FOR WHILE WE WERE STILL HELPLESS: eti gar Christos onton (PAPMPGen) hemon asthenon: (Ezek 16:4-8; Eph 2:1-5; Col 2:13; Titus 3:3-5) (La 1:6; Da 11:15)

For (1063) (gar) introduces Paul's explanation of why the pouring out of God's love assures believers of hope (absolute assurance). In other words, if after reading the previous verse on the pouring out of the love of God in our hearts, you would still ask "But Paul, how do we know His love?". Paul's answer in summary form would be "by His death". And so Christ's death becomes the major subject the apostle expounds in the following verses.

Note that in Romans 5:6 God makes this demonstration of His love...

(1) While we were helpless
(2) At the right time
(3) For the ungodly

Were (5607) (on) is in the present tense, indicating this was our continual state.

The progression in Paul's thought is something like the following - It's hard to love the weak and powerless, but when those same people are also ungodly (opposed to all that God stands for) that kind of love is amazing. The love of God is without any cause outside of Himself.

Still helpless - still without strength; utterly helpless with no way of escape; still ailing; still sick (sin sick); unable to help ourselves; still powerless and too weak to help ourselves, totally unable to rescue ourselves from the effects of the fall. Helpless in this context emphasizes moral frailty rather than physical weakness. We were quite powerless to help ourselves or even to understand.

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. (1 Cor 2:14)

In short we were up a creek without a paddle and did not even understand our abysmal predicament. But God’s love triumphed where human power (and understanding) failed.

Haldane adds that...

Christ died for us while we were unable to obey Him, and without ability to save ourselves. This weakness or inability is no doubt sinful; but it is our inability, not our guilt, that the Apostle here designates. When we were unable to keep the law of God, or do anything towards our deliverance from Divine wrath, Christ interposed, and died for those whom He came to redeem.  (Haldane, R. An Exposition on the Epistle to the Roman. Ages Classic Commentaries)

Charles Hodge draws an important distinction writing...

The objection that the church doctrine represents the death of Christ as procuring the love of an unloving God is without a shadow of foundation. The Scriptures represent God’s love to sinners as independent of the work of Christ, and as preceding it. He loved us so much that he gave his one and only Son to reconcile our salvation with his justice. (Hodge, Charles: Commentary on Ephesians. Ages Classic Commentaries)

Helpless (772) (asthenes from a = without + sthénos = strength, bodily vigor) (See study of related verb astheneo - note the concentration of asthenes/astheneo in the epistles to the Corinthians - almost 50% of NT uses) is literally without strength or bodily vigor. Asthenes describes one's state of limited capacity to do or be something and is used literally of physical weakness (most of the uses in the Gospels) and figuratively of weakness in the spiritual arena (weak flesh, weak conscience, weak religious system or commandment [Gal 4:9, Heb 7:18], etc) and thus powerlessness to produce results.

Sanday and Headlam write that asthenes in Romans 5:6 means "incapable of working out any righteousness for ourselves (in loc.)."

Godet adds that asthenes in Romans 5:6...

expresses total incapacity for good, the want of all moral life, such as is healthy and fruitful in good works. It was certainly not a state fitted to win for us the sympathy of divine holiness. On the contrary, the spectacle of a race plunged in such shameful impotence was disgusting to it. (Godet, F L: Commentary on Romans. Kregel. 1998)

The following is a summary the nuances of meaning of asthenes (modified from BDAG)...

(1) Pertaining to suffering from a debilitating illness - sick, ill

(2) Pertaining to experiencing some incapacity or limitation - weak

a) Of physical weakness - the flesh is weak = gives up too easily (Mt 26:41, Mark 14:38); weaker vessel = sex (1Peter 3:7); personal appearance is weak = unimpressive (1Cor 10:10)

b) Of relative ineffectiveness, whether external or inward weak = feeble, ineffectual (1Cor 4:10); the weaker, less important members (1Cor 12:22); what is weak in (the eyes of) the world (1Cor 1:27)

c) Of the inner life -

Helpless in a moral sense (Romans 5:6)

Of a weakness in faith, which through lack of advanced knowledge, considers externals of the greatest importance (1Cor 8:7, 9, 9:10, cp similar use of related verb astheneo in Romans 14:1 [note]; 14:2)

To those who are weak in faith I became as they are (1Cor 9:22) (Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature)

John MacArthur in his comments on the use of asthenes in 1Thessalonians 5:14 notes that asthenes is...

used in a general sense to describe people who are simply deficient in some way (e.g., see 1Cor 1:27). Their deficiency may be a lack of education, opportunities, or finances, or perhaps a physical problem. These people sometimes find it harder to do what is right because of their “weaknesses.” According to Paul, they need more than encouragement: they actually need someone to come alongside and help them to do what they need to do. (MacArthur, J., F., Jr, Mack, W. A., & Master's College.  Introduction to Biblical Counseling: Word Pub)

Weak (asthenes) focuses on susceptibility to sin and applies to believers who struggle with abandoning sin and obeying God’s will...  The weak are always impediments and stumbling blocks to growth and power in the church. (MacArthur, John: 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Moody Press or Logos)

Vine in his discussion of asthenes in 1Thessalonians 5:14 adds that...

some believers are weak through lack of knowledge of the will of God, some through lack of courage to trust God; some, who are timorous or over scrupulous, hesitate to use their liberty in Christ, some, through lack of stability or purpose, are easily carried away; some lack courage to face, or will to endure; persecution or criticism; some are unable to control the appetites of the body or the impulses of the mind. These, and all such as these, are to be the peculiar objects of the shepherd’s care, since, more than the rest, they need the sympathy and help of those who are of maturer Christian experience. For characteristic examples of such care see Genesis 33:13, 14; Luke 10:34, 35; John 13:1–17. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson or Logos)

In regard to being able to save themselves sinful men are weak, unable, strengthless and powerless. There is nothing sinners can do to save themselves or to remedy their lost condition. They are in desperate need of a strong Savior!

Jesus declared that...

No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. (Jn 6:44)

When we were powerless to escape from our sin, powerless to escape death, powerless to resist Satan, and powerless to please Him in any way, God amazingly sent His Son to die on our behalf. Christ died for the ungodly and loved the unlovely. He loved us though there was nothing loveable in us.

Asthenes is used here in Romans 5:6 in the phrase “while we were still helpless” which is a reminder of our powerlessness to obtain justification by works as set forth in the passage [Romans 3:19-4:25]. Sinners were literally “strengthless.” The immediate cause lies in the fact that we had not received the Holy Spirit, and so had no power to please God.

As Cranfield puts it...

He did not wait for us to start helping ourselves, but died for us when we were altogether helpless.

Barclay writes that...

asthenes is the standard Greek adjective for weak. When Christ comes to a man, he strengthens the weak will, he buttresses the weak resistance, he nerves the feeble arm for fight, he confirms the weak resolution. Jesus Christ fills our human weakness with his divine power.

Barnes adds that...

The word here (Romans 5:6) used (asthenes) is usually applied to those who are sick and feeble, deprived of strength by disease, Mt 25:39; Lu 10:9; Ac 4:9; 5:15. But it is also used in a moral sense, to denote inability or feebleness with regard to any undertaking or duty. Here it means that we were without strength in regard to the case which the apostle was considering; that is, we had no power to devise a scheme of justification, to make an atonement, or to put away the wrath of God, etc. While all hope of man's being saved by any plan of his own was thus taken away-- while he was thus lying exposed to Divine justice, and dependent on the mere mercy of God--God provided a plan which met the case, and secured his salvation. (Romans 5)

Here are the 25 NT uses of asthenes...

Matthew 25:43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' 44 "Then they themselves also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?'

Matthew 26:41 "Keep watching and praying, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Comment: The meaning of asthenes is thought by some to refer to the inability of the old nature [the fallen flesh] to obtain success or victory in the spiritual realm. That is a true statement and could be Jesus' meaning - it's analogous to the struggle in Romans 7:14-25 where he does not do what he wishes to do, but does the very thing he does not wish to do - see notes beginning at Romans 7:14)

Mark 14:38 "Keep watching and praying, that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Luke 10:9 and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'

Acts 4:9 if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well,

Acts 5:15 to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets, and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. 16 And also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits; and they were all being healed.

Romans 5:6 (note) For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

1 Corinthians 1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1 Corinthians 1:27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak (destitute of power among men) things of the world to shame the things which are strong,

1 Corinthians 4:10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak (unable to achieve anything great - relative ineffectiveness, whether external or inward), but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor.

1 Corinthians 8:7 However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak (lacking in decision and firmness about things lawful and unlawful - vacillating, hesitating) is defiled.

1 Corinthians 8:9 But take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak (lacking in decision about things lawful and unlawful). 10 For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak (lacking in decision about things lawful and unlawful), be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols?

1 Corinthians 9:22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.

1 Corinthians 11:30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. (Comment: This use refers to physical weakness short of overt illness and represents a judgment on believers for taking "communion" in an unworthy manner! Could this have any relevance to the condition of a believer today who might be experiencing otherwise unexplained weakness or illness?)

1 Corinthians 12:22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker (in the sense of "less important") are necessary;

2 Corinthians 10:10 For they say, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive, and his speech contemptible."

Galatians 4:9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak (used of the religious systems anterior to Christ, as having no power to promote piety and salvation) and worthless elemental things (in the spiritual sense the rudiments of Jewish religion had no ability to justify anyone), to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? (Comment: The related verb astheneo is used in Romans 8:3 [note] with a similar meaning, referring to the weakness of the Law to save a man.)

1Thessalonians 5:14 (note) And we urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all men.

Hebrews 7:18 (note) For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness

1 Peter 3:7 (note) You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker (asthenes in this verse does not refer to moral or intellectual weakness)  vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

There are 14 uses of asthenes in the Septuagint (LXX) (Gen. 29:17; Num. 13:18; Jdg. 16:13; 1 Sam. 2:10; 2 Sam. 13:4; Job 4:3; 36:15; Ps. 6:2; Prov. 6:8; 21:13; 22:22; 31:5, 9; Ezek. 17:14; 34:20; Dan. 1:10) Below is a use of asthenes in the LXX...

Psalm 6:2 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak (Lxx = asthenes): O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed. (KJV)

Spurgeon commenting on helpless in Romans 5:6 writes...

IN this verse the human race is described as a sick man, whose disease is so far advanced that he is altogether without strength: no power remains in his system to throw off his mortal malady, nor does he desire to do so; he could not save himself from his disease if he would, and would not if he could.

I have no doubt that the apostle had in his eye the description of the helpless infant given by the prophet Ezekiel; it was an infant — an infant newly born — an infant deserted by its mother before the necessary offices of tenderness had been performed; left unwashed, unclothed, unfed, a prey to certain death under the most painful circumstances, forlorn, abandoned, hopeless. (See notes Ezekiel 16:2; 16:3; 16:4; 16:5; 16:6)

Our race is like the nation of Israel, its whole head is sick, and its whole heart faint (Isaiah 1:5). Such, unconverted men, are you! Only there in this darker shade in your picture, that your condition is not only your calamity, but your fault. In other diseases men are grieved at their sickness, but this is the worst feature in your case, that you love the evil which is destroying you. In addition to the pity which your case demands, no little blame must be measured out to you: you are without will for that which is good, your “cannot” means “will not,” your inability is not physical but moral, not that of the blind who cannot see for want of eyes, but of the willingly ignorant who refuse to look. (Romans 5:6: For Whom Did Christ Die?)

In another sermon Spurgeon declares...

We were without strength. It was a bad case altogether, and could not be defended. And man, by nature, is morally weak. We are so weak by nature that we are carried about like dust, and driven to and fro lay every wind that blows, and swayed by every influence which assails us. Man is under the dominion of his own lusts — his pride, his sloth, his love of ease, his love of pleasure. Man is such a fool that he will buy pleasure at the most ruinous price; will fling his soul away as if it were some paltry toy, and barter his eternal interests as if they were but trash. For some petty pleasure of an hour he will risk the health of his body; for some paltry gain he will jeopardize his soul. Alas! alas! poor man, thou art as light as the thistledown, which goes this way or that, as the wind may turn. In thy moral constitution thou art as the weathercook (weather vane), which shifts with every breeze. At one time man is driven by the world: the fashions of the age prevail over him, and he obsequiously follows them; at another time a clique of small people, notables in their little way, is in the ascendant, and he is afraid of his fellow-men. Threatenings awe him, though they may be but the frowns of his insignificant neighbors; or he is bribed by the love of approbation, which may possibly mean no more shall the nod of the squire, or merely the recognition of an equal. So be sacrifices principle and runs with the multitude to do evil. Then the evil spirit comes upon him, and the devil tempts him, and away he goes. There is nothing which the devil can suggest, to which man will not yield while he is a stranger to divine grace. And if the devil should let him alone, his own heart suffices. The pomp of this world, the lust of the eye, the pride of life — any of these things will drive men about at random. See them rushing to murder one another with shouts of joy: see them returning blood-red from the battle-field, and listen to the acclamations with which they are greeted, because they have killed their fellow-men. See how they will go where poison is vended to them, and they will drink it till their brain reels, and they fall upon the ground intoxicated and helpless. This is pleasure which they pursue with avidity, and having yielded themselves up to it once they will repeat it again, till the folly of an evil hour becomes the habit of an abandoned life. Nothing seems to be too foolish, nothing too wicked, nothing too insane, for mankind. Man is morally weak — a poor, crazy child. He has lost that strong hand of a well-trained perfect reason which God gave him at the first. His understanding is blinded, and his foolish heart is darkened; and so Christ finds him, when he comes to save him, morally without strength.

Now, I know I have described exactly the condition of some here. They are emphatically without strength. They know how soon they yield. It is only to put sufficient pressure upon them, and they give way despite their resolutions, for their strongest resolves are as weak as reeds, and when but a little trial has come, away they go back to the sins which in their conscience they condemn, though nevertheless they continue to practice them. Here is man’s state, then — legally locale and morally weak.

But, further, man is, above all things, spiritually without strength. When Adam ate of the forbidden fruit he incurred the penalty of death, and in that penalty we are all involved. Not that he at once died naturally, but he died spiritually. The blessed Spirit left him. He became a soulish or natural man. And such are we. We have lost the very being of the Spirit by nature. If he comes to us, there is good need he should, for he is not here in us by nature. We are not made partakers of the Spirit at our natural birth. This is a gift from above to man. He has lost it, and the Spirit — that vital element which the Holy Ghost implants in us at regeneration — is not present in man by his original generation. He has no spiritual faculties, he cannot hear the voice of God, he cannot taste the sweets of holiness. He is dead, ay, and in Scripture he is described as lying like the dry bones that have been parched by the hot winds, and are strewn in the valley dry, utterly dry. Man is dead in sin. He cannot rise to God any more than the dead in the grave can come out of their sepulchres of themselves and live. He is without strength — utterly so. It is a terrible case, but this is what the text says, “

When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Putting all these things into one, man by nature, where Christ finds him, is utterly devoid of strength of every sort for anything that is good — at least, anything which is good in God’s sight, and is acceptable unto God. It is of no use for him to sit down and say, “I believe I can force my way yet into purity.” Man, you are without strength till God gives you strength. He may sometimes start up in a kind of alarm, and say, “It shall be done,” but he falls back again, like the madman who after an attack of delirium, sinks anon to his old state. It will not be done. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? “If so, then he that is accustomed to do evil may learn to do well. Not till then, by his own unaided strength can he perform any right and noble purpose. Nay, what am I talking about?

He has no strength of his own at all. He is without strength, and there he lies — hopeless, helpless, ruined, and undone, utterly destroyed; a splendid palace all in ruin, through whose broken walls sweep desolate winds with fearful wailings, where beasts of evil name and birds of foulest wing do haunt, a palace majestic even in ruins, but still utterly ruined and quite incapable of self-restoration. “Without strength.” Alas! alas! poor humanity!...

The glory of the remedy proves the desperateness of the disease. 

The grandeur of the Savior is a sure evidence of the terribleness of our lost condition.

Look at it, then, and as man sinks Christ will rise in your esteem, and as you value the Savior so you will be more and more stricken with terror because of the greatness of the sin which needed such a Savior to redeem us from it. (Romans 5:6 The Sad Plight and Sure Relief - Pdf)

AT THE RIGHT TIME CHRIST DIED FOR UNGODLY: eti kata kairon huper asebon apethanen. (3SAAI) : (Gal 4:4; Hebrews 9:26; 1Pet 1:20) (Ro 5:8; 4:25; 1Thes 5:9) (Ro 4:5; 11:26; Ps 1:1; 1Ti 1:9; Titus 2:12; 2Pet 2:5,6; 3:7; Jude 1:4,15,18)

At the right time (2540) (kairos) (Click in depth word study) means a point of time or period of time, time, period, frequently with the implication of being especially fit for something and without emphasis on precise chronology. It means a moment or period as especially appropriate the right, proper, favorable time (at the right time). Kairos can refer to the time when things are brought to crisis, the decisive epoch waited for or a strategic point in time.

The thought is that there is nothing delayed about Christ's death on the Cross of Calvary. In other words, the sacrificial atoning sacrifice of God's Son was not an afterthought but was the manner in which God from eternity past had determined He would deal with man's sin and which was accomplished when He chose to do so.

Vine writes that at the right time (KJV "in due season") is...

Literally, “according to season,” that is to say, a time divinely appointed as opportune for the manifestation of God’s love in Christ. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson or Logos)

When was the right time? "When we were powerless to escape from our sin, powerless to escape death, powerless to resist Satan, and powerless to please Him in any way, God amazingly sent His Son to die on our behalf." (MacArthur)

Haldane adds that this is ...

At the time appointed of the Father, Galatians 4:2, 4. The fruits of the earth are gathered in their season; so in His season, that is, at the time appointed, Christ died for us, (Haldane, R. An Exposition on the Epistle to the Roman. Ages Classic Commentaries)

Paul writes that...

when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,  in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. (Gal 4:4-5) (EBC "The law had operated for centuries and had served to expose the weakness and inability of man to measure up to the divine standard of righteousness. No further testing was needed. It was the right time." Gaebelein, F, Editor: Expositor's Bible Commentary 6-Volume New Testament. Zondervan Publishing)

The Gospels repeatedly allude to the right time...

Then He came to the disciples, and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. (Matthew 26:45)

These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come. (John 8:20)

"Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. (John 12:27)

These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee, (John 17:1)

Click for all 10 verses in the Gospels that mention the right time ("the hour")

Guzik sums up the right time explaining that...

The world was prepared spiritually, economically, linguistically, politically, philosophically and geographically for the coming of Jesus and the spread of the Gospel. (quoting Matthew Poole) “The Scripture everywhere speaks of a certain season or hour assigned for the death of Christ" (Romans 5)

Marvin Vincent writes that kairos

At the appointed time which was the moment God had chosen as opportune for the manifestation of God’s love in Christ. Of course the appointed time was also the appropriate time.

God’s love for His own is unwavering because it is not based on how lovable we are, but on the constancy of His own character. God’s supreme act of love came when we were at our most undesirable.

Spurgeon says the right time...

means that the death of Christ occurred at a proper period. I cannot suggest any other period in time which would have been so judiciously chosen for the death of the Redeemer as the one which God elected; nor can I imagine any place more suitable than Calvary, outside the gates of Jerusalem. There was no accident about it. It was all fixed in the eternal purpose, and for infinitely wise reasons. We do not know all the reasons, and must not pretend to know them, but we do know this, that at the time our Savior died sin among mankind in general had reached a climax. (Romans 5:6 The Sad Plight and Sure Relief - Pdf)

Christ - Spurgeon comments

Christ, the name given to our Lord, is an expressive word; it means “Anointed One,” and indicates that He was sent upon a divine errand, commissioned by supreme authority. The Lord Jehovah said of old, “I have laid help upon one that is mighty, I have exalted one chosen out of the people;” (Ps 89:19 - Spurgeon note) and again, “I have given him as a covenant to the people (Isa 42:6), a leader and commander to the people.” Jesus was both set apart to this work, and qualified for it by the anointing of the Holy Ghost. He is no unauthorized Saviour, no amateur Deliverer, but an Ambassador clothed with unbounded power from the great King, a Redeemer with full credentials from the Father. It is this ordained and appointed Savior who has “died for the ungodly.” Remember this, ye ungodly! Consider well Who it was that came to lay down his life for such as you are. (Romans 5:6: For Whom Did Christ Die?)

Died (599) (apothnesko from apo = away from + thnesko = die) literally means "to die off" and as such is used to describe natural death of men in which there is the separation of the soul from the physical body. It should be noted that even as life never means mere existence, so death, the opposite of life, never means nonexistence. Paul uses this verb frequently (some 42 out of 100 NT occurrences) especially in his description (as in Romans 5:6) of the death of Christ for sinners, or of the Christian's death to (the power of) sin.

Notice that Paul lays stress on the word died, as indicated by the fact that died stands emphatically last in the Greek sentence. The order is...

Christ, we being weak, in due season, for ungodly ones, died.

For (5228) (huper) is a Greek preposition  which Paul uses 3 times in this section (Romans 5:6, 7, 8) and in the context of each uses expresses the idea of substitution. Instead of for one can render it as Christ died...“in place of, for the benefit of, on behalf of, or  instead of." This act of love can never be fully appreciated until we understand exactly who the objects of that love were (unlovable, unlovely, ungodly, helpless to help themselves, sinners constantly rebelling against God's will for their lives, God's mortal enemies!)

For the ungodly -  this phrase conveys the idea of Christ's substitutionary sacrifice, the Godly one in place of the ungodly. Huper is used repeatedly in the NT to convey the truth of Christ's death (burial and resurrection) in our place and for our sake as shown in the following passages which when ponder will surely evoke a sacrifice of praise to God...

Mark 14:24 And He said to them, "This is My