Romans 5 Bible study guide: Peace With God, Adam and Jesus

Open with

Who is someone who has stuck with you when you didn't deserve it?

Read together

Romans 5:1-11, then Romans 5:12-21. If you are leading, read the plain-words note on Romans 5 first (linked below).

Discussion questions

1. Verse 1 says "we have peace with God." How is peace with God different from simply feeling peaceful?

2. Verses 3 and 4 say "suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Can you share a time when something hard grew something good in you?

3. Verse 5 says God's love has been "poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit." What does it look like to experience God's love, not only know about it?

4. Verse 8: "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Why does it matter that God loved us first, before we changed?

5. Paul compares Adam and Jesus (vv. 12 to 19). What spread to everyone through Adam, and what does Jesus bring that is even greater?

6. Verse 20 says "where sin increased, grace increased all the more." Is there any part of your past you think is too big for grace?

For our lives this week

Read verse 8 every morning this week. Let it be the first thing you believe about yourself before the day tells you anything else.

Close in prayer

Thank God for loving you at your worst. Ask him to pour his love into your heart and to give you hope in what is hard right now.

Leader tip

The Adam and Jesus section can get technical. Keep it simple: one man's choice brought death, and one man's gift brings life. Christians differ on the details of how Adam's sin affects us.