October 12, 2025 – Romans 5:6–10

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Hope Lutheran Church
Manhattan, Kansas
October 12, 2025
Romans 5:6–10

Last week, as we wrapped up our series Joining Jesus on His Mission, we were reminded that when it comes to the work we do of sharing Jesus with others, it’s not something we do on our own. We go with Jesus. And we go with each other.

That second part – how we go with each other – really drove a lot of our discussion time, and it was helpful for us to think about how we get to go together with Jesus on the mission that he’s already accomplishing in the world. We go with other Christians.

And that’s not only true here locally. One of the blessings of our church is that we’re a part of that in different places throughout Kansas, throughout our country, and even in other parts of the world. And that’s because here at Hope, we’re part of what’s called the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. (And that word “synod,” by the way, just means “walking together with each other.”)

The thing is, I think people can sometimes get the impression that being part of a synod or denomination is limiting in some way. It’s too old school. It comes with a negative connotation for some. People get the idea that somehow it holds churches back.

And yet the truth is that the national church body we’re a part of has funded and supported and encouraged pastors and teachers and laypeople as together we’ve all sought to bring the good news of Christ to the people who are around us. Many of the things that we are able to do as a congregation are possible because of the national church body we are a part of. And this year marks 175 years since our church body started doing that. Since 1850 – 10 years before the Civil War! – our synod’s been sharing Christ.

So for the next few weeks, we’re going to see three truths that are at the center of everything our church body does. And yet, at the end of the day, the focus of all of it isn’t really going to be on our church body. What’s going to be at the center of it all? It’s going to be what’s at the center of our entire church body – Christ and the gospel.

Because, really, that’s what it means to be evangelical. That word “evangelical” is such a loaded term these days. But when we say that we are evangelical and part of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, it means we are Christ-centered. It means we are Christ-focused. It means we are all about the gospel.

So that’s what we’re really going to be focusing on these next few weeks. We’re going to see Christ For Us, Christ Through Us, and Christ With Us.

To see Christ For Us, let’s turn to Romans 5:6–10. There, the apostle Paul writes:

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

Paul lays out Christ For Us so clearly in these verses. But first, he needs to tell us what we were. And he uses some pretty strong words. He says that we were powerless, ungodly, sinners. To put it another way, Paul is saying we bring nothing to the table when it comes to us and God. He’s saying we came into this world opposed to God.

But we tell ourselves that’s not the case. And so we try to do something about it. 

We think that we just need to try harder and that all God cares about is that we keep on trying our best. We assume that what we need to do is make sure the good outweighs the bad. We compare ourselves to other people. And then we look at ourselves and we say, “I know I'm not perfect, but I'm at least better than that person over there.”

But here, and in other places too, Paul is clear. He doesn’t hold back. He’s saying we came into this world spiritually dead. Not sick. Not only mostly dead. Totally and completely spiritually dead. Powerless. Ungodly. Sinners. Unable to help or save ourselves.

And so you would expect, then, that God would leave us there like that. I mean, that’s what people do with other people, right? Normally, when someone starts to be too much of a burden or starts to inconvenience us too much, we distance ourselves from them. We stop answering their text messages. We do everything we can to avoid that person. 

But that’s not what God did. Instead, God did this remarkable thing. He sent his Son Christ to die for us. “When we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” Christ For Us. For You.

And to highlight just how absurd that really is, Paul said, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.” In other words, if we had been “good” people, it would have maybe made some sense if God had sent Christ to die for us. You maybe sometimes see that kind of sacrifice being made by people. But even that kind of sacrifice – someone dying for another person, no matter how good they are – is rare when it comes to the way we deal with each other.

But the absurdity and truth of the gospel is that we weren’t even close to being righteous or good people, and yet Christ came for us. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Christ For Us. For You.

And Paul says that the result of Christ dying for us is that we are “justified by his blood.” That word – justified – means “to be declared not guilty.” It means that when we stand in heavenly court before God, we’ll be found not guilty.

Even though we were powerless, ungodly, sinners, we won’t be held accountable for any of it. And it’s not because God suddenly went soft on those things. He still held someone accountable for our sins. But it wasn’t any one of us. He declared his Son guilty in our place as he gave his life for ours. So that we are declared not guilty. Christ For Us. For You.

And it doesn’t stop there. Paul goes on and says, “We were reconciled to [God].” Where there used to be hostility and separation, now there is peace and harmony between us and God. That means God’s not out to get you. He’s not holding anything against you. And the proof of it is his Son Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection For Us. For You.

You know, it’s a rare blessing from the Lord that any church body teaches the gospel with remarkable clarity, much less for 175 years. Now, that’s not to say that our church body has always done that perfectly. And it’s not to say that other church bodies haven’t taught the gospel either. But it is pretty remarkable when you think about it – over the course of 175 years, our church body has, by and large, kept the main thing the main thing. Because it’s so easy to take the focus off Jesus and put it on other things.

And here’s the thing about all of that and about all of this – We have not done anything to deserve this blessing. Instead, Christ has done everything For Us. That’s true of our church body. That’s true for our congregation. And it’s also true for each of us individually. 

So thank God for the blessings that come from being part of a church body like ours and the ways it helps us see Christ For Us. And thank God that he sent Christ For Us, right here in Manhattan. Amen!

Questions for Further Discussion
1) WELS Connection: Watch this month’s WELS Connection. Take note of anything you want to talk about more or anything you want to ask about.

2) What does the word “synod” mean? What does the word “evangelical” mean? Why can it be helpful to know what both of those words mean?

3) What are the blessings of Hope being part of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS)?

4) How is a synod different from a denomination? How is a denomination different from the Holy Christian Church?

5) Do a search for the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. As you search, see what you can find about the history of WELS. What did you find interesting?

6) Suppose you are in a conversation with someone and they ask what it means that your church is a part of WELS. What are you going to tell them?

7) What are some ways that WELS helps us keep the focus on Christ in everything we do?