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Grace Life Church of the Shoals, Muscle Shoals

Grace means God does for us what we in no way can deserve or merit. The greatness of God’s grace toward us is seen in that despite our deeply offensive fallen condition He chose to love and save us.

• In Romans 5:10, Paul calls us “enemies” of God. We were made to love God supremely. Instead we love ourselves, our sin and thus have become traitors. Romans 3:12 says, “There is none who does good, there is not even one.” As sinners in our hearts and attitudes we are actively working to overthrow God’s rightful place as Lord in this world and in our own lives.
• In Romans 5:8 we are called “sinners.” This means we fall short of God’s purpose in creating us. He made man to reflect His unique goodness and perfection. Instead of reflecting God’s goodness and perfection, we reflect Satan and his wickedness. Ephesians 2:2 states that we walk “according to the course of this world … of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.”
• Paul calls us the “ungodly” in Romans 5:6. The idea behind this term is that we are the opposite of God. We are completely unlike Him in every way and we contradict Him in every way. God is truth; we often do not tell the truth. God is love; we often hate. God cannot delight in that which is in every way ungodly.
• Romans 5:6 describes us as “helpless.” This means we are completely without capacity to fix ourselves. We do not have the natural wisdom to see our need nor the power to correct ourselves to become acceptable to God.

While we are yet enemies, sinners, ungodly and helpless, is there hope? Yes. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” While we were desperate and in every way unattractive and undesirable to God, in grace He chose to love us and crucified His own Son to save us.