Grace Abounding

I want you to look at verse 12 to start us off. Paul says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” It is universally agreed that this passage before us is indeed one of the greatest theological sections in the entire Bible. In Romans 5:12-21, our text tonight, we summarize the theology of the preceding chapters about sin and condemnation, about the lostness of man, justification, and how God saves sinners. We saw the world condemned and guilty, and we see that God justifies the unrighteous. Tonight we are going to see the foundation or the basis for which God can do that, and the simple answer is in Christ Jesus. The most often repeated phrase in the Pauline epistles, that is, the epistles penned by Paul, is that phrase “in Christ” or “in Christ Jesus” or “in the Lord.” The sad thing about this truth of being “in Christ” as believers is that it is neglected and forgotten by many today. People don’t want to really look into this important key doctrine in the element of the gospel that we are “in Christ.” How does Paul summarize these two truths of sin and condemnation and, on the other hand, justification? Well, he uses two contrasting individuals. He uses Adam, and he uses Christ. In Adam, we have condemnation; in Jesus Christ, we have justification. He shows us that all of humanity is either in Adam and under condemnation or in Christ and justified. Paul points out that our justification in Christ goes just as deep and really far greater. He uses the phrase, “much more than our condemnation.”

Just a couple simple thoughts, God sees all of humanity in one of two categories. He sees all of humanity either “in Adam,” or He sees all of humanity “in Christ.” The implications are that those who are in Adam are condemned, they are under the wrath of God. To put it very bluntly, it doesn’t make me popular but it’s Biblically true, they are without hope, without God, and on their way to hell. If you are in Christ, you are forgiven, justified, you have the hope of heaven, you have eternal life, you not only live in the world to come but you can live right now. Two very, very stark contrasts. Everyone born the first time is born in Adam. You have to be born again, a second birth or a second rebirth, to be in Christ. Now, we won’t go into tonight how we get in Christ by the work of the Spirit (we’ll go into that in chapter 6 beginning next week), but God sees all of humanity in those two categories. Adam acted as a federal head, and he brought sin and death and condemnation unto the whole of human race. Jesus acted as, in a sense, our federal head. One man, Jesus, died in obedience, and His righteousness then comes upon all of those who trust, believe in, and receive Him as their Lord and as their Savior.

In the first 11 verses of Chapter 5, Paul answered the question, What are the blessings of our justification? We saw that they were sevenfold. In verse 1, it was peace with God; in verse 2, it was access to God and rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God; in verses 3-4, it was rejoicing in our tribulations; in verses 5-8, it was the love of God poured out into our hearts; in verses 9-10, it was that we were saved from the wrath of God; and in verse 11, it is that we are rejoicing or joying or glorying in God. There is a second question that needs to be asked and answered. It is answered in this second section, verses 12-21. That second question is, Can we be sure that justification will last?’ How do we know that our salvation will last? How do we know that it can’t be lost, diminish or wear out? The answer is, because we are in Christ. It is because of our union with Christ. Now, you’re all familiar with it, and we’re going to get there in several weeks, but Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” So, that summarizes again what Paul is laying the theological foundation for—those who are in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation. At the end of chapter 8 he says, for those who are in Christ there is no separation; and, in between, he says there is no defeat. Good news, amen? No condemnation, no separation and no defeat.

The Scottish pastor and theologian, James S. Stewart, called union with Christ, “The heart of Paul’s religion,” adding that, “this..,” that is, our union with Christ, “…more than any other conception, more than justification, more than sanctification, more even than reconciliation, is the key which unlocks the secrets of the soul.” John Murray went on further to say, “Union with Christ is the central truth of which the whole doctrine of salvation rests. The whole basis on which God can justify the ungodly, the wicked, the sinner, the unrighteous, is that that person is placed in Christ, and the righteousness of Christ and the obedience of Christ is put to their account or imputed to their record.” So, I think that as we go through this section, it’s going to be a kind of revolution for some, some understand this concept, but for others it is going to be a new understanding of that when you became a Christian God not only forgave you and justified you and gave you the Holy Spirit, but He took you out of Adam and placed you into Christ. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. You don’t have to ask Him to do that. He just does it automatically. You may not feel, like when you get saved, you don’t go, “Whoa! I just got out of Adam! Woo! That felt good!” I mean, you feel a relief of your burden of sin and the guilt of sin. You feel a sense of His presence, but there are a lot of things that happened to you that a lot of times you are unaware of. I say it a lot, and again, I guess it’s just one of my mantras. I’ll keep saying it until maybe the Lord takes me home or takes away my ability to speak. When you got saved something happened to you, something actually happened to you. As a matter of fact, Lewis Sperry Chafer in his Systematic Theology lists about 73 things that happened instantly to the believer the moment you were born again; without praying for it, without asking for it, without seeking it, without tarrying for it. The moment you were born again, God did all of these marvelous things for you. I think if God was going to do all that for us, we ought to find out what it is, right? One of them is, He took me out of Adam and He placed me into Christ. As I just quoted in Romans 8:1, it says that those who are in Christ, which is me as a believer, there is no more condemnation. That’s worth saying, “Praise the Lord” for right? No more condemnation! He is going to describe that in this marvelous section.

There are mysteries of unions in the Bible, that we won’t go into tonight that are not dealt with in our text, the person of the Godhead, the three in one; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Guess what? You cannot understand the trinity. You can explain it, but you can’t comprehend it—three in one. The two natures of Christ are another mystery of union as we have with Christ. That is, Jesus Christ is one person with two natures. One person, two natures—fully divine nature, fully human nature, sinless human nature, but full humanity and full deity in one person. That’s a mystery. Marriage in the Bible is also a union that is a mystery. The two become one flesh. You say, “I don’t understand the trinity. I don’t understand what theologians call the hypostatic union—two natures in Christ. I don’t understand that.” I’ve officiated a lot of weddings where the couple walks off. I’m seeing two people, but the two become one, and God really sees them blended into one individual. The two actually become one person.

The text that we are going to look at tonight divides into three short paragraphs and each, Adam and Christ, are related to each other, although with significant differences. It’s a little challenge to outline, but these three divisions are pretty commonly accepted, if you want to write them down. The first one is verses 12-14, and in it we see Adam and Christ introduced in a concept that is paralleled. They are paralleled with each other. They are kind of contrasted, but they are used as an analogy. Adam and Christ are introduced, and you might also title verses 12-14, “Man’s Ruin.” Let’s read it once again, this time verses 12-14. Paul says, “Wherefore…,” because it’s a book of logic, it’s filled with wherefores and therefores, “…as by one man sin entered into the world…,” now as I read this tonight, I’m going to read from the King James Bible. I’m going to change some words and interject interpretation as I go. The “one man” (verse 12) is Adam, the first man ever made. “…by one man…,” Adam, “…sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed…,” or reckoned, “…when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude…,” or in the same way, “…of Adam’s transgression.” Referring to Adam at the end of verse 14 he says, “…who is the figure…,” the word “figure” in the Greek is typos, where we get our word type or picture, “…of him that was to come.” Him who was to come is Jesus Christ, in case you’re wondering. So, we have Adam bringing sin into the world, and then we have “him who is to come” which is a reference to Jesus Christ. Now, in these verses, as I said, we have man’s ruin and we see how sin entered the world. I want you to note this, verse 12, sin entered the human family through one man. That one man is Adam.

Adam is a historical figure. (This is a quick footnote, but please listen to what I am saying.) Don’t ever let anyone tell you that Adam is a myth, or he is an allegory, or he is not real, or he wasn’t a true person, that the book of Genesis lacks in history, that it is an allegory, a picture, a story, or made up. Why do I say that? I believe that Adam and Eve were two literal human beings. They were the first human beings ever created. All of humanity came from two people—not from two monkeys, two chimpanzees or from prehistoric goo. It’s not from the goo to the zoo to you. We all go back to Adam the first. God made man from the dust of the ground. He breathed into his nostrils and became a living being, and then God caused Adam to fall asleep. He took from his rib and created the woman. Some said that He created Adam, then He looked at Adam and said, “I can do better than this,” and He made the woman. Right, Ladies? Actually, God knew that Adam would get lost in the garden and he would be too macho to ask for directions, so he made the woman. Or, perhaps He made the woman because Adam’s fig leaf would wear out, and she would have to go shopping to buy him another one. Anyway, back to the text.

There is a popular movement in the church today to deny the historicity of Adam. Now, here’s the problem with that, one of the big problems with that. The Bible says sin came into the world from Adam. If there was no Adam, how did sin come into the world? And, if there is no real sin that came into the world, then perhaps there is no need of a Savior. I believe that it undermines the foundation for the gospel. As far back as the garden of Eden, God prophesied that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent. The seed of the woman is the Messiah. The seed of the woman is Jesus Christ. No sooner had Adam and Eve sinned and brought death and condemnation on the whole human race by their fall that God promised the seed of that woman would bring the Savior of the world. In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem those that were under the law. Now, this is such bedrock Biblical truth that you can’t drift from that. There is the tendency today in the church to say, “Adam wasn’t a real story, it’s an allegory,” or you can interpret it however you want, but I think Paul believed that Adam and Eve were real. Jesus believed that Adam and Eve were real. If I believe in Adam and Eve, I’m in good company. Amen? Jesus believed in them, and I believe in them. Paul believed in them. I believe they are historical figures, but sin entered the world through Adam. This is recorded in Genesis and is the fall of man. God told them not to eat of the fruit and he ate it, and this is how sin came into the world.

What this passage doesn’t say, and nowhere else in the Bible does it really clearly break down, is where sin came from before Adam. The only origin of sin that we can find is that it was found in the heart of Lucifer, who was an angel who became the devil or Satan. The origin of sin, as much as the Bible declares, started in the heart of Satan. It was Satan in the form of a serpent that came into the garden of Eden and tempted Eve. The first words recorded in the Bible out of the mouth of the devil were, “Did God really say that?” He hasn’t stopped questioning and doubting the Word of God. So, Adam brought sin into the world. Adam’s sin was disobedience, Genesis 3. Then, it tells us (verse 12) that death resulted and entered the world through sin, “…by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.”

Did you know that death is not natural? One of the reasons we recoil from death, one of the reasons we grieve at death, one of the reasons that we so shun the whole death thing, is because it is not natural. It wasn’t designed by God. Jesus conquered sin and death when He died on the cross and rose from the dead he actually destroyed death. He conquered death, and He was able to reverse the curse and go beyond that and do even so much more! In Christ, we will not die. “Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die,” Jesus said. Death is not natural, so this eastern mystic concept of the circle of life, that it is natural, and you die in one form and come back in another form of the circle of life, is a lie from the pit of hell. It’s demonic. The Bible says it is appointed unto every man once to die and after this the judgment. You aren’t going to come back as a king or a queen or a race car driver or something like that. Years ago, when Shirley MacLaine was out on her limb and doing all her thing about reincarnation, I saw a cute little cartoon one time. It was these two lizards sitting on a rock (we have lots of lizards around here) talking. One lizard says, “I just had the weirdest dream. I believe in a former life I was Shirley MacLaine.” We have this concept of, “It’s the circle of life,” the Lion King thing, all that stuff. Death is not natural. Death came in the world because of sin. God said, “The day that you eat thereof you will surely die.” Adam and Eve died spiritually, separated from God and driven out of the garden of paradise, and then eventually they died physically.

When you read the geneologies in the book of Genesis, what is the repeated phrase? “And he died, and he died, and he died, and he died.” Do you know what that reminds us of? Our mortality. By the way, the word mortal means subject to death. God is immortal, we are mortal beings. Every one of us will die. Right now, as we sit in this sanctuary tonight, every single one of us sitting in here right now will die. If the Lord tarries, we will die. I’m not saying we’re all going to die tonight or tomorrow, that could happen, some of you could, and someone in this group may not be here this Sunday. There’s no lease on life. There is no guarantee of life. If not soon, it will be later. We will all die. Death is the product of man’s sin. Death is called the unwelcome parasite. It’s universal. Physical and spiritual death was the result of Adam’s sin, and it is man’s great enemy that was conquered by Jesus at the cross.

Thirdly, death came to all men or mankind. I want you to notice the little important phrase in verse 12. It says, “…for that all have sinned.” Now, when I said that this is one of the hardest portions of scripture to interpret, that is because theologians wrestle as to what Paul meant by, “for they have all sinned.” Is he talking about the act of sinning; that we actually all sin, which is true. Or, is he talking about the fact that we inherit sin from Adam the first? I believe that is true as well. Paul doesn’t delineate. He doesn’t tell us in what sense we have all sinned, but we read earlier in Romans that all have sinned and all have fallen short of the glory of God, right? So, the Bible teaches there that Adam, one man, brought sin into the world. Sin brought death, and death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. We are going to talk in just a second about why do babies die if they haven’t sinned. The answer to that is because they are born in Adam. They are born still subject to the curse, and even though they haven't grown up and done anything that we would call sinful or transgressed God’s law, they are born with an Adamic nature, a sinful nature, under the curse. All of death, sin, sickness, sorrow, suffering, pain, dying, and all the misery that this world sees, earthquakes, tornadoes and disease, every wicked evil thing in this world came because of man’s disobedience. That man was Adam, and he acted on our behalf. We were in Adam, so in Adam we have all sinned. I believe the answer to “for that all have sinned” is at least, if nothing else, the fact that Adam brought sin into the human race.

It’s a foreign concept to our modern mindset in the west of being individuals. Why should we inherit Adam’s sin? “I didn’t eat the fruit. It’s not my fault.” Have you ever pricked your finger on a rose thorn and said, “Thanks a lot, Adam!” You see some catastrophe and think, “Adam! Why did you eat that fruit?” We don’t know if it was an apple, by the way. It might have been a tangerine. It might have been a kiwi or a banana or a plum. Who knows? Poor apples. They’ve gotten such a bad wrap. Whatever he ate, the act was in his disobedience.

Look at verses 13 and 14. In verse 13, it should be indicated in your text, there is a parenthesis. Now, you have to search for the end of the parenthesis because the parenthetical statement starts at verse 13 and it’s like, “Where does it go?” You look for it in verse 14. You look in verse 15. You look at verse 17, and where is it found? At the very end of the 17th verse. So, from verse 13 to the end of verse 17, it’s a parenthetical section. You might read verse 12, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned,” then jump down to verse 18, taking out the parenthetical section, “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon …,” that is, Adam brought the offense, “…all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one…,” that is, Jesus Christ, “…the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” So, he makes the statement in verse 12 and then picks it up again in verse 18 (we’ll get there in just a second). In between this parenthetical section, he goes into these analogies and contrasts between Adam the first and Adam the second. Notice Adam’s imputation of sin there in verses 13 and 14, “(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed…,” that’s the doctrine of imputation or put to Adam’s account or mankind’s account, “…when there is no law.” What that means is that after Adam men kept dying, even though there were no 10 commandments until Moses, even though there was no law sin was still in the world, but to really have transgression you have to have a law. If my neighbor doesn’t have a sign, “Keep of the Grass,” and if I walk on his grass, I haven’t violated anything. There is no sign. Years ago I got a speeding ticket. Yes, your pastor had a speeding ticket. I was going 15 miles above the speed limit, but to my defense there wasn’t really any signs. “Why, officer. Where’s the sign?” He didn’t want to hear me talk about that, so after I got the ticket I did a little of my own research. I drove back down the road and sure enough, way down the road, way down the road, I mean it’s not even in the vicinity of my ticket, there was a sign that said 40 miles an hour. I was going 55 or whatever. It was way, way down the road, and I thought, “Doggonit, now I can’t argue my case,” you know, “I’m a sinner.” I broke the law. “Yeah, but you didn’t see the sign.” It doesn't matter, the sign was there and I was speeding. So, the law made me a sinner. It was a long time ago, okay? You go, “Let’s pray for Pastor John right now.” How is it that before the law came by Moses, from Adam to Moses, there could be sin in the world as is evident because people died from Adam to Moses? The answer is, it came through Adam. What he is basically trying to do is explain this concept that we don’t fully understand—that one man, Adam, could act on behalf of the entire human race and brought sin and death and condemnation upon everyone.

Lest I forget, real quickly, if you’re saying, “Well, it still isn’t fair. It’s not fair that Adam’s sin brought sin and death and condemnation and all this sorrow and suffering upon all these human beings that come along.” God in His infinite wisdom knew what He was doing because in this text we’re going to see, and I believe that there is wisdom beneath this that we could never comprehend, God set it up so that one man, Jesus Christ, could bring in salvation and righteousness. So, if through one man’s sin came death and condemnation, through one Man’s righteousness He could bring in salvation and eternal life to all those who would believe. Adam’s imputation of sin to the entire human race, but notice in verse 14, Adam becomes a type of Christ. “Nevertheless…,” even though there wasn’t any law given yet by Moses after Adam, “…death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is…,” that is, Adam, “…the figure…,” or a type “…of him…,” Jesus Christ, “…that was to come.” Now, Adam is a type of Christ. You say, “Well, wait a minute, Pastor John, that seems rather bizarre to think that Adam could prefigure Christ or Adam could be a type of Christ when Adam sinned.” In what sense is Adam a type of Christ? By the way, Christ would be what is called the antitype. Adam is called the type, and the antitype, the fulfillment, is found in Christ. This is why Jesus is called, in the New Testament, the last Adam. He is not called the second Adam. Now, I choose my words very, very, very carefully. He is not the second Adam because there is not going to be a third and a fourth and fifth Adam. He is the last Adam. So, it’s Adam the first and Adam the last. That’s why I said all of humanity are in these two federal heads, Adam first or Adam last, which is Jesus Christ. How is Jesus a fulfillment of Adam being a type? Well, like Adam, Christ was head of a whole new humanity. Like Adam, one man bringing sin and death upon an entire human race, one man, Jesus Christ, can bring righteousness and salvation and eternal life to all those who will believe.

The second section is found for us in verses 15-17. It won't take as long to pass through this section. Here you have Man’s Rescue. The first was Man’s Ruin and now Man’s Rescue; Adam and Christ are contrasted. Follow with me in verse 15. Paul says, “But not as the offence, so also is the free gift.” Adam brought the offense by his sin and disobedience and the fall, but Jesus Christ brought (and I’ve highlighted it in my Bible) the free gift. “For if through the offence of one…,” that is, Adam, “…many be dead…,” or the many be dead. Now we have our first, “much more,” “…much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16 And not as it was by one that sinned..,” that is, of course, Adam, “…so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned…,” key word, reigned—reigned over the entire human race. Reined is king, death reigned. “…by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign…,” same concept, but now it’s reigning in Christ, “…in life by one, Jesus Christ.)” Now, as you look at these verses, we see in verse 15 that Adam’s sin is contrasted with Christ’s free gift. Adam’s sin contrasted with Christ’s free gift. Ray Stedman says, “The sin of Adam brought death and decaying and degenerative force, but grace brought a far more dynamic power. It brought life. It not only did away with death, it restored what had been destroyed. Moreover, the trespass of Adam brought death once; the sacrifice and death of Jesus brought life a thousand times over.” So, one disobedience bringing death, one obedience bringing life. Notice, verse 16, the effect of their action on others. In Adam, verse 16, resulted in condemnation. Now, remember this section is parenthetical. It is repeating what was said in verse 12, so we don’t need to tarry on it. I want you to look at it closely in your Bibles, Adam brought condemnation. Christ brought justification. Verse 17, “…if death reigned…,” through Adam, “…much more they which receive the gift of righteousness reign…through Christ.”

I want you to note three key words. The word “one” is used 11 times. Eleven times you find the word “one.” The word “reign” is used 5 times; there are 2 “kingdoms.” We either identify with Adam or we identify with Christ. We’re either in Adam or we’re in Christ. There is a reign, a kingdom, and it’s either Adam’s kingdom of death and condemnation or Christ’s kingdom of righteousness and eternal life. The third key word is “much more.” It’s used 5 times. So what was lost in Adam the first, so much more was gained in the last Adam, Jesus Christ.

A couple of weeks ago we taught about redemption. In redemption, we talked about how God creates us and then buys us, so we’re doubly His. Had there not been a fall, there would be no redemption. Had there been no redemption, we wouldn’t have had that relationship with God. Had there been no fall, there would be no reconciliation. As sad and tragic as the results of Adam’s sin are, the consequences of Christ’s obedience and righteousness in dying on the cross and being buried and resurrected bring so much more! He is going to bring many sons to glory, and He is going to one day reverse the curse. Do you know there is coming a day when there won’t be anymore sickness? There won’t be anymore death? There won’t be anymore tears, He’ll wipe them from our eyes. All of the animals in the animal kingdom will get along with one another. There will be no tornadoes or hurricanes or tsunamis or earthquakes. There will be no disease. Jesus, in His victory on the cross, is going to reverse the curse and go beyond reversing the curse bringing a brand new world that is beyond our wildest dreams—amazing what Christ has done for us!

Here’s the third division, and last, verses 18-21, Man’s Reign. First we have Man’s Ruin, then Man’s Rescue, and now we have Man’s Reign. Adam and Christ are compared, verses 18-21. Follow with me in your Bibles. “Therefore…,” so he starts in verse 12 with a therefore and he ends in verses 18-21 with another therefore. “…as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free give came upon all…,” again, this is universal, “…men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience…,” of course, that’s Adam, “…many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one…,” of course, that’s Jesus Christ, “…shall many be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound..,” Adam brought in sin and it abounded, but where sin abounded grace did, and in the Greek it would be overflow. It’s a picture of a river overflowing its banks. We’ve seen the flooding back east and in the midwest. I’ve been born and raised in California, I can’t relate to that kind of flooding in those rivers that overflow their banks. I don’t understand that, and the flooding in Houston a few weeks ago, just overflowing. So, sin comes on the scene and guess what? God’s grace overflows it! God’s grace abounds over it! So, as sad and as tragic as what Adam brought into the world, God’s grace is all the greater! At the end of verse 20 he says, “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound…,” or overflow. Here’s the conclusion, verse 21, “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign…,” so we have the reign of sin bringing death, now in Christ we have the reign of grace, “…through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” The focus in these verses, as is clear from the last statement in verse 21, is not Adam. Paul is not trying to say, “Isn’t it a bummer that Adam sinned and brought the whole world sin and death and condemnation?” Paul is trying to say, “Man, in Jesus Christ we have overflowing grace! Jesus came and so much more does God’s grace abound! What we lost in Adam we have regained in Christ! What Adam brought into this world, Jesus Christ has more than conquered!” Amen? That’s the focus. That’s why he closes with our Lord Jesus Christ. He wants the focus to be on Jesus and what He’s done.

In verse 18, the immediate result of Adam’s sin is judgment and condemnation. Then, the immediate result of Christ’s righteousness, which took place at the cross, was the free gift of justification and life. Don’t misinterpret the statement that says there in verse 18 that there is “…the free gift that came upon all men unto justification of life.” Paul is not teaching that all mankind is automatically saved. Paul is not teaching a false doctrine that some have called universalism. Some, who even claim to be Christians, Bible-believing Christians, teach what is called universalism. What does that teach? It teaches, “You know what? God is so loving. God is so gracious. God is so merciful. God is so kind. You know at the end, God is just going to save everybody! He’s just going to say, ‘Aw come on devil, come on up into heaven. Come on all you wicked sinners that rejected Christ. Everybody just gets to go to heaven.’ It all ends up hunky dory in the end.” Do you know that is a popular message today? Doesn’t that sound politically correct? Everyone is going to be in heaven. No one is going to be in hell. There is no more condemnation. Jesus died to save the world. For God so loved the world, everything is going to be just wonderful! That’s not what Paul is teaching here. That would be directly contradicting the clear teaching of scripture.

I want you to notice in verse 17, the word “receive.” Go back to verse 17, “For if by one man’s offence death reigned…much more they which…,” what? “…receive.” You have to receive what Jesus did for you on the cross. You have to believe, you have to receive, you have to trust in Jesus Christ. You aren’t going to be automatically taken to heaven. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever…,” what? “…believes,” same as receives or trusts, “…in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Notice, Adam’s disobedience in verse 19 and Christ’s obedience, the nature of their acts—one was disobedience the other was obedience. Warren Wiersbe said it like this, “Adam was tested in a garden surrounded by beauty and love. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, and he died on a cruel cross surrounded by hatred and ugliness. Adam was a thief, and he was cast out of paradise, but Jesus turned to a thief and said ‘Today you will be with Me in paradise.’ The Old Testament is the book of the generations of Adam, Genesis 5:1. It ends with a curse, Malachi 4:6, but the New Testament is the book of the generations of Jesus Christ, Matthew 1:1, and it ends, Revelation 22:3, with no more curse.” When I read that it’s kind of like a, “Can you dig it,” verse. The Old Testament opens up with sin and death and ends with a curse. The New Testament opens up with, “This is the book of the generations of Jesus Christ,” and it closes with, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” So, you’re either in Adam, condemnation and death; or you’re in Jesus Christ where there is salvation.

What does Paul mean by many are made sinners and many are made righteous. Again, that word “made” there means to be declared, to be legally constituted. It’s the ground of being placed in the category of sinners or the righteous. Then, he talks about the purpose of the law in verse 20, we’ll touch on it next Wednesday. The purpose of the law is to make us transgressors, to make sin sinful, to make my speeding speeding. I wanted to tear down that speed limit sign. If that sign wouldn’t have been there, I would have been justified, but I broke the law. I transgressed. The reason I broke the law is because I’m a sinner, and when I broke the law I was a big sinner. So, we are all sinners. When God’s law comes on the scene, we break God’s law. We have God’s abounding grace, verse 20, “…where sin abounded, grace did much more abound…,” or overflow. In verse 12, we have the greatness of man’s ruin—sin entered into the world. In verse 15, the greatness of our rescue—the free gift of life through Jesus Christ; and in verse 21, the greatness of our reign—the reign of grace. What a great concept! Grace reigns. Grace sanctifies, justifies, preserves and keeps us all because of Jesus Christ. Grace and truth came by Jesus. The law came by Moses, and the law condemns us, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Thank God for Jesus! Amen? Thank God that in Jesus Christ we have so much more than was lost in Adam.

I’ve gone long, and I’ve run out of time, but if you’re here tonight and you don’t know that you are in Christ, you need to repent of your sins, ask Jesus to forgive you and come into your heart, and be your Savior. You know how you get out of Adam and get into Christ? By turning from your sin and trusting Jesus as your Savior. The moment you do that, you are born into God’s family. You are taken out of darkness into light. You are taken out of Satan’s kingdom into God’s. You are taken out of Adam and translated into Christ. The moment you’re placed in Christ…if you are a Christian, you are in Christ. There is no such thing as a Christian that is not in Christ, and if you are in Christ there is therefore now no condemnation, no separation and no defeat. “…he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

Now, that’s not a license to sin. How do I know that? Because of Romans 6. “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.” Perish the thought. So, don’t take what I taught tonight out of Romans 5 and say, “Whooo! Let’s go get drunk! Let’s go do something really sinful and fun!” If you’re a child of God, sin is not fun. Sin is not fun. It grieves the Holy Spirit. You’re going to lose your joy. You’re going to lose your peace. You’re going to lose the sense of the presence of God in your life. You’re going to lose your witness. You’re going to dishonor God. “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin…,” you say, “Wait a minute! How can I be dead to sin?” That’s what we read tonight. That’s why foundation for Romans 6 and living in victory is what we read tonight. You died in Christ. Did you know that when Jesus died you died with Him and your life was hidden in Christ? Do you know when Jesus rose from the dead you rose with Him? Do you know when Jesus ascended back into heaven you went with Him? And, did you know Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father? Guess what? You’re with Him. He’s the head, you and I are the body, and we are exalted with Christ in heavenly places, and all the blessings of the Spirit are ours in Christ Jesus. I better stop because I can go on all night! Let’s pray.