SESSION 5 TRUST FOR THE WIN THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE We all have things we re afraid of. As children, we may have feared separation from our parents, and as adults many of us fear separation from God. We hope that, in the end, we ll be OK, but can we be sure? Romans 8 makes it clear that separation from God and His love is something we need never fear. THE POINT Believers have no reason to fear separation from God and His love. THE PASSAGE Romans 8:31-39 WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY? ROMANS 8:31-39 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that, who was raised who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. THE SETTING Paul ended the first half of his letter to the Romans on a climatic note designed to cause his readers to affirm all he had written to that point. Through seven rhetorical questions and his responses to them, Paul not only encouraged his readers but led them to affirm their triumph in Christ and His love for them. Paul identified with his readers by writing in the first person throughout this passage. 52 SESSION 5 For free online training on how to lead a group visit MinistryGrid.com/web/ BibleStudiesForLife For free Midweek Options for your group, visit lifeway.com/bsflftwspr17
PREPARE LEADER LIVE IT OUT Trust for the Win Romans 8:31-39 We are likely all familiar with the idea from Scripture that God is love (1 John 4:8). This verse is often taken out of context, so it s worth making sure we re on the same page. Basically, John is saying that because of God s great love, He sent Jesus as a sacrifice. And if we are God s children, we will love like He does. Then John hits us with this: Perfect love drives out fear, because all fear is connected with the idea of judgment, and if we have fear, we ve not been perfected by love (v. 18). Y As you prepare to lead students in what it means to trust God s promise that nothing can separate us from His love, take the time to examine the relationship between love and fear, between faith and judgment. As God s Word impacts you, you re then able to have a greater impact with your students. 1 Prepare: While you prepare for this session, it is critical to allow the truth of Scripture to challenge your heart. God works in our hearts as we teach others His Word. ONE CONVERSATION Scripture: Romans 8:31-39 Topic: Trust for the Win THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE: We all have things we re afraid of. Snakes, public speaking, and small confined spaces will likely appear in a poll of your Bible study group. As children, we may have feared separation from our parents, and as adults many of us fear separation from God. We hope that, in the end, we ll be OK, but can we be sure? Romans 8 makes it clear that separation from God and His love is something we need never fear. THE POINT: Believers have no reason to fear separation from God and His love. What are some fears you ve outgrown? How do you know that God is for you? Which of these threats weaken your sense of security? How do Paul s assurances help us find victory over fear? Discuss the following quote: Fear is a self imposed prison that will keep you from becoming what God intends for you to be. You must move against it with the weapons of faith and love. 1 Rick Warren 1. Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012) 38. LIVE IT OUT: Your student has been encouraged to take practical steps to take his or her faith and Live It Out in the Personal Study Guide. Here are some ways you can encourage your students to live out their faith with Christ personally, in community, and in their culture: Y Christ: Talk with your student about any fears that he or she may be facing, and then find Scripture that reveals the truth in God s Word. Y Community: Reach out to your student this week to let him or her know that you are there for encouragement when facing fear or loneliness. Y Culture: Our society views fear very differently than in the past, but there is never a need to fear separation from God. 2 Follow Up: Don t forget to text a picture of the One Conversation section to parents or post it on Facebook and tag them after the session. This will equip them for further family discussion. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 53
ENGAGE (15 MINUTES) THE POINT BELIEVERS HAVE NO REASON TO FEAR SEPARATION FROM GOD AND HIS LOVE. 1 2 Engage: Begin the session with one or more of the Engage Options on the next page (optional). Discuss: Ask students, What are some fears you ve outgrown? 3 Guide: Call attention to The Point. Keep coming back to it throughout the session. 4 Read: Summarize the Bible Meets Life for your group. 5 Pray: Transition into the session by acknowledging to God in prayer that we all experience insecurities, even fear. Pray that He would help us to be free of fear in light of His love and faithfulness. 54 SESSION 5
ENGAGE OPTIONS LEAD WITH ACTION Play Alive by Hillsong Young & Free (or another upbeat song familiar to your students). Have all the students dance and sing along. Allow students to overcome their fears by coming on stage to dance solo or sing into a microphone. Say, Fears can keep us from living a life that s full, but we can overcome those fears and experience the life that God intends. LEAD WITH ATMOSPHERE Make the room as dark as possible. Say, Think about something that makes you afraid. Ask yourself what it would take to overcome that fear. LEAD WITH MEDIA Search the Internet for Brothers Convince Little Sister of Zombie Apocalypse. Play the video as you begin the session. Say, Fear is something that affects all of us in some way or another, but many things we fear have no roots in reality. NOTE: Always make sure you preview any video clip you show students and ensure that it is appropriate for your church and ministry. SECOND OPTION Have students sit in small groups and talk about some things that make them afraid and how they can help each other overcome their fears. Say, God has a plan for our lives to help us experience victory instead of living in fear. FOR YOUNGER STUDENTS Prepare Jell-O, pudding, and cooked spaghetti noodles in different containers with garbage bag covers. Have the students place their hands in the containers and try to figure out what it is. Say, We often fear things that aren t harmful at all. In fact, overcoming fears allows us to experience life the way it s supposed to be lived. LEADER PACK ELEMENTS If you have the optional Leader Pack, consider one of the following: DVD: Play the Unit 1 Session 5 DVD opener to introduce the session and get everyone on the same page. Item 4: Engage students in the session by using the Top Fears poster. Ask students to honestly rate the fears presented on the poster. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 55
IMPART (10 MINUTES) THE POINT BELIEVERS HAVE NO REASON TO FEAR SEPARATION FROM GOD AND HIS LOVE. 1 Read: Invite a student to read the passage aloud. 2 3 4 Discuss: Share your thoughts on this opening section, then ask students to respond. Summarize: Outline these paragraphs and highlight the good things that God gives us. Ask: Read the question aloud and encourage students to respond. 5 Connect: Help students see how these truths translate into our lives. 6 Do: Ask students to read the quote and write their thoughts. Discuss as a group. 56 SESSION 5
COMMENTARY ROMANS 8:31-34 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can beagainst us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that, who was raised who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. ROMANS 8:31-34 Verse 31. God is greater than anything that tries to come against us. The whole section of verses 31 35 is filled with questions and responses intended to move Paul s audience to accept what he had written to this point. If God is for us, who is against us? reminds us of an important truth God is for us! The rest of this question, who is against us? expects the answer No one! Paul s initial words If God is for us rendered all who could be against us irrelevant. God is greater than anything that tries to come against us. The words God is for us do not apply universally to all people. Rather, they apply only to believers who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ and will glorify (Rom. 8:28 30). Verse 32. Paul s next question focused on God s gift of His Son. His own Son points to the unique relationship of Jesus the Son to God the Father. Offered him up is a circuitous way of referring to the crucification and death of Jesus (see Rom. 4:25). But what is amazing here in Romans 8:32 is that God handed Jesus over to death (see also Rom. 4:25). Jesus death was not accidental, merely the result of the actions of sinful humans, or out of God s control. No, God did not spare even His own Son but offered Him up for us all. Christ died for us (5:8); He did not die because of His own sins (Jesus lived a perfect life free from sin). Nothing is or could be greater than God giving us His Son. If God did that, then how will he not also grant us everything? Does this mean that God will give us everything we want or could want? No. That is, what we receive spiritually, and even materially, is because of our union with Christ. The question also reminds us that God s blessings do not stop with our initial salvation experience but continue on in our lives as His children. Verse 33. God s elect refers to believers in Christ. The Greek term for an accusation is the language of the courtroom. God is the Judge. The anticipated answer is, No matter who brings an accusation, it will not stand. Paul s reason was God is the one who justifies. The word justifies is a legal term referring to being set right by God s irrevocable verdict, which renders impotent any charge at the final judgment against God s elect. God s verdict cannot be overthrown! Verse 34. God is greater than anyone or anything that tries to condemn us. Paul named three reasons as to why this is the case: Christ died for us; He was raised from the dead; and He presently intercedes for us in heaven. His death is a summary statement encompassing all the death of Christ stood for and involved. Similarly, the words has been raised refer to God the Father s action of raising Jesus from the dead (Acts 2:24), which is proof of God s acceptance of His Son s atoning sacrifice. As Paul wrote in Romans 4:25, Jesus was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Verse 34 is the only place in Romans Paul stated that the risen and glorified Christ intercedes for His followers, but it is mentioned in Hebrews 7:25 and 1 John 2:1. The right hand represents a place of strength, honor, and privilege. The words point to Christ s exaltation; they indicate the place of highest honor, stress His authority, remind us His work of redemption is finished, recall that Christ is advocating with God the Father on our behalf as our Mediator, and call to mind that He will come again. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 57
1 Read: Invite a student to read the passage aloud. IMPART (10 MINUTES) THE POINT BELIEVERS HAVE NO REASON TO FEAR SEPARATION FROM GOD AND HIS LOVE. 2 Discuss: Read the passage from 2 Corinthians. Have students record their thoughts and discuss it together. 3 Highlight: Emphasize these points. 4 Ask: Read the question, then discuss with students. 5 6 Connect: Have students think of those things which keep them from God. Help them practically understand these final thoughts. Engage: Emphasize the importance of sharing our faith with others. 58 SESSION 5
COMMENTARY ROMANS 8:35-36 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. ROMANS 8:35-36 Verses 35-36. God is greater than anything that tries to separate us from His love. Who can separate us from the love of Christ? The expected response is No one. The love of Christ means Christ s love for us. Only this provides believers with great assurance and confidence. To prove his point, Paul raised seven possibilities. Affliction refers to strong external pressure. Distress refers to internal pressure or stress. Persecution was a very real possibility in the early church. Famine refers to a lack of food, to hunger. Nakedness refers to destitution, to being in need of clothes. The word for danger, or peril, is a word only Paul used in the New Testament (9 times 8 of them in 2 Cor. 11:26). Sword could refer to a violent attack by a robber, to an invasion by an enemy army, or to execution. God does not promise us that we will never experience temptation, opposition, or suffering. He promises us that these things can never separate us from His love because God is greater than anything that tries to separate us from His love. God is stronger than anyone who seeks to trouble His children. #JesusFTW Paul quoted Psalm 44:22 from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, to affirm that all such opposition was anticipated in Scripture. Christ s love does not keep believers from trouble indeed, it may increase their troubles. This suffering is not the result of God s people having forgotten God or turned from Him; it is because of their faithfulness to Him. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 59
1 2 3 4 5 Do: Allow students time to finish the optional Action Point (p. 50) in the PSG. Read: Ask a student to read the passage for the group. Discuss: Share your thoughts on this section, then allow students to respond to the question. Summarize: Teach these ideas highlighting that fear is a response to judgment, and because of our salvation, we ve no reason to fear. Ask: Read the question and invite students to respond. IMPART (10 MINUTES) THE POINT BELIEVERS HAVE NO REASON TO FEAR SEPARATION FROM GOD AND HIS LOVE. 6 Do: Ask the students to complete the Action Point, then discuss together. 60 SESSION 5
COMMENTARY ROMANS 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. ROMANS 8:37-39 Verse 37. Paul asserted, in all these things we are more than conquerors. The word conquerors emphasizes the totality of the victory, possible only through him who loved us. The him could refer either to the Father, to the Son, or to both together. But since the reference in verse 35 is to Christ s love, it probably is the same here in verse 37. Christ showed His love for us by His suffering; thus, our suffering cannot separate us from His love or be seen as evidence that He does not love us. Verses 38-39. Paul also listed ten powers that are not able to separate us from Christ s love. Death is not the end. It is an enemy (1 Cor. 15:26), but elsewhere Paul taught that for the believer to die is gain (Phil. 1:21). Rulers authorities or principalities could be either earthly or spiritual. However, since they here are contrasted with angels they probably refer to demonic beings. The present (things present) or future (things to come) remind us that nothing time brings, whether problems or forebodings, can come between Christ s love and us. Powers are spiritual forces (Eph. 1:21; 1 Pet. 3:22). Nor height nor depth may refer to the immensity of the physical universe. Neither time nor space can separate us from Christ s love. With his words any other created thing Paul ended with a sweeping, inclusive, comprehensive generalization that included anything else that anyone could suggest or imagine. Of all of this Paul said he was persuaded that none of them will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Paul was totally and completely convinced of this. There was no doubt in his mind. Paul used the Greek perfect tense to indicate this was a permanent state of mind. Paul s final words remind readers the only way we can experience the love of God is in Christ Jesus. Our assurance and confidence is not in ourselves, it is in God and His love for us. Separation from God and His love is something we need never fear. Encourage students to pursue holiness empowered by the Holy Spirit and out of a desire to love and walk with Jesus. Our love for Him should be the motivation, not a fear of consequences. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 61
IMPACT (10 MINUTES) THE POINT BELIEVERS HAVE NO REASON TO FEAR SEPARATION FROM GOD AND HIS LOVE. 1 Discuss: Read and discuss the quote with students. 2 Guide: The Christ portion of the Live It Out section encourages students to dig deeply into God s Word and examine their motives for serving others. Remember the Bible Reading Plan provides students with a custom reading plan to stay in God s Word and follows along with each session. Isaiah 41:10 Joshua 1:9 John 14:27 Deuteronomy 31:6 Isaiah 43:1 3 Guide: As you guide your students through the Community section, remember to emphasize the importance of community with believers outside of group. 62 SESSION 5
IMPACT 4 Guide: The Culture section equips students to apply this session to their lives every week. Help students see themselves and others through the lens of God s Word to develop a lifestyle of investing in others for the gospel. 5 Pray: Close in prayer asking God to help students see that because of Jesus sacrifice, there s no reason to fear death or judgment. We are victorious. 6 Follow Up: This week connect with students by engaging them in a discussion on how they are displaying their trust in the Lord. Encourage students to text each other throughout the week whenever they face doubts. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 63