Romans 5 Bible Study Questions

[realtonygoodwin]

I am part of a men's Bible Study group that meets weekly, and this week I am in charge of leading the study. We are studying through Romans, at a chapter per week. Every week we are emailed 4-6 questions to answer when we read through that week's questions. I have written my questions, and am curious as to the various answers I would get from other people. This is my first time ever leading a group Bible study, so I am frankly a little nervous (I will be teaching it on Monday night, if you want to offer a special prayer for me ). But please, I am very interested in any constructive criticism you have to offer (it is nearly impossible to offend me, so be blunt if they are terrible questions!)
Anyway, I thought I would share the questions I came up with here, and see if anyone was interested in reading through Romans 5 a couple times and answering them. I had a lot more questions I wanted to go more in depth on, especially the latter part of the chapter.

Romans Chapter 5

1. What is the main point or reason for chapter 5?



2. According to verses 1 and 2, what is the result of our justification by faith?



3. What is the benefit of the tribulations we face as believers?



4. What is it we are saved from? Why is this salvation necessary? (Verses 9-10)



5. Romans 5:14 refers to: “…Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come” (ESV), “…Adam’s transgression. He is a prototype of the Coming One.” (HCSB), “…Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come” (NLT), “…Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come” (NIV), “…Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come” (NASB).

What is the significance of referring to the coming Messiah this way (as opposed to referring to Christ by name)? What does Paul mean when he says Adam is a type, symbol, or pattern?




6. What is the parallel that is drawn between Adam and Christ in verses 12, 18-19?

 

[robert9712000]

1. The main point is to stress how Gods Grace shows his true desire for us, not his judgement.His desire for us is to grow in Righteousness, to become like minded as him.He takes no pleasure in judgement but does so because until a man desires the things of righteousness his rebellious prideful nature against God needs to be broke down, for him to see that his judgement is ment to help him not persecute him.


2. To have peace with God.When you come to God in faith you are no longer judged by the law,The reason is because its not the breaking of the law God is concerned about but where your heart and minds desires are.If you come in faith you are no longer rebelling against God but expressing your agreement in the ways of God and a desire for the things of righteousness.


3.This is a great thing to understand.Patience is what is acquired through tribulation.Some translations really do injustice to this line because they substitute patience with perseverance.Perseverance relies on your own will power which will eventually fail,but patience is the practice of faith in God to help you through tribulation.Every tribulation you get through helps strengthen your faith in God.

A great reference verse is in 2 Corinthians.

7And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

8For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.


4.Gods righteousness requires that sin is to be judged.Since all are guilty of sin,hes gone a step further to show his glory doesn't stop at his righteous judgement but more abundant than his judgement is his grace,which was expressed thru his accepting his sons sacrifice as sufficient for everyone's sin.So no longer are we bound by the judgement of the law but we are free to strive for righteousness without condemnation as long as we have faith in Christs sacrifice.


5.You need to look at the verse before that to get the full context of what its trying to say

13(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

14Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

The comparison is how in Adam to Mose's time sin was not imputed because there was no law,just as when we have faith in Christ we are no longer under the law and sin is no longer is imputed towards us for judgement.


6.It shows how fair God is.While he judged the whole world by one mans sin.He also showed mercy on the whole world by one mans Obedience many men shall be made righteous



Glad to see someone else desiring to delve deeper into Gods word.I go to a weekly bible study myself.


Agreed on your reply

 

[realtonygoodwin]

Thanks for answering!
I believe that the KJV is a flawed translation, but I don't want this thread to be about that, so I would ask that everyone else not turn this thread into a KJV thread, either for or against.

 

[realtonygoodwin]

Anyone else?

 

[Sola_Fide]

Romans Chapter 5

1. What is the main point or reason for chapter 5?


The main point is that since we have been justified by faith apart from works, we can have true peace (shalom) with God. The one who works for his salvation or tries to mix his works with the already perfect work of Christ can never have true peace with God. How can they, since the law demands perfection? Have they followed the law perfectly? Have they been good enough? Have they done the right things? One can never have peace if he is under the law because the law is always standing over him showing him how sinful he really is.

Salvation is impossible when a man trusts in his own works to be saved. Also, if he does what the Galatians tried to do and add their own works to the already perfect work of Christ, it is "another gospel" altogether. Anyone who does this is to be condemned forever, because he treats as an unholy thing the already perfect work of Christ on the cross.

Adam is a type because he acted as the federal head of his people (all of us) when he sinned. Adam's sin was imputed to all people under his federal headship. In the same way, Christ acted as the federal head of His sheep, and His righteousness was imputed to them (and our sin was imputed to Jesus on the cross). This is the amazing doctrine of legal imputation.

imho of course

 

[TER]

Your opinions lead to:

no free will,

a blood-thirsty tyrant of a God who needed his son to be killed in order to appease his wrath,

that the evil you do is not your fault, it was predestined by God and is His fault and that all evil comes from God and that He is the cause for evil,

You see how a small initial distortion of the doctrine changes a faith and like a sore on the sole of a foot, after time, it grows and hypertrophies into a callous or even worse, a cancer?

There is a reason why the Church has fought against the enemies of God with such determination and zeal. In order to keep the faith pure, undefiled, as it was handed down by those before them, the witnesses to the world and defenders of the faith.

AB and to my other Calvinsts and Protestants, forgive me for my boldness and effrontery, I am not trying to judge you or your salvation or condemn anyone to hell, in fact far from it! My intention is pure educational and information providing, to best of my meager abilities. I am trying to share with you what I have found, what I am finding, what I have learned and what I can share. The Pearl of Great Price exists in the world and blessed are those who find it! The saints exists even today and miracles happen even today!

I have blurted enough the past two days and I have a busy busy next few days, and then Lent begins.

I wish everyone a good Sunday and beginning of next week!

 

[Sola_Fide]

Your opinions lead to:

no free will,

Correct. The Bible teaches that only God's will is free. Man's will is bound to sin, so it is not free.

a blood-thirsty tyrant of a God who needed his son to be killed in order to appease his wrath,

Bloodthirsty? No. Was Jesus a propitiatory sacrifice? Yes. God's holiness demanded that the law be fulfilled.

that the evil you do is not your fault, it was predestined by God and is His fault and that all evil comes from God and that He is the cause for evil,

God is not doing the evil, we are. So we are responsible. But you're right that God is the only Cause. He is the Potter and we are the clay, and the Potter has the right over the clay as Romans 9 says. The pots can't tell the potter "why did you make me like this?"

You see how a small initial distortion of the doctrine changes a faith and like a sore on the sole of a foot, after time, it grows and hypertrophies into a callous or even worse, a cancer?

There is a reason why the Church has fought against the enemies of God with such determination and zeal. In order to keep the faith pure, undefiled, as it was handed down by those before them, the witnesses to the world and defenders of the faith.

AB and to my other Calvinsts and Protestants, forgive me for my boldness and effrontery, I am not trying to judge you or your salvation or condemn anyone to hell, in fact far from it! My intention is pure educational and information providing, to best of my meager abilities. I am trying to share with you what I have found, what I am finding, what I have learned and what I can share. The Pearl of Great Price exists in the world and blessed are those who find it! The saints exists even today and miracles happen even today!

I have blurted enough the past two days and I have a busy busy next few days, and then Lent begins.

I wish everyone a good Sunday and beginning of next week!

TER,

Can you show me where my exegesis is wrong? Is legal imputation not taught in Romans 5?

 

[Sola_Fide]

More on imputation:

Colossians 2:13-14 NIV

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

What a wonderful truth this is! The idea is often put out there that we are floating in a sea of our sins and Jesus throws out the lifeline and all we have to do is grab on, do our part, and he will save us. This is entirely wrong.


The more accurate picture would be that we are completely and utterly dead and decayed, many miles beneath the sea floor. We are not "floating in the sea of our sins", but as the text says, we are DEAD. Dead men don't grab on to any "lifeline"...they cannot respond at all.


But if are a Christian, God "made you alive". He regenerated you. He doesn't throw out a lifeline, He takes your rotting bones and makes you a person again. All by HIS power. If you are able to respond at all, it is because God is giving you the power to respond.


How does God make us alive? By canceling the "charge of indebtedness" that you have. The Bible uses legal language. It uses language of accounting and business. Your sin has caused a debt to your account that you cannot repay with your good works. The only way that your account is charged as "not indebted" anymore is if your debt is cancelled. The verse says a Christian's debts were "nailed to the cross". This is imputation. This is a sinner's debt being imputed to the perfect law-keeper, Jesus Christ, where He faced the wrath of God for us on the cross. And then Christ's perfect righteous law-keeping was imputed to us while we were "dead in sins", so that our accounts are credited with the cancellation of any debt we owe because of our sin.


The important thing to realize is that this legal act of accounting and imputation is an act that occurs outside of our will and power. Indeed, our wills are dead in sin and haven't the ability to respond to anything spiritual. Salvation is totally of the Lord. Dead men can't do anything to save themselves.


The elect of God, the ones "predestined before the foundation of the world", were the gracious recipients of this legal transaction. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

[Sola_Fide]

How did your study go tony?

 

[realtonygoodwin]

It seemed to go pretty well. Lots of good discussion. I have been pretty much forewarned that I will probably be teaching in the main group (male and female, more like a sermon than a guided discussion) sometime later in the Spring.

!

 

[Jesse Penny]

A little late but here are my answers:

1. What is the main point or reason for chapter 5?

To describe the consequences of justification as they are guaranteed to us by the love of God through the death of Jesus Christ.

2. According to verses 1 and 2, what is the result of our justification by faith?

We have peace with God and access to Him through Jesus Christ.

3. What is the benefit of the tribulations we face as believers?

Our faith is exercised and approved.

4. What is it we are saved from? Why is this salvation necessary? (Verses 9-10)

We are saved from the wrath of God. Salvation was necessary because as children of Adam, we are all by nature enemies of God.

5. Romans 5:14 refers to: “…Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come” (ESV), “…Adam’s transgression. He is a prototype of the Coming One.” (HCSB), “…Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come” (NLT), “…Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come” (NIV), “…Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come” (NASB).

What is the significance of referring to the coming Messiah this way (as opposed to referring to Christ by name)? What does Paul mean when he says Adam is a type, symbol, or pattern?

Adam was a prophetical type of the new Adam (Jesus) that was to come.

6. What is the parallel that is drawn between Adam and Christ in verses 12, 18-19?

Just as Adam's disobedience led to the condemnation of all mankind, Jesus' perfect obedience declares all mankind righteous.

 

[Sola_Fide]

6. What is the parallel that is drawn between Adam and Christ in verses 12, 18-19?

Just as Adam's disobedience led to the condemnation of all mankind, Jesus' perfect obedience declares all mankind righteous.

This is not accurate. If all men are declared legally righteousness, then all men will be saved. But obviously all men are not saved.

Remember, imputation is a legal act that occurs outside of the creature's will or power. It is a legal declaration that is decided between the persons of the Trinity alone.

If God makes a person dead in sins alive, then you are alive. If God cancels your legal indebtedness, then your debt is canceled. Period.


Important:

The "all" men that verse is talking about is not "all men after Adam, and then all after Christ". The verse is not meant to be read chronologically. This is very important.

It means "all the men in Adam", and "all the men in Christ". It is describing two sets of people. Most people are still "in Adam" today. They are still under the condemnation of the law. This verse is NOT chronological.