Lesson 67

Grace Reigns in Life Over Sin's Reign of Death

Romans Chapter 5:12-21

Review:

5:17 The 3rd contrasting parallelism is between the reign of death and the reign of life;

For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one,

The result is that mankind is ruled by death through the power of sin in their lives. And therefore under the katakrima (penal servitude - condemnation) of sin mentioned in vs:16.

- "much more those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ."

Paul has repeatedly stressed the importance (necessity) of responding to God's righteousness through faith in Christ. Thus only those who receive Him are the recipients of grace.

The contrast here is between death reigning in the lives of those who are still in Adam, unbelievers

And who are the ones reigning in life here? Believers! Those who by faith have “received the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness”: these shall reign-as-kings through Jesus Christ.

Must be careful:

This describes the same thing as vs:18 there resulted justification of life to all men and in vs:19 the many will be made righteous

What Paul is saying is that salvation, that is justification vs:18 and made righteous vs:19 is available for all.

- No one has to pay the penalty of sin and stay in the reign of death unless he chooses to; the grace provision is there through Christ to deal with our situation and its a free gift appropriated by faith!

Do we live as the royalty of heaven, or do we grovel among the muck heaps of this world, living a life of expediency for the day?

5:18-19 Paul brings to a conclusion the parallelisms between Adam and Christ.

- One act of each (Adam and Christ) and the contrasting results;

The one transgression of Adam brought condemnation to all men;

- The one act of righteousness by Christ brought justification of life to all.

This righteous act was not the Savior's life or His keeping of the law, both of which were total perfection in that He completely fulfilled the will of God in these areas; but the righteous act is rather His substitutionary death on the cross.

5:19 Paul gives us the nature of the one act of both;

- What's the quality or character of each??

Disobedience of Adam -- the obedience of Christ

- See once again our direct connection to Aos - One man's disobedience the many, all humanity were made sinners.

- were made sinners

- When Adam sinned, when he was disobedient to the cmd of God, Every one was made a sinner; mediately through inherited sin (sin nature) and directly thru imputed sin that is I_AOS at conception.

- The solution to this predicament, that we're all made sinners in Adam is seen once again in the next phrase;

"even so,...through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous."

- Our union with Adam made us sinners; our union with Christ enables us to reign in life through Him.

5:20 Is a digression

What Paul has been saying would clearly come as a jolt to a Jewish reader who felt that everything revolved around the law.

Part of what Paul has in mind here he has already given us; 3:20b "...through the law comes the knowledge of sin."

- The law did not originate sin and death, Adam did; but the law does reveal sin as an offense against God, a violation of His character.

"But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more."

- Our old nature often reacts to the standards, the parameters God has established, and sin increases.

Point of Doctrine:

** Sin can erect no boundary or barrier that God's grace provision can not overcome.

- abounded u`perperisseu,w not just to abound all the more; its over and above; it overflows beyond anything that sin might erect!

5:21 Here we have the purpose for the super abounding grace, the overflowing grace and is a short summary and final contrast between Adam and Christ.

- the contrast is between the reign of sin and death and the reign of grace through righteousness leading to life.

- This aspect of sin reigning is an important one which Paul will take up in the next chapter; its a very important issue in the Christian life!

Just what does death refer to here?

Now Paul says there is to be a new ruler a new king in your life; that new ruler is to be grace when your in Christ!

- What is the means of grace ruling??

When God looks at the believer He sees the righteousness of Christ and He knows that all the demands of His holiness have been met!

- And this reign of grace thru the means of righteousness results in eternal life grave is not the end of all things; true for those who remain in Adam also!

- Paul is dealing here with the ultimate issues of life and death!

- it all comes about through [dia] Jesus Christ our Lord.