What does it mean that we were God’s enemies?

Explanation:

When Paul says that we were God’s enemies, he has in mind mutual hostility.¹ That is, he has in mind both that God is hostile toward humans for our wickedness, and that humans are hostile toward God. We can deduce this because Paul has already referred to God’s hostility toward us, and ours toward God.

We learn that God is hostile to us in Romans 1:18, Romans 2:5, and Romans 5:9.² In Romans 1:18 we learn that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness. In Romans 2:5 Paul writes that because of the hardness of hearts, humans are storing up wrath for the Day of Judgment. Finally, in Romans 5:9, Paul says that we will be saved from the wrath of God by Jesus’ blood. So clearly, God is hostile to humans because of sin.

On the other hand, Paul has also explained that humans are hostile to God. For Paul has spent much of Romans 1:1–3:31 explaining that although humans knew God, they would not worship him but instead, created idols (Romans 1:19–23). Further, Paul explicitly writes in Romans 8:7 that the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God. ³

So we were enemies with God in the sense that there was mutual hostility between humans and God. God’s wrath was stirred because of sin, and humans deliberately disobeyed God.

Counterargument:

To interpret a passage correctly we must consider it in light of its immediate context. This means looking to the verses immediately before and after Romans 5:10. And when we consider Romans 5:9, we notice that Paul refers to God’s wrath. In particular, he points out that since we have been justified by Christ’s blood, how much more will we be saved from God’s wrath. Now, given the proximity of Romans 5:9, we ought to consider the meaning of Romans 5:10 in light of the fact that Paul has God’s wrath toward sinners in mind. When he refers to us being enemies of God in Romans 5:10, he likely means that we are enemies in the sense that God is hostile to us as indicated by his wrath.⁴

Response to counterargument:

While the immediate context plays a prominent role in influencing how we interpret a text, in this case, Romans 5:9 does nothing to rule out taking the hostility to be mutual. For while the wrath of God is mentioned in Romans 5:9, this simply supports the notion that part of being an enemy of God is the notion that God is hostile to sinners. Still, that God is hostile to sinners does not exclude the fact that humans are also hostile to God by creating idols and failing to worship him. So this interpretation is consistent with both the immediate context and broader themes in Paul’s letter.

It is hard to see what the weakness of this view might be. Paul has made clear both that humans treat God as an enemy and that God’s wrath is against sinners, such that God treats humans as his enemy. One might try to argue that God’s wrath is against sin, and not the sinner, but this is not in the text. Further, his wrath is poured on the sinner.

Explanation:

When Paul writes that we were enemies, he has in mind that God was hostile toward humans. That is, his point is that although God was hostile toward humans in that he saw humans as his enemy, he was willing to send Christ to reconcile them. We can detect this is Paul’s point because we know from other New Testament passages that sinners are God's enemies. For example, Paul writes in Romans 11:28 that the Jews were enemies of the gospel. And in Philippians 3:18 he says that many walk as enemies of the gospel. In James 4:4 we read that whoever is a friend of the world is an enemy of God. ⁵ Likewise, when Paul says we were enemies, he means that God considered us his enemies.

Counterargument:

The problem with this argument is that the verses it uses to support the fact that God considered us his enemy can also be used to support the fact that humans considered God their enemy. For example, when Paul writes to the Philippians that many walk as enemies of the cross of Christ, this strongly suggests that it is the human who is treating the cross of Christ as an enemy, not that God is treating the human as an enemy. Likewise, that the friend of the world is an enemy of God suggests that the one who decides to make the world their friend is at the same time treating God as an enemy. Thus, the passage used to support the notion that God treats us as enemies also supports the notion that we treat God as an enemy.

Explanation:

To understand what Paul means when he writes that we are God’s enemy, it is important to notice that in Romans 5:9 he refers to God’s wrath. That strongly suggests that God’s hostility toward evil is in view. ⁶ And if God’s hostility toward evil is in view, then when Paul says we were enemies, he likely means that because of our evil, God was hostile toward us, so he treated us as his enemies.

Counterargument:

While it is likely the case that Paul has in view that God treated us as his enemy, Paul has also made clear that we treated God as an enemy. For example, we read in Romans 1:28 that humans did not see fit to acknowledge God. Then in Romans 1:32, Paul writes that though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice evil deserve death, they do them and give approval to those who do them. In other words, humans not only know that God exists, but they know his righteous decrees, and yet they deliberately disobey him. In other words, they treat him as an enemy.

While this view does a fine job showing that God treats us as his enemy, it does nothing to rule out mutual hostility. Since Paul has already implied that humans treat God as an enemy, unless this view can rule out mutual hostility, it cannot establish that Paul only has God’s enmity toward humans in mind.