On Second Thought | November 12, 2026
“… how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” — Romans 5:10 (NIV)
I find it much easier to talk about a mistake than to admit I did someone wrong. A mistake can sound like a missed turn on the way home. I can explain how it happened, correct it, and get on with the day. Doing someone wrong is different. If I tell a story that makes a friend look foolish, knowing the laugh will come at his expense, the trouble is between us now. Paul’s language in Romans 5 puts that kind of honesty into our relationship with God. He calls us powerless, sinners, and even enemies. Sin has brought us into conflict with the One who made us. And Paul puts the most astonishing news precisely there. Christ died for us while we were still at odds with God.
Psalm 5 gives us words for the seriousness of that conflict. David says to God, “You hate all who do wrong” (Psalm 5:5, NIV). In that same prayer, he speaks of entering God’s house through the abundance of His hesed, His steadfast love. I am glad the psalm holds both thoughts so close together. God cares about the damage done when people lie, shed blood, or take advantage of others. The person who has been harmed needs to know that God takes such things seriously. And when we finally recognize ourselves among those who have done harm, we need to know what David knew as he bowed in reverence. Our way into God’s presence rests on His steadfast love.
How, then, does a holy God pardon sinners? Paul says in Romans 3:25–26 that God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, showing His righteousness even as He puts right those who trust in Jesus. In Romans 5, Paul sets Adam’s disobedience alongside Christ’s obedience. John Henry Newman caught that movement in a hymn when he wrote, “A second Adam to the fight / And to the rescue came.” Jesus lived in faithful obedience to the Father, and on the cross He bore our sins, as 1 Peter 2:24 says. I think of how often I want to get to the good news of pardon without pausing over what it cost. The cross gives me somewhere to look when I need to understand both the gravity of what I have done and the depth of God’s love for me.
Then comes the phrase I especially want to remember when the day goes badly. Pollō mallon is Paul’s Greek for “how much more.” If God reconciled us through the death of His Son while we were His enemies, how much more can we trust the risen Christ to bring us safely through to salvation? Romans 5:10 gives us both a peace already received and a future secured by the life of Jesus. In Ephesians 2:4–6, Paul goes so far as to say that God has raised us and seated us with Christ. The confidence of a Christian rests in the living Christ, even on a day when there is little in our own conduct to be proud of. That confidence gives us the freedom to face the day honestly, make amends where we can, and ask God for help where we still struggle.
On Second Thought
Here is a paradox I recognize in my own prayers. The very thing I am most tempted to leave out can be the place where I begin to understand peace with God. Suppose I have spent the afternoon telling myself I had every right to speak sharply to someone. By evening, I have rehearsed the provocation so often that I can barely remember my own words. Then, in prayer, I finally say, “Lord, I wanted to hurt him, and I knew what to say.” That admission may feel like giving up the last piece of my defense. Yet Romans 5 puts me in the care of a Savior who already knew the truth about me when He went to the cross. I can let the sentence stand, ask for mercy, and call the person I hurt.
There is another surprise in that moment. I might expect peace with God to make me casual in His presence. Instead, when I remember who welcomed me and what it cost Him, I find myself wanting to be still. I can give thanks without having anything impressive to report. I can sit quietly with the words of Romans 5 and let them change the way I regard someone whose faults have been easier for me to see than my own. Perhaps the first evidence of a reverent prayer will come later, when I have the chance to repeat an unkind story and choose to keep it to myself.
Thank you for the quiet ways you practice reverence before God. Ask the Holy Spirit to let that devotion show today in one small act of humility or mercy that another person can receive.
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