What's WRONG with us? Romans 5:6-21

all right so we are in Romans chapter 5 Romans chapter 5 and tonight we're gonna talk about anthropology but not what you're thinking nah not anthropology like the scientific study of man and and and you know cultures and things like that but rather we're going to be talking about sin nature or what is wrong with mankind why is it that people are messed up and they are they're messed up but it's more complicated than that they're not purely messed up there's there's also good qualities and things we see so what's going on here and what does the scripture teach us about who we are as people so this is anthropology it's a it's a it's an area of doctrine about what mankind is and we'll be getting into that tonight along with of course the gospel because Romans we're going to constantly be talk talking about the gospel different aspects of in different sides of it so we are here we are Romans 5:6 it says for when we were still without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly when we were still without strength Christ died for us that's us we're the ungodly he died for us now you'd be surprised as basic as this is how many Christians do not even understand this concept I have encountered Christians over and over and you ask them when you die where are you going and they say heaven and then you say why and they say cuz I'm a good person and I say wrong this is wrong you're either wrong about the heaven part or you're wrong about the good person part but this does not work together for when we were still without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly not the good people the ungodly my state before Christ is that I'm utterly lost I'm completely lost it's not just Jesus I need you to help me somewhat as we were we were up in Utah one time we did a mission trip up to Utah and there we are and we were talking with some some representatives from BYU Brigham Young University and and these guys are Mormons and they're there to represent their theology and so the guy who was leading our group he gets up and he says here's the thing here's how I understand Mormon theology the Christian says to the Mormons in Mormon theology it's like here's my cup you know my cups half full like I do good but I don't do enough good to get to heaven I it's about half full and then Jesus comes and he fills my cup the rest of the way and so now I'm he takes he you know he fills in the slack now I'm good enough and now I make it and the Mormon missionaries those guys excuse me they were they were seminary guys they were not missionaries and they said yes that's that's what we believe that's what we believe and they were very happy they were proud of this yes you got it you got it right that's what we believe and he goes now here's my view as a Christian I believe my cup is completely empty I'm ungodly I have problems in fact it's like negative space inside the cup there's there's sin that's got to be dealt with it's not that I lack just lack righteousness I actually have sin I'm ungodly and then Jesus comes and he fills the cup completely up he takes care of the whole thing for me and then I'm saved and the Mormons looked over him and said yes we believe that literally not realizing that these two are not possibly true at the same time but that's the squirrelly nature of Mormon theology because Mormon theology has grown over time to be more about recruiting people than teaching them clear doctrines of the church and so they're willing to compromise and fudge the descriptions of words and things like that just to get more people in the door instead of to be clear about what they believe so it's not just that I needed some help that's not why Jesus died for me because I needed a little bit of help fill in the gap Jesus fill my cup up the rest of the way and it's also not because I was wounded by others Jesus did not die for me because other people hurt me and I needed Jesus to die for me because of my father wounds my mother wounds or my grandpa wounds or whatever they were those can be real wounds and they can seriously hurt but that's not why I needed Jesus to die for me I needed Jesus to die for me because of that last word in verse 6 ungodly my sin that's why I needed Jesus to die so here's where worship comes in when I realize that Jesus died for me the ungodly that's me the ungodly that's who he died for so if you died for me that makes me with the ungodly right that makes me ungodly so I realize this and all of a sudden I don't worship like someone who's just been helped by Jesus I worship like a ungodly sinner who's been saved by Jesus I worship because there's this gratitude in my heart this love for God because He first loved me while I was a sinner then in verse 7 he drives us home even more for scarcely for a righteous man will one die yet perhaps for a good man some one would even dare to die now this is a principle in life it's like just generally speaking people typically just don't die for random other people in fact even when you have a righteous guy it's rare that somebody was willing to die for this righteous man by man standards righteous and then you have a good man and someone would even dare to die for them perhaps now some people think that the righteous man and the good man are two different kind of categories of people in this passage you have the righteous men they're like the religiously holy person who's willing to die for the religiously holy person well scarcely you know but then you have just a good guy like oh he's just a good guy man he's like oh he's I love that guy more maybe maybe more people are willing to lay their lives down for him I don't know if that's what it's saying here or not to be honest the point though is clear when somebody says will you die for so and so you ask yourself who are they and is it worth it that's a natural to ask yourself is it worth my life to be laid down for that person is it worth me to die for them to live it's natural to ask this question now as a Christian you might say I wouldn't even ask yes Lord I will lay my life but that's because of the work of the Holy Spirit in you it's not natural that's an unnatural work of God in your life and that's a beautiful thing because you follow what Jesus has done for you but the natural thing is to say are they worth dying for well in verse 8 he concludes us he says but God demonstrated his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us so he dies for me when I'm with a my righteous man no a my good man no I'm a sinner I'm a wicked and he dies for me why would he do this is it because I'm so worth it is it because as I've heard someone say one time well God was lonely God was lonely up in heaven I don't know have you heard the doctrine of the Trinity God has never been lonely he's never been alone he's three-in-one there is no lack of fellowship when it's just God for all eternity so it wasn't that he was lonely well maybe what happened is God looked down from heaven you know he parted the clouds because that's totally how it works and he looks down from heaven and he sees into the heart of man and he goes oh I see there's a layer of evil there but you know what is I I pushed past that layer and then I go and further and there's there's a more evil but I keep going and I keep going and there's some selfishness and stuff in and I keep going past the pride you know past the theft and the lying and all the foul things but way deep deep deep down there's this little bit of good and I found the good and I said that's worth redeeming that's worth it no that's really not what happened God didn't look down into us and see and weigh in in his mind you have enough good that it's worth me dying for you that's the opposite of what verses 7 and 8 are telling us you weren't good you weren't righteous Christ died for you those things sound nice Oh God was lonely or he saw good in us but they are lies they're lies and they strike at the heart of the gospel because what they do is they weaken the love of God they lift us up and they bring his love down but if I see it for what it is and I see Christ died for us as we were sinners ungodly wicked evil people who rightly deserve judgment and he dies for me all of a sudden his love is magnified what motive was there it was just love God demonstrated his own love toward us I love you why because of some incredible quality in me is it my hair is it is it is it my my attitude my personality is my funny jokes it's the way I can make other people smile no you're a sinner I love you because I'm loved I love you because of my qualities not because of your qualities that's the nature of our salvation so this is the point right first john 3:1 puts it this way behold what manner of love what kind of love the father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God now Paul's emphasis here is on the we in 1st John 3:1 that we sinners wicked sinners should be called children of God behold the love of God God's love is magnified it's it's demonstrated there so making man sinners makes God very loving but if you try to pretend that man is good then God becomes much less loving and man becomes more entitled I deserve it Lord I'm good I'm a good person I deserve it you should come and die for me or you should come and do these things for me this is such a perfect motive I love this because here we are in modern ok back then do you really think popularly love was such a big deal like everything was all love songs on the radio back in Roman days no it was it was all about love and compassion and all this sort of thing this the whole concept of love being such a big deal I think has been really lifted up higher because of the Christian worldview it's not love is not lifted up as such a high attribute in other worldviews as it is in Christianity but that's what's so beautiful about it God why did you save me if you went up to heaven you were like look you're like Lord what did you see in me why did you save me and he just looks at you and says I love you it's not because I looked at you and saw that you were so grand and so wonderful it's because I looked into my own heart and saw the love for you and that motivated me he loves us and then he asks us to give that kind of love to other people love to the undeserved love to the thankless love to those who hate us and persecute us to actually do this to really live out this love that God's given us that's so powerful so you might ask yourself how do I know God loves me Christ died for you that's how you know the cross demonstrates according to verse 8 that this blew me away cuz I used to struggle I remember thinking how do I know God really loves me cuz sometimes I look into my heart and I don't feel like God's heart loves me but asking my heart what's in God's heart he's like one of the stupidest things I could ever do asking my heart what's in God's heart as if his heart is a reflection of mine really I'm just dealing with natural human anxieties natural human fears or doubts and things like this and this is where I hold up that Shield of faith and I go you know what I know God loves me because he demonstrated it on the cross the cross stands as a permanent monument to the love of God for me because while I was still a sinner he died for me I I know it it's not a doubt it's not it's not something I'm just hopeful about it's I know this he loved me I remember seeing a Passion of the Christ I do I do recommend watching if you want I don't think that you need to consider the passion like the deepest spiritual experience of your life I think though though that it was it was very interesting to watch and and it did tug at my heart that's for sure it doesn't have to it's not a test of your spirituality and how emotional you get when you watch this movie but I remember seeing the character Barabbas you guys remember Barabbas Barabbas was the guy that was set free and Jesus instead was crucified and I remember being irritated because he was like yucky it was like they cast the character perfectly that actor he's just like people probably just don't like him in real life I don't know because he's just I'm just kidding but but he acted it well like he's just like he I mean he's like this evil like icky he's icky right do you know what I'm talking about it was like oh that guy's so Chris and his and I'm like that guy there let that guy go man they made per Abbess into this like villainous like yucky I can't stand you you're disgusting well that's me this guy was let go and and Jesus was crucified in his place so to speak well that's me I'm not like oh Lord I got a couple problems but you say but no I am I am like that Barabbas guy compared to God's holiness there's something disgusting inside of my own sinful nature breaks my heart but true that's me and he died for me what incredible love he has so our world today they they often think that man is basically good he's man basically good well if man is basically good the Gospels not true if the gospel is true then man is not basically good this changes things you know according to the Bible we're children of Wrath were ungodly that's who he died for now that this doesn't mean I know I don't want to go overboard with this concept it doesn't mean that we're not mortal we're also moral creatures like I'm aware of what's right and wrong and I even sometimes try to do what's right and you might find unsaved people that seem to be living good lives but like Ecclesiastes says it says in Ecclesiastes 7 that there is no one who constantly does what is good and that's the real issue it's an offense against God's holiness when we sin like this so man is complicated man is is moral but yet man does not follow the morals that we know we don't we don't stay consistent in fact the only people who think they stay consistent with morals is the ones who invent their own new morality then they go well I always do what I think is right except that what you think is right is basically whatever you do excuses which is nice and self-serving but but no man is kind of complicated it turns out and the Anthropology of man based on Scripture is where we're sort of a complicated creature made in the image of God yet we're suffering this issue of rebellion and sin and sin nature so we'll get more into this as we keep going verse 9 it says this much more than having now been justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son much more having been reconciled we shall be saved by his life I think this is talking in general these verses about the security we have in Christ I look back and I see how he died for me in the ungodly state and that assures me my future salvation but there's interesting things that are in here verse 9 says that we were justified by his blood specifically by his blood it could say anything their God could have had anything written there the Holy Spirit could have inspired it any way but specifically by his blood why do I bring this up because there are some more liberal and I'm not talking about politics here but about theology liberal more you know churches and liberal theologians who think that Jesus his his life was an example and his death was an example of love but it didn't actually purchase anything for us it was just an example what we can say if nothing else is we can say it's true that Jesus gave an example but to reduce his sacrifice to merely being an example is to say the Bible is completely wrong is to say you're not even you're not following the Bible anymore you have your own you have a cult you have your own version of Christianity based upon what you like and don't like and that's unfortunate to reduce Jesus's sacrifice to an example is is to remove the sacrifice because examples aren't sacrifices there is no sacrifice thing it was his blood and the Old Testament sacrifices foreshadow this it's substitutionary with us what we call penal substitution Airi atonement he brings me into oneness with God by coming in my place and paying the penalty penal the penalty for my sin on the cross substitutionary because he's in my place instead of me doing it and it's atonement it brings me into oneness with God so that's the doctor and penal substitution area Toman the Scriptures are saying this is certainly saying this in verses 9 and 10 assists by his blood it says that we were enemies of God in other words everyone's not okay with God there's something wrong in our relationship we were reconciled to God well you have to be reconciled with just examples I think you need a sacrifice and we were in verse 9 saved from God's wrath ii corinthians kind of brings this in and reinforces it this idea of it being a substitutionary penal thing and the reason why I bring this up is because right now modern times this doctrine is under attack and there's there's always the Christian Church throughout the centuries there's like this remnant you know that stays faithful to the word pretty much right and then there's there's these offshoots and sometimes it's the descendants of this group that sort of go off weird and we have to constantly be reclaiming this and we getting reforming back to the scriptures every generation has to do it I think but second Corinthians 5:20 and 21 that says now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us and listened but it says we implore you on Christ's behalf be reconciled to God for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him I mean that's Jesus being sin for me that's a pretty extreme words Jesus was sin he knew no sin but he he was sin he made him to be sin for me that's that's that's his substitutionary sacrifice for me but the the application that Paul's giving us in verses 9 and 10 of Romans 5 it's really neat the application is this there's no wrath for me the wrath of God poured out on Christ on the cross there is no longer wrath for me that's why he says if he was gonna offer his son well then so we shall be saved through his life he repeats that verse that phrase twice we shall be saved what's he saying shall be saved I thought I was saved well the scripture talks about being saved how we are saved we're being saved and we will be saved it uses it in all three of these contexts in the New Testament I am saved positionally I'm in Christ I'm being saved that's my sanctification that continually happens throughout my life and then I am going to be saved as in when the day of judgement comes I won't be condemned so if you were saved you will be saved this is this is these are two pieces of this - bread pieces of the same sandwich they go together you've got you've got the grilled cheese it's got two pieces of bread the grilled cheese sounds good right now so Romans I think Romans the book of Romans if we if we if you sort of scoot back and look at it big picture it takes you first to total insecurity if you have no security because we're like I'm a sinner you're a sinner we're all sinners were doomed were condemned we're unrighteous from there - total security but Jesus if he came and died for me while I was in that state how much more will he keep me how much more will he save me in that final day I'm secure in Christ I'm not gonna have to fill half this Cup he did it all and that's a beautiful thing so he takes us to this like sense of confidence about God's plan for our future the security and our own walk with the Lord this confidence in our prayer life this confidence in this comfort when you go to bed tonight and you realize you're still not sanctified you're still not perfect you still fail but you're in Christ and that's that's all you can ever offer to God is Christ his righteousness not yours so we look to the past to be certain of the future we look to the cross to be certain of our eternal life in the future so if he saved at me when I was still a sinner well then he'll see my salvation through to the end I think another way to put this is the surest proof of the second coming is the first coming the surest proof of the future plans of God are the fulfillment of the plan of the past plans of God that I can be assured of Christ's return because he came initially so this is this is need this is the theology impacting our hearts do you sense it do you sense it how how this seems to be God's method is he he comes and he enters sometimes into our hearts through our heads that's at least my experiences I mean digging in the scripture sometimes my heart's not really listening and my head sometimes gets the key to that emotion and so God gives us the theology that gives me confidence in my trial and comfort in the pain I'm going through that gives me my heart the ability to recognize God's love at Barros before I was looking at myself to think what does God feel which is kind of strange the theology that changes our security in God's grace I'm in Christ man oh I just fall upon His grace and rest the theology that changes my hope for eternal eternal future my view of mankind I no longer view people as the world often does and where we sort of play this game like we pretend we're all good I also don't think that everything that man does is evil and every motive is bad you know if a mother sacrifices herself to save her baby I don't think that that was an evil act some people they feel as though they have to demonize that behavior like everything every human does outside of Christ is evil personally I don't I don't see that and I don't think the scripture forces me to say that but even an evil being can do something good so so yes it's changing our view of mankind and it's changing our appreciation of God's love so verse 11 let's keep reading Romans 5:11 and not only that not only that but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received the reconciliation this not only that phrase this is not the first time it's come up in in Romans in Romans 5 in particular so in 5:2 he says we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God and then in 5/3 he's like not only that but we rejoice in tribulation we have joy even though we're in pain and suffering and then here in verse 11 he's like and not only that we rejoice in God and these are all very different things and you could look back to see that the whole concepts as they go but think about this rejoicing in God is not the same as just having joy because of you know something that God has done for you I'm actually rejoicing in God I think maybe parents can understand this have you ever had it where your kid does something that just brings you joy and your rejoicing in them there's something there's something in your rejoicing in them so to speak this is this is I'm rejoicing in God his his character his power his plan his love and I rejoicing because of it I'm just the recipient like I'm just watching it and going whoa and brings me joy that's the idea so I'm not just rejoicing in the blessings I'm rejoicing in the blesser that's the difference that's the difference if I was to give you a million dollars if I was to give you a brand-new Lamborghini Countach is now isn't that the one that when I was a kid that was the one it was the Lamborghini Countach I'm not even sure what that looks like because it's fit but but if I was to give you some you know amaze this amazing mansion somewhere you know this beautiful house and all this stuff and then after I gave you all these things you just saw me walking down the street would you be like no there's like I mean it would bless you I'm not trying to say your your carnal here but you would be like wow that was you gave me some pretty amazing big things I'm rich you might rejoice in me somewhat but God's given you so much more he's taking your sin upon himself he's died for your for your your the consequences of your sin and your rebellion against him he's promised you eternal hope he's given you some comfort and some courage through trials and through pains and he'll take you into his presence for all eternity where there's fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore do you rejoice in him yet is he your joy does he bring you peace does he bring you comfort so you rejoice in God this is the key to rejoicing it's in Philippians 4 for you might have missed this when you read Philippians it says rejoice in the Lord always again I will say rejoice rejoice in the Lord always well how do I rejoice always we could do it in the Lord he's your joy him his person his character his love towards you his the things he's done for you it's just who he is gives me joy this is the key to always rejoicing with the right view of God knowing his love and God his love in Christ for me excuse me how can I not rejoice how can I not have joy in my heart towards the Lord and if you don't you need to pray God get me through the spiritual battle get me through this the shade that is upon my eyes not seeing your glory for who you are carrying me through this thing because I need to rejoice in you always I'm literally commanded to in Scripture and that's to highlight that something's wrong if I can't do it right now today rejoice in God the unsaved cannot rejoice in God not really not truly only in some sense of deception but the reconciled they can rejoice in God I like how it says in verse 11 through whom we have now received the reconciliation I'm reconciled now like my heart my life is reconciled already it's already happened not just that I will one day be joined to God in a greater sense but right now I'm already reconciled the reconciliation has already happened when my favorite worship songs back in the day we haven't done it in years and years but it was just I am redeemed we'd sing and all you probably don't know if it was I am redeemed I am redeemed washed and cleaned I am redeemed a lot of complicated words deep deep theology in that song I mean they were just sing you know he lifts me up he fills my cup he lifts me up I like the course was really was more wordy than the rest it was sing hallelujah sing hallelujah sing hallelujah Christ is Lord I love that song I just love singing I'm redeemed washed and clean I have received Rick the reconciliation I was just so blessed by that because I know my sin and I know it's paid verse 12 he goes on he says therefore just as through one man sin entered the world and death through sin thus death spread to all men because all sinned and now we're getting into the Anthropology of it right now we're getting to the theology about man the doctrine of man the doctrine of what we call the fall although maybe it would be more appropriate to call it the rebellion because a fall almost implies it was passively man just kind of oh I fell you know it's like oh I fell into adultery like that you jumped into it totally you don't fall into this kind of stuff so the doctrine of the fall or the rebellion of man so here's the doctrine verse 12 it's one man that's Adam through whom sin entered the world so in the pre fall state man man meaning just Adam and Eve here they're sinless in fact Genesis describes them as being naked and unashamed that is there was no reason for shame there was no reason for embarrassment there was no reason for for the blushing of the cheeks you know because there were no foul motives and there was no sin nature there was no tendency towards sin it wouldn't occur to them to do something wrong they would have no desire for it and they were in relationship with God they're in the garden where this is a special place on the earth where God is walking with man so they're in close relationship with God and in great relationship with each other without sin but then they eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and that was the that was the act of rebellion and that through that sin entered the world sin entered the world now some people they get mad about the tree I've heard it before have you and then God put this one tree in the middle of the garden and then they described the tree as though they know what it looked like and I've heard them like oh and it looked better it was more beautiful than all the other trees really what Bible are you reading consists of special I hate God versions like who you get his like details to feed your irritation because that what you do I don't know but really the issue with the tree is this it was about freewill it was about God giving them an opportunity to choose not to not to obey Him or to choose to rebel they had no sin nature it's not like everywhere they looked they thought of sinful things to do there was just one thing that they were told not to do I don't think anything we even would have occurred to them any wicked things would have even come up in their mind no desire whatsoever to do it but there's this one tree God says don't do that that's the one thing don't do that so by eating of the tree they're saying God I'm ignoring what you say I'm gonna do what I want I'm gonna do what I choose I'm gonna go against your will and through that sin entered the world so it wasn't just one sin it was the it was the it was the wedge that opened the door that brought in sin to the world to the world to all of men and it says and death through sin thus death spread to all men because all sinned so Adam is our representative he's the first man and all of us are literally physically related to this to this man we inherit his nature and that nature is sin nature it's a fallen nature so we're kind of a complicated being I'm made in the image of God yet I have this rebellion inside of me so that's is it is complicated the results of the fall were sin entering the world and death sin and death sin and death you know you against God and then it brings death spiritual and physical separation from God all these sorts of things come in and then it spreads to all men everybody has this and Chapter seven I think gets into the sin nature in more detail when he describes a wretched man that I am why do i I don't do the things I want to do I do the things I don't want to do and it explains this this thing that for me when I read Romans 7 and really looked at it I thought where else do we find such a perfect description of the inner battle of mankind then Romans 7 right here in the Christian Bible and in the Christian worldview I don't see it in other beliefs other beliefs I don't think explained the way things are very well but Christianity seems to get hit the nail right on the head so this is important right this is how we how things got this way this means that our theology should tell us that this world is not pristine this world is not as it was created so anyone complaining about God saying why is the world the way it is they're ignoring that Christianity actually accounts for this saying we are experiencing the post rebellion world with sin and pain and suffering and it's temporary God will eventually restore in the meantime he's saving people out of this thing for that future Kingdom and so that's it's kind of like getting mad at God for the way the world is now is kind of like getting mad at somebody because their cars all smashed up after a car accident and be like wait how much did you pay for that car fifteen thousand dollars why would you pay fifteen thousand dollars for that piece of junk look at it's all beat up and smashed you can't even drive it anymore well it wasn't like that when I bought it no we have to take an account like there was a big car accident so to speak in the Garden of Eden and we're all experiencing the after-effects of that so verse 13 it says for until the law sin was in the world but sin is not imputed when there is no law nevertheless death reigned ruled 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 now I've tried to think about verse 13 I mean that's really interesting for until the law sin was in the world we get that the law is the law of Moses and until then sin was still in the world but sin is not imputed when there is no law so the idea is that people aren't guilty when they have no awareness of the guilt that they're committing I think my personal opinion is that maybe verse 13 is likes like what Paul has done earlier in Romans where he he he takes the thing he expects you to say against him and he puts it in the text and then he answers it right after and the reason why is because I feel like verse 14 is the answer to verse 13 yeah but you know why why do people die before the law of Moses why would they die well verse 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 is to come so they explain it a little bit better for you um just no law mean no sin well if no law means no sin then why did people die why do people die and in fact if that's the case the worst thing you could do is tell people something they're doing is wrong because now they're gonna die but that's not the world we live in that's not how things work death reigned from Adam to Moses that's what Paul's saying in verse 14 because people do know Paul uses the word law in a couple different ways in the book of Romans one is the law of Moses the other one is that remember remember Romans to remember Romans three that Gentiles they show the work of the law written in their hearts their conscience bearing witness with them accusing or excusing them meaning that there is nobody who's really without the law they might be without Moses's written law but they're not without the Lord in their hearts so death reigned because there's always been a law around that's why I tend to think verse 13 might be the the complainer that he's responding to his stereotypical accusations so they do know so says there was death because man was sinning because man had a conscience because we're sinners so is the law of sin and death it was an operation before the Old Testament law showed up God's revealing the timeless truths in the Mosaic law now some atheists they will attack the Bible and attack Christians and they'll say things like this and Christians often fall for this they say I don't need the Bible to know about morality this is interesting because as a Christian we don't think you need the Bible to know about morality in fact the Bible tells us you don't Romans 1 you know Romans 2 you know it's very clear that you already know about morality because morality is true and God has written it in our hearts but they'll use this as an attack now the Bible what the Bible does give us is a clarified morality and it clears up some issues and it fixes us where our compass is a little off here and there and that is a good thing then in verse 15 it says but the free gift is not like the offense for if by the one man's offence many died much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abounded to many so this is um following up from verse 14 where Adam is called a type of him who is to come typ e a type the the Bible especially the New King James Version here that we're using it has the term type and anti type and I should explain those terms since they're coming up here in Romans a type is a representative representative and the anti-type is the thing it represents you might think it would be the other way around right but the anti-type is the is the thing that corresponds to it fulfills the type so I would think of it as this way it's like a shadow versus the thing casting the shadow this is one represents the other you could look at it this way you have those you know those weird needle things that you put your face in and then you pull it away and it's got like your face structure there and you stick your tongue in it and then you wonder like how many people did that before me not that I've ever done but this thing would be would that be the type or the anti-type what would the dot that would actually not that would be the type what were the anti-type be my face so Adam is the type Christ is the anti-type not that I'm in Christ as man is it not me so Adam is a is it is a figure that's supposed to teach us something about the one who will come how is Adam this type well he represents all of us he stands in the place of all mankind making the decision to rebel it affects every human who's ever born after that Jesus stands at the cross paying for the decision to rebel and affects everybody who will come to him in faith so we had two representatives we had Adam we have Christ we have the type we have the anti-type verse I'll read verse 15 again now in that context the free gift is not like the offense the gift is from Christ that salvation the offense is from Adam eating of the fruit for if by the one man's offence Adams offense many died much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of one the one man Jesus Christ abounded to many so we have the free gift abounding to us now some people don't like this they don't like Adam being your representative I get it you don't like it doesn't mean it's not true this is the way it is like it or not that's how it is and this is really how life works if your if your parents decided to move from here to Greenland and then you're born in Greenland and they move there before you well you live in Greenland like it or not you were gonna deal with the issues that your parents passed down to you and we're passed down with this nature but those who don't like the fact that Adam represented all of us when he brought us all down with him they don't realize that in the exact same sense Jesus is able to bring us up with him because he stood in our place now I love the words that the Bible uses about the gospel look at these words in verse 15 free gift grace and abounded I like it it's a free gift it's free you don't have to pay for it it's a gift it's given to you it's grace is not earned it's it's something he purchased and then just offers to us and then it abounded because Adams sin affects all of mankind that's an awful lot of sin but Christ grace abounds or it's more than enough it over flows the sin of Adam the sin of man the sin of all of us it more than is more than enough for us and the number 16 it continues the same theme and the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned Adam for the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification Adams one offense ends up condemning all of us partially because we become sinners but as time goes by there isn't just one offense is there there's lots and lots and lots and lots of offenses that's why the free gift from Christ which came from many offenses results in justification so Adams a type of Christ but there's ways in which he's the opposite of Christ just like that image if I push my face into it it's actually the like the opposite of my face you flip it on the inside you're like oh it's like a it's it's the opposite impression of my face so Adam in a sense is the opposite of Christ one man condemning the world we have one man bringing justification to all the world whoever would receive him so it's condemnation contrasted with justification similarities and dissimilarities in this type and we can look at other people in the scripture and we can see similarities and dissimilarities we can see King David having having being a type of Christ in some ways but then in other ways he's the opposite and so you look at these things it's very interesting study typology so Adams fall results in condemnation Jesus in his sacrifice in justification that is greater than the condemnation the one offensive Adam the many offenses of that Christ paid for and this is interesting because here we come up in verse 16 did you realize this we come up to a place where it's countering some false theology from lots of different groups in the Eastern Orthodox beliefs from I've been doing a little bit of research into their their beliefs recently and my understanding is they think Jesus paid for Adam's sin but not necessarily for your personal sins now this is definitely the case with Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons they do not think Jesus's death paid for everybody's sins they think it paid for adam's original sin but not for your personal sins this seems quirky it seems weird but it's also unbiblical more importantly let's read verse 16 again and see if you can catch this the gift does 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 if Jesus only died for what Adam did it would say the free gift which came from one offense because he only paid for the one but Jesus paid for it all he paid for all of our sin and this is attested consistently throughout the New Testament Hebrews 1:3 says this who being the brightness of his glory speaking of Jesus and the Express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power when he had himself purged our sins sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high he purged what Adam's sin from us no he purged our sins Jesus dealt with our sins not just Adam in first John 1:7 it says but if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from Adam's sin no it says the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin oh it's all taken care of through Christ so I like that that that's the theology here that we need to hold to and and watch out for people who who try subtle ways to come up with false Gospels verse 17 let's keep reading it says for if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one much more of those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ therefore as through one man's offence 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 for as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners so also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous now this this is where we get sin nature verse 19 Adams disobedience made many sinners it didn't just make us like a stain of sin but I'm actually makes us sinners those who are committing sins that's that's the result we have wills that are no longer submitted all the bolts middly to God but in Christ everything that Adam failed in is overcome it's not death it's it's life it's righteousness it's not sin its justification it's not condemnation we're made righteous now some will use the passage I just read especially let me see especially the part where it says there in verse 18 therefore as through one man's offence 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 they'll use that verse to say that universalism is true or that everybody who whoever lives gets saved because Jesus is Adam we all die so in Christ every one saved that's that's not a true doctrine it's not biblical and it's even in this passage not only in other passages we have clear teachings that this is not the case the story of the sheep and the goats you know how Jesus was like and all the sheep will be put on one side and then there won't be any goats no that's not what he that's not the Perry told but but know that but even in this passage even in this passage it says in verse 17 for if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one much more those who receive abundance of grace and the gift and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life so that we we who receive the gift is offered to all but it's only received by those who choose to do so it's a decision that we make so it's not universalism we're all children of Adam but we are not all in Christ and so Adam is our representative that's how you're born that's how you start Christ that's an option and it's an option we pray that more people will take advantage of so Jesus is that new figurehead you can actually read about this in 1st Corinthians 15 there's a parallel passage I'm not gonna get into it tonight for time but first Corinthians 15 verses 47 through 57 that's basically the end of the chapter is talking about how Christ is the last atom we're the first atom in the last out of it so this this parallel what we're looking at guys is this God set up the Gospel message from before time from the moment of Adam's creation this was known that this was all part of the puzzle coming together we catch this when you when you when you watch certain TV shows where they do this right they they'll a little plot developments from the very first moments of the very first episodes that come to play later on in later seasons and then you're like wow this was all part of one big story and that's exactly what we see and that God has done with real life in Adam and in Christ so this is why Jesus says you have to be born again this is why he tells him is to deny yourself and take up the cross because we're sinners by nature and this thing has to change like something's wrong with me something's wrong with me and it is something is wrong and those who seek to deny it they waste their time instead how about let's have the solution through Jesus verse 20 it says moreover the law entered that the offence might abound but where sin abounded grace abounded much more so that as sin reigned in death even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord so now he's bringing the law back into the picture he keeps doing this in Romans have you noticed that he keeps talking about the purpose of the Old Testament law and he's sort of pointing out different functions and reasons for that law here he's pointing out that the law entered why so that the offense might abound so that sin would become more sinful that's why the law entered it didn't enter so that people could become righteous by obeying it it entered to expose sin for what it is have you felt that have you have you read in the scriptures and you find yourself going man that's me I've done that I've done that I'm in trouble like in josiah's time when they find the book of the law in the temple and then he reads it and he's like if I can paraphrase Oh crud I'm in so much trouble right now we have not been doing these things there's curses that are upon us because we've been rebelling against God and all of a sudden the offense abounded he's aware of wow we've really been doing bad this is bad news that's why the law entered because it drives us to Christ it drives us to our knees it shows us our sin the more you know the more it plagues you that you have not done what is right the law puts you on on your knees and that's a good awareness this is not a bad thing this is a healthy thing because it leads us to grace it leads us to Christ some people are tempted to downplay sin even as Christians they feel like that's the downplay sin they call it mistakes I think he's interesting sometimes as a youth pastor I'll hear parents talk about their kids and so now these are kids who are probably or not probably are not saved I don't know for sure but I'm if I had to guess I'd say they probably weren't saved and then the parents like but they're deep down you know she's good deep down deep down he's really good though deep down he's really good and I'm just like do you think you guys are really good man it's it's Christ changing me born-again renewed in him this is what brings the goodness into my life this is what changes my character we need to be biblical about our theology or else you won't handle things right when your kid has serious problems in serious issues you'll just blow it over like it's no big deal because somewhere underneath all of the rebellion I'm seeing there's a core of wonderfulness that I remember from when they were an infant and they grabbed my finger with their whole hand and so they must really be good but rather gods like no you're not but I love you anyway you're not good but I'll save you anyhow and let's let that law come in and let it let it real let it cause us to realize that that the offenses are bounded but but I love it in verse 20 you know this verse where sin abounded grace abounded much more have you felt your sin abound have you been like aw man it's too much I've sinned too much I can't be forgiven all but grace abounded much more no matter how much your sin has overflowed grace overflows more I'm amazed this is the bible's extreme it's extreme about the sin of man and it is extreme about the grace of God and we should be too I love this so next week we're gonna be talking about we're gonna do Romans 6 and it's gonna talk about the consequences of this when you talk about wicked sinful man and all but Grace just floods over them does this mean it's okay to sin does this mean that we can just go on with our lives of sinning no we're talking about being born again we're talking about a new life we're talking about how this changes us and what new life were called to that's in Romans 6 he's gonna get into that so we're really getting into so the Christian life now it's just they're just neat stuff and Romans 6 is it is powerful stuff it is powerful stuff it's the kind of things you read and you're like I should probably really trust this I should probably really take this seriously because it will change it will change the way I view my life interview my own struggles so let's pray father we thank you for your word we thank you for the Enlightenment to our hearts and our minds we thank you Lord that you can show us the sinfulness of man but without causing us to hate to hate each other but instead to realize that it causes us to love you and to love your grace help us Lord we pray to love our enemies to realize that that we are like them that we're like them to know that you love us anyway help us to love people whether they earn it or not lord help us to extend the grace of Christ that we've received to others and to see how great this grace has been to us and may we rejoice in you have joy in you not in our performance not in our good deeds not in anything that's within us blur but everything that is within you in Jesus precious name we pray amen [Music] [Music] yeah [Music]

Channel: Mike Winger

Views: 27,109

Rating: 4.8927445 out of 5

Keywords: Mike Winger, BibleThinker, Anthropology, biblical anthropology, what is man, what is wrong with me?, what is wrong with us?, the human problem, sin nature, what is sin nature, adam, the fall, are people basically good, depravity, romans, romans 5, last Adam, Jesus is the last Adam, Adam as a type of Christ, Thinking Biblically, is universalism biblical, what did Jesus die for?, why did Jesus die?

Id: saN5Vws4c9c

Length: 52min 6sec (3126 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 24 2017