But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
commendeth.
Romans 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Romans 3:5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
in that.
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
While we were still sinners,
This highlights the state of humanity at the time of God's action. The term "sinners" refers to those who are in rebellion against God, a condition that has existed since the fall of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3). The phrase "still sinners" indicates that God's love and Christ's sacrifice were not contingent upon human righteousness or repentance. This is consistent with the doctrine of original sin, which posits that all humans are born into sin (Psalm 51:5, Romans 3:23). The cultural context of the time viewed sin as a separation from God, and this phrase emphasizes that reconciliation was initiated by God despite this separation.
Christ died for us.
This is the central tenet of Christian faith, encapsulating the doctrine of atonement. The death of Christ is seen as the ultimate sacrifice, fulfilling the Old Testament sacrificial system (Leviticus 16) and prophecies such as Isaiah 53, which speaks of the suffering servant. The phrase "for us" indicates substitutionary atonement, where Christ took the place of sinners, bearing the punishment that was due to them (1 Peter 2:24). Historically, crucifixion was a Roman method of execution, reserved for the most serious offenses, which underscores the gravity of Christ's sacrifice. This act is seen as the fulfillment of God's redemptive plan, bridging the gap between a holy God and sinful humanity.
- The verse begins with a deliberate contrast. Human inability to reconcile with God is juxtaposed with divine initiative.
• Ephesians 2:4–5 echoes this, “But God, who is rich in mercy… made us alive with Christ.”
• Genesis 3 shows humanity’s fall; yet Genesis 3:15 reveals God stepping in with a promise of redemption.
- This opening asserts that salvation originates in God’s character, not our merit.
- “Proves” means God supplies undeniable evidence, not a mere claim.
• 1 John 4:9–10: “This is how God’s love was revealed among us… He sent His one and only Son… not that we loved God, but that He loved us.”
• John 3:16 reinforces the same love demonstrated in action.
- God’s love is active, purposeful, and historic, validated in a real event rather than sentiment.
- Paul points to a single, definitive act as the proof.
• Galatians 6:14: Paul boasts only in “the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
• Hebrews 9:26: Christ “has appeared once for all… to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
- The phrase narrows the focus to the cross as the climax of redemption history.
- The timing underscores grace. God did not wait for moral improvement.
• Romans 3:23 reminds that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
• Colossians 1:21–22: We were “alienated and hostile in our minds,” yet now reconciled.
- This demolishes any notion of earning salvation and highlights unconditional love.
- The substitutionary nature is clear: He died “for” us—on our behalf.
• 2 Corinthians 5:21: “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf.”
• Isaiah 53:5–6 foretold the Servant bearing our iniquities.
- His literal, historical death satisfies divine justice and secures reconciliation for all who believe (Romans 5:1).
Romans 5:8 declares that the holy God personally intervened, demonstrating unearned, sacrificial love through Christ’s death on the cross while humanity was still lost in sin. The verse anchors assurance, silences self-reliance, and calls every believer to rest in the completed, objective work of Jesus as the definitive proof of God’s unfailing love.
(8) Commendeth.--The English word happily covers the double meaning of the Greek. The same word is used (1) of things in the sense of "prove" or "establish," here and in Romans 3:5; (2) of persons in the sense of "recommend," in Romans 16:1.His love.--Strictly, His own love. The love both of God and of Christ is involved in the atonement. Its ultimate cause is the love of God, which is here in question. The love of Christ is evidenced by the fact of His death; the love of God is evidenced by the love of Christ.
Toward us.--The question whether these words should be taken as in the English version, "His love to, or toward, us," or whether they should not rather be joined with "commendeth"--"commendeth to us"--is chiefly one of reading, the words being variously placed in the different authorities. The balance of evidence is close, but perhaps the translation may be allowed to remain as it is.
Sinners.--There is, of course, a stress upon this word in contrast to "the righteous man," "the good man," of the preceding verse.
Verse 8. - But God commendeth his own love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The emphatic "his own" is lost sight of in the Authorized Version. It is not in contrast to our love to God, but expressive of the thought that the love of God himself towards men was displayed in the death of Christ. This is important for our true conception of the light in which the mysterious doctrine of the atonement is regarded in Holy Scripture. It is not (as represented by some schools of theologians) that the Son, considered apart from the Father, offered himself to appease his wrath - as seems to be expressed in the lines, "Actus in crucem factus es Irato Deo victima" - but rather that the Divine love itself purposed from eternity and provided the atonement, all the Persons of the holy and undivided Trinity concurring to effect it (cf. Romans 3:24; Romans 8:32; Ephesians 2:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:16: John 3:16; 1 John 4:10, et al.). If it be asked how this Divine love, displayed in the atonement, and therefore previous to it, is consistent with what is elsewhere so continually said of the Divine wrath, we answer that the ideas are not irreconcilable. The wrath expresses God's necessary antagonism to sin, and the retribution due to it, inseparable from a true conception of the Divine righteousness; and as long as men arc under the dominion of sin they are of necessity involved in it: But this is not inconsistent with ever-abiding Divine love towards the persons of sinners, or with an eternal purpose to redeem them. It may be added here that the passage Before us intimates our Lord's essential Deity; for his sacrifice of himself is spoken of as the display of God's own love.