For when we were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:6
The parable of the Good Samaritan provides us with an excellent illustration for today’s text. In the man who was attacked by robbers, we see total loss and helplessness. The man had been robbed of all of his possessions and his dignity. He had been beaten until he could do nothing to lift himself from his painful and bloody location on the roadside. We do not read of his even being able to plead with passers-by to give him assistance. We must feel sorry for such a calamity to befall a traveller. But as we examine his sorry state, we see that it matches pretty well with our spiritual state before we were saved. How wonderful that our Lord would take pity on us in our great need!
Our text reminds us that we were without strength. That message clashes with the world of religion around us that urges us to adhere to a set of creeds, doctrines, and ordinances. Most of the time, the message is abbreviated to ‘do the best you can’. But none of us has ever done the best we can. If we have told a lie knowing that it was a lie, we have not done our best. If we have ever failed to help the needy when it was within our power to do so, we have not done the best we can. We could quite easily paraphrase the first part of our text to read ‘when we were without strength and had no desire to have strength’. But the God Who knows our lack of strength intervened in our case. Like the Good Samaritan, He provided the means to achieve our healing, and the means to remove us from the place of danger to a place of safety and provision. No Christian has ever had the right to brag about his salvation or his spiritual welfare after being saved. God has done it all.
Our text reminds us of the cost of our rescue. The death of Christ on the cross, the shedding of His blood, were required to purchase our redemption. Otherwise, we must remain in our helpless and hopeless condition. But thanks to God, we have four faithful accounts of the life and the death of the Lord Jesus. Scripture carefully presents to us the details of what God must provide to reach and save us. Anyone who thinks they can add their own efforts or worth to the work of Christ has no idea how ungodly they are. The word ‘ungodly’ refers to how unlike God we are, full of lies and disobedience. It also refers to how opposed to God we were before we were saved.
Even after we are saved, we still have very little strength of our own. But what strength we have should be poured out in thankfulness and service to the One Who was willing to die to resolve the problem of our ungodliness. -Jim MacIntosh