April 10, 2018
The Best "Gift With Purchase" EVER
Romans 5:15-16
Rebe Long
Central Truth
One man's trespass brought sin and death. One man's death brought life eternal. His atoning death is a gift. And it's free.
Romans 5:15-16
15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.
Dive Deeper | Romans 5:15-16
Have you ever seen the "free gift with purchase*" signs? They're mainly at the mall, and there's always a catch. There is a minimum you must spend to qualify for the gift, and the gift is worth less than what you're spending, right?
Although maybe not in as many words, we all, like Adam, tell God the same thing: "Thanks for the options, God, but I see these matches and I see this kerosene, so I want to see what happens next." Though God in His love and mercy calls and pursues us, we all have hearts that rebel and go our own way. We all take the matches and start the fire, thinking, "What does God know, what does God care about me?" BUT God in His love for us laid Jesus over the flames. Because of God's grace, I will not pay the price for my sin. God purchased me out of my "burning house" and the free gift with purchase was forgiveness and restoration to a right relationship with our loving Maker.
I have tasted sin's bitterness and experienced consequences from my choices. I have seen and felt the sorrow of life apart from what is the abundant life. I have lived where Adam lived, as Ephesians 2:1-3 describes. “But,” as it says in Romans 5:15, “the free gift is not like the trespass.” No, because of the free gift with Jesus' costly purchase, I am, as it says in Romans 5:16, justified.
I am in a relationship forever with God when I receive that free gift. The rest of Ephesians 2 describes even more of the abundant life we have when we let God be our Lord.
In the discussion questions, we'll dive even deeper, but is the free gift of one man evidenced by or rooted in your life?
This month's memory verse
3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
– Romans 4:3
Discussion Questions
1. What could Adam not do that Jesus did? What can only Jesus do for us?
2. What does it mean to be justified? What must happen for a person to be restored? Read Ephesians 2:1-10.
3. What one word changes the trajectory of those verses? What is one thing that could change the trajectory of your life?
4. If Romans 5:16 took root in you, what would your life today look like? If you were truly forgiven and truly restored, would you live differently?
5. What stops you from receiving or believing that the free gift is different from the trespass?