(# 304) Romans - What Did We Learn From Paul in Romans Chapter 5?

Class Outline:

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Welcome To

BARAH MINISTRIES

a Christian Church

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Morning!

 

Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.  At Barah Ministries we are “pursuing the truth through the study of the Word of God.” We are committed to learn how to live our lives God’s way because we believe God’s way is the ONLY WAY.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

What Did We Learn From Paul in Romans Chapter 5?

 

One of the great things we learn from Paul’s entire letter to the Romans is to know our place.  We are Christians, but we are not God.  We are first officers, not pilots.  There is a big difference between us creatures and the Creator.   Therefore we turn to Him in times of need, with all our needs, and ask Him to do what we need.  As we progress in the Christian Way of Living, we start to realize through our diligent study of the Word of God that we are never successful without God driving the success.  In John, Chapter 15, Verses 1 to 5 here’s what the Lord has to say about it…

 

JOHN 15:1

“I (the Lord Jesus Christ) am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser (the owner of the vineyard).”

 

JOHN 15:2

“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, God the Father takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

 

A branch that does not bear fruit is not a believer in Christ…because for believers in Christ, God the Holy Spirit is responsible for producing the fruit of the Spirit…and the Spirit always does His job.

 

JOHN 15:3

“You (disciples of mine) are already clean (saved) because of the word which I have spoken to you (the gospel message).”

 

Now on to the Lord’s thoughts about the post salvation life…your sanctification…your Christian walk…

 

JOHN 15:4

“Abide in Me, and I in(dwell) you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me.”

 

JOHN 15:5

“I am the vine, you are the branches…he who abides in Me and I in(dwelling) him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

 

As believers in Christ we simply reflect the Lord’s qualities…He produces fruit in us and we show His fruit to the world.  We must never get ourselves caught up in the Satanic lie that we must work to please God.  If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, He is completely satisfied with you, He loves you unconditionally, He accepts you, and He is producing fruit in you through God the Holy Spirit.  Your job is to relax and let God do His work.  Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verse 10…

 

EPHESIANS 2:10

For we believers in Christ are God the Father’s workmanship (a work of art in progress), created to be in union with Christ Jesus for the production of good works, which God the Father prepared beforehand (in eternity past) so that we would walk in them.

 

Welcome to a place where you can learn, from the book of Romans, the magic of God’s work in you, the Christian Way of Living.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

FLAWLESS

MercyMe

 

The opening song for this lesson is FLAWLESS sung by MercyMe.

 

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Father, thank you for giving us prayer to teach us about You, especially to show us how dependent we are on You…because apart from You we can do nothing…

 

Remind us to make it a habit to pray…and show us how willing you are to answer our prayers…teach us that dependence is a thing to be cherished, both dependence on You and dependence on others…

 

We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...

Amen.

 

BARAH MINISTRIES ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

THANKS!

John and Monica Miller

Sixth Coeur d’Alene Bible Conference

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Evening Lesson Only

NEXT WEEK!

6:00P-7:30P

August 21

 

Deacons…please make it prominent on the website.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Steve Moris

August 8

PRAYERS
Tracy Bixby’s Mom

Nancy Bixby

Is On the Mend!

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

What Did We Learn From Paul in Romans Chapter 5?

 

A couple of weeks ago we reached the halfway point in our study of Paul’s letter to the Romans.  It took us three hundred hours of study to learn the first eight chapters.  Now we have begun a brief recap of the eight chapters before we move on to the second half of the letter, chapters nine through sixteen…the other half of the story.  The first eight chapters of the book of Romans, God simply lays out the situation of all mankind.

 

In Romans Chapter 1, the apostle Paul, the worst person who has ever lived, informs us that God has chosen him to communicate the mystery doctrine of the Church Age…Colossians, Chapter 1, Verses 25 to 27…

 

COLOSSIANS 1:25

Of this church I (Paul) was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God…

 

COLOSSIANS 1:26

…that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested (made clearly visible) to His saints All believers in Christ)…

 

COLOSSIANS 1:27

…to whom God willed to make known what is His glorious riches, especially this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ indwelling you, the hope of glory.

 

Picking Paul to communicate the most important teaching in the New Testament is a message from God about His attitude is toward the despicable among us… God has plans for you!  And God is much more faithful to us and much more generous with all of us after the fall of mankind than before.  So you can drop the foolishness of trying to impress God and of trying to clean yourself up to make yourself acceptable to God, because you already are impressive and acceptable to God if you’re a believer in Christ…ONLY because you have His righteousness inside of you…He loves you just as He loves Himself…unconditionally.

 

After introducing himself, Paul makes his mission clear in Romans, Chapter 1, Verse 16…

 

ROMANS 1:16

For I (Paul) am not ashamed of the gospel (message), for it is the power of God the Father…and He provides salvation to everyone who believes (in the Lord Jesus Christ), to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

 

Paul finishes the chapter by making it clear that all of us have the gospel message of the Lord Jesus Christ written on our hearts…we KNOW it from the inside…we hear the voice of our conscience telling us right from wrong…and we hear the gospel from the outside as communicated by evangelists and Pastors and friends…yet some of us reject the free gift of salvation.  After hearing the gospel message, it is up to each of us to make a decision for or against a relationship with Christ.  None of us will be able to make an excuse when we meet the Lord face-to-face, telling Him that we didn’t know about the choice we get to make in the most important decision of our lives.  We may ignore the promptings of God the Holy Spirit’s convicting ministry because we are too busy with the meaningless things of this life…but that excuse won’t play before the Supreme Being of the Universe. 

 

For those of us who accept the free gift of salvation through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone…we experience the power of our magnificent God…divine omnipotence…and we are given the gift of a “so great” salvation that grants us the resurrection life for all eternity.

 

In Romans Chapter 2, Paul makes it clear that there are only two groups of people in the world…those who in self-righteousness believe that they can manufacture a lifestyle that is good enough to get them into heaven…either by following the law, or by avoiding sin…neither of which any human being is really ever able to do…or those who simply acknowledge that they are sinners and they need a Savior…those who accept the free gift of the Lord Jesus Christ’s work at the Cross, where He shed His own blood to save them.  First Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 24…

 

FIRST PETER 2:24

…and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself bore our sins in His own body on the Cross, so that we might die to the sovereignty of sin, and live to absolute righteousness…for by the Lord’s wounds…you were healed.

 

Whether Jew or Gentile, this standard, the need for absolute righteousness as an admission ticket to heaven, applies to all.  The thoughts of man concerning what it takes to be righteous do not impress or influence God… only God’s thoughts count in this matter.

 

In Romans Chapter 3, in the first twenty verses, Paul delivers a scathing indictment of the entire human race at the point of physical birth…no creature is righteous…no creature seeks a relationship with God…all creatures are lawbreakers…all creatures fall dramatically short of the glory of God.  This truth would be cause for tremendous concern, were it not for God’s intervention on our behalf.  In Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 21, ten of the most powerful and relieving words in the history of mankind…

 

ROMANS 3:21

But now, apart from the law, the righteousness from God has been manifested (made clearly visible and available)…

 

In other words…despite your predicament at physical birth, which God put you in, there is a way out…you can be saved from the horrible fate of facing the wrath of God…because all lawbreakers who don’t take God’s solution to the sin problem, will go to the Lake of Fire.

 

In Romans Chapter 4, a quite imperfect man, Abraham, a man who, like Paul, is much worse than all of us…is given a blessing from God that is almost infinite in scope…Romans, Chapter 4, Verse 17…

 

ROMANS 4:17

…a father of many nations I (the Lord Jesus Christ) have made you (Abraham)…

 

Abraham is made the father of the Jewish race BY GOD after making himself the father of the Arab race.  By looking at how Abraham was saved in this chapter, we learn that salvation comes ONE WAY ONLY…through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone…salvation is not by circumcision or by any other ritual or by any other work.  Romans, Chapter 4, Verse 3…

 

ROMANS 4:3

For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

 

Romans, Chapter 4, Verse 9…

 

ROMANS 4:9

Is this blessing (of salvation) then only on the circumcised, or is it on the uncircumcised also? For we say, “FAITH was credited to Abraham as righteousness (when he was uncircumcised).”

 

Faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone is the ticket to eternal life.  By believing in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, and being credited with God’s righteousness…Abraham was justified by God…just as God justifies you, if and when you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

If you are a Christian, and you haven’t studied the book of Romans, you are missing what Christianity is all about.  But don’t worry…it only took me fifty years of being a Christian before I studied it for the first time.  Now on Romans, Chapter 5…beginning at Verse 1… 

 

ROMANS 5:1

Therefore (with all of the things in the first four chapters of Romans being true…and) having been justified by faith (alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone by God the Father)…we (believers in Christ now) keep on having (and keep on enjoying) peace with God the Father through our union with the Lord Jesus Christ…

 

Every believer in Christ has peace with God…and that means GOD HAS NOTHING AGAINST YOU!  Let that sink in for a moment.  God has NOTHING against you!  So forever…from this point on…you can stop thinking that He does.  Can you actually do that?  Can you stop thinking that God is still counting your sins against you?  Put the baggage down!

 

ROMANS 5:2

…this Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith (in the past) into this sphere of grace in which (now) we stand; and we keep on rejoicing in (the future) hope (the absolute confidence) of the glory of God.

 

The Lord has given us direct access to His Father, and has removed all intermediaries and all barriers that formerly separated us from a relationship with God the Father, including Adam’s sin.  Now, since we still have “the flesh” inside of us, we still fall short of the glory of God.  In the future, when the flesh is removed, and at the proper time, we will see and we will share in the Lord Jesus Christ’s glory.

 

ROMANS 5:3

And not only this (set of things do we rejoice in), but we also keep on rejoicing in the midst of our tribulations (the daily ups and downs of life…afflictions…distresses…pressures)…knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance…

 

ROMANS 5:4

…and perseverance brings about proven character…and proven character…brings about hope…

 

ROMANS 5:5

…and hope does not disappoint…because the unconditional love of God the Father has been poured out within our hearts through God the Holy Spirit who was given to us (as a pledge of our inheritance).

 

First, God gives us salvation, and then He gives us adversity to toughen us up.  As He delivers us from every adversity, we start to learn that adversity is what God uses to develop our character.  What are the changes that God’s challenges are making in you?  Because I can tell you from my other career, I hate working with executives who have never had their asses kicked…they are impossible to work with because they have no character.  Think of what the military does in basic training…they strip each man and each woman of all pretense…they kick their asses…and then they build them into soldiers.

And think of what parents are doing today…shielding their children from adversity.  That’ a prescription for a set of spoiled brats who get crushed by the world…who fold up like a tent every time adversity hits, instead of pressing on against the wind in the face of distresses.

 

Let’s take a music break and we’ll continue.

 

MUSIC BREAK

COME JUST AS YOU ARE

Crystal Lewis

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

What Did We Learn From Paul in Romans Chapter 5?

 

Welcome back…Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 6… 

 

ROMANS 5:6

For while we were still helpless (in a state of spiritual death), at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

 

The right time was the exact time that God planned…God’s timing is always perfect.  The “ungodly” of course is a reference to unbelievers…and that actually means it is a reference to all of us from the moment of physical birth until we accept the free gift of salvation through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.  The terms “ungodly” and “unrighteous” are NEVER a reference to believers in Christ, because once we are given the gift of God’s absolute righteousness, there is nothing ungodly or unrighteous about us.

 

God demonstrates His character by loving us unconditionally from the time when we didn’t have a relationship with Him…when we were at our worst…when we were spiritually dead…when we chose to make God an enemy.  Now if God loves the spiritually dead…do you think He loves the spiritually alive ones all the more?  Yet you want to obsess about your sins?

 

ROMANS 5:7

For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.

 

Human beings love other human beings who are “good people” … and we love them ONLY when they are good.  The minute a “good person” makes a mistake, the true character of human beings come out.  They separate.  They betray each other.  They abandon each other.  That’s conditional love.  Contrast that with God’s unconditional love for us…

 

ROMANS 5:8

But God the Father demonstrates His own unconditional love toward all mankind, in that while we were yet sinners (while we were ungodly, unrighteous unbelievers), Christ died instead of us.

 

Once again, and I can’t stress it enough, the word “sinner” in Scripture is a reference to unbelievers…NEVER to believers in Christ…and these terms… ungodly and unrighteous…reference unbelievers as well…they NEVER describe believers in Christ.  Believers in Christ are godly…and righteous… and saints.

 

ROMANS 5:9

MUCH MORE then, having now been justified by God the Father through Christ’s blood, we believers in Christ shall be saved from now on from the wrath of God the Father through Jesus (through His Person and His Work).

 

There is no condemnation for those who are in union with Christ! 

 

Once God did the hard thing on our behalf, the rest is easy for Him to do for you.  Do you believe it?  God the Father proved His unconditional love for you by allowing His Son to be slaughtered instead of you.  Said another way…

 

ROMANS 5:10

For since while we were enemies we were reconciled to God the Father through the death of His Son, and we were, MUCH MORE, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by Christ’s resurrection life.

 

What is reconciliation?  It is a removal of the enmity between parties…it is a restoration of a broken fellowship.  Since our reconciliation happened while we were God’s enemies, God is now able to have a completely different attitude toward us now that we believers in Christ are His friend.

 

ROMANS 5:11

And not only this, but we also exult in God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

 

God the Father no longer has anything against us.  Our reconciliation to God guarantees our salvation because God made it so.

 

ROMANS 5:12

Therefore, just as through one man, (Adam), sin entered into the world, and spiritual death through sin, and so spiritual death spread to all men, because all (were considered by God to have) sinned (when Adam sinned)—

 

The penalty for Adam’s sin, as federal head of the human race, is spiritual death, and eventually physical death, for all mankind.  And of course, we sin ourselves…

 

ROMANS 5:13

…for until the Mosaic Law sin was in the world (it did exist), but sin is not imputed (credited to your account) when there is no law.

 

You can’t be punished for breaking a law if there is no law. 

 

ROMANS 5:14

Nevertheless spiritual death reigned from Adam until Moses (when there was no law), even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam (a deliberate breaking of a published law), (this Adam) who is a type of Him (the Christ) who was to come.

 

Even though there was no law to break…all who lived from Adam to Moses were spiritually dead…they all sinned…they all had to make a decision for or against Christ to be saved.

 

ROMANS 5:15

But the free gift (that Christ gives) is not like the transgression (that spread to all through Adam). For if by the transgression of the one the many died (in fact, the “all” did die), MUCH MORE did the grace of God and the gift (of salvation) by the grace of the one Man, (the God-Man) Jesus Christ, abound to the many.

 

Adam gave death to all…Christ offers life to all…the resurrection life.

 

ROMANS 5:16

The (free) gift (from Christ) is not like that “gift” which came through the one who sinned (Adam); for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression (of Adam) resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions (paid for by Christ) resulting in justification.

 

ROMANS 5:17

For if by the transgression of the one (Adam), death reigned through the one, and it did, MUCH MORE those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

 

ROMANS 5:18

So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.

 

These things were true with Adam and Christ in the human realm…they were also true in the angelic realm with Satan and Christ.

 

ROMANS 5:19

For as through the one man’s disobedience (Adam’s)…the many were made sinners…even so through the obedience of the One (the Lord Jesus Christ) the many (who want it) will be made righteous.

 

So what do we conclude?

 

ROMANS 5:20

The Mosaic Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more…

 

In short, spiritually dead people can’t and don’t follow the law…they sin.

 

ROMANS 5:21

…so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

What a gracious provision that is available to all through Christ…the ONLY worthy one…grace and peace, and unconditional love…resulting in a “so great” salvation.  Praise God!

GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

ACTS 16:30

“…the jailer asked, “Sirs (talking to Paul and Silas), what must I do to be saved?”

 

ACTS 16:31

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

ACTS 4:12

“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given to mankind by which we must be saved (except the name of the Lord Jesus Christ).”

 

JOHN 14:6

Jesus said to the apostle Thomas, the doubting one, “I am the way (to salvation), and (I am) the truth (the Word of God), and (I am) the (resurrection) life; no one comes to the Father but through believing in Me.”

 

ACTS 2:21

‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation will be saved.’

 

CLOSING SONG

WORTHY

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

 

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