Study session scripture: Romans 5:12-21

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Study session topics:

• Hope in Christ's triumph over Adam's sin

• Paul now seeks to encourage his audience in assurance of their salvation by contrasting the two most important events in history

• Brief recap of last week--We can be assured of our salvation because:

  • God has made peace with us through Christ's atoning work

  • Through that same work, we now stand in a new relationship with God

  • We have a sure and certain hope that we will see God

  • Our salvation enables us to endure suffering in this life without despair

  • Christ came to die for us when we were His enemies

  • If God has justified us, He will surely glorify us

• Paul now explains that, even beyond justification, salvation unites us to Jesus Christ as our covenantal head

• "Therefore" -Paul's main idea here is that we can remain under Adam as our covenant head, or we can take Christ as our new covenant head -"death spread to all men because all sinned"--What does this mean?

  • Pelagian view: Each person sins of themselves, apart from connection to Adam, and their death is a consequence of their individual sins

  • Cavin's view: "all sinned" means all were corrupted by Adam's sin

  • Augustine's view: All generations were in Adam, so when he sinned, we all sinned

  • Federalist view: Adam stood as representative of all humanity, so because Adam, our representative, sinned, we are judged as also having sinned

• Three great contrasts between Adam and Jesus

• Natural vs. Supernatural -One sin vs. Many sins

• Death vs. The reign of life

• In v. 18, Paul finishes the thought he started in v. 12 and brings in the concept of union to Christ as opposed to union to Adam

• Two slippery passages

  • "the many" has a different meaning in relation to Adam than in relation to Christ, and should not be read as endorsing universalism

  • "the law came in to increase the trespass" does not mean God desired for there to be more sin, but that the law brings out the nature and magnitude of sin

• What is union with Christ? Four scriptural analogies:

• The vine and the branches (John 15:1-5)

• The foundation and the house built upon it (Matthew 7:24-25)

• The head and the members of the body (Ephesians 4:11-16) -Marriage (Ephesians 5:28-32)

Study session audio:

Study session scripture: Romans 5:1-11

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Study session topics:

• Assurance of hope

• The completeness of salvation

• Therefore" - there's that word again

• Paul just described the faith of Abraham, how it was counted as righteousness, and how the same will be true of those who share his faith

• Romans 5:1 is entirely past tense, it is already a done deal

• We have been justified by faith

• We have peace with God

• Our salvation doesn't mean we can have peace with God, or even that we will eventually obtain peace with God--it means we already have peace with God

• We stand in grace and look forward to the glory of God

• The grace in which we stand refers to the secure position we have before God, grounded in His unmerited, undeserved favor

• Rejoicing in hope of the glory of God refers to what will happen at the end of God's plan of salvation

• We rejoice no only in our eventual end, but also in our present circumstances

• Suffering -> endurance -> character -> hope that will be vindicated

• 4 types of suffering with Godly purpose

• Corrective suffering -Suffering for the glory of God

• Suffering as part of cosmic warfare

• Constructive suffering

• Why will our hope be vindicated? Because the Holy Spirit pours God's love into our hearts

• The saving power of God's supreme love

• Paul grounds the subjective experience of the love of God in the objective expression of divine love Christ exhibited in His death

• Paul contrasts God's love with man's love using the ultimate expression of love--willingness to die

• Since that expression of God's love justifies us in the present time, it will also save us from God's wrath on judgment day; and since it has turned us from enemies of God to reconciled children, His resurrection will save us at the last day

• The Christian indeed goes beyond simply avoiding wrath and actually rejoices in the God who would, apart from the work of Christ, be our enemy

Study session audio:

Study session scripture: Romans 4:13-25

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Study session topics:

• The results of depending on following the law

• Faith is null

• The promise is void

• The law brings wrath

• The results of depending on faith

• The promise rests on grace

• The promise is guaranteed

• The promise is available to all

• What is the faith of Abraham? Paul describes what it looks like

• Centered on God as its object

• Thrives in broken circumstances

• Constantly grows stronger

• How do we grow our faith?

• Gives glory to god

• Paul ends this section by refocusing on the benefits of the Gospel of faith for his audience--as Abraham's faith was counted as righteousness, so will it be for the Christian who trusts in God as Abraham did

Study session audio: