But God has shown us how much he loves us is literally “but God shows his own love for us.” Several things should be said about this part of the verse. The verb rendered “shows” appears in 3.5 with the meaning “to show clearly.” In Greek the verb appears in the present tense, which is to indicate for the readers that God’s love for us is not limited to the past, but has its relevance for the present as well. It is interesting to note, in this light, that the verb used in verse 5, has poured out, is in the perfect tense in Greek as in English. In Greek this tense always throws emphasis on the relevance of a past action for the present. While it is difficult to communicate this shade of meaning in English (and probably in most other languages), it is better to keep the verb in the perfect tense, if that can be done. How much he loves us is variously rendered in modern translations. Both Moffatt and An American Translation* begin with “but God proves his love for us”; Jerusalem Bible has “what proves that God loves us”; New English Bible has “that is God’s own proof of his love towards us.”
Although the word rendered wicked in verse 6 (guilty in 4.5) and the word rendered sinners in this verse are different terms, they are applied to the same persons. The first is a more specific term, generally rendered “godless” or “impious,” while the second is a more generic term (see 3.7), generally rendered “sinner.”
The contrast between verses 8 and 7 requires that some introductory particle such as but be employed. One may even have such an expression as “in contrast with this.” The second part of verse 8 may be understood either as a description of the extent of God’s love or the means by which God showed us how much he loves us. One may introduce this final portion by a conjunction such as “because”—for example, “because Christ died for us even while we were still sinners.”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .