Romans 5:6-11

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 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. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Paul has been arguing that everyone—Jew and Gentile—has been enslaved to sin and death. Like the children of Israel in Egypt, we were in bondage and unable to free ourselves. How did the Lord free the slaves in Egypt? By coming with power in the terrible Tenth Plague and passing-over everyone who placed the blood of a sacrificial lamb on his doorway. When it comes to everyone enslaved to sin and death, how would the Lord free them?

By sending His own Son to die as a sacrificial offering!

Paul will explain later starting in chapter 8 exactly how the death of Jesus freed people from sin and death, but here he wants the Romans to reflect on just how amazing it is that Jesus died for people who rejected him:

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [5:6-8]

A mother might sacrifice herself for her own child, but would a mother sacrifice herself for a violent terrorist? Paul’s point is that the death of Jesus is a remarkable picture of the love of God.

It is one of the most remarkable sentences in the entire Bible—Christ died for sinners!