Life Through

Romans 5:15-21

Life through Christ

Romans 5:15-21, But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of

God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin

reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 1:1-3:21, we have seen the lostness of man.

Romans 3:22-5:11 we have seen how the man was connected with God through Justification by faith in Lord Jesus Christ. Christ has reversed man's lostness. Christ has justified by His death on the cross all who come to Him in faith.

The inevitable question

Every man is sinful, lost, damned and condemned to judgment, then all of a sudden, this One Man Jesus comes along. His dying on a cross and rising and by the one act of one man you say that all men can be justified? How can One Man did, at one time affect everybody?

Answer comes from this section Romans 5:12-21. We will look only one part of it tonight.

• The one-man Adam in the one act of sin affected the whole human race.
• The One-Man Jesus Christ act of obedience to the cross and His death and resurrection affected everyone.

Now Paul is going to help us make this comparison. Adam’s one act and the reign of death, and Christ’s one act and the reign of life. Five contrasting features. 1. Effectiveness. There was a certain effectiveness in what Adam did.

There is a differing effectiveness in what Christ did. Adam’s offense had a certain effect. Christ’s gift had a different effect. V 15, But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.

This analogy between Adam and Christ. It was really introduced at the end of verse 14. V 14, Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

There is a parallel, or a connection.

“much more.” The free gift is “much more” effective than the transgression. Transgression means a full deviation, a trespass, an offense against God. Because of that transgression the many died.

Who are the many? All who were in Adam, and that means all the human race. We were all in his loins, he acted as our representative when he did what he did, and we all went down with him. “The free gift,” the charisma, the grace gift, which is good and righteous and pleasing to God, also abounded to many.

Who are the many? All who are in Christ.

• For all who are in Adam, death.
• For all who are in Christ, life.
• One is a transgression,
• Other one is a grace gift.

How are we to understand this issue of effectiveness and its difference? By the transgression, many are dead. The sin of Adam killed the race. The one sin of the one man became the ground for the death of all human beings.

“Many” is used for the sake of the analogy. We will see down in verse 18 that word “all” is used there, again for the sake of the analogy.

• Many died, and the many are all who were in Adam.
• Many live in Christ, and the many are all who are in Christ.

Or if you use the language of verse 18, “all men” were condemned who were in men, and “all men” are justified who are in Christ, the many and all used as a literary device. Regarding Adam, “the many” are all human beings.

Regarding Christ, “the all” who are in Christ are many human beings. This is a parallelism of the analogy.

1 Corinthians 15:22, “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all shall be made alive.”

• All who are in Adam die.
• All who are in Christ are made alive.

So, the sin of Adam then pollutes all his future generations, all who are in him. All who are represented by him are propelled into sin, guilt, ruin, judgment, and death. He acted as our head and took us down with him.

The contrast

What Christ did in His one act, is much more. He does much more. V 20, Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, Is the effect of Adam’s sin devastating? Yes.

Is it widespread? Yes. But the effect of Christ’s one act is much more.

• The evil gift of Adam, death.
• The grace gift of Christ, life.

Life is much more than death. Christ is more powerful to save than Adam is to ruin.

• Adam had the power to kill,
• Christ has the power to give life.

Paul talks about the grace of God, the gift of grace, the gift of righteousness, all coming by the one man, Jesus Christ. By grace, not by law, but by grace, free gift of grace. So, the grace that comes through Jesus Christ does much more than just repair the evil done by Adam.

The grace of God that comes to us in Christ through His death on the cross does not just return us to a pre-Fall condition. V 15, But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.

To be over and above, to be beyond, to excel, to be better, to be superior. It is better, this grace gift, through the one act of Christ on the cross, than the act of Adam.

How are we to understand that? The evil from Adam has been more than neutralized.

The evil from Adam has been more than cancelled in Christ. It is not just that death is cancelled, it is that we receive righteousness, holiness, reconciliation with God, conversion, adoption, eternal life.

2 Timothy 1:10, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, Sin in Adam brought death. Grace in Christ gives everlasting life.

Now here’s the way to simply understand that. Adam’s effectiveness can be and is nullified. Adam’s effectiveness, the effect of his sin, is nullified in Christ. But nothing in heaven or hell will ever nullify Christ’s effectiveness through His one act.

Adam’s one act has been, is, will be overturned. Never will Christ’s work will be negated.

John 10:27-30, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than

all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.” Jesus said “I give them eternal life and that is settled. None of them will ever perish.” What Adam brought can be overturned. What Christ brought cannot.

So, in the sense of effectiveness.

• Adam’s impact for many was temporary.
• Christ’s impact, for all who were in Him, was everlasting. 2. Extent.

The extent comparison between Adam’s condemnation and Christ’s justification. V 16, And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.

The gift of grace, through Christ and His one act, is not like the gift of death through Adam and his one act. There is a huge and incalculable difference.

The judgement arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation. Do you understand the whole human race is condemned? All born sinners. All die. It extends beyond them. The whole creation is subjected to the curse. The whole universe must be replaced, and in its place in the future after it is finally destroyed God will create a new heaven and a new earth.

The whole universe is cursed, and it’s all cursed, and all humans are cursed because of one sin by one man. That’s how powerful sin is. One sin by one man curses the entire universe, condemns the whole human race to sin and death.

One sin by one man. But on the other hand, the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.

• One sin by one man propelled the human race into sin and death.

• Christ’s gift brings forgiveness to all who believe in Him for all their sins.

The extent of the grace gift is incalculable. It covers many, many billions of sins, transgressions, trespasses, iniquities, and perversions. Condemnation came by one sin.

• One sin is enough to condemn the whole human race and pollute the universe.
• Justification cancels all the sins of all the people who are connected to Christ.
• The one transgression demanded the condemnation of all, nothing less.
• The free gift in Christ is of such massive character that it operates with regard to all the sins of all who are Christ’s.
• Damned by one sin by one man,
• Justified by one sacrifice by one man through whom all our sins are forgiven.

This is how great forgiveness is. It only took one sin to damn the whole race. By the way, it was the sin of eating. It wasn’t even moral.

Wouldn’t God give them a little break? All he did was eat something. God hates sin. If God says, “Don’t eat,” and you eat, that’s enough to damn the whole human race and curse the universe. That’s how bad sin is. The evil from which Christ saves us is far greater than just one sin. It is inconceivable iniquity. So, Christ has done much more!

Not only removed the effect of the one sin but forgiven all the results of the one sin on behalf of His people. God hates sin and sentences the whole human race to death for one sin of eating. That is justice. Any sin calls for holy judgment, extensive holy judgment.

There are no first-, second-, third-degree sins. There are no venial, mortal sins. Sin is sin. Adam’s sin was eating. That’s God’s view of sin. Just eating when you are told not to is enough to damn the race. If that had the power to damn the race, imagine how powerful grace is to forgive all the sins of all the people who will ever believe. This is how you understand the extent of the

work of Christ in His one act on the cross compared to the extent of Adam’s one sin. If the whole human race suffered death because of Adam’s sin, and yet on the other hand, we can be justified from all our sins by the one act of Christ, then how much greater in extent is His work.

The abundance of grace in Christ takes all our sins away because He paid the penalty in His death for all our sins. In three hours of darkness, He absorbed the fury of God against all the sins of all the people who would ever believe.

One sin was enough to condemn the entire universe. He absorbed all the sins of all His people. The suffering is inconceivable, but it is also sufficient. Even after many transgressions, the free gift is given to us. Free gift, the charisma, the gift of grace.

So, Christ’s one act on the cross is greater in its effectiveness. Adam’s act can be reversed and overturned and conquered. Christ’s cannot. It is unchangeable and everlasting. It is greater in extent.

• Adam’s act was in relation to one sin.
• Christ, His act was in relation to countless sins. 3. Desired result.

The capacity for producing a desired result. The contrast between Adam and the work of Christ, we see the difference between death and life. V 17, For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) That is the result of Adam’s sin, it produced the result of death, and death reigned. It was the ultimate sovereign over all human life, everyone dies.

“The transgression of one brought about the reign of death much more,” For the fourth time in this chapter, we see this “much more” Adam and the reign of death. Christ and the reign of life – much more, much more.

• Death reigned because of the sin of Adam.
• Life reigned or we reign in life by the one act of Christ on the cross.

Grace overpowers the results of sin. The result of the work of Christ overpowers the result of the work of Adam, and therefore, it is much more efficacious. Sin in Adam set us against God, and death reigned over all of us. Righteousness in Christ reconciled us to God, and we reign in life.

What does it mean to reign in life?

Ephesians 1:3-9, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,

What does it mean to reign in life? It means to be lavished with all the blessings of heaven.

• We are kings,
• We are a royal priesthood,
• We have been lavished with all the riches of heaven.

1 Peter 1:3-4, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, An imperishable, undefiled, unfading, eternal inheritance. That’s what it means to reign in life. That is God’s promise to us.

2 Peter 1:2-4, Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

That’s what it means to reign in life, to have everything heaven can possibly lavish on you.

• You are royal,
• You rule, and
• You reign.

Book of Revelation talks about the fact that one day we will sit on the very throne upon which the Lord sits, and reign with Him. Our life is above, our life is beyond us. So, the one act of Christ is far beyond, far beyond the one act of Adam in its efficacy.

All Adam’s act did was produce death and condemnation. Brought about the reign of death. The one act of Christ brought about the reign of life. 4. Nature. V 18-19, Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

All men in Adam being condemned, and All men in Christ being justified.

What is the very nature of those acts? V 19, For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. There is the essence that you need to understand.

• Sin is disobedience.
• Righteousness is obedience.

These revelations show us the very nature of sin. Sin is an act, a thought, a word that is disobedient to God. God is the supreme authority. He establishes the law in the heart, as well as written and revealed in His Word, and when we disobey His law at any point, we manifest our fallenness and our sinfulness. It is natural for unconverted people to be disobedient to God.

Genesis 3 explains why people reject Genesis 3, because they are disobedient to God. They fight against the Word of God, the will of God. In Adam we all sin.

What does that mean?

We are all disobedient. We disobey the law of God. The New Testament says we disobey the gospel. We are characterized by disobedience. The whole human race is literally characterized by disobedience to God. Do not be surprised that they reject God’s morality and His law.

They reject even God’s revelation, even the history contained in Scripture. All who are in Adam are characterized by disobedience. That is what Adam gave them. As children of Adam, we are born disobedient. We witness this in our children. Parenting is about teaching kids to stop disobeying. They don’t come in obeying but in disobeying, defying, and rebelling. It’s in their DNA.

One man’s disobedience made all who were in that one man, namely the whole human race, disobedient by nature. That disobedience is basically a disobedience to the law of God, whether it’s understood from the heart, as in Romans 2, or from the written revelation of Scripture.

Ephesians 2:1-2, And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

Ephesians 5:6, Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Both the scriptures make it clear to us that sinners are basically called “sons of disobedience.” In other words, that is the defining reality of their offspring.

They were born disobedient. They are sons of disobedience. That’s their characteristic.

Titus 3:3, For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. Paul in describes to us what it means to be in Adam.

We get Adam’s nature. The flood of sin pollutes the whole human stream. One man’s disobedience made many sinners.

V 19, it made many sinners. We literally were made sinners.

• Not accounted sinners,
• Not designated sinners,
• Not forensically dubbed sinners,

We were made sinners. It gets passed down. You can’t find sin in the DNA. You can’t find sin in the chromosomes. But in that human material there is embodied sin and corruption and death and disobedience, and we have all been made sinners.

But on the other hand, by the obedience of one, Christ in His one act of obedience on the cross, the many will be made righteous. That is justification, a forensic declaration that we are righteous because God grants to us His own righteousness as we put our trust in Christ.

We are made righteous. In the same way that we were born sinners we are born again righteous, so that in Adam disobedience is the normal function but in Christ, obedience is the normal function.

Romans 6:16-17, Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you

obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. Obedience to sin is disobedience to God.

That is not a declared righteousness but an actual righteousness. We have been regenerated, born again, made new, given the life of God so that we are obedient. We have been transformed in nature, and we are basically saved.

Ephesians 2:10, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. “unto good works.” Obedience. So, the essence, the nature of Adam’s one act is disobedience.

The nature of Christ’s one act is obedience.

• Adam’s disobedience made all of us sinners.
• Christ’s obedience is making all of us righteous.

That full, complete righteousness.

• If we are talking about effectiveness, Christ’s work is greater than Adam’s.
• If we are talking about extent, Christ’s work is greater than Adam’s.
• If we are talking about desired result, Christ’s work is greater than Adam’s.
• If we are talking about the nature, Christ’s work is greater than Adam’s - or obedience is greater than disobedience. 5. Power.

In Adam, there is power. Adam had power. His sin unleashed a power in the world that cannot be stopped. When God sent the law that didn’t stop it. V 20, Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, The law of Moses in Moses’ time when God revealed from heaven specifics in the law came so that the transgression would stop.

It says the opposite! The transgression would increase. So, if you think you can be saved by the law, which is what all false religions teach, you

are exactly opposite the truth. There is power in fallenness, but there is only power to get worse. Even when you bring the law in, the law actually increases that sinfulness.

How does it do that? Number one, by spelling out in detail all kinds of sins that we would never have thought of, such as, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” No, the law increases sinfulness.

Secondly, not only does the law increase it by defining it in larger categories than we would expect, but the law increases our sinfulness by seducing itself by its very prohibitions. When the law says don’t do something, there’s something in that that becomes seductive.

There is something in the human heart that lusts for the forbidden realities. V 20, Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,

The power in the law is the power to increase sin. That’s because the power in Adam unleashed in the human race can only produce sin, and sin. There is nothing in that power to stop it. There is not even anything in the law to stop it.

It just increases it. That’ why any religion based up keeping moral laws, religious laws, ceremonial laws is a lie and a deception. Every religion other than the gospel of Christ. The law has never been a part of redemption.

God didn’t look at the world and say, “world is a mess. I drown them all back in Genesis 6. The whole globe, eight survived. It is gone the same direction. I think I will give the law and that will stop this.” No, the law was never a part of redemption.

• The law has no saving power.
• The law has no power to change the human heart whatsoever.
• The law makes demands that it cannot empower.

What it does is the opposite of that. It just energizes corruption.

Romans 3:19, Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

What the law does do is show you your sin?

Romans 3:20, Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Not just the knowledge of it, but the solicitation to it.

What is the power unleashed from Adam? The power of increased sin. The Bible says evil men get worse and worse and worse. That’s cumulative through human history. It’s not going to get any better but it’s getting worse, and worse.

That is the power.

Galatians 3:19, What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.

Galatians 3:21, Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which

could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.

Galatians 3:24, Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Can’t be justified by works. All the law does is condemn you and escalate your sinfulness by expanding the categories and becoming literally a solicitation to do evil. The law increases the reality of sin, increases the awareness of sin, and increases the desire to sin. That’s completely contrary to what religions of works tell you, that somehow there is in you the power to overcome your Adamic fallenness and do good, good enough to please God. That is the devil’s big lie. V 20, Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,

But on the other hand, where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. Hyper, which is an expanded view of this verb. He is saying, “It is far, far beyond, way beyond. Infinitely beyond.”

How powerful then is the one work of Christ in grace on the cross that wherever the law goes, and it increases sin, Christ comes and increases grace far beyond, way beyond. Over and above to cover it all. However powerful, however powerful sin is unleashed by Adam, grace unleashed by Christ is far more powerful.

• It covers,
• It forgives,
• It removes guilt.
• It transfers you from condemnation to justification.

The law simply puts depravity on display, stimulates sin, dooms the sinner. But the law has no power to change the heart. Grace put love and holiness on display, stimulating obedience, and grace has the power to change the heart.

The grace of God is supernatural. The sin of Adam is natural and has in its own essence nothing that can change you. So, every way you look at the one act of Christ on the cross compared to the one act of Adam, the one act of Christ triumphs over Adam.

Conclusion

V 21, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. How can what one man does affect so many?

• One man brought the reign of death, the first Adam.
• Another man, the second Adam, has brought the reign of life.

Christ, grace in Him, meets sin and defeats it. Christ and grace in Him reigns, and then it becomes the controlling power of our lives. Christ and His one act unleashes grace that produces righteousness, forgiveness, justification, adoption, conversion, and one day, glorification.

The one work of Christ transfers the sinner from death to life. The one work of Christ and the grace that it unleashes carries the justified, reconciled sinner into heaven. This is the only way. All through this chapter it’s by Christ.

We have peace because of Him. We have adoption because of Him. We have reconciliation because of Him. We have justification because of Him, and there is no other name. When Adam did what he did, it affected us all. He was acting for us.

He was our representative, and in a sense, we were there in Adam when he acted. But how does Christ’s resurrection, a historical fact, affect us the way Adam’s sin affected us? The answer is to keep reading.

Romans 6:3, Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

Now we know we were in Adam in his sin. Now we find out we are in Christ in His death.

Romans 6:4, Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

We were in Adam when he sinned. When Adam disobeyed, and we all died. We were in Christ when He rose, and we all live.

Romans 6:5, For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,

Do you understand that? When Adam sinned, we were all there. When Christ died, we were all there. We died in Him. we rose in Him. That’s true of all of Adam’s people. That’s true of all of Christ’s people.

Romans 6:6-11, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin

once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Why did Adam’s sin affect all who were in Adam? Because God designed it that way.

He was our representative. He was acting for us. We were in him when he acted.

How could Christ’s death and resurrection affect us? Because He is our representative. He is our head, and when He died and rose again, we were in Him. We were in Adam naturally. We were in Christ spiritually. This is why the resurrection is so important. We celebrate the resurrection not merely as a historical fact, but as our resurrection.

“I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live.” We live in Him.