READING • ROMANS 5
What is grace?
In the Bible, God’s grace is His undeserved loving kindness towards men and women. Salvation cannot be earned. It is God’s gift, made possible through the Lord Jesus Christ.
A matter of life and death
Human life is temporary, and death comes to us all. The Gospel is good news because God has opened a way from sin and death to everlasting life through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Knowing Bible teaching is important, but knowledge alone cannot save us. We must come to God in humility, believing His promises and accepting the salvation He offers through Christ.
A wrong way of thinking
It is easy to imagine that God weighs our good deeds against our bad deeds, and that if the good outweighs the bad we have earned His favour. The Bible does not teach this.
A gift is not wages. Paul makes the contrast very clearly:
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 6:23 • King James Version
Good works matter, but they do not purchase forgiveness or everlasting life. We obey God because we believe Him, love Him and are thankful for His grace—not because we can place Him in our debt.
What the Scriptures teach
WHAT WE MUST RECOGNISE
WHAT GOD HAS DONE
We are sinners.
God offers forgiveness and reconciliation.
We cannot save ourselves.
God has provided salvation through Jesus Christ.
We must come in humility and faith.
Salvation is offered as a gift of grace.
True faith changes the way we live.
God calls us to a new life in Christ.
Grace does not mean indifference to sin
The same Bible that teaches salvation by grace also teaches repentance, baptism, obedience and a changed life. These do not earn salvation; they are the response of living faith.
Saved by grace through faith
Paul’s words to the Ephesians are among the clearest statements in Scripture about grace. God acts first: He is rich in mercy, He loves, He gives life in Christ, and He saves.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 • King James Version
The earlier verses in the same passage show the reason: God is “rich in mercy” and acts “for his great love wherewith he loved us” (Ephesians 2:4). Salvation therefore gives us no reason to boast in ourselves.
What does it mean to be justified?
Romans 3 explains that no one can establish righteousness before God simply by keeping law. All have sinned. God, however, can count a believer righteous because of what He has provided in Christ. The Bible calls this being “justified”.
Justified
To be justified is to be counted righteous, or set right before God. It does not mean that we have never sinned; it means that God forgives and accepts us through His gracious provision in Christ.
Peace with God
Romans 5 describes the position of the believer who has been justified by faith:
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Romans 5:1-2 • King James Version
Grace therefore brings us into a new relationship with God. Through the Lord Jesus we may approach the Father in prayer and live in hope of the glory of His coming Kingdom.
Faith is not merely saying “I believe”
Biblical faith is trust. It takes God at His word and acts upon what He has said. If we truly trust God, that trust will begin to shape our choices, priorities and conduct.
Does it matter how we live?
Paul knew that the teaching of grace could be misunderstood. If salvation is a gift, should a believer simply continue in sin? His answer could hardly be stronger:
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”
Romans 6:1-2 • King James Version
Grace is not permission to live as we please. A person who has turned to Christ is called to resist sin and live for God.
Faith and works belong together
James states the principle plainly:
“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
James 2:17 • King James Version
Works do not earn salvation. Rather, they show that faith is alive. A profession of belief that produces no desire to obey God is not the kind of faith described in Scripture.
Beginning a new life in Christ
Romans 6 connects this new life with baptism. Baptism is not a payment for salvation; it is the God-appointed response of a believer who wishes to be joined with Christ in his death and resurrection.
“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Romans 6:3-4 • King James Version
A new beginning
When faith, repentance and baptism are joined together, the believer begins a new life in Christ. The old way is to be left behind, and the disciple seeks to walk in “newness of life”.
When we fail
Baptism does not make a person incapable of sin. Disciples still fail and need forgiveness. The difference is that they now belong to Christ and may confess their sins, repent and seek God’s mercy through him.
The Christian life is therefore neither self-confidence nor despair. We trust the Father’s grace and keep striving to follow His Son.
“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Luke 12:32 • King James Version
The importance of faith
Faith
Faith means believing and trusting God—taking Him at His word and relying upon His promises.
We cannot trust a message we have never heard. That is why the Word of God is central to discipleship. Paul writes:
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Romans 10:17 • King James Version
Bible study is therefore not an academic exercise. God’s Word teaches us what He has promised, what He has done in Christ, and how He calls us to respond.
What about faithful people before Christ?
The Old Testament faithful lived before the birth of Jesus, but they were not outside God’s purpose of salvation. God had already revealed promises concerning the coming seed, the Messiah and His Kingdom.
Paul says that the Gospel was preached beforehand to Abraham:
“And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.”
Galatians 3:8 • King James Version
Jesus likewise said of Abraham:
“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.”
John 8:56 • King James Version
Abraham did not know every detail that later believers would learn from the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. But he believed God’s promises. Hebrews 11 presents him and many other faithful men and women as examples of faith.
One Gospel throughout the Bible
The grace of God is not a new idea that suddenly appears in the New Testament. The whole Bible records God’s purpose to save. The promises of the Old Testament lead forward to the work of Christ, and the New Testament explains their fulfilment.
Why study the whole Bible?
We understand grace more fully when we see how God’s promises, His dealings with faithful people, and the work of Jesus all belong to one purpose of salvation.
Grace produces gratitude and discipleship
The Gospel leaves no room for pride. We cannot save ourselves, and we cannot earn everlasting life. Everything begins with God: His love, His promises, His Son and His offer of forgiveness.
Yet grace does not leave us unchanged. A person who truly believes the Gospel will want to repent, be baptized, obey Christ and grow in a life that pleases God. This is not an attempt to buy salvation. It is the thankful response of faith.
The balance of Scripture
We are saved by God’s grace, received through faith. Living faith responds in repentance, baptism and obedience. Our works do not earn the gift; they show that we genuinely trust the Giver.
SUMMARY
1
Salvation is God’s gift.
Forgiveness and everlasting life cannot be earned as wages for good behaviour.
2
Grace is undeserved loving kindness.
God acts in mercy and love through the Lord Jesus Christ.
3
Grace is received through faith.
Biblical faith means trusting God and believing His Word.
4
True faith is active.
James teaches that faith without works is dead; obedience is the fruit of faith, not the price of salvation.
5
Baptism begins a new life in Christ.
Romans 6 connects baptism with Christ’s death and resurrection and with walking in newness of life.
6
Disciples still need forgiveness.
When believers fail, they confess, repent and continue to rely on God’s mercy through Christ.
7
The Gospel was promised beforehand.
Abraham and other faithful people trusted God’s promises and looked forward to His saving purpose.
Chapters to read
Psalm 32; Romans 4; Galatians 3; Titus 2:11-13; Titus 3:4-7
LEARN BY HEART • ROMANS 5:1-2
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Romans 5:1-2 • King James Version
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