Romans 5: 18-21 "The Glory of Grace"

Introduction:

Salvation is all of grace. To say that is to make the point that it is all initiated by God out of His divine love and mercy as a demonstration of His goodness towards us.

Salvation then is a gift given in reflection of His glory alone. But the Apostle Paul does not just spell out this doctrine of our salvation in Romans for us to get the Gospel right when it comes to content.

No, there is a contribution that the gospel makes to our perception of our standing in Christ that is paramount for us to understand as we live the Christian life.

Maybe you have noticed that it seems that our Christianity is lived out in tension on may fronts. The tension between law and grace is one that many of us struggle with.

In Romans 5 the Apostle Paul has been setting up the context by which to address this tension.

It seems to me that Paul understands that God instituted the Gospel of grace in order not just save us from His wrath but also from our own self reliance.

This is a context by which the glory of His grace rises to the top and the emphasis is all on God and His provision in Christ.

We see this in how the righteousness of Christ leads to our justification in verse 18-19. Look back at your text:

I. Righteousness Leading to Justification (18-19).

The righteous act of obedience that justifies us and imputes righteousness to us is by Christ (18).

The One Act that affects those in Adam are affected by their identity in Christ in His obedience to God in His death burial and resurrection (19).

This is not an argument for Universalism but it is telling us that those who were chosen in Christ and were

II. Righteousness Leading to Eternal Life (20-21).

Grace abounded to meet the demands of the Law (20).

Grace reigns through righteousness (21).