The Bridge · Explore the Bible · Session 4 of 13

Restored Relationship

Romans 5:1-11,18-21 · CSB

The Bridge · First Baptist Church Minden · September 27, 2026 · Taught by Joel

Christ died for sinners, making reconciliation with God possible for all.

Setting the Scene

Reconciliation is a relationship word: it starts with a division, and then something heals the rift and brings the two sides back together. Paul has spent four chapters proving how wide the divide between God and humanity is — and that no one could cross it by good deeds, law-keeping, or heritage. With salvation by grace through faith thoroughly established, chapter 5 turns to the benefits that come to those God has declared righteous: a new peace with God, a proven love, and a grace that keeps growing. Our reconciliation was initiated by God, accomplished by Christ, and received by us.

Passage — Romans 5:1-11,18-21 (CSB)

¹Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ²We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, ⁴endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. ⁵This hope will not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. ⁶For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. ⁸But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹How much more then, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath. ¹⁰For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. ¹¹And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation. … ¹⁸So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is justification leading to life for everyone. ¹⁹For just as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. ²⁰The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more ²¹so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Key Truths

Point 1 — A New Peace (5:1-5)Believers should embrace their new relationship with God.Peace with God is a state of being within a relationship, not a mood. Justified by faith, we also gain access into grace and a settled place to stand — and a hope that holds even through affliction.
Point 2 — A Proven Love (5:6-11)Individuals can be reconciled to God thanks to the loving sacrifice Jesus offered on the cross.Christ died for the helpless and the ungodly at exactly the right time. God didn't announce His love — He proved it publicly, while we were still sinners and still enemies.
Point 3 — A Growing Grace (5:18-21)Our lives can be transformed by the matchless grace of Jesus.What Adam's disobedience broke, Christ's obedience restored. Sin once reigned in death; now grace reigns through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Key Doctrine

Salvation (Justification)

Justification brings the believer unto a relationship of peace and favor with God.

Romans 3:28 · Titus 3:5-7

Worth Noting

Point 1Paul doesn't say believers rejoice because affliction feels good — he says we can rejoice in the midst of it because of what God is doing through it. And "hope" here isn't wishful thinking; it's faith looking forward with confidence, guaranteed by God's own character.
Point 2This passage holds all three tenses of salvation at once: we have been justified (v. 9), we are being kept — "saved by his life" (v. 10) — and we will be saved from wrath (v. 9).
Point 3Two guardrails: Paul is not teaching universalism (the "everyone" justified in v. 18 are believers — John 3:18,36), and v. 20 does not make sin useful. He answers that misreading directly a few sentences later: "Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? Absolutely not!" (Rom. 6:1-2).

Memorize

Romans 5:19 (CSB)

"For just as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous."

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