August 23, 2026, Morning Service
True Unconditional Love
Pastor Greg Isom
Together over the past three weeks here in chapter 5 of Romans, we have unpacked some life changing truth of the advantages of believing and trusting in Jesus as our Savior. Paul concluded for us that by having been “justified by our faith” we have been given the peace of God, access to the grace of God and the ability to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. We dove in and explored the depth there is in each one of those blessing and it is almost beyond understanding for our small minds. Last week we were challenged to follow a process in our life to build our hope (and faith) even stronger. When (not if) tribulations come, we are called to rejoice for the opportunity to put our trust in God into action. By rejoicing and allowing God to invest in you through life’s trials we build up our perseverance, in turn building our character, and ultimately strengthening our hope. Paul assures us this truth about out hope in Christ:
Romans 5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
When you place your trust in Christ to not only be your Savior, but also your Lord, the hope you invest in Him will not let you down. He loves you and pours out His love to us through the Holy Spirit within us. Today, we again get blown away by Paul’s explanation of that truly unconditional love He has for us. Are you ready for this?
Romans 5:6-8 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (7) For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. (8) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Wait for a few seconds for that to sink in. God did not begin to love you the day you stepped out by faith and committed to follow Him. His love did not start on the day you were baptized. He did not begin to love you deeper when you finally were able to put Him first in your life. He loves you from the point of your conception to the day of your last breath here on earth with a truly unconditional love. Remember the days when God was the last thing ever on your mind and you were consumed pursuing the things this world and the flesh have to offer? Even in that time that you were scoffing at God by doing your own thing, sowing your wild oats, He loved you the same as He does today here in church.
Many of us have this false perception that when we were living in sin, disobedient and defiant to God, that He would look at us with disgust. We thought that God would be like us and only love those who loved Him back. That is far from the truth. He has always looked at us through the eyes of love. Think about how that makes perfect sense as we learn more and more about God. John tells us that “God is love,” (I Jn. 4:7). He is not “like love” or “shows us love,” He is love. Goddefines love. In His true character He cannot look at us in any other manner than through the eyes of love no matter what we are doing. He loved me enough that while I was in the very pit of sin, at my worst and far away from Him, He died for me. He did not ask Me to get cleaned up, straightened up, or sobered up first in order to earn His love. He died for me even in my worst moment. He died for me to simply give me the opportunity to turn to Him knowing that it may not ever happen at all. He died for me in my worst state hoping that one day I would come to Him in repentance and seek to give my life to Him. That is true unconditional love. God loves you in that manner.
That is so humbling to me that it is hard to even understand it. It does however fit in with what we have been talking about. We are not saved by works, but by faith. There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation or restore our broken relationship with God. He asks us to simply believe and have faith in Him and what He has done for us and He will take it from there. “God loves us just as we are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus.” (Lucado) This is a love that is truly difficult to understand or accept. “How could God love me in such a manner?” The answer gets even harder to grasp as Paul says there is even more to this!
Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
Just when we have begun to wrap our mind around His unconditional love justifying us by faith, He adds to us that we are also “justified by His blood.” Paul reveals to us even deeper what this “gift from God” entails for each of us. Through Jesus’ love and faithfulness in shedding His life’s blood for us we are now saved from the wrath of God. Let’s look deeper into this wrath. In love God died for each of us while we were still sinners, but if we reject that love and continue along our own path, He will hold us accountable for it. In June we had a message titled “consequences and rewards” in which we found that we are allowed by God to choose (free will) to serve Him or reject Him. Serving Him comes with many rewards, as we have seen over the last few weeks, and also rejecting Him comes with consequences. Facing the wrath of God is a consequence those who choose to reject Christ will face. God loves each of us and desires all of us to come to repentance, but He allows us to choose. Those who choose to ignore Him or flat out reject Him will receive justice not grace; the consequence not the reward. This is the same wrath (judgement) that we discussed in chapter one for those who “suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” (1:18) Through Jesus we are saved from the wrath of God and from facing our part in the lake of fire in the final judgement.
It is interesting that the Great Tribulation is called “the day of God’s wrath.” In the opening of the sixth seal, as the people on earth cry for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them, they pray, “Hide us from the face of the Lamb, for the day of His wrath has come,” but thank God if Jesus loved me when I was a sinner and died for me, how much more being justified now by His blood will I be saved from the wrath through Him. Jesus saves us from our sins, which in turn saves us from the wrath of God for those who die with their sins still intact. The same power that raised Jesus from the grave will save us who are justified by faith to miss this punishment for our sinfulness. Paul continues:
Romans 5:10-11 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (11) And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
First notice where all the work for our salvation and reconciliation is coming from; Jesus’ work on the cross. We are saved “by His life” and reconciled “through our Lord Jesus Christ.” God is Holy, Just and Good. He cannot be in the presence or associate with those who are sinful people. Sin separates us from God and the only way we have to become reconciled to Him is through our death. (Rom. 6:23). On our own we are hopeless and helpless. BUT GOD, who loves us with a truly unconditional love, made a path for us to reconciliation through Jesus. Jesus took our sins upon Himself and endured our punishment by dying the death we deserved upon the cross. We are sinners in need of a Savior and Jesus is that Savior!
In truly understanding and knowing this fact we now can “rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” We are no longer on the outside looking in, we are part of God’s family and the relationship that was broken by our sin has been repaired by Christ. These verses sums it up very well, you might have heard them before.
John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (17) For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
God loves you this morning. He has loved you your entire life with a love that we cannot understand fully. He loves you so much that He sent His Son to pay the price for your sin and create a path for you to be reconciled to Him. All the work has been completed and now He like the father in the prodigal son parable longingly awaits you to come home to Him. He lets you choose what your future here on earth what the results will be when you stand before Him one day and answer for that choice. No choice is a choice to reject His offer. You must come to Him in faith and choose to accept this gift of salvation He is offering you this morning. He loves you with a truly unconditional love and He lets you choose to accept it or reject it.
Choose Jesus!
Choose life!
Choose the rewards not the consequences!