Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Mini Memorization
A wet day in Chicago and Kelli and I were heading from home at our usual 5 a.m. The Mini Clubman soon warmed up. We listened to Karl and June for a bit on WMBI, but then we turned off the radio to look at scripture. I will often open a commentary and read what it says, but this time Kelli and I memorized Romans 5:1-5. I haven’t memorized anything for a while, so looking repeatedly at 5 verses opened my eyes.
When I read the passage I realised that I had added words which weren’t there. I added ‘the’ in front of ‘hope’ in verse 2 for example. It changes things when you realise that a word is absent. After memorizing it, we talked about what it meant. How could we restate the ideas in our own words? Answering this question made sure that we had understood what we had memorized. Thirdly, we thought about ISIS, cultural decline, Illinois budget deficits, and our own insecurities – how do these verses bring hope?
Fourthly we started to connect the passage with other passages in scripture – especially those written by Paul. We see faith, hope, and love here like we do in 1 Corinthians 13, for example. Finally we thought of what we could create. Kelli talked about creating a Bible study, or a book around the issue of identity in the book of Romans. I wondered if this passage might work well for our Bible study workbook for 20 Things We’d Tell Our Twentysomething Selves.
Starting with memorization of 5 verses in a Mini, we had got to action points on what we might do to change our world. How do you study scripture each day?
Prayer
Dear God, in this world of shifting shadows and dark lies, help us to root ourselves firmly in life and light. May we open our hearts to eternal truth and apply it to our world.
Questions
- What is the main idea of Romans 5:1-5?
- Is hope central or another concept?
- Why does Paul often link faith, hope, and love?
- How is Bloom’s taxonomy employed in the Mini Cooper in the ride into school (read above)?
- How can Bloom’s taxonomy be employed with children when having daily devotions with them?
Plymothian 
1. What is the main idea of Romans 5:1-5? Only because of our faith can we have hope and rejoice even in the trials of life because God has given us His love
2. Is hope central or another concept? I think hope is central to this passage
3. Why does Paul often link faith, hope, and love? Faith, hope, and love are all interrelated for the Christian for it is only through faith in Christ that we have hope, both now and for the future, and can truly be loved and love
4. How is Bloom’s taxonomy employed in the Mini Cooper in the ride into school (read above)? Scripture memorization causes you to remember the passage, the verses were put into your own words, the main topics and words used were discussed, connections were made between the passage and issues in life today, and you sought to create the study workbook, incorporating the verses into that resource
5. How can Bloom’s taxonomy be employed with children when having daily devotions with them? By having them recall what the devotion was about, make personal connections, and apply it to their own lives
Today, I had a deep conversation with friends regarding homosexuality. Hearing the stories from real-life, my heart became so heavy and broken…… Lord…please have mercy on us. Please reveal yourself to us! Keep us awake!
God,
Lavish us with your love
Fill your temple, which is my body, with your spirit
Thank you that faith alone saves,
For I fall short day by day.
Bring about the fruit or the Spirit in my life so that I can be more like you
Amen
I do endeavor to read Scripture on a regular basis (although I have not done well with that this semester), but even when I read I often do not take the next step in coming up with action points. Too often I treat the Bible as a book that has little to actually do with today. I know that it is vital to my life and relevant, but I do not treat it that way. God, forgive me for the disregard I show to Your Word. Renew in me a love for Scripture.
1. The effects of justification
2. It is a major theme
3. Our faith gives us reason to hope, and both our faith and our hope are in the God we love because he first loved us
4. They progressed through the levels of Bloom’s taxonomy as they memorized, made connections to life, compared and contrasted with other scriptures, and brainstormed about a Bible study they could create using this verse.
5. Devotions can involve memorization, summary, and recall which are the beginning levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, but should also involve more complex questioning, investigating, and evaluating which are the higher levels.
I think that I often forget that creating is the highest level on Bloom’s taxonomy. I don’t think I ever read Scripture with creating something in mind unless it is a school assignment. Often when I do that, I start with the thoughts of creating rather than working my way up Bloom’s taxonomy, which gives me muddied results. I want to be more intentional about my study of Scripture, and not stop at the higher levels of evaluating and synthesizing, but allow the words to shape my actions so that I create according to what I read in Scripture.
Lord, thank you for justifying me by faith. Thank you that you did what I could never do, and that you did it in such love. Help me to show this love through my actions, and above all let me fall more and more in love with You.
Thank you for being so personable in your posts, and sharing exactly what is going on in your mind and heart. It makes application of these truths so much more relatable when you see them played out or talked through from the life of another.
The main idea of Romans 5: 1 – 5 is justification and it’s benefits. Through justification, we can have peace with God and have access to the grace of God. Additionally, we can rejoice in the hope of the Lord and even in our sufferings, because we know that it ultimately is for our benefit. This hope does not lead us to shame, but instead gives us something to strive for as we serve our Lord on earth.
This passage reminds of the passage in Corinthians that talks about the gospel being foolishness to the world. God uses the things that are not to nullify the things that are. Romans 5:1-5 reminds me of this because it is talking about the benefits of suffering and what suffering leads to. To an unbeliever, this might sound crazy. Who would willingly choose a lifestyle that would cause one pain and trials? How much more the hope that we have in God and His Holy Spirit!
This passage is such an encouragement to me because it reminds me that we can rejoice knowing that we have hope in the glory of God. Hope is such an important thing to have when we are living in times of uncertainty. It is nice to know that amidst the uncertainty, we can have certainty that we stand in grace and have hope of God’s glory.
Reading Scripture everyday has been the hardest thing for me to do since becoming a Christian. I will start a daily Bible reading plan and do great for a little while, but then it’ll fade after a while and months will go by before I think about doing it again. I pray that God would create in me a passion to know Him more through his word and pray that I will actually make daily Bible reading a priority in my life.
1. Worthy and secure hope, character, and endurance are built up as a result of working faith by which we are justified.
2. I think hope is central. The passage shows faith builds up hope in the long run.
3. Faith and hope are so intertwined into each other and love is an action or outworking of those things.
4. You progressed through the taxonomy beginning with analyzing the passage and then ending by using comprehension skills to apply learning in different areas practically.
5. As above, it makes sense to break down Scripture memorization or the goals of a Bible lesson to reach Bloom’s so that children may store and apply learning to the best of their abilities.