NOTES for Rom 5:1-11

It is genuinely difficult to accept justification by faith, of which Paul writes. The reasons differ depending on whose justification is at issue—my own or someone else's. But the Apostle makes no distinction and offers an impeccable chain of reasoning to explain this truth, which seems strange to a person aware of his own sinfulness. God truly proved His love for us in that Christ died for us before we realized that without this death it would be impossible to cross the chasm separating us from God. Because He loved us, He could not leave us where we had driven ourselves. He could not wait until we wanted to return, until we renounced sin. He came to save everyone, and now that by His blood He has restored to us the possibility of living with Him, nothing can separate us any longer—unless we ourselves reject it and devise some reason not to be with Him, unless we imagine that something can be found weightier than Christ's death on the cross.