Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20071202.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Romans: Charter Of God's Salvation Grace
Part III: The Justification Of The Sinner By Faith Through Grace, Romans 3:21-5:21
E. Appreciating The Massive Extent Of Christ's Salvation
(Romans 5:12-21)
  1. Introduction
    1. A popular saying asserts that "The greatest things in life are free!"
    2. Though it cost Christ His life on the cross and untold suffering, our justification, or being called "just" by God when we put our faith in Christ, is free for us believers, and it is a massive provision from the Lord!
    3. Paul briefly shared this fact in Romans 5:12-21 for our appreciation and thanksgiving to God (as follows):
  2. Appreciating The Massive Extent Of Christ's Salvation, Romans 5:12-21.
    1. Paul began to contrast the tragic consequences of the one sin by Adam with the enormous work of Christ on the cross that marvelously conquers those consequences by noting in Romans 5:12 that Adam's sin doomed all of his heirs to be born in (original) sin, and thus to perform acts of sin (last week's lesson).
    2. Anticipating that his Judaistic critics might try to claim he suggested there had been no sin between Adam and the Mosaic Law, Paul briefly digressed in Romans 5:13-14 to handle that subject as follows:
      1. Paul asserted that sin did indeed exist in the world between Adam's fall into sin and the giving of the Law by Moses, but that, until the Law came that defined sin as sin, sin is not judicially "imputed" or rather "reckoned" to be sin, Romans 5:13; Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, p. 458.
      2. As proof that sin was in the world between Adam's fall and the Law, Paul noted that death, the result of sin (Gen. 2:16-17; 1 Cor. 15:21), reigned between Adam and Moses even over those who had not sinned by Adam's act of eating the forbidden fruit, or themselves violating a rule from God, Rom. 5:14.
    3. Returning to his parallel of Adam and Christ, Paul compared the effects of Adam's sin with the massive effects of Christ's provision of justification that offsets the effects of Adam's sin, revealing that, for the believer, Christ wonderfully overcame the far-ranging effects of Adam's sin, Romans 5:14c-21:
      1. Though Adam's sin caused the whole human race to die spiritually (Romans 5:14c), much more has the gift of salvation grace by the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to the many to save them, Romans 5:15.
      2. To explain, Paul revealed that, in awesome contrast to the initial sin in Eden by the one man, Adam (Genesis 3:6-7), Christ had to offset the many (billions of) sin natures of Adam descendants with their resulting numerous (trillions plus) and great sinful acts to please a perfectly righteous God, Rom. 5:16.
      3. Then, beyond justifying those many believers from their sin natures that came through the one Adam's single act of sin, and from all their resulting acts of sin, the justified will also reign in life by Christ in victory over their having been ruled by death in sin that had arisen by Adam's initial sin, Romans 5:17.
      4. In summary, Paul noted that, in contrast to Adam's single offense where judgment came on all to condemn them to spiritual death, by the contrasting righteousness of Christ supplied in His substititionary atonement on the cross, the free gift of eternal life has come for all, giving justification by faith in Christ to all who believe, Romans 5:18. Thus, as by one Adam's sin many were made sinners, by the obedience of Christ to God in His earthly life and work on the cross, many will be made completely righteous of all their sin natures and their resulting numerous sins, Romans 5:19.
      5. Thus, since the Law entered to define sin as sin in God's eyes, making sin abound by way of all the many sinners and their sinful deeds that existed between Adam and the Law, where sin thus greatly abounded, God's grace did much more abound. As sin thus once reigned over man unto death, even so grace has reigned through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our wonderful Lord, unto all and upon all who believe in Him for salvation, Romans 5:20-21.
Lesson: Adam's sin caused all his seed to be born in sin and to commit great and many sins that put them under the rule of death (like ripping open a pillow case in a hurricane so that its feathers scatter all over the countryside). Yet, where sin abounded as defined by the Law, God's grace abounded the more to cleanse each one of each sin, and cause him to rule in life as he trusts in Christ (like collecting every scattered feather and placing it back into a new, silk pillow that holds a king's crown)!

Application: May we thank God for His great justification of us in His infinite grace through Christ!