Grace Abounds
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
It has been said that one man can’t make a difference. Tell that to James Garfield. In June of 1880, the Republican National Convention was held in Chicago. Garfield was going to make a nominating speech on behalf of a fellow Ohioan named John Sherman, the brother of William Tecumseh Sherman. The other two major candidates were Ulysses S. Grant who was hoping to gain a third term as U. S. President and James G. Blaine. The winner needed 379 votes to win. On the first ballot Grant received 304, Blaine 284, and Sherman only 93. It was nearly unchanged on the second ballot. On the third ballot, two new names appeared. Benjamin Harris received one vote. As did James A. Garfield. The same man voted for Garfield on every ballot afterwards except for 14th-18th, and then he started voting Garfield every ballot after that and never gave up. After 34 ballots, Garfield suddenly went from 1 vote to 17 votes. After 36 ballots lasting a total of 3 days, Garfield suddenly became the Convention’s nominee, receiving 399 votes, 20 more than needed. It was all because of one man, a delegate from Pennsylvania would not give up. One man changed the future of the United States.
One man can make a difference, for good or for bad. As we get into this morning’s text, we see one of each. Adam brought sin into the world and with it, death. But in spite of Adam’s grievous and deadly act, God’s grace abounded through his Son, Jesus Christ. That is what this entire passage is about. Like last week, Paul puts sin and grace side by side. By putting these two side by side, Paul shows his readers, which include us, two important matters. The first matter is that sin is serious problem. But the second matter is that grace is a superior power.
Sin is a Serious Problem
Grace is a Superior Power
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.
Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.
For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sin is a Serious Problem
Sin is a Serious Problem
The first matter Paul puts before his readers is that sin is a serious problem. When Adam chose to sin against God, he brought about a serious problem.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.
Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
In these three verses, we see how serious a problem sin was. The first serious issue is that sin itself entered into the world. Every calamity, every heartache, every illness or disease, every hurricane, tornado, drought, flood, food shortage, and every other thing that is wrong with this world is a result of Adam’s sin. Adam brought sin into the world. He opened Pandora’s Box and no one was able to put back what he unleashed. Later Paul will explain
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
But the second serious issue Paul pointed out was that sin brought death. When sin entered the world, death came with it. This was the warning that God gave Adam. On the day you eat from the tree, you will surely die. But it wasn’t just that Adam and Eve would die. It would be bad enough if sin were a killer. It’s even worse if sin is a serial killer.
That’s the the third serious problem that Paul brought up was that death wasn’t contained to Adam and Eve, but it spread. It spread to everybody. Death is a serious matter that we all face. There is not one person in this room who has not been affected by death in some way. So far, only two people have escaped death: Enoch and Elijah. Every other person who has walked the earth has faced death, except those who are alive today. And if Jesus doesn’t return soon, we all face the seriousness of that death.
Paul explained still a fourth reason why sin is a serious problem. It wasn’t just death that spread, but sin spread too! All sinned. The question comes as to what Paul meant when he wrote, “all sinned.” Did he mean that all sinned in Adam or that all sinned on their own? There are good arguments for both understandings so no one can be dogmatic on the issue. I would lean toward the thought that all sinned in Adam. And the reason I say that is because it fits with the context, it explains why everyone sins as individuals, and it fits with the idea that Paul brings about in
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
Otherwise, one could easily argue, as Pelagius did in the fourth century, that everyone is born with a clean slate and that no one has to sin and thus sinlessness is possible for people. But that goes outside the bounds of Scripture which is why it was condemned as heresy.
So there are four reasons in verse 12 as to why sin is a serious problem. First, it affects the entire world. Second, it brought in death. Third, it allowed death to spread because fourth, everyone sinned in Adam. This is what we call the federal headship of Adam. Since everyone came from the loins of Adam, his sin which corrupted his whole being (physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually) also corrupted every person with the exception of Jesus.
But let’s go back and look at death for a moment. Because Adam directly disobeyed God. God said not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and he did it anyway. But between Adam and Moses, no one directly disobeyed God. At best we could say that those who built Babylon disobeyed, but God had not told them directly to spread across the earth and multiply. Still though, when we get to Moses on Mt. Sinai where he received the law of God, there was no law concerning spreading across the world and being fruitful.
But we know that every person to live between Adam and Noah and then Noah to Moses, every one of them died in some way. But they were without law. They didn’t do what Adam did and disobey a direct order. No one else ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Cain killed Abel, but there was no “do not murder” law. So Paul wrote
for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.
Does he mean that everyone of those people who died between Adam and Moses are in heaven because their sin was not counted against them because there was no law? No. Remember that Paul is building on top of what he has already written. This is not written in a vacuum. There was no written law until Moses. But remember the argument that Paul made in chapter 2.
For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.
For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
Even without the written law, God placed some of his laws inherently upon the hearts of everyone. Even though they did not have the Ten Commandments, everyone has some idea of right and wrong. They have the “love thy neighbor” laws in their hearts. They have some longing for the divine on their hearts. So, those who died between Adam and Moses, even though they did not have the written law, died because they had the heart’s law and sinned against what they knew inherently.
But then things got worse! Because no longer was there sin apart from the written law, but a written law was given!
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
That word “trespass” and all the words in this text we’re reading that are translated “trespass” have the idea of falling aside. It is a fall. So when Adam fell, we all fell. We were all separated from God. When the law was brought in, the falling increased. Why? Because sin increased. We need to keep this in mind when we get to Romans 7. Law increases sin; it does not decrease it.
Do we see how serious sin is? It is deadly! Even without a written law, sin kills because it still finds a way to do what we inherently know not to do. With the law, it’s just that much worse! That sin nature is already in us when we are born. It shows itself early on in life and becomes more sophisticated in time. So the lie about taking a cookie becomes a lie about doing your chores which becomes a lie about where you went as a teenager on Saturday night which becomes a lie as to how many hours you actually worked. It’s amazing how fast the sin nature learns and matures and strengthens in our lives.
Grace is a Superior Power
Grace is a Superior Power
Which leads us into Paul’s second matter. The first was that sin is a serious problem: it invaded the world, brought death with it, spread itself and death to everyone who lives, and causes us to do what we inherently know is wrong (learning, maturing, and strengthening along the way) and increases when the law is given. The second matter though is that grace is a superior power. As powerful as sin is, grace is so much more powerful.
But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.
For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
So Adam, who was our federal head, brought sin into this world and with it death. Now physical death—temporal death—is not all that death is. That is the first death. There’s a second death as well. At the judgment John wrote
And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
So again, sin is a serious problem. It not only brings about the first death which is physical but temporal, but the second death which is eternal damnation, or as Paul wrote here: condemnation.
But grace. Grace is stronger than sin. As strong and as powerful as sin seems, grace is superior in its power. So let’s take a look at how.
First, Adam brought in sin. Adam, as verse 14 tells us was a type of him who was to come. So there is Adam, who is a type. The one to come was Jesus. Jesus is the anti-type, or the fulfillment of the type. When we talk about types or shadows in the Bible, we mean to say that there is something that is similar to something else, but that something else is the real thing. It is the superior thing. So Paul told the Colossians
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.
These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
Food, drink, festivals, new moons, sabbaths, and other things like the ark, temple, sacrifices, and such were types. They were shadows. They pointed to the real thing: Jesus Christ. The shadow of a tree is inferior to the tree itself. So Adam, being merely human, is a type of Christ, but is vastly inferior to Christ. Therefore anything that comes from Adam is inferior than anything that comes from Christ Jesus. So Adam was our federal head. But he is inferior to Jesus, so that all who are in Jesus now have a greater, stronger federal head.
Second, as we saw in verse 12, death spread to many because of Adam’s one sin. Paul makes a huge statement here in verse 15, that while sin showed its power by killing the many, grace shows its greater power. And he goes on to explain.
There was only one sin to commit for Adam. Adam only had to disobey one thing to commit a sin. Any other act on Adam’s part would have been a sinless act. But Adam would not say no to that one act. He would not deny himself. Now stop for a moment and think about your sins in life. You do not have to worry about not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But you do have to worry about a whole lot of other sins. Lust in its various forms, stealing, lying, murder, thanklessness, idle words, gossip, not keeping the sabbath, disobedience to parents, and the list can go on and on. There are tons of sins which we are now supposed to deny ourselves of. Many of them we have not been too successful in doing. Yet grace, Paul said, grace following many trespasses, brings justification.
Technically, it says that the free gift brought justification. If you look at verse 15, you’ll see that the free gift that is being referred to is righteousness, but like death coming along side of sin, righteousness comes along side of grace. So Adam brought in sin and with it death and condemnation. But Jesus brings in grace and with it righteousness and justification. So let’s go back to that one sin. Imagine a complex line of dominoes. You’ve seen the videos where people set up these elaborate mosaics of dominoes. How many dominoes has to be touched before they all fall down? Just one. That first one gets tapped and everything falls. What if you were in the audience watching and suddenly, all those dominoes got set right? That would be quite a site. A quite unexpected site! But let me ask you? Which event has more power? The tap that caused the dominoes to fall or the sudden standing of all the dominoes back up?
We’d have to admit that even though it was a little tap, it contained power, but only in the sense that it affected the dominoes, causing them all to fall. But the power that picked them up at once and set them straight again is an even greater power. It’s nearly indescribable; its practically incomprehensible.
So the first matter showing grace’s superior power is that Christ is better than Adam. Adam is the type; Christ is the anti-type. Adam is an imitation; Christ is the real thing. The second matter showing grace’s superior power is that Christ brought righteousness in grace while Adam brought death in sin. Adam tap that domino causing all to fall and die; but Christ bringing grace, set all right. The third matter showing grace’s superior power is that grace with righteousness along side, brought life. Adam’s one sin brought death and then Paul clarifies by referring to condemnation (not just temporal/physical death, but eternal death) for all; but Jesus’s one act of righteousness brought life or rather justification of life for all.
Let’s go back to Romans 3 for a moment.
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
I think this clears up so much confusion. First if we remember the context of what Paul is talking about. There’s a dispute between Jews and Gentiles. Can Gentiles be Christians without first becoming Jew? Paul’s answer is yes. Why? Because the law cannot help in making a person a Christian. There is no righteousness that comes from the law. Everyone, Jew and Gentile are in the same boat. All have sinned and all lack God’s glory. Only if righteousness is manifested apart from the law by grace can any person, Jew or Gentile, hope to be made right with God.
That’s what Paul is saying again in these verses in chapter 5. Through the one man, sin and death spread to all. All mankind. Not just Gentiles, but Jews too. No one is unaffected by sin and death. At the same time, all can be made righteous and alive. It doesn’t matter if your Jew or Gentile, black, white, Asian, Latino, Pacific Islander, or whatever. We are all in the same boat of sin and death. And Jesus is the same and will do the same for all if we will put our trust in him.
Jesus’s one act of righteousness, and by that not just his sacrifice on the cross, but the act of leaving heaven and coming to earth in order to redeem the sinner through his death and resurrection. We get that from Paul’s parallelism in verse 19:
For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
Grace is a superior power!
But what about my sin? My sin is a serious problem? I keep sinning. I know I’m not supposed to sin. But my sin keeps increasing. The more I don’t want to sin, the more I try not to sin, the more I seek to abstain, the more I seem to be doing it. And to make matters worse, if I was going to be completely honest, there are many times, I enjoy the sin. That’s not uncommon. There’s a reason that sin is so pervasive. It appeals to the flesh. It feels good. It’s enjoyable. It’s consequences are deadly. It’s the cheese in the mousetrap. It smells so enticing and seems irresistible. But once it’s taken, snap! So what do we do with that? Sin increases in our lives. Can I even be a Christian when I fall so often?
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
Sin is no match for grace. Sin is a serious problem, but grace is a superior power. Go back to
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.
and
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God is not surprised by nor overwhelmed by our sins. Grace abounds from God so that even with our sins, God has decided to pour out his love into our hearts, and stand shoulder to shoulder with his own love. Grace abounds all the more. Sin cannot outpace God’s grace. It can’t outmaneuver God’s grace. Sin will never get the upper hand on God’s grace. Ever!
so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sin reigned for a time, but grace took the throne. Grace transferred God’s righteousness to us so that we could then have eternal life all through Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
Conclusion
As we conclude Romans 5:12-21, we have seen that sin is a serious problem. Adam sinned and it has spread, brought death, leads to condemnation, and increases whenever the law is brought in. But we’ve also seen that grace is a superior power. Jesus obeyed in righteousness, and brought grace to all who will believe, resulting in our righteousness, justification, and eternal life. Grace abounds so much more even when sin increases.
What does all this mean? It means, take heart, Christian. Sin never has the last word in your life. It means take heart, Christian. God does not loathe you even if there are times you loathe yourself. It means, take heart Christian. One ounce of God’s grace is greater than a pound of sin. And as we saw last week, God loves to lavish us with grace upon grace.
But it also means that you who are without Christ, you are still under the seriousness of sin. You are still under condemnation and will one day face God’s wrath. You will not receive one ounce of God’s grace on judgment day. You will face the full fury of God’s anger. You will be condemned to an eternity of hell. But if you will see what Jesus has done and will put your hope and faith in him, that he took your condemnation upon himself and gives you the righteousness of God so that you live to him (though no one will do so perfectly as we’ve seen already), you will be saved from the wrath to come. God’s grace will be lavished upon you.
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt. Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured, there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt. Grace, grace, God’s grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God’s grace. Grace that is greater than all our sin.