Imaginary Numbers
Romans 5:1-5
Tony’s Overview Video
How to Use
Preparing to teach
- Read the Bible Lesson by Tony Cartledge in this month’s issue of the Nurturing Faith Journal
- Watch Tony’s Video for this session
- Select either the Adult or Youth teaching guide and follow the directions
Click to read the Bible Lesson by Tony Cartledge
Key Text: Romans 5:1
“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Do you like puzzles that force your mind to do mental gymnastics? Whether in newspapers or on our smartphones, puzzles involving words or numbers offer a chance to exercise our minds.
Some puzzles are fairly easy, while others can be mind-bending. When I was in college, my Calculus course felt like one puzzle after another – especially after the professor tried to explain the use of “imaginary numbers.”
I couldn’t imagine them, and I have a good imagination.
One of the most difficult puzzles any of us face is trying to get our heads around the theological concept of the “Trinity,” a church doctrine that developed over time and was affirmed at the First Council of Constantinople in 381 CE. There, a gathering of church leaders ratified a statement declaring that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit existed as one essence or substance (ousia) expressed through three “persons” (hypostaseis). [DD]
Not all Christians hold to Trinitarian doctrine, and the New Testament does not clearly set forth a Trinitarian belief system. There are texts, however, which speak of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in close proximity.
The familiar “Great Commission,” found in Matthew 28:19, is one example, as Jesus reportedly instructed his followers to make disciples in all nations, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
The doxology with which Paul concluded Second Corinthians is another: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you” (2 Cor. 13:13).
Our text for today was not designed to teach the doctrine of the Trinity, though it does include separate references to God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Paul’s primary concern in this passage is an assurance of salvation so strong that believers can boast of it. [DD]
Proud of our peace (vv. 1-2)
The subject of pride is always a paradox for Christians. Some parents encourage their children to “take pride” in their appearance or their work, while others caution youngsters against being too proud.
In today’s text, Paul talked about three aspects of Christian faith that are proper causes for pride. A key structural word in the passage is “boast” – not in the sense of bragging, but of happily celebrating. Paul instructed the believers in Rome to exult in the peace they had obtained through faith in Christ (vv. 1-2), in the sufferings they endured for the sake of Christ (vv. 3-5), and in Christ himself as their savior and Lord (vv. 6-11). [DD]
“Since we are justified by faith” connects Romans 5 with the two previous chapters, in which Paul had argued that salvation comes through faith, not works. Through this salvation, Paul taught, we can experience peace with God through Christ (v. 1).
As an ethnic Jew and trained rabbi, Paul was taught that God would ultimately redeem Israel. As a follower of Jesus, Paul had come to believe that God’s redemption had come in Christ, “through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand” (v. 2a). [DD]
Because of this new standing with God, Paul said, Christians can joyfully “boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God” (v. 2b, NRSV), or “rejoice in the hope of God’s glory” (NET). Our present life of fellowship with God through the Spirit is just a foretaste of the life that lies ahead for us, Paul taught. [DD]
Those of us who have experienced the loss of loved ones know the importance of hope that we may contemplate a glad reunion one day. Those who are oppressed and downtrodden in this world may yet find peace and joy through hope in God’s good future.
Back in 1877, while preaching at Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, Charles Haddon Spurgeon was expounding Rom. 15:13, in which Paul offers a wish similar to that expressed here: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
In the course of the sermon, Spurgeon illustrated the relationship between joy and peace with an oft-quoted (but rarely attributed) statement: “Peace is joy resting, and joy is peace dancing.” [DD].
Proud of our sufferings (vv. 3-5)
Despite his talk of peace and joy, Paul knew that suffering would remain in the picture. Believers face trials just as other people do, with no reason to expect anything different. Paul used the term thlipsis, which can be translated with words like trouble, hardship, or suffering. There may be times when following Christ could even add to one’s trials, as Paul knew from persecution he had experienced.
Followers of Jesus cannot avoid trouble, but we can approach it with a positive attitude. Even suffering can be a cause for pride, Paul argued, because “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (vv. 3-5).
We can boast in our sufferings when we can see past the present difficulty to the future blessing. Like an athlete who endures the pain and discomfort of training for the hope of improved skills and conditioning, we can accept adversity as essential to the development of faithful patience and Christian character.
The words Paul used are significant. They speak of patient endurance and personal character that has been proved by testing. Just as a structural engineer may test potential bridge components by putting them under stress, so our own character is proved and even strengthened through testing.
For Christians, the ultimate outcome of suffering is our hope in the future God has in store. Hope will never disappoint us, because it is ever-present. When all else is taken away, we still have hope, and that hope can empower our faith.
Even when our belief may feel shaky, we can still practice faith, for faith is like hope with feet on it – hope to the point of commitment and action. Many who have suffered loss can testify that hope has a power all its own. Paul attributed his hopeful confidence to the love of God, “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” [DD]
Proud of our savior (vv. 6-11)
Paul encouraged his readers to openly rejoice in the peace and hope that come through knowing Christ, and in the life of the believer. In vv. 6-11 Paul used four descriptive adjectives to portray the believer’s former state, which has been transformed by the power of Christ: we were weak, we were ungodly, we were sinners, we were enemies of God.
“While we were still weak,” Paul said – while we were still living under the world’s selfish sway – “at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (v. 6). The word translated as “weak” usually means “sick,” but can also describe a condition of weakness or helplessness. For Paul, it indicated an inability to save ourselves. But who would go so far as to die for people who were not only weak, but far from God?
“Christ died for the ungodly,” Paul wrote. The enormity of that simple statement becomes evident with vv. 7-8. On some rare occasions, we might hear of someone willing to die for another person – usually someone close to them. The amazing thing about Jesus is that he died for us “while we were still sinners.” [DD]
Our past experience gives rise to present hope. If we believe Christ has truly brought reconciliation with God through his death on the cross, then we have confidence of a true redemption (v. 9). As usual, Paul spoke of salvation in the future tense (cf. 5:10; 9:27; 10:9, 13; 11:14, 26). We have been “justified” to have a right standing with God now, but ultimate salvation lies in the future. [DD]
If God loved us enough to effect reconciliation through Christ’s death “while we were enemies,” Paul believed, then surely God will continue that saving work through Christ’s resurrection life (v. 10).
That thought brought Paul back to the theme of boasting, as he challenged believers to “boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (v. 11).
The word translated as “reconcile” has the basic meaning “to exchange.” Here, it means “to exchange enmity for friendship.” Wherever the terms “reconcile” or “reconciliation” are used in the New Testament, it is always God who does the reconciling, and humans who are reconciled by virtue of God’s work in Christ.
In Paul’s mind, the fact that we don’t deserve God’s reconciling love is no reason not to celebrate it with joy and even a bit of holy pride.
Paul’s notion of boasting about what God has done may not sit well with us, perhaps because we have all known people whose insufferable self-righteousness or certainty come across as offensive. The apostle did not instruct his friends to boast of their faith in the streets, but he urged them in worship or personal conversations to express a confident hope that was grounded in God, effected through Christ, and experienced through the Spirit.
May we learn to do the same.
Adult Teaching Resources
Download the PDF of teaching resources for this lesson.
This PDF contains the Teaching Guide, Digging Deeper, and Hardest Question pages.
Read Scripture online: Romans 5:1-5
Youth Teaching Resources
Parent Prep
Some days it feels like everything is lined up ready to go and then there are other days when it feels like all our dominoes have been knocked over before we get them all set up. One things as parents that we can do is help our students learn how to set up the dominoes for the first time, or for the 1,000th time. Helping our students determine the process can be hard, but each step can also be a reward.
Additional Links/Resources
Read Scripture online: Romans 5:1-5
Download the PDF for youth teaching resources using the button below. This PDF contains the Teaching Guide for this lesson:
Video
Encourage youth to check out this video ahead of the lesson.
“The Most Complicated Trickshot Ever” from Creezy
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