Letter to the Romans -- Chapter 5
After concluding his exposition on the faith of Abraham and our forefathers, Paul returns to where he left off at the end of chapter 3: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand” (Romans 5:1-2). Thru Jesus Christ we have been justified and are now at peace with God. By the humble and passive means of faith we stand in the grace of God because of our Lord Jesus Christ and His vicarious substitution done on our behalf and in our place.
Paul goes on to explain that thru this we now rejoice: “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Romans 5:2-5). The big surprise is that Paul tells us that in Christ Jesus we do not only rejoice in the hope of the glory of God to come, but that we also rejoice today in the sufferings we are allowed to undergo in this life. Paul explains that our sufferings are important because in this life they help produce perseverance for the long journey, character, and ultimately hope. Though we are poor and afflicted in this life we are in reality the richest men on earth who have every reason to live in constant rejoicing. “I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich!...Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:9-10). As Christians the question is not “will we suffer?” but the question is only “when will we suffer?” and “how will we suffer?” “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:20). Because Christ suffered on our behalf we know that we too are called to follow in His example and bear under suffering in this life for His Name’s sake. “If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’ When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats” (1 Peter 2:20-23). Because we bear the name and truth of Christ the world does and will continue to hate us. We are considered nothing but the scum and dung of the earth in the eyes of the world and because of this we can be sure that we will be persecuted and slandered as long as we remain in the truth of Jesus Christ.
A very dark temptation occurs at this point for many who hear the Word: having received God’s Word in Christ Jesus many are very joyful, however upon finding out that being a Christian puts us at odds with the world and under its relentless slander and persecution, they fall away. “The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away” (Matthew 13:20-21). This falling away however can be deceptively subtle and dangerous because it may not occur as an outward renunciation of “Christianity”, but may occur as an insidious perversion and altering of the truth of the law and gospel found only in the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth the Christ and Son of God. A great number of false “gospels” are created because men cannot stand the reality of the trouble and persecution that comes with the real gospel of Jesus Christ. To be with Christ is to be with Him not only in His victory over death, but also with Him in His suffering and humility in the cross.
Our suffering may not always be grand and outward, but if things are going “smoothly” then it is always a good time for us to reevaluate whether we are sticking fervently to the Word of Scripture or whether we have unwittingly strayed off the path. “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:12). When we do encounter suffering though it is imperative that we do not retaliate or strike back, but that we instead patiently bear with our persecutors, returning them kindness and love in order that we might bear witness to the example of Christ’s love. “To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world” (1 Corinthians 4:11-13). This may seem nice in theory but when we actually are faced with suffering we are very often quick to question God. What purpose does it really serve that we suffer in this life? Is it really a necessity? Can’t we avoid it and still be ok? Our sufferings are vitally important and are a necessity for building our faith, keeping us from complacence, breaking us of our fleshly desires, and most importantly for serving to bear witness to our sharing in the crucifixion of Christ Jesus. When we suffer as Christians, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is revealed in our bodies whether we see it or not. “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body...Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:8-11, 16-18).
Because we can never hear it enough Paul continues on and reiterates the pure gospel once again to comfort us, his readers, in the face of our sufferings: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). This is the truth of the gospel that brings a peace beyond all human understanding: while we were helpless and powerless Jesus Christ died for us, for us wretched and ungodly men who hated and rejected Him. Paul goes on to explain how utterly amazing this fact is: “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8). People very rarely die for even righteous and good men according to the standard of this world, and thereby God’s true grace and love is illustrated by the fact that while we were sinners (neither righteous nor good by any stretch of the imagination, but rather evil, thru and thru) Christ died specifically for us. Completely unprompted by anything good or worthy from ourselves, God sent His Son to the cross on our behalf.
But the story does not finish at the cross, it continues with the empty tomb and Christ’s resurrection to new life: “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 5:9-11). Just think about this for a second: “when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him thru the death of His Son.” We were not children of God, nor friends of God, and not even just apathetic “acquaintances” of God; we were God’s enemies. We were pitted against Him as His bitter rivals as we rejected Him totally and completely. However in this gospel of grace Paul proclaims that thru the blood of Jesus Christ we have been justified (been put in just standing before the law), saved (rescued from eternal damnation and wrath), and reconciled (we are no longer the enemies of God or even just “neutral” in His eyes, but we have been completely reconciled as His children thru Jesus Christ)! The cross and empty tomb of Jesus Christ are not just a “starting point” for our salvation, but this single act of grace single-handedly has brought us from being wretched and despicable enemies of God to become His children and heirs for the sake of Jesus Christ. “To those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13). “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1).
Paul continues by taking a “step back” and teaching us a little bit about the “big picture” of sin and grace, and how it all relates together in the entire history of mankind. “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). Here Paul clearly states that thru one man sin entered the world (and death along with it) and that this sin has spread its way like a virus thru all men. In the same way that a small drop of poison can pollute an entire water supply, so too one act of sin thru one man polluted all of mankind so that all sinned. “Like Adam, they have broken the covenant—they were unfaithful to me” (Hosea 6:7). Paul is very clear to point out however, that even though sin entered thru one man, all men have sinned. In effect Paul is telling us this important fact: by nature you (yes you!) are Adam. We are not just people who have been unfairly “caught up” in the failing of Adam, we ourselves are Adam and our sin is the sin and rebellion against God that causes the entirety of mankind to fall. Every time we sin we bring sin into the world thru the one man of ourselves and cause all men to fall. As humanity we all are one in our father Adam, and we all fall and sin as one. Each of us is completely responsible for the fall of mankind for we are Adam. We cannot blame Adam and we cannot blame the law of God, we only have ourselves to blame. “Before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come” (Romans 5:13-14). Though all men did not have the direct commands that Adam and Moses had, death still reigned because men still sinned against the law that God had written on their hearts which Paul speaks of in the 2nd chapter of Romans. Here Paul also explicitly states that Adam was the pattern or the type of the one to come, namely Jesus Christ, and that thru the juxtaposition of these two figures we can see sin and grace in light of each other.
Paul goes on and expands upon the relationship of Adam and Jesus: “But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 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 5:15-17). Thru the trespass of one man, Adam (not only the historical Adam, but ourselves!), all died because sin entered into mankind thru him and all sinned; in opposition and contrast to this, the sins of all men were then funneled thru the one man, Jesus Christ, and thru His righteousness and ransom life came to all men. Sin and death entered thru one man and grace and life returned thru one man. “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). As we all stand with Adam in our responsibility for sin, so too we also stand with Christ in His redemptive work. Jesus Christ stands in our place where we belong on the cross and takes the punishment we deserve and have earned thru our sin of Adam. Jesus Christ also stands in our place when He is resurrected from the dead and conquers the corruption of this fallen life. We fell into slavery with and in Adam, and with and in Jesus Christ we died on the cross and are raised to new life. In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul speaks of Christ as the second Adam and as the man from heaven to whom we will be conformed in the resurrection of the dead. “So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:45-49).
In completing his comparison of Adam and Jesus Christ, Paul touches on how thru this type we see the universal grace of the cross: “Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:18-19). Thru Adam’s one sin (our one sin), sin came and polluted all of mankind; thru Christ’s one act of righteousness in the cross and empty tomb, life and justification was brought to all men for in Christ we too share in the cross and the empty tomb. One drop of Adam’s sin brought death to us all, but consequently one drop of Jesus Christ’s blood has cleansed us and brought life to us all. Instead of receiving what we deserve on Judgment Day Christ Jesus stands in our place and we receive the reward for what He has done and graciously get what He deserves. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Let us praise God that in Christ Jesus we do not get what we deserve and have earned but that instead we have been graciously covered with His righteousness and goodness, receiving life eternal. Just as in Adam we rebelled and became slaves in our selves, so in Jesus Christ we are judged and pronounced righteous and pure.
In conclusion Paul touches on what this teaches us about sin and grace. “The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:20-21). The law was added so that sin might increase? As sin increases, so grace increases all the more? What is Paul trying to tell us? Why would God want sin to increase? As Paul stated before, sin has no account when there is no law. Even though sinfulness and evil may exist it cannot be seen without the command or the law to bring it forth out of the darkness. “He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light” (Job 12:22). As Paul said in chapter 3 of Romans, the law was added to make us conscious of the sin that is hidden deep within our hearts. God therefore desires sin to increase in us. Does this mean He desires us to sin more? No, it means that He desires that we increasingly see the complete and total depravity of who we are as we reject and despise Him and look only at ourselves in inward selfishness. It is only when sin increases in us (when we learn just how horrible, selfish, and wretched we really are, seeing ourselves as Adam) that grace increases in us thru the incarnation, cross, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Martin Luther said, “The less righteousness we judge that we have, the more we condemn, abominate, and detest ourselves, the more abundantly does the grace of God flow into us.” The more sinfulness and filthiness that we see from ourselves in the old Adam, the more abundantly we appreciate the grace of God in Jesus Christ the new Adam. “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25). Dr. Paul Tournier said, “Believers who are the most desperate about themselves are the ones who express most forcefully their confidence in grace...By degrees, the awareness of our guilt and of God's love increase side by side.” The more guilt that we have before the law, the more sin will increase in our eyes; in parallel this gives us more confidence in God’s love in the cross and empty tomb as we are driven away from our sinful selves and towards Him, thereby increasing the grace in our life.
Therefore the growth of the Christian is one of polar opposites: daily the law brings us to a deeper and more intimate awareness of the magnitude of our sin, while the gospel brings us new levels of peace, comfort, and joy in the face of the immeasurable grace we have been given in the cross and empty tomb of Jesus Christ. The more we hate our self, sin, and pride, the more we will love and cling to the cross and empty tomb. The prophet Isaiah spoke to this relationship of sin and grace in the life of men: “Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of Yahweh and rely on his God” (Isaiah 50:10). The man who walks in the darkness of the awareness of God’s wrath, the law, and of sin, and who has no light from his self, is the one who will trust and rely on the grace of God with fervor and zeal. Isaiah also speaks to those in the opposite situation: “But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment” (Isaiah 50:10-11). All men who walk by their own light, by their own self-endowed self-righteousness and inward looking selfishness, and who do not see sin in their life, will thereby miss the grace of God; where sin decreases in their life, so does grace, leading them towards eternal torment. Let us pray therefore that thru the law sin may increase in our eyes daily so that in the darkness of our self we will see the bright light, hope, and love of the gospel, clinging solely to the incarnation, cross, and resurrection of Jesus Christ on our behalf. “Though I sit in darkness, Yahweh will be my light” (Micah 7:8). “His lamp shone upon my head and by his light I walked through darkness!” (Job 29:3).
Paul goes on to explain that thru this we now rejoice: “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Romans 5:2-5). The big surprise is that Paul tells us that in Christ Jesus we do not only rejoice in the hope of the glory of God to come, but that we also rejoice today in the sufferings we are allowed to undergo in this life. Paul explains that our sufferings are important because in this life they help produce perseverance for the long journey, character, and ultimately hope. Though we are poor and afflicted in this life we are in reality the richest men on earth who have every reason to live in constant rejoicing. “I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich!...Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:9-10). As Christians the question is not “will we suffer?” but the question is only “when will we suffer?” and “how will we suffer?” “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:20). Because Christ suffered on our behalf we know that we too are called to follow in His example and bear under suffering in this life for His Name’s sake. “If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’ When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats” (1 Peter 2:20-23). Because we bear the name and truth of Christ the world does and will continue to hate us. We are considered nothing but the scum and dung of the earth in the eyes of the world and because of this we can be sure that we will be persecuted and slandered as long as we remain in the truth of Jesus Christ.
A very dark temptation occurs at this point for many who hear the Word: having received God’s Word in Christ Jesus many are very joyful, however upon finding out that being a Christian puts us at odds with the world and under its relentless slander and persecution, they fall away. “The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away” (Matthew 13:20-21). This falling away however can be deceptively subtle and dangerous because it may not occur as an outward renunciation of “Christianity”, but may occur as an insidious perversion and altering of the truth of the law and gospel found only in the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth the Christ and Son of God. A great number of false “gospels” are created because men cannot stand the reality of the trouble and persecution that comes with the real gospel of Jesus Christ. To be with Christ is to be with Him not only in His victory over death, but also with Him in His suffering and humility in the cross.
Our suffering may not always be grand and outward, but if things are going “smoothly” then it is always a good time for us to reevaluate whether we are sticking fervently to the Word of Scripture or whether we have unwittingly strayed off the path. “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:12). When we do encounter suffering though it is imperative that we do not retaliate or strike back, but that we instead patiently bear with our persecutors, returning them kindness and love in order that we might bear witness to the example of Christ’s love. “To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world” (1 Corinthians 4:11-13). This may seem nice in theory but when we actually are faced with suffering we are very often quick to question God. What purpose does it really serve that we suffer in this life? Is it really a necessity? Can’t we avoid it and still be ok? Our sufferings are vitally important and are a necessity for building our faith, keeping us from complacence, breaking us of our fleshly desires, and most importantly for serving to bear witness to our sharing in the crucifixion of Christ Jesus. When we suffer as Christians, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is revealed in our bodies whether we see it or not. “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body...Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:8-11, 16-18).
Because we can never hear it enough Paul continues on and reiterates the pure gospel once again to comfort us, his readers, in the face of our sufferings: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). This is the truth of the gospel that brings a peace beyond all human understanding: while we were helpless and powerless Jesus Christ died for us, for us wretched and ungodly men who hated and rejected Him. Paul goes on to explain how utterly amazing this fact is: “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8). People very rarely die for even righteous and good men according to the standard of this world, and thereby God’s true grace and love is illustrated by the fact that while we were sinners (neither righteous nor good by any stretch of the imagination, but rather evil, thru and thru) Christ died specifically for us. Completely unprompted by anything good or worthy from ourselves, God sent His Son to the cross on our behalf.
But the story does not finish at the cross, it continues with the empty tomb and Christ’s resurrection to new life: “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 5:9-11). Just think about this for a second: “when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him thru the death of His Son.” We were not children of God, nor friends of God, and not even just apathetic “acquaintances” of God; we were God’s enemies. We were pitted against Him as His bitter rivals as we rejected Him totally and completely. However in this gospel of grace Paul proclaims that thru the blood of Jesus Christ we have been justified (been put in just standing before the law), saved (rescued from eternal damnation and wrath), and reconciled (we are no longer the enemies of God or even just “neutral” in His eyes, but we have been completely reconciled as His children thru Jesus Christ)! The cross and empty tomb of Jesus Christ are not just a “starting point” for our salvation, but this single act of grace single-handedly has brought us from being wretched and despicable enemies of God to become His children and heirs for the sake of Jesus Christ. “To those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13). “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1).
Paul continues by taking a “step back” and teaching us a little bit about the “big picture” of sin and grace, and how it all relates together in the entire history of mankind. “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). Here Paul clearly states that thru one man sin entered the world (and death along with it) and that this sin has spread its way like a virus thru all men. In the same way that a small drop of poison can pollute an entire water supply, so too one act of sin thru one man polluted all of mankind so that all sinned. “Like Adam, they have broken the covenant—they were unfaithful to me” (Hosea 6:7). Paul is very clear to point out however, that even though sin entered thru one man, all men have sinned. In effect Paul is telling us this important fact: by nature you (yes you!) are Adam. We are not just people who have been unfairly “caught up” in the failing of Adam, we ourselves are Adam and our sin is the sin and rebellion against God that causes the entirety of mankind to fall. Every time we sin we bring sin into the world thru the one man of ourselves and cause all men to fall. As humanity we all are one in our father Adam, and we all fall and sin as one. Each of us is completely responsible for the fall of mankind for we are Adam. We cannot blame Adam and we cannot blame the law of God, we only have ourselves to blame. “Before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come” (Romans 5:13-14). Though all men did not have the direct commands that Adam and Moses had, death still reigned because men still sinned against the law that God had written on their hearts which Paul speaks of in the 2nd chapter of Romans. Here Paul also explicitly states that Adam was the pattern or the type of the one to come, namely Jesus Christ, and that thru the juxtaposition of these two figures we can see sin and grace in light of each other.
Paul goes on and expands upon the relationship of Adam and Jesus: “But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 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 5:15-17). Thru the trespass of one man, Adam (not only the historical Adam, but ourselves!), all died because sin entered into mankind thru him and all sinned; in opposition and contrast to this, the sins of all men were then funneled thru the one man, Jesus Christ, and thru His righteousness and ransom life came to all men. Sin and death entered thru one man and grace and life returned thru one man. “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). As we all stand with Adam in our responsibility for sin, so too we also stand with Christ in His redemptive work. Jesus Christ stands in our place where we belong on the cross and takes the punishment we deserve and have earned thru our sin of Adam. Jesus Christ also stands in our place when He is resurrected from the dead and conquers the corruption of this fallen life. We fell into slavery with and in Adam, and with and in Jesus Christ we died on the cross and are raised to new life. In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul speaks of Christ as the second Adam and as the man from heaven to whom we will be conformed in the resurrection of the dead. “So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:45-49).
In completing his comparison of Adam and Jesus Christ, Paul touches on how thru this type we see the universal grace of the cross: “Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:18-19). Thru Adam’s one sin (our one sin), sin came and polluted all of mankind; thru Christ’s one act of righteousness in the cross and empty tomb, life and justification was brought to all men for in Christ we too share in the cross and the empty tomb. One drop of Adam’s sin brought death to us all, but consequently one drop of Jesus Christ’s blood has cleansed us and brought life to us all. Instead of receiving what we deserve on Judgment Day Christ Jesus stands in our place and we receive the reward for what He has done and graciously get what He deserves. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Let us praise God that in Christ Jesus we do not get what we deserve and have earned but that instead we have been graciously covered with His righteousness and goodness, receiving life eternal. Just as in Adam we rebelled and became slaves in our selves, so in Jesus Christ we are judged and pronounced righteous and pure.
In conclusion Paul touches on what this teaches us about sin and grace. “The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:20-21). The law was added so that sin might increase? As sin increases, so grace increases all the more? What is Paul trying to tell us? Why would God want sin to increase? As Paul stated before, sin has no account when there is no law. Even though sinfulness and evil may exist it cannot be seen without the command or the law to bring it forth out of the darkness. “He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light” (Job 12:22). As Paul said in chapter 3 of Romans, the law was added to make us conscious of the sin that is hidden deep within our hearts. God therefore desires sin to increase in us. Does this mean He desires us to sin more? No, it means that He desires that we increasingly see the complete and total depravity of who we are as we reject and despise Him and look only at ourselves in inward selfishness. It is only when sin increases in us (when we learn just how horrible, selfish, and wretched we really are, seeing ourselves as Adam) that grace increases in us thru the incarnation, cross, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Martin Luther said, “The less righteousness we judge that we have, the more we condemn, abominate, and detest ourselves, the more abundantly does the grace of God flow into us.” The more sinfulness and filthiness that we see from ourselves in the old Adam, the more abundantly we appreciate the grace of God in Jesus Christ the new Adam. “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25). Dr. Paul Tournier said, “Believers who are the most desperate about themselves are the ones who express most forcefully their confidence in grace...By degrees, the awareness of our guilt and of God's love increase side by side.” The more guilt that we have before the law, the more sin will increase in our eyes; in parallel this gives us more confidence in God’s love in the cross and empty tomb as we are driven away from our sinful selves and towards Him, thereby increasing the grace in our life.
Therefore the growth of the Christian is one of polar opposites: daily the law brings us to a deeper and more intimate awareness of the magnitude of our sin, while the gospel brings us new levels of peace, comfort, and joy in the face of the immeasurable grace we have been given in the cross and empty tomb of Jesus Christ. The more we hate our self, sin, and pride, the more we will love and cling to the cross and empty tomb. The prophet Isaiah spoke to this relationship of sin and grace in the life of men: “Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of Yahweh and rely on his God” (Isaiah 50:10). The man who walks in the darkness of the awareness of God’s wrath, the law, and of sin, and who has no light from his self, is the one who will trust and rely on the grace of God with fervor and zeal. Isaiah also speaks to those in the opposite situation: “But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment” (Isaiah 50:10-11). All men who walk by their own light, by their own self-endowed self-righteousness and inward looking selfishness, and who do not see sin in their life, will thereby miss the grace of God; where sin decreases in their life, so does grace, leading them towards eternal torment. Let us pray therefore that thru the law sin may increase in our eyes daily so that in the darkness of our self we will see the bright light, hope, and love of the gospel, clinging solely to the incarnation, cross, and resurrection of Jesus Christ on our behalf. “Though I sit in darkness, Yahweh will be my light” (Micah 7:8). “His lamp shone upon my head and by his light I walked through darkness!” (Job 29:3).
3 comments:
I struggle with the polar opposites. How can I be aware of my terrible sin and joyful about God's incredible grace at the same time? I seem to either be focused on one or the other. How do you focus on both?
Focus on Jesus Christ. He is the place where law and gospel, sin and grace meet. It is in Christ that we are exposed to the judgment, condemnation, and wrath of God against our wretched sin; but it is also in Christ where we are exposed to the sweet mercy, grace, redemption, atonement, and reconciliation of God. To truly focus on the full work of Jesus Christ is to expose ourselves to both law and gospel, the realities of sin and grace, at all times. Our singular FOCUS is Jesus Christ, but within Him we are balanced in our exposure to law and gospel; law against our sinful flesh and gospel in order to uplift the new creation in Jesus Christ.
Thanks, Luke.
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