Rom 5-It Reigns What Reigns
| It Reigns! What Reigns?! Romans 5:21
July 30, 2006(NIV) 20The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (NLT) 20God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful kindness became more abundant. 21So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful kindness rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (ESV) 20Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (NCV) 20The law came to make sin worse. But when sin grew worse, God’s grace increased. 21Sin once used death to rule us, but God gave people more of his grace so that grace could rule by making people right with him. And this brings life forever through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Phillips Translation) Now we find that the Law keeps slipping into the picture to point the vast extent of sin. Yet, though sin is shown to be wide and deep, thank God His grace is wider and deeper still! The whole outlook changes—sin used to be the master of men and in the end handed them over to death: now grace is the ruling factor, with righteousness as its purpose and its end the bringing of men to the eternal Life of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.(The Message) All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end. Prayer Memory Verse: (NIV) For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. – Romans 5:17 Intro: “There can only be one captain of the ship.” “You can only serve one master.” “Too many cooks spoil the soup.” Etc.The point: When it comes to who’s in charge, when push comes to shove, what rises to the top is the higher authority. This morning we are looking at two competing authorities in our lives, sin and grace. It is crucial question to know the answer to: Does sin reign in your life? OR does grace? The reign of sin vs. The reign of graceEffects, Symptoms and FocusQuick Definition review:Grace – unmerited favor. It flows completely from God’s gracious choice, irrespective of how undeserving its recipients are.“Grace ceases to be grace if God is compelled to bestow it in the presence of human merit…. Grace ceases to be grace if God is compelled to withdraw it in the presence of human demerit.” (C. Samuel Storms)Sin – Willful rebellion / rejection of God’s authority1. Effects of the reigns of sin and of grace☞ Sin: Leads to DeathBoth in its immediate impact on self and all those around us (Spiritually & physically)(NLT) 21Just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death…(Phillips Translation) Sin used to be the master of men and ended up in death. Satan’s lie: “You surely shall not die!” (Gen. 3:4)Sin kills. It destroys….We see the reign of sin all around us in our constant dealing with death.Every time we have to deal with the death of a loved one or help a friend deal with it, we are reminded of the harsh reality of sin and its consequences.This is why Jesus HAD TO DIE. If He didn’t we would have to….☞ Grace: Invites us to Life Both in its immediate impact on self and all those around us, as well as physically(NIV) 21Just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (The Message) All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life Grace leads to righteousness and life (both here and now, and in the life to comeThe rest of our time this morning, we are going to examine the immediate, ongoing effects of the life and death of sin and grace for us.☞ Sin: Leads to Powerlessness / Frustration Because it is SELF-centered / SELF-empowered – Sin flows from our desire for autonomy (independence) from God.Satan’s lie: “You are your own master.”☞ Grace: Brings Power Grace reigns in righteousness and brings eternal life through Christ. (NIV)Because it flows out of our powerlessness, it plugs into God’s limitless power. Because grace is irrespective of our unworthiness, we do not need to be fearful of not living up. As we understand grace we realize that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is ours.“God helps those who help themselves.” – What do you think?Satan’s lie: “You are powerless to overcome sin.”Grace also enables us to be gracious to others regardless of any merit on their part. ☞ Sin: Leads to Despair (NCV) Sin once used death to rule us. Satan’s lie: “It doesn’t really matter. We all die. So eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die.”Why bother – Eyore – Murphy’s lawMurphy's Computer Laws:- As soon as you delete a worthless file, you'll need it.- Important letters that contain no errors will develop errors on the way to the printer.- The computer only crashes when printing a document…you haven't saved.- The likelihood of a hard disk crash is in direct proportion to the value of the material that hasn't been backed up. Follow sin and it will destroy your heath.Follow sin and it will take the joy out of things like friendship, love, and laughter. It will keep you from experiencing contentment or hope.These are symptoms of spiritual death. When we take God out of the picture…And sin does take God out of the picture…unless…☞ Grace: Leads to Joy – thankfulness, confident expectationWhen we begin to understand the love of God for His children, we begin to see all of life through the filter of that love…“Grace always gives, whereas sin always takes away.” (Martin Lloyd-Jones)☞ Sin: Brings Alienation from God He couldn’t REALLY love ME! I am too unworthy! I am not obedient enough – When we are wrong and we know it, it is hard to be in a good relationship with ANYONE.– Our sins make a separation between us and our God.(Isaiah 59:2 (ESV) Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you)It is no wonder that sin alienates us from God!☞ Grace: Growing relationship with God (NCV) 21Sin once used death to rule us, but God gave people more of his grace so that grace could rule by making people right with him. And this brings life forever through Jesus Christ our Lord. God’s grace rules over us now and gives us right standing with God eternally through Christ. (NLT)God gave more grace so that grace could rule by making people right with Him—leading to eternal life through Christ. (NCV)Grace brings a growing desire to know Him, to worship Him It produces confidence in His love and His desire to forgive.As we understand grace we become quick to confess sin and then to believe His forgiveness.Grace reigns in our right standing with God through Christ. | | ☞ Sin: Leads to even more disobedience to GodWhen we refuse to deal with sin in our lives, God sometimes gives us over to even greater sin, that in the destruction that follows we might turn to Him.Follow sin and it will rob you of your character. It will rob you of your joy. It will destroy you from the inside out.☞ Grace: leads to Obedience to GodGrace does not mean the setting aside of God’s law or the waiving of justice, as if God were saying, “well, you have been bad, but it does not matter; I forgive you.” (Boice) Grace may be free to us, but it is not without cost! When we mindlessly, casually and freely continue to sin, we taking the priceless grace which is freely ours in Jesus Christ and using it as a play-toy– Like when Dave and I used my father’s records as stepping stones…Grace motivates us to ever greater obedience, not because we have to live up to some standard in order to be acceptable, but because we ARE acceptable; we ARE loved, and we ARE forgiven. 1. Effects of the reigns of sin and of grace2. Symptoms of the reigns of sin & of grace☞ Sin: Is natural for us It takes no effort – We can do this. It is bound up in our INdependence.☞ Grace: Is supernatural Without God there would be no true grace – Grace, by its very definition reminds us that it is NOT natural. There are many things we could NEVER do in our own strength that we CAN do through the grace of God and indwelling of His H.S.God’s immeasurable power (c.f. Eph. 1 and 2 Cor. 12)☞ Sin: Is all about My power / It is bound up in my Pride.When sin reigns, we fall into the equal and opposite traps of either giving up, because WE are inadequate or going forth in our own power, so that we can feel good about ourselves.☞ Grace: Is all about God’s power and always leads to our Repentance.When grace reigns, God’s power stands in contrast to our powerlessness and foolishness, leading to repentance.Grace reigns in our victory over sin.☞ Sin: Leads to Fear We are fearful that bad things will to happen to us. The “What if’s” of life… We fear them because they are out of our control.Sin wants control and results in fear when forced to walk by faith. We don’t want grace. We want a paycheck.Sin reigns in our fear of death.☞ Grace: Brings Peace God, Who didn’t even spare His own Son, but gave Him up for me (Romans 8:32), is in control and I can rest in Him, no matter what the outward appearances) – He will give me the grace to endure whatever He brings my way – not because I have lived up to some set of rules, but because of His grace and love.(Romans 8:32 – He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?) I can be at peace no matter what my circumstances because God’s love for me is secure in His grace.NOTE: He never promises to give us the grace to endure the things we imagine.☞ Sin: Leads to Hopelessness / Cynicism Our struggle with sin often leads us to give up. “Why bother?” we say. “It doesn’t matter what I do! I always mess up!”☞ Grace: Produces Hope Grace enables us to be confident in God’s promises / We can be confident that God can take ANYone who is willing and impact the world through them – the Jr. High camp and the kid with the cerebral palsy – Tony C.Grace reigns in our hope of eternal life.☞ Sin: Leads to Giving up We Stop fighting indwelling sin because it is just too hard… and besides, it’s a battle I can’t ever win☞ Grace: Produces a growing desire for righteousness I will NEVER give up fighting the sin in my life. In Jesus Christ I am free from its power and penalty. I am a child of God! Because of His grace I am no longer a slave to sin. Because I don’t have to EARN God’s love, I WANT to please Him. – the already, not yet…☞ Sin: Produces Guilt When we are living under the reign of sin, we carry a heavy Burden of sin / My focus is on MY failures rather than God’s forgivness / paralyzing☞ Grace: Brings Freedom / Forgiveness Because of grace we can be Confident in His unconditional love Because of our experience of grace we find the Freedom to forgive, to fail, to serve, etc. 1. Effects of the reigns of sin and of grace2. Symptoms of the reigns of sin and of grace3. Focus of the reigns of sin and of grace☞ Sin: Is focused on the Here & Now It is Focused on present desires and perceived needs.MY kids, MY job, MY health, MY vacation, etc.“You owe it to yourself!”Sin reigns in our tendency to prefer the here and now to eternity – We see this in our quickness to buy what we do not have the money to buy…– We see this in tendency to pursue our desires and to feel cheated when we, for some reason, are kept from what WE want – career choice, job advancement or position, a relationship, etc.☞ Grace: Is focused on Eternity with GodGrace calls to us to find our fulfillment in knowing God and Jesus Christ Whom He has sent.Grace calls us to find present satisfaction in the confident assurance that this is only temporary.☞ Sin: Focuses on Unbelief / Doubt “Yes. I know God’s Word says it, but…”How can I be confident of something I know that I DO NOT DESERVE?!?Sin reigns in our unbelief☞ Grace: Focuses on Faith By the grace of God I will act on what He has said in His Word. The key to life is knowing God as He has revealed Himself in His Word. ☞ Sin: Focuses on self MY failures / MY victories / MY needs / MY desires, etc.☞ Grace: Focuses on God God’s love / God’s mercy / God’s holiness / God’s glory, etc. So where do we go from here?This is not an either/or, at least not in an absolute sense. It is a matter of degree. The point, this morning, is that we need to recognize when we are allowing sin to reign and in that recognition to repent and believe the gospel.In summary:Grace reigns:☞ When we recognize our sin☞ When we, by faith turn from our sin to God in faith☞ When we consciously & intentionally believe the gospel A Truth to Remember:God’s grace is FAR more powerful than any sin we might commit. It is unconditional and calls us to rest in GOD’S LOVE rather than our lives.A Challenge to Consider:Are you willing to repent of your unbelief and to believe the gospel, daily turning from sin’s reign and embracing God’s amazing grace, which is so freely offered to you? |