the love of God has been poured out in our hearts

In Romans 5, Paul exults over the privileges that befall us through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have peace with God, we stand in grace (= His favor) and rejoice in hope (= expectation) of the glory of God (5:1,2). Even in tribulations does that cause us to rejoice, because it only strengthens our hope all the more (5:3,4). And then Paul says, in verse 5:

Now expectation is not mortifying, seeing that the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the holy spirit which is being given to us. (CLV)

“The hope of the Evangel” (cp Col.1:23 and Col.1:20) is boundless. We always think about it in terms that are far too small. This boundlessness is precisely what makes the Evangel a Good News Message! It is the message of God’s unconditional love (agape) for everyone of mankind. The saving grace of God has appeared to all mankind (Tit.2:11). His love guarantees the salvation of all (1Tim.4:10)! That is what Paul, in Ephesians 1:13 calls, “the Evangel of your salvation”. And who is given to believe this, is sealed with God’s spirit, as that same verse makes known. That is why the reception of God’s spirit is nothing less than the outpouring of the love of God in our hearts. That love is overwhelming! The message is not (as is usually preached from the pulpits) that God is our Saviour provided we… No, the Evangel declares: God is your Saviour, believe it! That in Romans 5:5 it, indeed, is about Gods unconditional and boundless love is shown, when Paul continues in Rom.5:6:

For Christ, while we are still infirm, still in accord with the era, for the sake of the irreverent, died. (CLV)

The Evangel is a universal announcement. All are sinners and subject to death. No one excepted. And the same all will be justified, gratuitously. So it is written:

23 for ALL sinned and are wanting of the glory of God. 24 Being justified gratuitously in His grace, through the deliverance which is in Christ Jesus -Romans 3 (See also 5:18)- (CLV)

In the world of Christianity, this message is called a heresy (‘Reconciliation of all’). “So easy can it not be”. They find it too cheap. But cheap it would be, if you would only have to do little or pay little for it. Does this reproach and criticism not turn as a boomerang against them? The Evangel is free (gratuitous). It is a communication, a good news message: God justifies the ungodly!

Yet to him who is not working, yet is believing on Him Who is justifying the irreverent, his faith is reckoned for righteousness. -Romans 4:5- (CLV)

 

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