Today, I would like you to turn
in your Bible to the book of Romans, the book of Romans chapter
5. And today I'll be speaking to
you from verse 19, Romans chapter 5, verse 19. Let's read this
verse together if you have your Bible there with you. For as
by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous. The book of Romans,
especially chapter 5, is absolutely vital to understanding the truth
of the gospel. Now, I'm not talking about any
gospel. I'm talking about understanding
the truth of God's gospel concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel
according to the grace and glory of God, the gospel of God's sovereign
grace. Chapter 5 tells us some very
vital, vital issues concerning this gospel. God tells us so
plainly what happened in Adam and what happened in Christ.
In Adam it says in verse 19, disobedience and sin. That's what happened in the garden.
Also we see in verse 19 what happened at Calvary, what happened
in the Lord Jesus Christ. It says obedience righteousness
by one. We see these two men represented,
two federal heads, two representative men, Adam and the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now I want to look at these two
men today and consider what happened in Adam and what happened in
in the Lord Jesus Christ when he made his sacrifice and atonement
for the sin of his people. Now, first of all, let's look
and see what the scripture says about Adam. It says in Adam,
all died by one man's disobedience, by one man's rebellion and sin
Many, all men, became sinful in Adam. We see that sin entered
in. Adam stood as a federal head
or as a representative man. When Adam sinned, all men sinned
and fell in him. All men became guilty. guilty before God. His sin was
charged and imputed to all for whom he stood. Adam stood as
a representative man for all men. When he stood innocent before
God, we stood in him innocent. When Adam sinned against God,
when Adam fell and judgment fell, guilt fell, that fell on us because
we stood in that man. The results of sin are very evident. The Scriptures plainly declare
in Romans 6 verse 23, the wages of sin is death. We see as a result of Adam's
sin, Adam's transgression against God, we see that spiritual and
physical death passed upon all men. Now you look back at verse
12 and you see this one theme of death as a result of sin. Wherefore as by one man, that's
Adam, that's that man, the first man. sin entered into the world
and death by sin, so death passed upon all men in whom all sinned."
Now, the same chapter, chapter 5, Romans 5 verse 14, nevertheless
death reigned. from Adam to Moses. You see the
result of Adam's sin, spiritual and physical death passed upon
all men. Down in verse 15 it says, for
if by the offense of one, many be dead. Again in verse 17 we
see the same thing, for if by one man's offense, death reigned
by one. Again in verse 21, that as sin
hath reigned unto death." Now we see plainly and clearly God
puts before us the truth of what happened when Adam sinned. Spiritual
and physical death passed upon all men. But not only that, We
read something else that happened here, judgment and condemnation
passed upon all men. You look again in Romans chapter
5 verse 18, therefore as by the offense of one judgment came
upon all men to condemnation. We have Adam's sin. and guilt,
and judgment, and death, and condemnation, charged, imputed,
reckoned unto all men. But not only that, we see Adam's
fallen nature imparted, not only his sin and his guilt charged
to us, but we also see that wicked nature imparted to all men. Now you listen to the scripture
in Psalm 51 verse 5. And here's David speaking, a
man after God's own heart, and listen to his testimony. He said,
I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me. David plainly confesses that
he has a sinful nature that he inherited from his father, and
his father from his father, all the way back to Adam. Again,
in Psalm 58, verse 3, the Scripture said, The wicked are restrained
from the womb. They go astray as soon as they
are born, speaking lies. My friend, it's plain to see
that all men everywhere have a sinful nature, even in our
children. You look at your children. Our
children learn to lie and to steal and to cheat. We don't
teach them these things. It's the result and the fruit
of that wicked nature that they've inherited from their father.
Now, to deny this, To deny original sin, to deny that we're guilty
before God on the basis of what Adam did in the garden, to deny
this is to call God Almighty a liar. Now you listen to this
scripture plainly in 1 John 1.8. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we say
that we have not sinned, we make God a liar and His Word is not
in us. God plainly declares that we
are sinners. by nature, by practice, and by
choice. We are sinful. Everything we
do, think, and say, God considers sin. Man in his best state, the
best thought you have, the best moment you have, God says, away
with it, it's vanity, away with it, it's filthy rags. Back in
Romans chapter 3 verse 9 and 10, And following, our Lord says
that the Jew and Gentile, that they are all under sin. As it is written, there is none
righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way, they are together become unprofitable. There is none that
doeth good, no, not one. God declares this down in verse
19 of Romans 3, that we are all together guilty before God. Now, my friend, that's what happened
in Adam. And if we don't have some spiritual
understanding of ruin, we'll have no spiritual grasp and understanding
of redemption, salvation, and life in the Lord Jesus Christ. But the remaining time that we
have, I want to consider Not only what happened in Adam, sin
and death and judgment, but what took place at Calvary. What happened
at Calvary? My friend, we see that salvation
and righteousness was brought in through the obedience of one. Now you look back at the text
again, Romans chapter 5, verse 19. By one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one shall
many be made Adam stood as a representative man, but also the Lord Jesus
Christ stood as a representative man. There's one mediator between
God and men, that is the man, Christ Jesus. By the blessed
obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, my friend, he didn't make salvation
a possibility for all. No, nor did he enable us to make
ourselves righteous by our works. The Lord Jesus Christ brought
in an everlasting righteousness by His blessed obedience. The
Lord Jesus Christ stood as a representative man, representing a people that
the Father had given him, a people that were elected and chosen
and given to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was made the surety and the
mediator of God's elect. We were made righteous. Notice how that's written. We
shall be made righteous by him. The Scriptures plainly declare
that in Adam we sin, but it also clearly declares that in Christ,
in Adam all died, even so in Christ shall many be made righteous. Now you listen to this Scripture
in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21, and we see the blessed truth
of substitution. Now we know how we became sinful,
in Adam we died, but how was one made righteous before God? Well, we know it's not by our
works, not by our going and giving and these different things, not
by our morality. God says away with it, it's filthy
rag. The only way that God can make a sinner righteous and declare
a sinner righteous before him is in Christ through his obedience
unto the law. He worked out for his people
a perfect righteousness before God. He honored the law on every
precept, and in His death He satisfied the penalty of that
law. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ.
God made Him to be sin for us, 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, who
knew no sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him." That's substitution. That's an effectual atonement
that the Lord Jesus Christ made by the one offering He perfected
forever, them that are sanctified. Christ died as the sinner's substitute. And by that sacrificial death,
the Lord Jesus Christ made satisfaction to the law of God, which we have
violated. In Adam, we lost the way. We
lost the truth. We lost the life unto God and
before God. We have no way of getting back
into fellowship and favor with God. In Adam, we're lost. In
Adam, we're dead. In Adam, we're ruined. In Adam,
we're shut out. The only hope a sinner has before
God is Christ. Salvation is in a person. The
Lord Jesus Christ said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am
life, and I am salvation. My friend, God sees and deals
with all men everywhere, and these two representative men
in Adam all died. now there's no dispute about
that but also this is true in christ shall all be made alive
and don't forget that it's in the lord jesus christ salvations
in him it it's being found in him not having our own righteousness
which is of the law but that which suit is through the faith
of the lord jesus christ god season deals with his elect in
christ only on his merit his blood and his righteousness not
our works. There is no condemnation to those
who are in Christ. Outside of Christ is nothing
but judgment and condemnation. Now in closing, I want you to
turn in your Bible to the book of Titus, the book of Titus chapter
3, and you listen to this scripture, and you think what I've said
now, in Adam we're sinful, The only way that we can approach
God is in the blessed obedience of another, the Lord Jesus Christ,
not by our works. Now you listen to this scripture
carefully. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing
of the Holy Spirit. which he shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by his grace."
You see, it's not by works, it's by his grace, that we should
be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life, and it's
only by and through the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. By
one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. By the obedience
of one shall many be made righteous." If you would like a copy of today's
message, you write to me and I'll send it to you free of charge. My address is 6088 Zebulon Highway.
That's 6088 Zebulon Highway, Pikeville, Kentucky, 41501.