Romans 5:12-21
The world offers no satisfying explanation or solution to our two biggest problems: sin and death. Why do people hurt themselves and others? And what can we do about it? Why do people die? And what can we do about it? Education, psychology, entertainment, pills. All leave these problems untouched. But this passage offers real help.
Explanation: 5:12-14
Sin came into the world through one man, Adam. With sin came death. Death is both an illness and an end. Ephesians 2:1-7 teaches that we’re born into a living death, following the course of this world, following Satan’s schemes, living in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of our body and mind. All people are the walking dead before they’re the sleeping dead. As sin spread to all men, death spread to all men. Sin killed even before we named it and counted it according to the law. All types of sin bring death; and since sin has reigned over all people since Adam, so has death.
Solution: 5:15-21
This is all terrible news. But there is a free gift. Two facts about the free gift:
1. It’s free.
Free gift is like clothing shirt or food sandwich. Gifts are inherently free, so why the redundancy? Maybe it is to remind us that we cannot and will not earn this gift. Like any gift, it can only be received and accepted.
2. It’s powerful.
Imagine Al Qaeda creates a new chemical agent to kill infidels called Poison X. They think this new weapon is powerful enough to kill all the people in America; but when they release a single drop into the atmosphere, it turns out it’s much more powerful than they guessed. It immediately infects the entire population of the earth with terminal disease. But American military scientists have been secretly developing an antidote (Antidote X), predicting such an attack. Antidote X is so powerful that it can quench an ocean of Poison X. Yet only those who receive it and use it will be healed.
The solution is infinitely more effective than the problem, but not all will experience it. The gift is infinitely more powerful than the sin, but not all will receive it.
What is the Free Gift?
It is grace (15). It is an act of righteousness already accomplished that gives recipients a new righteous identity (17-18). It makes guilty people innocent, breaks the reign of death, enables abundant living and leads to eternal life (16-19, 21). And it is received only through Jesus Christ our Lord (21).
Who Cares?
You’ve probably heard all this before. Why do you need to hear it again?
1. You need to receive it. Maybe you’ve heard it a billion times, but never actually thought about it and made a clear decision to receive the gift Jesus offers. If this is the case, get in touch with me and we’ll talk through it (matthewbroadway@gmail.com).
2. You need to believe it more. If this gift is truly free and powerful, there is no person outside the possibility of being transformed by it. Talk about Jesus. Ask your friends, family, coworkers, strangers what they think about Jesus. Point people to Jesus.
Discussion Starters
1. Comb through the passage together to find all that it says about sin. Where does it come from? What effects does it have?
2. Comb the passage for what it says about death.
3. What does the world teach regarding sin and death? What do most people do to cope with these two problems?
4. How might the truths of this passage shed light on the plight of those around us?
5. Work together to describe the free gift using only this passage.
6. Read verse 20. What in the world does it mean???
7. How can you serve one another based on this passage?
8. How can your group pray for you this week?
