5:10
We were reconciled with God. There was enmity between us, once we were enemies of God. We were against Him, He was against us. But that is no longer the case, through the cross we have been reconciled. When did this happen? While we were still God’s enemies, and it was God who took the initiative, not us. Stressing yet again that there is no basis for our reconciliation in ourselves, it is all of God. Jesus died on the cross for our reconciliation, but He was also raised from the dead. Jesus is living and active. We will be saved through His life. As has often be said, we are saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. Our salvation has an effect in our lives now, in this life. We should expect to see some of the fruits of that salvation. Actually the Greek can be taken in two ways, it could be, as NIV, “saved through His life”, or it could be “saved through sharing in His life”,or as Phillips puts it, “through His living in us”. This indeed is the thought that Paul goes on to talk about in the next few chapters.
5:11
The proud Jew or moral man boasts in his own righteousness, but the one saved by faith boasts in God. This is a fundamental difference between Christianity and all other religions. All others are founded on works, all based on us achieving something, the gospel is based on what Christ achieved. Through Christ’s work we have received reconciliation.
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