Know: Grasp the further theological and spiritual implications of justification by faith alone.
Feel: Acquire a greater sense of joy and gratitude for the blessings of salvation.
Do: Think clearly about the fall of Adam and the saving privileges he or she has through faith in Christ.
Learning Outline:
Know: What Caused Sin and Suffering and God’s Redemptive Solution for Lost Humanity?
What did Satan and Adam do to cause humanity to fall into sin, suffering, and death?
How is it that Christ, in His life, death, and resurrection, has given sinners a renewed standing with God?
In what ways have the contrasts between Adam and Christ been helpful in explaining salvation?
Feel: The Agony of Christ in Being Exposed to the Stench of Sin and the Horror of Separation From the Father
In what ways can we illustrate Christ’s exposure to sin’s gross repulsiveness?
How can we truly gain a sense of Christ’s utter abandonment in Gethsemane and on the cross?
Do: Reflect on How Adam Must Have Felt Over the Magnitude of His Failure.
Recall the feelings that came over you when you truly brought pain to a friend.
Invite class members to share a time when they were blessed by forgiving and restoring grace after a painful interpersonal blunder.
Summary: In pondering this lesson, we should prayerfully reflect on how sin, Christ’s atonement, and justification by faith all coherently interrelate.
Learning Cycle
STEP 1—Motivate
Spotlight on Scripture: Romans 5:1, 2
Key Concept for Spiritual Growth: Justification by faith in the atoning work of Christ points to powerful implications for how believers should view their relationship to both Adam and Christ. In Adam there is only guilt, condemnation, and death, but by faith in Christ there is freedom from the guilt and power of sin.
Just for Teachers: We now come to the important juncture between the meaning of the biblical teachings on sin, the justifying faith in Christ, and the believer’s new life in the Spirit. Thus, we need to grasp clearly how we are to relate to the common heritage we have in Adam and can, by faith, share with Christ. Quite simply, the blessings that we share with Christ far surpass any returns that believers could hope to gain by living in the legacy of Adam. In Christ, life is typified by the “much more” transcendent blessings of being “reconciled” with God through Christ’s “blood” and being “saved” by the efficacy of His “life” (Rom. 5:9, 10, NKJV).
Opening Discussion: Review with the class the significance of our sinful inheritance from Adam and forgiveness (pardon) through faith in Christ’s atoning work. Ask students to explore the following question: How is salvation from sin’s power through faith in Christ foundational to their subsequent walk in the Spirit?
Consider This: Reflect on the key, influential passages in your walk with God that have most effectively raised your consciousness for your need of acceptance with God and the power of the Spirit in your discipleship. In preparing for this lesson, spend a “thoughtful hour” reflecting on the impact that sin has had on Adam and on the Second Adam, especially as our Lord entered Gethsemane, the agonizing prelude to His horrific Calvary experience.
STEP 2—Explore
Just for Teachers: Let us be reminded that (1) the doctrinal reality of justification by faith has been clearly established from Romans 3:21 through 4:25. And let us also be reminded that (2) Paul, in chapter 5, now begins to lead his readers into further reflection on the theological, spiritual, and ethical blessings (or implications) that justification by faith opens up to the sincere believer in Christ.
Bible Commentary
I. Justification Brings About Awareness of Wonderful Blessings. (Review Romans 5:1–5 with your class.)
Being accepted by God is like walking into a dining room and suddenly realizing that a delightful banquet of spiritual delicacies, “fit for a king,” has been set out for the nourishment of God’s children. Furthermore, such a bountiful banquet arouses a deep sense of gratitude for God’s gift of “peace” (Rom. 5:1) that can grant new legal standing with God, and it enables believers to “rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:2). Furthermore, such a rejoicing in “hope” (Rom. 5:4) even leads believers to “glory in tribulations” (Rom. 5:3). Paul goes on to make the ironic claim that “tribulations” have a way of producing an amazing chain reaction, for “tribulation” also begets “perseverance; and perseverance, character, and character, hope” (Rom. 5:3, 4, NKJV). With the introduction of the “hope” factor, Paul is inspired to proclaim that this “hope,” far from producing “disappointment,” actually leads to an experience of the “love of God” being “poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5, NKJV).
Consider This: The blessings listed are almost beyond belief. But how is the last one—the gift of the Holy Spirit—the blessing that actually enables the believer to grasp fully all that subsequently will be bestowed?
II. The Source of All Our Hopes (Review Romans 5:6–11 with your class.)
The Spirit-inspired passage of Romans 5:6–11 encompasses God’s reconciling acts through Christ’s justifying life and death. It illuminates the way in which believers, led by the Spirit, can “receive” these mighty acts of “reconciliation” (Rom. 5:11, NKJV). The Spirit then points to the substitutionary death of Christ as the source of all the Christian’s “hopes.”
Discussion Questions
Probably the most profound part of this passage are the words, “having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Rom. 5:9, NKJV). What are we to make of the words “blood” and “wrath” when it comes to God’s loving provision for our “reconciliation” with Him (Rom 5:10, 11, NKJV)? Furthermore, Romans 5:10, 11 speaks not only about the “death”of Christ but also about “His life.”Thus, in what sense can we say that Christ’s life reconciles believers as well?
Discuss the reasons for your answers to the following questions. Is “[Christ’s] life” also imputed or reckoned to believers, just as much as His “death”? Or is Christ’s “life” used here more as an example of sacrificial service and moral guidance?
III. The First and Second Adam (Review Romans 5:12–14 with your class.)
The historical facts are as follows: in Adam the whole human race was initiated into sin and guilt. As such, Adam becomes the source of sin, and Christ (the Second Adam) becomes the Source of deliverance from sin, both its guilt and its power. Obviously, one cannot fully explain sin (the “mystery of iniquity” or “lawlessness” [2 Thess. 2:7, KJV and NKJV]), but Paul declares that in Christ there is hope for victory over it.
Consider This: We clearly cannot explain the origin of sin and our inheritance from Adam. But God has made provision in Christ for eternal salvation for all. What does that provision have to say about the justice of God in allowing sin to enter the universe?
IV. Conviction of Sin and Deliverance From It (Review Romans 5:15–21 with your class.)
There are two more issues that cry out for clarification: (1) What difference does the law make in convicting sinners of sin, and (2) How “abounding” is God’s deliverance from sin? We must remember that the key purpose of the law, though only generally known before Sinai, was to convict of both sin and of the sinner’s need for salvation. But with the law being revealed at Sinai, humans discovered that they were clearly in a bad moral fix—that is, “the offense” of sin greatly “abounded” (Rom. 5:20, NKJV). Thankfully, however, the abundance of sin has pointed to an overabundance of “grace” for salvation from sin (Rom. 5:20, 21, NKJV).
Consider This: It is simply astounding that God’s abounding grace is so “much more” in “abundance” than are selfishness and sin (Rom. 5:17, NKJV). The abundance of optimism in Christ’s abounding grace then has the final word when it comes to any question about the justice and goodness of God in dealing with the abounding challenges of our sin. And it is only in this light that Romans 5:15–19 can make redemptive sense. So then, what should the appropriate human response be to the promise in Romans 5:21, wherein we read, “as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (NKJV)?
STEP 3—Apply
Just for Teachers: Remarkably, the word gift occurs five times in Romans 5:15–17. Therefore, justification is “not earned” but is strictly a grace-bestowed “gift” of God’s love. “Gift” is Paul’s definitive word, as it were, on justification. Then he moves on to the issues concerning new life in the Spirit in chapter 6 and beyond.
Application Questions:
How does this sweeping description of the human predicament of our heritage of death “in Adam” and life “in Christ” allow believers to face their most trying and taunting temptations?
When it really comes down to the ultimate issues of the meaning of life, can we think of any other questions that are more practically or philosophically foundational than the following: What is the real focus of our lives? Are we living in Adam (a life of sin—that is, a life of no faith in Christ), or are we living in Christ (through faith in Him)? To put it another way: Are we in the “Spirit” or in the “flesh”? Discuss the reasons for your answer.
STEP 4—Create
Just for Teachers: How can we really make this week’s lesson, with its sweeping view of death in Adam and life in Christ, concretely practical? Ask class members, who are willing, to share some key moments in their lives that were most obviously “in Adam” and others that have really been “in Christ.” Urge them not to go into any embarrassing or gory details but to concentrate on the core issue(s) involved in their lives with God and how deliverance through Christ and His Spirit have become a living reality.
Activities:
Challenge class members to write relatively brief spiritual autobiographies, emphasizing the key turning points of their growing conviction of the need for salvation. They may want to relate how they were subsequently found in Christ and have come to know God’s will for them in a very concrete manner.
Take a few moments as a class to reflect on those persons who have been the most decisive, practical “influence peddlers” in their walk with Christ. Ask for volunteers to share how the examples of these influential believers have enabled them in the exercise of their spiritual gifts.
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Key Text: Romans 5:1, 2
The Student Will:
Learning Outline:
Summary: In pondering this lesson, we should prayerfully reflect on how sin, Christ’s atonement, and justification by faith all coherently interrelate.
Learning Cycle
STEP 1—Motivate
Spotlight on Scripture: Romans 5:1, 2
Key Concept for Spiritual Growth: Justification by faith in the atoning work of Christ points to powerful implications for how believers should view their relationship to both Adam and Christ. In Adam there is only guilt, condemnation, and death, but by faith in Christ there is freedom from the guilt and power of sin.
Just for Teachers: We now come to the important juncture between the meaning of the biblical teachings on sin, the justifying faith in Christ, and the believer’s new life in the Spirit. Thus, we need to grasp clearly how we are to relate to the common heritage we have in Adam and can, by faith, share with Christ. Quite simply, the blessings that we share with Christ far surpass any returns that believers could hope to gain by living in the legacy of Adam. In Christ, life is typified by the “much more” transcendent blessings of being “reconciled” with God through Christ’s “blood” and being “saved” by the efficacy of His “life” (Rom. 5:9, 10, NKJV).
Opening Discussion: Review with the class the significance of our sinful inheritance from Adam and forgiveness (pardon) through faith in Christ’s atoning work. Ask students to explore the following question: How is salvation from sin’s power through faith in Christ foundational to their subsequent walk in the Spirit?
Consider This: Reflect on the key, influential passages in your walk with God that have most effectively raised your consciousness for your need of acceptance with God and the power of the Spirit in your discipleship. In preparing for this lesson, spend a “thoughtful hour” reflecting on the impact that sin has had on Adam and on the Second Adam, especially as our Lord entered Gethsemane, the agonizing prelude to His horrific Calvary experience.
STEP 2—Explore
Just for Teachers: Let us be reminded that (1) the doctrinal reality of justification by faith has been clearly established from Romans 3:21 through 4:25. And let us also be reminded that (2) Paul, in chapter 5, now begins to lead his readers into further reflection on the theological, spiritual, and ethical blessings (or implications) that justification by faith opens up to the sincere believer in Christ.
Bible Commentary
I. Justification Brings About Awareness of Wonderful Blessings. (Review Romans 5:1–5 with your class.)
Being accepted by God is like walking into a dining room and suddenly realizing that a delightful banquet of spiritual delicacies, “fit for a king,” has been set out for the nourishment of God’s children. Furthermore, such a bountiful banquet arouses a deep sense of gratitude for God’s gift of “peace” (Rom. 5:1) that can grant new legal standing with God, and it enables believers to “rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:2). Furthermore, such a rejoicing in “hope” (Rom. 5:4) even leads believers to “glory in tribulations” (Rom. 5:3). Paul goes on to make the ironic claim that “tribulations” have a way of producing an amazing chain reaction, for “tribulation” also begets “perseverance; and perseverance, character, and character, hope” (Rom. 5:3, 4, NKJV). With the introduction of the “hope” factor, Paul is inspired to proclaim that this “hope,” far from producing “disappointment,” actually leads to an experience of the “love of God” being “poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5, NKJV).
Consider This: The blessings listed are almost beyond belief. But how is the last one—the gift of the Holy Spirit—the blessing that actually enables the believer to grasp fully all that subsequently will be bestowed?
II. The Source of All Our Hopes (Review Romans 5:6–11 with your class.)
The Spirit-inspired passage of Romans 5:6–11 encompasses God’s reconciling acts through Christ’s justifying life and death. It illuminates the way in which believers, led by the Spirit, can “receive” these mighty acts of “reconciliation” (Rom. 5:11, NKJV). The Spirit then points to the substitutionary death of Christ as the source of all the Christian’s “hopes.”
Discussion Questions
III. The First and Second Adam (Review Romans 5:12–14 with your class.)
The historical facts are as follows: in Adam the whole human race was initiated into sin and guilt. As such, Adam becomes the source of sin, and Christ (the Second Adam) becomes the Source of deliverance from sin, both its guilt and its power. Obviously, one cannot fully explain sin (the “mystery of iniquity” or “lawlessness” [2 Thess. 2:7, KJV and NKJV]), but Paul declares that in Christ there is hope for victory over it.
Consider This: We clearly cannot explain the origin of sin and our inheritance from Adam. But God has made provision in Christ for eternal salvation for all. What does that provision have to say about the justice of God in allowing sin to enter the universe?
IV. Conviction of Sin and Deliverance From It (Review Romans 5:15–21 with your class.)
There are two more issues that cry out for clarification: (1) What difference does the law make in convicting sinners of sin, and (2) How “abounding” is God’s deliverance from sin? We must remember that the key purpose of the law, though only generally known before Sinai, was to convict of both sin and of the sinner’s need for salvation. But with the law being revealed at Sinai, humans discovered that they were clearly in a bad moral fix—that is, “the offense” of sin greatly “abounded” (Rom. 5:20, NKJV). Thankfully, however, the abundance of sin has pointed to an overabundance of “grace” for salvation from sin (Rom. 5:20, 21, NKJV).
Consider This: It is simply astounding that God’s abounding grace is so “much more” in “abundance” than are selfishness and sin (Rom. 5:17, NKJV). The abundance of optimism in Christ’s abounding grace then has the final word when it comes to any question about the justice and goodness of God in dealing with the abounding challenges of our sin. And it is only in this light that Romans 5:15–19 can make redemptive sense. So then, what should the appropriate human response be to the promise in Romans 5:21, wherein we read, “as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (NKJV)?
STEP 3—Apply
Just for Teachers: Remarkably, the word gift occurs five times in Romans 5:15–17. Therefore, justification is “not earned” but is strictly a grace-bestowed “gift” of God’s love. “Gift” is Paul’s definitive word, as it were, on justification. Then he moves on to the issues concerning new life in the Spirit in chapter 6 and beyond.
Application Questions:
STEP 4—Create
Just for Teachers: How can we really make this week’s lesson, with its sweeping view of death in Adam and life in Christ, concretely practical? Ask class members, who are willing, to share some key moments in their lives that were most obviously “in Adam” and others that have really been “in Christ.” Urge them not to go into any embarrassing or gory details but to concentrate on the core issue(s) involved in their lives with God and how deliverance through Christ and His Spirit have become a living reality.
Activities: