the ungodly is profound, as it reveals the nature of God's salvation. In Romans 5:6-8, it states, 'For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.' This assertion highlights that salvation is not based on human merit but on God's initiative and grace. Christ's death is intentional and purposeful; He bore the sins of those who could neither seek Him nor earn His favor. This truth challenges the notions of human worthiness in seeking God's love. Instead, it emphasizes His scope of mercy extended to those who are helpless, underscoring that no one is too sinful to be saved by Christ.

Turn with me in your Bible to Romans chapter 5 verse 8. We'll just look at this single verse today. I titled this message, While Yet Sinners Christ Died for Us. That's good news. That's real good news. As you know, the word gospel means just that, good news. Is the gospel good news to everyone in the world? Well, since all people are sinners, the gospel is truly good news for all. Yet, many never rejoice in that glorious good news because God has never revealed to them their own sin and need for salvation. But He has to some. I'm thankful that He has to some. Now our text reads there in verse eight, Romans five, but God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Now, what is a sinner? Let's just get very elementary this morning. What is a sinner? Well, the English definition for a sinner is one who transgresses against God's holy law. All of us have. All of us do. We're all sinners. The Greek word for sinners in Romans 5, verse 8, is ham atolis and it means sinful or at fault. We're all at fault, all of us.

It means missing the mark. A sinner is one who's missed God's standard, who's missed the mark. that God requires. One who's broken God's law. One who has fallen and separated from God. One who cannot make themselves righteous. The word sin means offense.

Men and women by nature have offended God. So one who sins is offensive to God. Folks don't like to hear that. I don't think anybody intentionally, maybe some, I don't know, but I don't think anybody intentionally means to be offensive to others, but we have when it comes to God and we've done it intentionally because that's our nature. We're offensive to God. God is offended by those who have broken His law.

And that's all of us, whether we know it or not, whether we admit it or not. In scripture, sinners are described as, are you ready for this? Ungodly. Enemies of God. Dead in trespasses and sin. It doesn't get better. Lovers of darkness rather than light. That's talking about you and me.

Undeserving of God's love, mercy, and grace. And that's offensive to men who are offensive to God. Undeserving is a word that most people resist with everything within them. You know, men don't mind being told that they're weak, and men don't mind being told that they make mistakes. But when you tell them that they don't deserve anything from God but death, hell, and condemnation, it cuts straight into human pride. And folks, as an old man I was acquainted with once said, they fly hot. Men fly hot when you tell them that.

And listen, we're not just undeserving, we're opposed to God. You know what opposed means. We're unable to trust in God. We are spiritually dead. We're not just needy. We're dead. You can't get more needy than dead. A dead man or woman doesn't reach out for help. One dead has no ability to do so.

We're not just undeserving, we're children of wrath. How's that for a title? Children of wrath. We walk according to the course of this world We fulfill the sinful desires of the flesh. Our will opposes God's will. Our minds resist God in hostility. Our nature rejects Him totally. And the only way we can know that we're sinners that have offended God and offended His law is if that very God reveals it to us. And God reveals it to us through the preaching of the gospel.

This is good news for sinners. Now, if you're a sinner, this is good news. It's good news because God reveals to us our need. Boy, that's a big four-letter word. And that need is of a Savior, a substitute, a sacrifice for the sin that you and I could never put away ourselves. So Romans chapter 5 verse 8 is the best news that a sinner could ever hear. And that's exactly what Paul tells us here. But God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us. The worthy commended His love to the unworthy. That's good news.

There are only two kinds of people in this world, those who think they deserve something from God and those that know they deserve nothing from God. And the ones that know they deserve nothing from God would have never known that if God hadn't shown it to them. That's mercy, isn't it? Our Lord's parable in Luke chapter 18 was not given for those openly wicked.

It says right in the beginning of that parable, it was given unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. You know folks like that? Well, we used to be like that and still are in many ways. We think we're righteous and can do no wrong and everybody else is wrong. And we're trusting in ourselves when we do that, that we're righteous and we're despising others. The Lord went on to tell that parable.

He said, two men went up into the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, a religious person that everybody thought knew God. And the other was a publican, the most despised and hated tax collector on earth. Which one do you represent in scripture? Well, some represent both. One stood tall, the other stood out of sight in the back, but God saw him. Can't hide from God. One talked about himself, the other cried out for mercy. And only one of those two men went home justified. Reckon which one it was. Now, a self-righteous Pharisee doesn't pray. You know what a self-righteous Pharisee does?

The parable tells us they boast and they brag. Lord, I thank you I'm not like other men. Lord, in case you don't know, let me tell you what I do. Isn't that what they did on the day of judgment? The Lord said that. You're gonna say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, haven't we done this? Haven't we done that? And what did the Lord say?

I don't know who you are. Doesn't matter what you've done. I don't know you. But here's a sinner, a sinner. standing afar off and he won't even lift up his eyes. He's back in the back hoping nobody sees him. He's got his head down. He won't lift his eyes up into heaven.

He smites upon his breast as if to say, Lord, this heart is wicked. Take this heart away from me and be merciful to me, a sinner. He confesses what He is. Some say the original translation says, God be merciful to me, THE sinner. That's the way every sinner, true bona fide sinner feels. They feel like they're THE sinner. And this man doesn't compare himself to others like the Pharisee did. He has no excuses to give. He lists no good works of his own.

He simply makes a truthful confession, I'm the sinner and I need mercy. Men and women naturally believe that love has to be earned. That's just part of our fallen Adam. That's part of sin coming into our lives. We feel like we've got to earn it. No, you can't. So no good news in that.

God helps the undeserving. Men think that God helps the deserving. They think that God saves the improving. They think that God receives the respectable, but the gospel destroys all that. How? Because there's none deserving. The Lord said there are none that are improving. There's none who are respectable. We can't perform well enough. God requires perfection. We have no goodness. We can't improve. We can't clean ourselves up.

And the good news is this, God did not wait for us to become righteous and good. There are none righteous. How many? None. God didn't wait for us to reform ourselves. There are none good, no not one. God did not wait for us to seek Him. There's none that seeketh after God. God loved His people at their worst. God commended His love toward us while we were yet sinners.

That word commended, it means made to be approved and accepted. That gives a little more special meaning to this verse. God commended, God approved and accepted. He gave His love toward us. When we became good, when we repented, when we straightened up Flew right? No, while we were yet sinners. We're made to be who and what God accepts, through the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted, wherein the Beloved, that being the Lord Jesus Christ. We're accepted in Him, nowhere else. And our text here is not merely about love in general, it's about the shocking, sovereign, saving love, the love of God toward the utterly undeserving. That's the reason for today's title, Wow Yet Sinners. Christ died for us. Know who and what you are, and when you see who Christ died for, makes it even better news, doesn't it? He died for sinners. He died for the likes of you and me. So my first point here is the condition of man. What is man's condition when God saves him?

Yet sinners. The verse does not say, while we were yet improving, while we were yet praying, while we were yet trying, while we were yet seeking holiness. It says, while we were yet sinners. Sin is not merely what a man does. You know this. I've been here in this church for almost 40 years. other than for a short while we were in Texas. And sin, I've been told all that time, sin is not just what we do, it's what we are. We sin because we're sinners. We're not sinners because we sin. We sin because of what we are.

Man's fallen in Adam. Man is corrupt in his heart. Man is dead toward God. Man is an enemy of righteousness. We're enemies. And the only person that will agree with that and not be offended by that is one who knows that's what they are. That God has revealed to them that that's what they are. We're not neutral. We're aggressive and hostile toward God. Our minds are enmity. That word means hostile. You know what hostile is. You ever seen anybody get hostile? It's not pretty.

That's what we are toward God. We're actively, actively opposed to God and His Son. And the sinner does not naturally love God. A sinner resists God. A sinner hates God's authority. A sinner rejects God's holiness. Our supposed righteousness is polluted. All our righteousness is what?

Filthy rags. And that's who Christ died for. Did you hear me? That's who Christ died for. Not worthy people, not deserving people, yet sinners. Christ came into the world to a world that hated Him. Men cursed Him, they rejected Him, they mocked Him, they spit upon Him. They crucified Him, yet. Yet. He came to save the likes of such. What does this do? This destroys all our boasting. You going to brag about that? Well, you know, I cursed Him. I rejected Him. I mocked Him. I spit on Him. You're ashamed of it. You crucified Him. And that just proves that grace is undeserved favor, isn't it?

The gospel good news is God loves some sinners and while they were yet sinners, Christ died for them. There's hope for you and me. Secondly, we see the initiative of God. But God. Boy, I love those two words. When they're used together, but God. Man would never come to God. Therefore, God came to man. Is that good enough? You better believe it. Salvation begins with God, not with the sinner. Where do folks get this idea? Not in the scriptures. How many times have we said that? We could not come. We were not able to come. We didn't have the ability. We would not come until God made us willing. Our text does not say, but man loved God, but man commended his love toward God. It doesn't say that, does it? It says that, but God commended His love toward us.

God demonstrated, God proved, God displayed His love toward yet sinners. Yet sinners, not merely with words, not merely with blessings, but through the death of his son. Men talk about the love of God while denying His justice, but the cross of Christ reveals both. At Calvary, God's hatred for sin and His love for chosen sinners were met together. God didn't ignore sin. God judged sin. And He judged sin on His beloved Son, who had committed no sin, that you and I, who were sinners, might receive the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, might be made, the Scripture says. We're made righteous. We didn't obtain it. We didn't merit it. We didn't deserve it. We didn't earn it. It was freely given. We were made righteous.

And God in justice judged our sin in and on the person of His Son. And then God took His perfect righteousness and put it on us. And now we stand perfect before God while we were yet sinners. That's how God's both just and justifier. That's how God is both a just God and a Savior. Our salvation could never be at the expense of His strict and holy and divine justice if Christ had not died in our room instead. God remains just and justified, yet sinners.

Thirdly, we see our great substitute, Christ died for us. That's substitution. Somebody doing something for somebody else. What did Christ do for us? He died for us. That's not a light thing. The holy for the unholy. The righteous for the guilty. The innocent for the condemned.

The shepherd died for the sheep. Our Lord didn't merely die as an example. He died as a substitute. He stood in the place of sinners. He took the wrath that His people deserved, and while they were yet sinners, Christ died for them. On the cross, the sinless Son of God bore our shame, our wrath, our judgment, and our death. Why? For us. For us. That means in our stead, in our place.

The debt that you and I could never pay was laid on Him, and He paid it in full. Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it. Why does it not? Paying it all means there's nothing else to pay. That's not hard, is it? You pay off a bank loan and you go down there the next month and say, I want to make a payment. He's paying full. You don't owe anymore. And if they take your money, change banks.

Fourthly, we see the timing of grace. Oh man, what timing of grace. While we were yet sinners. That's the blessing. It was not after repentance. It wasn't after obedience. It wasn't after our faithfulness. But while we were yet sinners. Grace came to the guilty. Mercy came to the ruined. Christ died for the ungodly. So where is boasting then? It's excluded! It's like the Lord saying, don't come in here talking about what you've done. It's excluded. Look up at verse 6.

For when we were yet without strength, In due time, Christ died for the ungodly. That's who Christ came to save. Ungodly sinners who cannot save themselves. God doesn't help us to become better. God is raising dead sinners to life in Christ. Better's not good enough. God requires perfection. Being good ain't good enough. Pardon my English. Our redemption doesn't rest on human worthiness. We're going to struggle with sin. We're going to battle corruption. We're going to fall. We're going to fail. But God loves His people at their worst. Yet sinners. Will He cast them away now that they belong to Him? Perish the thought. Shall He not with Christ really give us all things? Isn't that what He promised? Is He a man that He should lie? Is He a son of man that He should change His mind?

No. Yes, we're weak. Yes, we're unworthy. Yes, we fall and we'll continue to fall. But God saved us while we were in this sad condition. Christ died for the ungodly. We were without strength, no ability to rescue ourselves, no righteousness to offer. No bargaining power with God. We don't have any bargaining power. And the cross is not a reward for reform, the cross is mercy for the guilty.

In most cases, We love people because to us they're lovable. It's hard to love people that aren't lovable, isn't it? In most cases we love folks because they're lovable and they're, let's just be honest, useful, attractive, kind to us. But the love of God's different. Christ died for enemies. Christ died for rebels. God commended His love unto us while we were what? Yet sinners. Christ died for people who could give nothing in return.

I remember one time, I was moving, and I've always said, if you want to find out how much somebody loves you, ask them to help you move. You find out real quick if they love you or not. But this was a long, long time ago, and I asked a friend of mine, I said, will you help me move? And he said, well, I'm moving in two weeks. Will you help me move? It has bargaining power. Well, we don't have that with God. What are we going to promise Him to do in return for Him, huh? Wow, we were yet sinners.

If Christ died only for the worthy, nobody would be saved. If Christ died only for the strong, no one would come. If Christ died for the godly, heaven would remain empty of any humanity. But Christ died for the ungodly, That means the worst sinner who comes to Christ in faith and not be turned away. You see, all are saved the same way by the mercy of God through a crucified Christ.

And fifthly, we have a warning to the self-righteous. The Pharisee trusts in himself, and he thinks God that he's not like other men. And no self-righteous man or woman will appreciate the cross because they don't believe they deserve hell. But if God reveals to you what you deserve, let me tell you something, that cross will become precious to you. The broken sinner cries for mercy. And the Gospel is Christ received sinners because He says, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

And this is the assurance of every believer. This is our comfort. This is our peace. This is our rest. If God loved His people while they were yet sinners, will He abandon them now that they belong to Him? especially being justified in His beloved Son?

Impossible. Impossible. The cross is the eternal proof of God's mercy and love, and our assurance is found only in Christ crucified. So when Satan accuses, and he will, and when conscience condemns, and it will, And when failures arise, and they will, look to the Christ of the cross. The cross itself, that piece of wood, has no efficacy, no effectual saving power. It's who hung on that cross that does. And God already knows every sin of His people, even before Christ died for them. But Christ died for them anyway, while they were yet sinners. And then lastly, this is a call to the lost. I don't know if God saved you or if you're still lost. I don't know. No man does. No man knows your heart or mine or anyone else's. But this is a call to those who are lost.

Can you be too sinful for God to save you? Can you be too unworthy? Can you be too undeserving? Nope. You cannot be. Why? Because that's why Christ came. He came in the world to save sinners. That's good news. So come to Christ just as you are. You know that. I don't know about all denominations, but the Baptist denomination about ruined a good song there just as I am. That's how we come just as we are without one plea, but because his blood was shed for me. Come just as you are. Come to Christ empty handed. We sung it. In my hand no price I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. Don't come with anything in your hands. That's what Cain did. Abel came with blood on his hands. Cain came with the best he had to offer. Don't do that. Come empty-handed. Come to Christ guilty. Come to Christ ruined. Come to Christ helpless.

The gospel is for those who are yet sinners. It's on the cross that we see the horror of sin, the justice of God, the helplessness of man, the greatness of divine love. Love not earned. Love not purchased, just sovereign love, mercy, and grace poured out on the undeserving. And every saved sinner in glory is going to sing the same song.

You know what it is? It's found in Revelation 1-5. Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. That's the believer's song. And that's the song that we're gonna sing for eternity. Worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lamb of God who washed me from my sin in his own blood.

While Yet Sinners

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the love of God for sinners?

How do we know that Christ's sacrifice is sufficient for our sins?

Why is understanding our sinfulness important for Christians?

What is the significance of Christ dying for the ungodly?

Sermon Transcript

About David Eddmenson

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

While Yet Sinners

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the love of God for sinners?

How do we know that Christ's sacrifice is sufficient for our sins?

Why is understanding our sinfulness important for Christians?

What is the significance of Christ dying for the ungodly?

Sermon Transcript

About David Eddmenson

Comments

More from David Eddmenson

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by David Eddmenson

Suggested for You

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book