Tag Archives: original sin

Posted on

Romans 5: Life Sentence

Read Romans 5:12-21

Life Sentence

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 5:17

Digging Deeper: The problem is simple—yours and mine: We’re dead men walking. We are all under a death sentence because of Adam’s sin:

“You know the story of how Adam landed us in the dilemma we’re in— first sin, then death, and no one exempt from either sin or death.” (Romans 5:12, MSG)

Since Adam was the first human being created and therefore the head of the human race, through this one man’s disobedience sin entered the genetic code of all humanity.  That might seem unfair, but that’s the way it works.  Every human being, without exception, even the best among us—the sincere, good-hearted, law abiding citizen—is horribly infected with sin-tainted DNA:

“Even those who didn’t sin precisely as Adam did by disobeying a specific command of God still had to experience this termination of life, this separation from God.” (Romans 5:14, MSG)

And even though there was no real accounting for sin before the Law of Moses was revealed (Romans 5:13), the consequence of sin still reigned:  Death for all—both literal, physical death and spiritual, eternal separation from God.  What God created human beings to experience and enjoy—an intimate relationship and forever life in his presence—was erased the moment Adam chose to disobey God’s commands.

Yet as horrible as this situation is, the good news is that through another man’s obedience, Jesus Christ, our death sentence was commuted to a “life” sentence—a restoration of intimacy with God and forever life in his presence.  You see, Jesus is the last Adam (I Corinthians 15:45), and as the head of a spiritual race, our rebirth through him permanently alters our genetic code with life—eternal life that cannot be taken from us.  Just as the first man’s singular act of disobedience (eating from a forbidden tree) had the universal effect of trumping life with death, so the last man’s singular act of obedience (dying on a tree) trumped death with life eternal for all who believe:

“If death got the upper hand through one man’s wrongdoing, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand setting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides?” (Romans 5:17, MSG)

Of course, if you are already a follower of Christ, you know all this.  So why does Paul keep bringing this up here in Romans?  What’s the big deal; how should this affect your life today?

Well, for one thing, it ought to affect your attitude toward people who are far from God.  They are genetically infected with Adam’s sin-tainted DNA, and therefore sentenced to death.  And there is just one way out: Only rebirth into eternal life through Jesus Christ can rewire their Adamic genetic code.  Don’t ever forget that!  In an age that pressures us into believing that there are many ways to God, that if you are just good enough and sincere enough, then in the end, you’ll be just fine, remember the truth: In Adam, all die!  But in Jesus, all live!

“Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right.” (Romans 5:18-19, MSG)

And for another thing, when sin (both your sin nature and your individual acts of sin) tries to remind you that you are still under the death penalty of Adam’s disobedience (which, by the way, is so paradoxical: the world says there is no guilt while at the same time the god of this world reminds you that you’re as guilty as sin), you can remind sin that Someone else paid the death penalty for you. Your death sentence has been commuted to eternal life!

Should that make a difference in your life today?  You bet!  You were a “Dead man walking” but have been declared “not guilty!” You have walked out of sin-prison a free man or woman by the gracious act of Another.

Should that make a difference in your life today?  You tell me!

“The arrows of God’s anger that had been put against your breast
were loosed into the Lord Jesus Christ. Because
He has died for you, you were forgiven.”
~Paris Reidhead

This Week’s Assignment (Including two options for Scripture memory):

  • Option A—Memorize Romans 5:1-4,  “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. 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.”
  • Option B—Memorize Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
  • Read Romans 5:1-11 once a day for the next seven days (you might want to different version on different days). Ask God to give you a fresh understanding of the richness of these verses.
Posted on

Romans 3: We’re All In The Same Boat

Read Romans 3:1-20

 

We’re All In The Same Boat

What shall we conclude then? … We have already made the charge that
Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one…”
~Romans 3:10

Digging Deeper: The problem with the whole of the human race—Jew and Gentile, religionist and pagan, you and me—is that we are all horribly infected with sin.  Not hopelessly…I’ll come back to that in a moment.

Though it’s not too popular to talk about sin these days—particularly personal sin—that, nonetheless, remains what is wrong with the human race. We are all in that same sin boat, headed for an eternal maelstrom of deserved destruction.  At the core, sin has separated us from our loving and righteous Creator.  He made us for himself—a loving, intimate, unfettered moment-by-moment relationship between Creator and the highest of his creation—mankind; a relationship where we would not only literally live in his presence, but we would truly know his person and personally experience his Divine power as our very own.

But we blew it!  The father and mother of our race, Adam and Eve, deliberately chose to walk away from the deal of a lifetime in order to be like God, to be equal with God, to be their own god. And in that sad moment, the genetic code of the human race was horribly corrupted by sin.  Not hopelessly…I’ll get to that in a moment.

Moreover, as a race, we willfully and inexorably plunge forward down that same road the proto-couple chose, insisting on being like God, being equal to God, being our own god. And compounding our tragedy, we don’t seem to get it. (Romans 3:11)  Or even worse, we do get it (which is more likely the case; see Romans 1:20-23), and we still knowingly insist on doing our own thing:

“All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:12)

And it gets worse…just read on in Romans 3:13-18.  But enough of the bad news—we’ve already dealt with that in Romans 1-2.  Let’s just cut to the chase of what results from our insistence on going it alone without God, which Paul sums up in Romans 3:16-17:

“Ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.”

Yes, we have been horribly infected with sin.  Our genetic code is horribly corrupted with willful disobedience to the God who created us for intimacy with him. Horribly infected! Horribly corrupted!  Yet all is not hopeless.

One word changes that tragic equation, interrupts the inexorable plunge and trumps our sin: “But…” Paul pens one word that delivers the death blow to sin, splits the wide road to destruction with an off-ramp to redemption, throws a life-saver to a sinking human race so we can get out of the proverbial boat we’re all in: “But…”

Though it is not in our reading for today, take a look at the first word of the next section; venture a sneak peak at this grand verse, Romans 3:21, along with its cousin verses in Romans 3:22-26, and let your heart be lifted yet again by the unstoppable power of our Gospel.  Take a moment to read these amazing verses in the horrible context of the first twenty verses of this chapter, and just let the deep, deep love of the Father who lavished on sinners like you and me wash over your being.

Yes, the condition of humanity is horrible, “but” thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord, it is not hopeless!

“The law works fear and wrath; grace works hope and mercy.”
~Martin Luther

This Week’s Assignment:

  • Memorize Romans 3:10 and 3:23-24: “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one’ … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
  • Meditate on the contrasting horror of universal sin and the hope of eternal redemption that Paul speaks of here in Romans 3.
  • Write out a prayer of gratitude to God for the undeserved righteousness that was imputed to you through Christ’s work on the cross. If you are open to it, post your prayer as a comment on this blog.