Read the passage: Romans 5:1-11 (ESV, Bible Gateway)
Verse 1
- Paul begins by saying we have been justified by faith. If you are a Christian, because of Christ’s death on your behalf, you have been declared not guilty before God. Why does this change everything? For example, what does it do for feelings of shame, or guilt, or unworthiness? Why does it change the way you see God and yourself?
Verses 1-2
- What 3 things flow from being justified by faith?
- How does peace with God differ from the peace of God?
- What does it mean to stand in grace?
- Why is the glory of God something we can look forward to as Christians with joy and hope?
- How does Christian hope differ from the way people usually think of hope?
Verse 3
- Other than hope of the future glory of God, what else can we now rejoice in?
- Why is it deeply counter-intuitive to rejoice in sufferings?
- When we resent suffering or difficulties in our lives, what does it reveal about us?
- Why does knowing you are justified by faith enable you to rejoice in suffering?
Verses 3-4
- What are the good purposes for which God allows suffering in our lives?
- How does suffering produce endurance?
- How does endurance produce character?
- How does character produce hope?
- When things are not going well, how do you typically respond? How can what Paul says here change that?
- Looking back, have you experienced a difficult time and seen what Paul says here working out in your own life? That you learnt endurance, or grew in character, or realised better where your real hope lies?
Verse 5
Paul says that the love of God has been poured into our hearts by God’s Spirit. How does this affect the way we see ourselves, treat others and respond to God? (See also 1 John 4.18-19)
- Are there people you struggle to love – maybe even who are making your life difficult? How might knowing what Paul writes here challenge you to a different response?
Verses 6-8
Let these verses sink in. Read v8 a few times, accentuating different parts.
- What does Paul tell us about the staggering nature of God’s love for us?
- How might reminding yourself of this change how you experience times where you feel burdened by your sin?
Verses 9-10
- What point is Paul making in these verses?
- Paul talks about salvation in a future sense. Why, having been saved by Christ, is there still a promise that you will be saved?
- Why does Paul say we are saved by Christ’s life?
Verse 11
- The Christian life should be one of joy and rejoicing. Why? And why is justification by faith at the root of this joy?
Take it with you
Take a few minutes to write down the wonderful truths you have been reminded of this in this passage.
Write them somewhere where you will see it throughout the week and be encouraged and built up by the reality of this Good News!
(For example, write it on a post-It and stick it anywhere – on your laptop, your fridge, your mirror… Maybe you could even design a new screen saver for your phone. The possibilities are endless!)
Leader’s notes
Verses 1-2
- What 3 things flow from being justified by faith?
peace with God; access into the grace in which we stand; rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God.- How does peace with God differ from the peace of God?
The peace of God is a calm sense of reassurance and security, given us by God, despite what might be happening in our lives. It is something we ‘feel’. Peace with God is the end of hostilities between us and God. It is objective: it doesn’t matter how you feel on any given day, whether you feel peaceful or not, this is the truth about you: you have peace with God because of Christ. - What does it mean to stand in grace?
Because of Jesus our position is one of favour with the King – we stand before Him, and He looks with favour upon us. So it’s not just that we are at peace with God, we are now made His beloved friends and have open access to Him. - Why is the glory of God something we can look forward to as Christians with joy and hope?
Not only will we live in uninterrupted fellowship with God, in the beauty of His glory, but we too will be glorified – we will share in something of His glory. And we look forward to this with hope and joy because we’re beginning to experience foretastes of it now, as we stand in grace. - How does Christian hope differ from the way people usually think of hope?
When people say, ‘I hope this happens’ they typically mean, ‘I really want it to happen, but I’m not at all sure it will.’ In contrast, Christian hope is certain – ‘this is going to happen, and the fact it’s going to happen influences my life for good now.’
- How does peace with God differ from the peace of God?
Verse 3
- Other than hope of the future glory of God, what else can we now rejoice in?
It’s not just that we can rejoice in future glory but in present sufferings.- When we resent suffering or difficulties in our lives, what does it reveal about us?
Often, we are saying that we think God should treat us better than this, that we deserve better. In effect, it shows that we still think in terms of works – I’ve lived a good life, I’ve been faithful to you, God, so I deserve you to treat me better. - Why does knowing you are justified by faith enable you to rejoice in suffering?
You know you’re not suffering because God is punishing you. Christ was punished for you, you have been declared not guilty, so any suffering cannot be punishment. God must have other purposes for allowing us to suffer – purposes for our good. Through suffering He makes us steadily more like Jesus.
- When we resent suffering or difficulties in our lives, what does it reveal about us?
Verses 3-4
- What are the good purposes for which God allows suffering in our lives?
Endurance, character, hope
Verse 5
Paul says that the love of God has been poured into our hearts by God’s Spirit. How does this affect the way we see ourselves, treat others and respond to God? (See also 1 John 4.18-19)
You are loved by God. That means that, even when you are suffering, you know you are cherished by Him, and that He allows nothing to happen to you without a loving, fatherly purpose; it means you can love and serve others out of the deep reservoir of love God gives you – we don’t have the resources to do this in our own strength, but God gives it to us; We can love and worship and thank God in response – we love Him because He first loved us.
Verses 6-8
- What does Paul tell us about the staggering nature of God’s love for us?
Rarely, someone might give their life to save a righteous person, though if they were especially good it might increase their chances (!), but God does something entirely different – He dies for the wicked; the king gives his life for rebels like us.
Verses 9-10
- What point is Paul making in these verses?
That if God has reconciled us to Himself when we were His enemies, now we are not His enemies He’s not going to abandon us, but will save us.- Paul talks about salvation in a future sense. Why, having been saved by Christ, is there still a promise that you will be saved?
v9 tells us that there is a future wrath of God to come – at the last judgment. We will be saved from this because Christ has born the wrath for us already. As we put our faith in Him, and not in ourselves, His death is counted as ours. - Why does Paul say we are saved by Christ’s life?
The gospel is not just that Christ died for us. He was also raised to new life. His resurrection was also necessary for our salvation. It is the evidence that His sacrifice was accepted by God, that the power of sin and death has been broken. It is only through the resurrection that we know we can be, are now, and will be saved from God’s wrath to come.
- Paul talks about salvation in a future sense. Why, having been saved by Christ, is there still a promise that you will be saved?
Verse 11
- The Christian life should be one of joy and rejoicing. Why? And why is justification by faith at the root of this joy?
We have been reconciled to God through Jesus. We can subjectively know and experience His love and peace in our hearts. We know that any suffering or difficulty we face is not because He is angry with us. Works-based religion cannot give you this kind of joy. It always leaves you proud or uncertain (I am good enough – unlike others, or, I am not good enough) or both, and neither of those produce joy. Joy based on the circumstances of life will also be very tenuous. But justification by faith tells us we are loved and accepted and nothing can take that from me – not my failures, or changes in my circumstances – it is all Christ’s doing, and He will never let me down.
Download the complete study: Bible study on Romans (PDF) and leader’s guide (PDF)