This week’s message moves into the first of three qualifiers expanding upon what a Christ-centered community should look like. We cannot possibly love God without first realizing, one, the depth of our sin and, two, the depth of God’s love for us; the cross is where these two meet. The passage from Romans 5:1-11 can be divided into three parts: 1) A celebration of our peace with God through Christ (vss.1-5); 2) A description of how this peace is made possible (vss.6-8); 3) The consequences of the cross (saved from the wrath of God and a reconciled relationship with Him vss9-11). The challenge to us then is to love God on account of Christ’s saving work alone; NOT to get something in return (i.e. we don’t love God just to avoid hell).
Advertisement
