ROMANS, CHAPTER 5

[Verses 6-12]

(7-13-11)

Review:

Romans 5:3-5) [NIV] Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

4) perseverance, character; and character, hope.

QUESTION: What is the final result of this chain of growth from trouble, to patience, to experience?

ANSWER: We arrive at “hope,” which is where we began at the end of verse 2. Paul said “we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God” [NIV] at the end of verse 2. In verses 3-4 he’s telling us that we should also rejoice in the process that brings us to that hope.

5) [NIV] And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

QUESTION: What is Paul concluding regarding the process of trouble leading to perseverance, which leads to character, which leads to hope?

ANSWER: The destination that the process leads us to is worth our going through the process.

QUESTION: What do we discover on the journey?

ANSWER: God has bountifully invested His love in us. He sent His Son to die for us, and He sent His Holy Spirit to live in us. We are where we are because of His actions; not ours.

Romans 8:18) [NIV] I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Romans 8:29-30) [NIV] For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

30) [NIV] And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

On To This Week’s Lesson:

Romans 5:6-12) [NIV] You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

(GW) Look at it this way: At the right time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for ungodly people.

(MSG) Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway.

QUESTION: According to GW, why does Paul say, “Look at it this way”?

ANSWER: Consider this:

“This opens a new view of the subject, or it is a new argument to show that our hope will not make ashamed, or will not disappoint us” [Barnes].

“His logic is that if God’s love went out to us when we were His ungodly enemies, will He not much more preserve us now that we belong to Him?” [BBC].

QUESTION: Why does Paul say, “while we were still powerless”?

ANSWER: We were hopelessly lost and there was nothing we could do to change it.

7) [NIV] Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

8) [NIV] But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

QUESTION: Are there those who willingly risk, or give their life to save someone else?

ANSWER: Absolutely! Soldiers, law enforcement officers, and firemen all risk their lives for others; some who are good, some who aren’t. But the majority would save themselves first.

QUESTION: What did God do to demonstrate His enormous love for us?

ANSWER: He sent His Son to die for us “while we were still sinners.”

NOTE: Paul is building an argument to show us the depth of God’s love for us. He wants to convince us that we have every right to “rejoice in the hope of glory.”

9) [NIV] Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

(CEV) But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life’s blood, we will also be kept safe from God’s anger.

(GW) Since Christ’s blood has now given us God’s approval, we are even more certain that Christ will save us from God’s anger.

QUESTION: What is Paul’s argument here?

ANSWER: He wants us to understand that if God loved us enough when we were sinners to die for us, doesn’t it make sense that He loves us enough now that we’re Christians to keep us safe in Christ.

10) [NIV] For if, when 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!

QUESTION: What is Paul doing here?

ANSWER: He’s underlining what he said in the previous verse. It makes sense, he’s pointing out, that if Christ died to save us when we were enemies of God, then surely we can count on His keeping us now that we are His friends.

NOTE: This verse is pointing out that when we were sinners/unsaved WE WERE ENEMIES OF GOD! Unsaved people you know might be as nice as can be, but they are enemies of God. That’s the bad news; the good news is that He wants to save them and make them His friends.

11) [NIV] Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

(CEV) And in addition to everything else, we are happy because God sent our Lord Jesus Christ to make peace with us.

(GNB) But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God’s friends.

(GW) In addition, our Lord Jesus Christ lets us continue to brag about God. After all, it is through Christ that we now have this restored relationship with God.

Concerning “reconciliation,”

“A change or reconciliation from a state of enmity between persons to one of friendship” [Word Study].

QUESTION: What is Paul pointing out here?

ANSWER: God, by sending His Son to die for our sins, has now reconciled all who put their faith in Him to Himself. We are now right with God!

NOTE: Paul’s reasoning is that:

1.        God loved us when we were hopelessly lost.

2.        Christ died for us when we were sinners.

3.        Through Christ’s death for us God reconciled us to Himself when we were His enemies.

4.        Since that is true, God will now keeps us safe from His wrath.

5.        We now enjoy a right relationship with a Holy God.

QUESTION: In these first 12 verses of this chapter what are we to rejoice in?

ANSWER:

• Standing in grace we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. [vs. 2]
• We rejoice in our troubles because they are working a process in us that brings us to the above hope. [vs. 3-5]
• We rejoice in Christ Jesus who has reconciled us to God. [vs. 11]