Romans: Theology for Everybody (1-5)Sample

It is often said that you need food, water, air, and shelter to remain alive. It is true that our body needs these things to survive. It is also true that our soul needs hope. 

For the Christian, our hope is in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Because we have been justified (made legally right with God), and now have peace (loving relationship with God), we can stand rooted in Christ having hope for everything else in our life. God will help us when we are suffering so that we grow in character through trial. 

All of this is made possible by God’s love, poured out into us by the Holy Spirit who empowers our new life of faith to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Because Jesus shed His blood, enduring the wrath of God in our place for our sins on the cross, we now enjoy new life that never ends with our God who will never betray or abandon us through this life or into eternal life to come.

Reflection:

• Read Romans 5:1-2 and make note of all the benefits God has given you “through our Lord Jesus Christ”.
• When you suffer, how can you invite the Holy Spirit to use that suffering to make you more like Jesus according to Romans 5:3- 5?
• List out what Romans 5:6-9 says about 1) who you were before Jesus saved you, 2) what Jesus suffered to save you, and 3) who you are now that Jesus has saved you.
• What are some very practical additional ways you have seen God’s love in your life recently? What does it mean, practically, to live a life in love by the power of the Holy Spirit for you? If the Spirit is the source of love, how can you never run out of love to give to God and others?