Love with Grace

Weekly Update – February 13th, 2025 

In Romans 5:8-10 we read, ^“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” This passage is significant to us as believers for several reasons.  First, God’s love for us is not conditional, for Christ died for us while we were still sinners (v. 8).  Second, we are not simply put on a level plain with God through Christ’s death, but we are now reconciled to a relationship with God (v. 10).  Third, and this is the point I want to focus on this week, God sent Christ to accomplish this work of salvation for us while we were his enemies (v. 10). 

If God chose to save us while we were his enemies, we need to ask ourselves what implications does that have for us as we seek to live out the Christian life? This is what Jesus seeks to address in his famous Sermon on the Plain.  Luke records Jesus saying in verse 27, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”  This line here forms the main subject for this major point of his sermon given in verses 27-36.  Jesus defines our enemies as those who persecute us for our faith as shown through the context of this sermon given in 6:22 and 6:26. Our enemies are those who curse us (28), abuse us (28), publicly demean us through striking us on the cheek (29), withhold our basic necessities from us (29) and take our things (30).  All of this, again, for our faith in Christ.  Therefore, as a follower of Jesus, we ought to love our enemies. The question is, “what does it look like to love our enemies?”

Typically, when we think of love, we often categorize it in three different ways.  The first way is very familial.  We love our family members and those who are close to us.  The second way is in a friendship type of way.  He/She does good to me, I do good to them, we get along, we like each other.  The third way is a romantic type of way.  He/she is attractive, and I have warm feelings towards him/her.  That means to love someone who is actively seeking our ruin, who hates us, demeans us and puts us down, will be very unnatural.  For when we love others, it is often shown through our expectations.  It is the idea of “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”  I’ll give this to you, expecting that you will either repay me now or in the future.  That is a very natural way to approach others.  But when it comes to our enemies, our love will need to be unnaturally different.  For if we approach our enemies with this same mentality that the world has towards love, Jesus says, “what benefit is that to you” (32, 33, 34).  That word benefit is also translated in some versions as thanks or credit, yet the root of the word, however your Bible translates it, is grace.  So then, what grace is it to you to love those who love you expecting something in return? Jesus then concludes saying that even sinners do that (32). In other words, that isn’t what grace is.

Therefore, our love must be defined by grace.  Grace not only to those who love us in return, but to those who don’t.  For consider God’s love for us.  As we saw in Romans 5:10, God’s love for us was demonstrated in Christ’s death, while we were his enemies.  We stood to offer nothing to God in return for his love towards us, and yet he saved us and reconciled us to himself.  That is grace.  This is the grace that ought to define our relationships with other believers, with our family members and friends, and even with our enemies.  For when we love others with grace, then we truly display to all what it means to be an imitator of God who walks in love (Eph. 5:2). So then consider what your love towards others looks like, whether they be a close friend, family member, spouse or even an enemy.  Is it defined by expectations or by grace?  For us, as we seek to live out the Christian life, let our love be defined by grace. 

Serving Him with You,
Pastor Michael Nelson