Romans 5:12-21 “Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ”
Romans • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 5 viewsTwo heads are compared in this final section of justification... Adam and Jesus. One brought sin and death... the Other, grace and life.
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning Calvary Chapel Lake City!
I hope to see many of you today after service for our Children’s Ministry meeting. Pizza has been ordered.
Also… this Wednesday for mid-week service we will be in Calvary Chapel Distinctives.
But, the following week… which is the 5th week of January… we will have "A Night of Prayer & Worship.”
We will sing worship songs… and break into groups to pray for specific topics for our church and nation… and for individual needs.
This is a beautiful time to come before the Lord in praise of Him… and to cast our cares upon Him.
I hope to see you there!
Well… let’s now get into the word! Please open your Bibles to Romans 5. Romans 5:12-21 today.
In our study this morning… not only are we finishing Chapter 5, but also we conclude the “Justification” section of Paul’s letter to the Romans.
And, starting next week… in Chapters 6-8 we move forward to the “Sanctification” section… which is more Good News because we don’t have to live as we used to.
In Romans 5:1-11… we observed various benefits of Justification.
Peace with God… access… rejoicing… glorying, even in tribulations… being saved from God’s wrath… and being reconciled to God…
Prior to justification… there was hostility and alienation from God… but through faith in Jesus Christ… there is now restoration of peace and a friendly relationship with God.
And this is NOT simply some checklist for us to casually appreciate… our response should not simply be, “oh that’s nice!”
When we understand the depth of who we are apart from Christ… depraved and condemned due to sin…
And then understand the Christ died to satisfy God’s wrath on sin.
He paid the price… and if we truly believe in Jesus as our Savior…
He takes our sin… and imputes His righteousness onto our account.
We stand justified therefore Almighty God… there is a judicial acceptance of us as NOT guilty because our sins are not counted against us.
And, then on top of that… ALL the other benefits of justification in Rom 5:1-11…
Please NEVER take these things for granted…
How dare any of our hearts ever say, “Oh that’s nice!”
NO… we should fall on our faces before God and proclaim, “Praise be to the Lord!”
Well… after Paul goes through this amazing list of our benefits of justification… and conclude his thoughts rejoicing in God since we are reconciled…
And, we will see Paul craft an argument from the lesser to the greater…
… displaying the work of Adam resulting in condemnation… which pales in comparison to Christ’s triumphant work… resulting in justification.
Our message title today is “Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ.”
Let’s Pray!
In reverence for God’s word, please stand as I read our passage.
Romans 5:12-21 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Praise God for His word! Please be seated!
If this is your first read through these verses… this section may feel a bit confusing… a bit repetitive and nuanced…
But, as we go through these verses… my hope is you walk away today… very blessed knowing an overflowing grace has been bestowed upon us in justification.
A couple key observations about this passage in general…
Paul begins with the word “Therefore...” in V12… and repeats “therefore” in V18… so from this we know Paul is building upon what he said previously…
In general… what Paul is doing in vv 12-21 is building a bridge between the first part of the letter (condemnation… Chapters 1-3) to the second part of the letter (justification… Chapters 3-5)…
As all mankind under the federal head of Adam stands condemned… for they remain as the old creation… unregenerate… unsaved.
But all mankind under the federal head of Christ stands justified… for they are a new creation… alive through faith in Jesus.
And… as angry or as resentful as you may be against Adam for the fall… for really messing it up for everyone in getting the human race kicked out of Eden…
Paul will show that the what we gain in Christ exceedingly outweighs what we lost in Adam.
Thus, the bridge built in these verses today… also extends to the next three chapters… moving us from justification to sanctification.
Which is by def. “the ongoing supernatural work of God to rescue justified sinners from the disease of sin and to conform them to the image of his Son.”
So, let’s dig into these bridge verses now… picking up in V12… V12 begins not immediately naming Adam, but Adam is in focus here.
And, we are going to camp out in V12 for awhile and then move through the remaining verses quicker.
In Gen 1:26, when God first created humankind, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image…”
The word “man” in Hebrew is “Adam.”
And, when Adam is first named in Genesis 2:19… the same Hebrew word is used… Adam… man.
It’s like naming your dog “dog.” We might not think it a very creative name, but it was immensely practical.
If Adam walked up, and you couldn’t remember his name, you could just say, “Hey man! How’s it going?”
Or if you wanted to pay him a compliment, you could say, “Adam you’re the man!”
Very versatile. Brilliant if you ask me.
If you know someone named Adam, you should try this out.
Tell him, ‘you’re the man!’
I’m pretty sure he’ll think that’s funny… and immensely witty.
Well… back in Romans… Adam… is the focus of V12… “through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
Paul takes his readers back to original creation… to the first man, Adam… the man who first transgressed the commandment of God.
God created Adam and Eve in a perfect world… free from death, free from sin, free from disease. They walked with God.
Life as we know it NOW… is NOT God’s original design.
Eden was perfection… but after the fall of man in Gen 3… curses came upon the land… and upon it’s inhabitants.
Prior to the fall… God placed one restriction upon Adam and Eve…
Gen 2:16-17 reads, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
God gave Adam and Eve a choice to either obey Him or disobey Him. Without this one restriction… without choice… they would have essentially been robots… without free will… doing what they were programmed to do.
But God created them to be “free” beings… able to choose between good and evil.
The Tree was NOT a temptation to sin… James 1:13 declares, “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.”
Rather… this was a TEST by God. In the Exodus… after the Red Sea… the congregation grew hungry and complained against Moses and Aaron.
And, we read in Exo 16:4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.”
God would deliver to them daily Manna… bread from Heaven… He would provide for them, BUT they were only to gather a certain measurement per day per person… they were eat all of their daily portion and trust God to provide the following day… they were to gather twice as much on the sixth day to have a sabbath rest on the seventh.
God did this to “test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.”
And, so it was in Eden… God gave Adam and Eve a choice… and when Satan tempted Eve…
Eve was deceived and transgressed God’s commands. Adam was NOT deceived… but still ate knowing he was going against God’s commands.
1 Tim 2:14 states, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.”
Adam could have stood up… and led well… and said, “No Eve… we will not eat and disobey God’s command.”
But, he didn’t… and the blame lays squarely on his shoulders as we see in our Rom 5 passage today.
Eve isn’t even mentioned in Rom 5…
Adam was created first… he was appointed the leader with Eve as his help-mate…
Husbands… make sure you are leading well. Read Eph 5 if you need to refresh yourself on duties in the home.
Adam failed in his duty not only to Eve, but ultimately in disobeying God.
And, truly… it didn’t take him long to do it…
In Chapter 1 of Genesis… God created everything.
At the end of Chapter 1 into Chapter 2… He gave dominion to mankind over creation.
And, by Chapter 3… we messed it all up.
The rest of the Bible is about God fixing it.
It only took mankind 3 chapters to ruin everything.
And, look… in heaven, before you run up to Adam… casting blame upon him… and giving him a sucker punch in the gut…
First, take off your Calvary Chapel shirt… I don’t want people saying, “Oh, you went to THAT church!”
But, in all seriousness… consider this… ‘would you… or would I have done any better?’
I know I wouldn’t have!
Have you ever broken a rule before? “Stay off the grass!”… “Speed limit 55”… “Lunch break is 30 minutes… no more.”… “No personal calls at work.”
Look… at the end of V12 there are two words that testify we all break the rules…
Do you see those two words? They read, “all sinned.”
We don’t need to teach our children to sin. Leave a child with a rule and give them time… and the natural inclination is to break it.
Mom says, “Don’t eat candy before dinner.” How long does that last?
We tell our kids ‘share.’ They argue and say, “My toy!”
We tell them, “Don’t hit your brother!” They don’t listen.
We’re not sinners because we sin.
It’s deeper than that… we sin because it’s in our nature to sin.
Sin confirms we are sinners… it’s NOT the other way around.
David said in Ps 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.”
How are we feeling today… is this positive and encouraging?
This isn’t exactly a ‘feel-good’ message today… but it’s real…
‘We’re sinners… and we need a Savior.’
The Gospel is not a self-help formula to make you a better you. The Gospel is you were poor and bankrupt… dead in trespasses and sins…
And, the only solution was to place your faith in Jesus Christ.
If you and I were in Eden with Satan spouting lies in our ear and manipulating us… we would have done no better than Adam and Eve… that apple may have looked pretty good.
We may have just rationalized, “What’s a little nibble going to hurt?”
The Bible declares, “There is NONE righteous, no not one.” We would have done no better then Adam and Eve.
So, don’t go and punch Adam in the gut.
And when you play out the results… good came from this evil.
As God so often does… what the enemy meant for evil, God used for good.
We will see today how what we gained in Christ… is abundantly more than what we lost in Adam.
Which 1 Cor 15:21-22 nicely captures… “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.”
Now… there was nothing essentially evil about the tree… some scholars say there was no actual knowledge gained by eating the fruit… no spiritual nourishment…
But, the act of disobeying God opened their eyes to evil… for they sinned against God’s command.
For the first time they felt shame… they had knowledge of their nakedness… innocence and purity departed, and sin entered the world… as we read in Rom 5:12.
And, just as God said, “… for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Death surely entered the world. And, there are three kinds of death… spiritual, physical, and eternal.
Adam didn’t die physically when he ate the fruit. Gen 5:5 states Adam lived 930 years and then physically died.
And, he would have lived forever in Eden had he not sinned.
But, he ate… in that day he died spiritually… it would seem that the glory he was clothed with… allowing him to walk with God would be no more…
They recognized their nakedness… they covered themselves with fig leaves… they hid from God… they didn’t take responsibility for their disobedience… Adam blamed Eve… Eve blamed the serpent…
And, they would be cursed… and expelled from the garden…
Which was a mercy… for in the garden was also the tree of life… and at the end of Gen 3 God reference Adam would live forever if he ate of it… so he drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden…
… keeping them from remaining in a sinful state forever.
Physical death, in this sense, is a mercy of God… so long as you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior.
All of us are born physically, but we are dead spiritually until we believe in Jesus.
Isa 59:2 states, “… your iniquities have separated you from your God...”
Separation from God is spiritual death.
Eph 2:1 declares, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins...”
That’s spiritual death. We were the walking dead prior to Christ.
Alive physically… dead spiritually.
This is why Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:7 “You must be born again.”
If you accept Jesus Christ you are born again… spiritually.
But for every person… physical death is a reality.
Heb 9:27 declares, “… it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment...”
All of us die physically, and then will face God and enter heaven or hell based NOT upon our good works, but upon whether we accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Two of the clearest verses that declare this are Eph 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
For that person who does not accept Jesus… they experience the third death… eternal death in the Lake of Fire as spoken of in Rev 20 at the Great White Throne judgment.
And so, when we read in V12… “through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
We get a glimpse of origins… sin entered the world through Adam…
We understand WHY death exists… it’s much deeper than natural selection and the ‘circle of life’…
Evolution wants you to believe that death, suffering, and disease have existed for billions of years.
They discredit what we read in the Bible.
The Bible teaches that Death is not merely a physical condition… but death testifies of our spiritual condition… and looks beyond the physical realm into the spiritual and eternal realms.
Death testifies that we ARE descendants of Adam.
You don’t need to track your genealogy all the way back to Adam… you just need to acknowledge that one day we all die… and all who die are descendants of Adam.
Death is the proof of our lineage.
Quickly… I want to acknowledge some additional observations…
First… Paul presents Adam as a real person… don’t overlook this. Paul presents Adam as historically true.
The account of Adam was not an allegory. Adam was not a symbolic fictional figure.
To suggest so is an offense to our faith.
If Adam were not real, you could supplement Adam for any fictional character… “Jesus came to die for the sins of Lex Luthor.”
If Adam and Eve were not real, then there was not a literal fall into sin…
If we can’t trust that… then how can we trust other parts of the Bible?
Is the Gospel and Jesus’ death really necessary?
If Adam isn’t real… is sin real? Or is that condition a fairy tale as well?
If Adam wasn’t real, then when I read the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3 which traces Jesus all the way back to Adam…
How can I trust that’s a true genealogy? Was Jesus the descendant of an fictional figure?
And, why does Genesis 5 outline the Genealogy of Adam? Adam… Seth… Enosh…
Were any of them real?
Of course they were. There is danger in NOT taking the Bible literally.
For me… and I know for many of you… we have no problem accepting the words of the Bible as literal truth.
Jesus took the word and Adam and Eve as literal real people… in Matt 19:4 Jesus said, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’”
Paul in our passage today takes Adam as literal.
Jesus’ genealogy lists REAL PEOPLE…
I’m going to side with Jesus, Paul, and the Word of God. Adam was a real person.
I think that’s all I want to say about V12.
One verse down… good thing you all don’t have lunch plans today…
Moving on to our second verse today… In my New King James Bible, V13 begins with a parenthesis… which concludes in V17… for effect…
From vv 13-17, the parenthesis is used to indicate a side comment or explanation to Paul’s main point.
Paul elaborates here on the comparison between Adam and Christ and explains how sin entered the world through Adam).
V13 begins, “(For until the law sin was in the world...”
The law was formalized through Moses. Sometimes it’s called the Mosaic law…
The law was given to Israel somewhere around 1446 B.C., but mankind had existed since about 4000 B.C.
From Adam to Moses was about 2500 years.
And, sin predated the written law. Many of the early chapters of Genesis testify of the sin of mankind…
Cain murdered Abel… Gen 4
By Gen 6… the wickedness of man was so great… God sent a flood, and only spared Noah and his family.
Sin was in the world long before the law.
When the law came… it did not prevent sin… it only exposed sin.
55 mph doesn’t stop you from speeding, it only exposes you are speeding.
Galatians 3 shares the purpose of the law, Gal 3:24 concludes “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
The law only exposes sin… and is purposed for us to cry out to God for a Savior.
To raise your hands in surrender and have faith in Jesus Christ.
V13 concludes, “… but sin is not imputed when there is no law.”
There is a difference between sin and transgression.
If you’re not aware of a law… that doesn’t preclude you from breaking a law.
Keep this in mind as representing the character of sin.
Now, when you are aware of a law, and still break the law… that is characteristic of transgression.
Prior to the Mosaic law… people still sinned, but it was not imputed… or charged to one’s account as transgression because there was no law.
As Paul wrote in Rom 4:15 “… for where there is no law there is no transgression.”
Pre-law… sin still existed… but it wasn’t accounted as transgression.
Now… the fact that death was present pre-law testifies that sin was present… because death is the consequence of sin.
“For as in Adam all die...” 1 Cor 15:22
Thus we read in V14 “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.”
From the beginning… Adam and all his descendants… up to Moses (when the law was given)…
NO ONE lived perfectly… they may not have directly violated an oral commandment from God like Adam did, BUT they all sinned…
As evidenced by death reigning… or prevailing over the life of every person.
And, note… this verse says Adam “is a type of Him who was to come.” (speaking about Jesus).
A type is a ‘typology’… or an example.
In many ways, Joseph was a ‘type’ of Christ.
He was betrayed… suffered… sold for silver… stripped of clothing… bound… exalted… fled sin… falsely accused… condemned with criminals… beloved by his father… and obedient to his father.
He was an OT type of Christ. And, that makes sense. Most of us can see that.
But, how on earth was Adam a type of Christ?
Surely not in his sinlessness! This may seem odd being that Adam and Jesus are so dissimilar, but there is a justification for the parallel.
Both Adam and Jesus both did one act that effected all of humanity. The type is more of a contrast, rather then a pattern.
Adam, in his one act of disobedience, brought condemnation and death to the human race… and all who belong to him are under sin.
Jesus, in His one act of obedience, (His death on the cross)… brought justification and life to the human race… and all who belong to Him are under grace.
If you never considered this… ask yourself ‘Who’s your head?’ Adam or Jesus?
There’s a vast difference between the two…
In vv 15-17, Paul continues to contrast Adam and Christ and highlights how Christ’s effect on the human race is far superior… in particular we see this as emphasized in the words “much more”, which are linked with the words “grace”, “gift”, and “abounded.”
V15 “But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.”
When Adam sinned… death entered the world… and whether you like it our not… sin and death are your inheritance.
Everyone to date has died… except Enoch and Elijah… who some hold to be the Two Witnesses in Rev 11… and then they’ll die.
But, what Adam “did”… is now contrasted with what Christ “gives.”
The “free gift” in this verse is righteousness.
V17 states, “… the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ...”
“Righteousness” means “justice.” When we believe in Jesus… our sin is imputed, or credited, to Jesus… and His righteousness is imputed to us.
His imputed righteousness is not earned by good works… it is a gift received through faith.
In Phil 3:9, Paul wrote, “… not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.”
And, the result… V16 in Rom 5 states, “… the free gift… resulted in justification.”
This gift of righteousness is different from Adam’s offense…
If we were to count how many people are negatively effected by Adam though the ages… to how many have been positively effected by Christ down through the ages…
The number would be tipped in Adams favor. Death… the result of Adam is 100%… all people die.
But, the gift of righteousness through faith in Jesus is not appropriated by every person.
In fact Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matt 7:13-14
Far less people believe in Jesus than those who deny Him.
So, what Paul is saying in V15… cannot speak of sheer quantity of people… rather it reflects the quality of the gift.
The gift is is a grace of God… Not mercy… (not getting what you deserve)… but grace…which includes the kindness and compassion of mercy, but adds to that a gift or favor.
You commit a serious crime, and are on death row…
Mercy would be during the day of your execution… the Governor exercises executive clemency pardoning you.
Grace would be… the Governor then adopts you… clothes you in the finest clothes… gives you the keys to the mansion… puts you in a position of authority… and at some point… this analogy fails…
Because there is no temporal example that can capture the grace we receive in Christ…
Justification… righteousness… reigning in life … eternal life… and rewards… to be present with Christ…
In righteousness, the work of Christ not only cancels the effects of Adam’s transgression… reconciling believers back to God…
But… we gain much more than we ever lost.
Just consider… had Adam remained sinless… and generations after remained sinless… we would still be in the garden…
Satan… throughout generations would be tempting mankind with no clear end, where now the Bible declares he will be cast into the Lake of Fire.
We would never be in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit… becoming the temple of the living God.
We would never be co-heirs with Christ…
There would be no New Heaven and New Earth…
Some of you might be thinking… “I’d take Eden to avoid the suffering of this lifetime in a heartbeat.”
You say that now!… in glory you will say, “Whatever was I thinking?… It was all worth it. Heaven is exceedingly more than I ever could have imagined!”
What we gain in the gift “abounds”…
Abounded in V15 and 20… abundance in V17… these are words that mean “over and above”… or “overflowing.”
The grace and the gift abounded to many. Overflowing grace.
Continuing with this thought… and further contrasting Adam and Christ…
Rom 5:16 “And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.”
There was a consequence to the entire human race as a result of Adam’s action and as a result of Jesus’ action.
The difference is Adam’s action brought judgment and condemnation into existence.
And the entire human race is modeled after this man… all sin… all die.
But, Jesus’ action on the cross took on ALL the offenses against God FOR ALL TIME… past, present and future…
And anyone who accepts His gift of righteousness by faith… is justified.
Sometimes… we start to wonder about fairness in light of all of this.
We think about Adam and may state, “...it’s not fair that we were born into sin. It’s not fair to be born with a sin nature… we should be born sinless until we sin (which wouldn’t take long) What did I do to deserve suffering and to die? Truly… we all deserve Eden.”
It’s the wrong thought process.
Maybe a better way to re-frame this is to meditate upon,
“What good have I done in this life so far… to inherit glory?”
“Have I lived such a pure life… as pure as God’s holiness to be appropriate for the holiness of heaven?”
If we really want to evaluate fair… How fair was it for Jesus… who lived a perfect, sinless life… to die on the cross, and to take on the sin of the world? To take on the wrath of God, so we don’t have to?”
How fair is it for you and I to inherit eternity? What good have we done to deserve that?
And, this is one of the reasons Paul can write repeatedly about the abundant grace of God. Because that’s what it is.
NOT earned… it’s grace.
V17 “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)”
Have you ever considered just how holy God is?
When Adam sinned… it wasn’t a lifetime of sins that expelled him from Eden. It was one act of disobedience.
It even seems trivial when you say it out loud… he took a bite from an apple. Not theft, or murder, or some devious sin by our standards.
But it was serious… disobedience is disobedience. And, this one act of disobedience just goes to show how much God abhors… how much He hates sin.
Now… contrast that to ALL the sins mankind has committed down through the ages… that Jesus took on to pay for.
Torturing one another… enslaving one another… violating innocence and the sanctity of life from the very beginning.
By Adam’s one offense… mankind is patterned born in the nature sinners…
And we know we have a sin nature because death rules over all people.
If you want to try to prove that you don’t have a sin nature, then don’t die.
What’s so fascinating about this verse is the contrast between the words “death reigned” and “reign in life.”
When you consider the certainty of physical death… the mortality rate is 100%… we all know and accept that we stare death in the face… the only question is when.
Now… with that same certainty… and even greater certainty… TRUST that through Jesus… LIFE is much more certain.
The reign of life through Jesus is more certain then death.
Because just as we die physically… guaranteed… we live eternally through faith in Jesus Christ.
Even despite our sinful nature… God loved us so much that He paved a way for us to be reconciled to Him.
Through one Man’s gift… His perfect sinless sacrifice.
Consider the beauty of the words in V17 “abundance of grace”… “gift of righteousness”… “reign in life...”
Through faith in the One, Jesus Christ… we are NOT going to get what we deserve… because we receive grace… and righteousness… and life.
vv 18-19 “Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many [ALL] were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many [Unfortunately NOT All] will be made righteous.”
The therefore we see here… is post parenthesis… and Paul is moving to his closing thoughts on V12…
These verses are the tale of two men… and “one man’s offense”… and “one man’s righteous act.”
Between the two men… all of humanity is represented…
Every person is either in Adam… or in Jesus.
We are all born physically and die physically… identifying with Adam. We don’t have a choice but to be born identifying with Adam.
But, we have the choice to identify with Christ.
In grace… through the righteous act of one Man… the free gift came to all men…
The gift came… the gift is extended to every man and woman alive…
But, each person has to accept the gift.
What you do with that gift determine which man you follow.
Adam… and in him inheriting judgment and condemnation.
Or Jesus… inheriting righteousness and justification of life.
God will not force you to choose Jesus… but He did everything to make it possible for you to have life.
But, You DO NOT get to decide… or define the way to enter heaven.
You didn’t create heaven… God did. And, He defined the means by which entrance into heaven is permitted.
Fight it as much as you like… reject it if you will… the choice is yours…
But, why not receive the gift of eternal life?
Personal choice was what God extended to Adam and Eve in the Garden… choose to obey… don’t eat from the tree.
And, personal choice is what He lays before us all… choose to follow Adam… or choose to follow Jesus.
There’s not a third choice. You cannot choose to go your own way… Why? Because you’re not God!
And even if you could… scripture declares that your personal righteousness is as filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6)
Either accept or reject Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
Closing out the chapter… and closing out our section on Justification… our final two verses… First, V20 “Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,”
Law entered through Moses to make all people aware of just how sinful they were.
The Law doesn’t save.
A mirror doesn’t clean dirt off your face… it just makes you aware dirt is on your face.
A speed limit sign doesn’t stop you from speeding… it just makes you aware you are speeding.
And, when the Mosaic law was given… sin abounded.
Because our hearts are so devious to want to break the law… sin overflowed.
My Pastor shared how his parents took him to museums a lot as a kid… and once he saw “Do not touch” signs…
It became his goal to touch… so he’s touched all kinds of famous works of art like a DaVinci…
Sin abounded…
There was nothing wrong with the law… all it does is communicate rules.
The problem is with our nature.
But… where sin abounded, Grace “abounded much more”…
Abounded… overflowed… you may have heard this verse read… “Grace super abounded.”
From a natural father… we might expect him to respond with abounding anger if we exhibiting abounding sin.
But our heavenly Father overflows grace and love…
And, before you’re tempted to think… “Well if my sin helps grace to super abound… sign me up… I’m happy to help God’ out.”
This verse is not a justification to ‘party like it’s 1999.’
Paul will write in Rom 6:1 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not!”
When we get into that chapter Paul will discuss that we don’t need to live that way anymore… that we can walk in newness of life.
We’ll see that next week.
But, in our final verse… in V21… we see this word “reign” once again… which as mentioned means “rule”, but also… quite literally it means to “be king.”
And, if Adam were a king, just as Jesus IS THE KING… what would their reign look like…
V21 “… so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Adam’s reign is characterized by sin and death…
The reign of Jesus IS reflected in grace through righteousness to eternal life.
There is a error in thinking amongst Christians that because of grace… we can have a casual attitude toward sin.
This is not the case.
Sin reigned prior to Christ. But, now that Christ is our King…
Sin no longer rules… grace rules…
… and reigns through righteousness… through grace our standing with God is right…
NOT through unrighteousness…
Grace is not in league with sin…
And, grace reigns to eternal life…
Through grace there is destination. Life now… and life eternally.
Finally… grace reigns through Jesus our Lord… because it all points back to Him.
Worship team please come.
Read ahead… next week Chapter 6… Sanctification.
Let’s Pray!
Going through Romans has been an amazing journey… From condemnation… to justification… next up… Sanctification.
This is the life of the Christian! Praise God for Jesus Christ.
If you need prayer for anything, our prayer team will be available as we sing this final song.
Go in grace… and may grace reign in your week ahead!
