Good morning. How is everyone? Good, good to see you all. Alright, we're going to be in
Romans 5. Romans 5 this morning, and we'll
be looking at verses 12 through 17. Now last week when we were
looking at verse 12, we saw how it declares that all men are
sinners in Adam. And because we all sinned in
Adam, God imputes sin to us. Because we're sinned, God imputes
sin to us. He counts us what we are in Adam. Verse 12 says, Wherefore, as
by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and
so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." So,
this truth of understanding imputed sin, it helps us in the reverse
to better understand imputed righteousness. We see imputed
righteousness in Romans 4 verse 3, which says that Abraham believed
God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Abraham is
righteous in his representative, in Christ, because Christ made
him righteous, and therefore God imputes righteousness to
him. And what we see in Abraham's
belief is the fruit that God is in Abraham, that God saved
Abraham, it's the fruit of what God has produced and the work
of God in Abraham. So, the Holy Spirit here in this
portion of Romans 5, He's emphasizing this point to us so that we see
and understand why do I need Christ? What's so important about
His imputed righteousness for me? If you think that by your
works you can make yourself righteous, well what do you need the righteousness
of Christ for, then, in that case? So, he's shown us, he's
labored in Romans to show us that we all, all of us, are sinners. We're all sinners, and just like
all men are, and he wants us to understand that, that I'm
not righteous. Even if I'm religious, that doesn't
make me righteous and a better person than someone else, because
I'm religious. All right? And so Romans 2.1
says, he reveals this in Romans 2.1, saying, Therefore thou art
inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest another,
for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself, for
thou that judgest doest the same things." That's good for us to
hear. Just like the Jews, we today
who are religious and move in religious circles and in churches,
it's good for us to hear that just because we're here doesn't
mean that we can look down and despise others and judge them.
Because the fact remains that in our flesh, We're sinners,
just like everyone else. There's nothing better about
me or you than the next person in the flesh. There's nothing
different there. Alright, now not only are we
ourselves sinners, but our depravity, our sin, is traced all the way
back to Adam. That's where this all began.
It's in Adam. And so, when Adam sinned in the
garden, we sinned in the garden, because we were in Adam's loins,
and he's our representative as being his seed. As coming from
him, we stand in Adam by nature, in the flesh. We were born of
his seed. We all descended from Adam, and
that's why we're all sinners. So Romans 2, verse 12, Romans
2, 12 says, for as many as have sinned without law shall also
perish without law. And as many as have sinned in
the law shall be judged by the law. So, in other words, whether
you're under the law or not, we all descended from Adam, we're
all sinners, and we're all gonna perish and die in that natural
state of just being Adam's of Adam's seed, of his seed. Alright, so God now is revealing
to us, revealing, making known to us who are sinners in Adam
that the righteousness which he accepts that God is looking
for is not something that you or I can produce in the flesh. That's what He's making known
to us. It's not anything that you or
I are going to do for ourselves. But instead, God is making known
to us that He has provided the righteousness that he accepts. He's making sure that we understand
and know that he's the one that provides righteousness to his
people. It's a perfect righteousness,
and that's the righteousness he accepts, and he revealed it
to us in the sending of his own darling son, Jesus Christ. And that's what he's making known
to us. We're not righteous. We're not going to work a righteousness.
He's provided the righteousness in his son Jesus Christ. So the righteousness that he
accepts, he imputes to his people because they are of Christ. And the other thing to see and
to know is that the righteousness that he's provided in Christ
is complete. It's full and complete. Nothing
left undone. There's nothing outstanding for
the sinner to finish off, to tie off. We don't finish off
the work. In other words, everything necessary
that is all part of that righteousness obtained by Christ is complete
in Him so that anything necessary, any fruit that is necessary to
be born in us is born in us because it's all His work from beginning
to end. He's doing the whole thing, so
if there's anything necessary, you can be certain that Christ
is going to do the whole work in His people. That's why He's
called the Author and the Finisher of our faith. It begins with
Him, it ends with Him, and everything in between is of our Savior. It's of Him. And so, it's fully
contingent upon the Lord Jesus Christ. It's fully contingent
upon Him. And so, our righteousness is
imputed to us all on the basis of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that's why some would call this representative imputation. meaning that we're represented
in one of two heads, Adam or Christ, and whatever they did
is imputed to their seed. It's given to all those whom
they represent. So Paul here is illustrating
imputation now using Adam. We see how he discussed Abraham
and David, and now he's showing us Adam. And in Adam, all the
human race was represented in Adam. All his seed were represented
in him in the garden. That's why in our flesh we are
sinners. And that's why we die. Because
we were all represented in Adam. until Christ came. And when Christ
came, then He redeemed a seed. He redeemed a people for Himself
and gave them life by His seed. And we came under the headship
of Christ. He's now our representative.
His people are now under Christ. So, let's begin here with Adam. First of all, Adam's disobedience,
his disobedience which made him guilty, made him a sinner, brought
death upon him, it was charged, that same sin and death was charged
to the account of everyone in him. all his people, of his charge. That's what imputation is. It's
to count as, it's to charge with whatever it is. So it's imputed
to us, the sin that he committed is imputed to us because it was
done in him and we were in him, we're of his seat. It affects
every single one of us. And so Romans 5.12 says, Wherefore
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. And so in this aspect of representation,
in this aspect, Adam is a figure of Christ. He's like Christ in
that sense, that he's a representative. It actually says at the end of
verse 14, there at the end of Romans 5, 14, Adam is the figure
of him that was to come. So, what Adam did is charged
or imputed to all his seed, just as what Christ did is charged
to all his seed. Okay, each one, they're similar
in that sense, or they're the same in that sense. Now, we see
here, as we look at verses 13 through 17, we see imputation
being illuminated or a light shining on imputation. That's
what he's discussing here in verses 13 through 17. Our title
is No Comparison. No Comparison. And first, our
first point where we'll spend the majority of our time is looking
at the all and the many. The all and the many. And then
we'll go on to the last point which is not worthy to compare. Not worthy to compare. Alright,
so when you're reading this portion of scripture from verse 12 all
the way to the end, verse 21, you'll notice two words being
repeated. All and many. All and many. And specifically, if you look
at verse 12, 15, 18, and 19, specifically those four. You can look them up later more
carefully, but let me show you in verse 12 first. We'll look
at that. What helps is if you put the
definite article the in front of the word all and many in the
proper place, when it's referring to the seed of Adam or Christ,
and it helps. So look at verse 12. Wherefore,
as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death passed upon the all men, the all, the all men,
for that the all have sinned. Everyone that Christ, all, sorry,
all that Adam represented, everyone that he was representing, they
sinned in Adam. So Adam, who's our representative,
He died and we died because he sinned and we sinned. Everyone
in Adam did those things. Now look at verse 15. but not as the offense, so also
is the free gift. For if through the offense of
one the many be dead, that is the many whom Adam represented,
much more the grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by
one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto the many, the many whom
Christ represented. All right, so all that that we
saw the offense of one which was charged to all that he represented
and we have what Christ did in righteousness and was charged
to all that he represented. And you can do the same thing
when you look at verse 18 and 19. later and and this is spoken
of throughout the scriptures so that even in first corinthians
15 verse 22 where paul is speaking of it as of this as as well there
he says for as in adam the all die i'm adding the word though
but in adam all that he represented, the all, they died in Adam, even
so in Christ shall the all, the all that he represents, be made
alive. Alright, so the point for us
to get from this is that we're all represented. We're all standing
under one head. We're all standing in one of
these two representatives, either Adam or Christ. And so, all that stand in Adam,
they die because they are his seed. But in Christ, all whom
he represented, they are alive. They're made alive in Christ. And so, what we're to understand
is that the blessing of the gospel is that every one of us is a
sinner. We're all sinners. We have nothing
to boast in over another. Every one of us is a sinner,
and we all died in Adam because we're born of his seed naturally
in the flesh. We all died in Adam, but this
is why Christ was sent by the Father to represent, to redeem
his people, to deliver them from the wrath of God which is being
poured out upon the seed of Adam. And so Christ came, he put away
the sin of his people by fulfilling all righteousness for them, everything
required of us, Christ fulfilled perfectly while he was here in
the flesh as our substitute, as the Lamb of God in the place
of his people, coming in the place of his people. And so he
obtained salvation when he went to the cross. when he sacrificed
himself, laying down his life to pay for the sins of his people. But it's only the seed of Christ
that he's representing. And when you think of it in terms
of seed, as Adam's seed, we all died. But in Christ, his seed
are made alive. And it brings to light when Christ
speaks of being born again. We were born the first time of
Adam's seed. but you must be born again, you
must be born of Christ's seed. And those who are born again,
those who are born of Christ, that shows that we all came from
Adam's seed initially, but we're born again, meaning we're born
of Christ's seed. And so everything Christ accomplished
is ours, by imputation, it's all ours. Everything he's done
and worked, it's all for his people. It's like if you're in
a courtroom and you're going before the judge, and you're
in that courtroom with many other people who also are going before
the judge, and in walks your advocate, your lawyer, and he
comes and he represents you. and he speaks to the judge and
you're cleared. You're acquitted of all your
sins. Everything that you've done, your crimes, are all put
away. And your lawyer worked that out successfully with the
judge. Because he's done that for you, that doesn't mean everybody
else in the room is acquitted of their crimes. They're still
going to have to go and speak to the judge themselves. They're
representing themselves. But that's how it is for Christ.
Christ came And as the advocate of his people, he obtained our
deliverance. He obtained our redemption for
all those that he represents. Not everybody in the room, just
those that he represents are delivered and go free by Christ. Now this is revealed in 1 Peter
1. Turn over there to 1 Peter 1. and go to verse 19, and we'll
read down to verse 23 together. Christ has said in verse 18 that
we were redeemed, purchased by his blood, look at verse 19,
redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot. who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you." So, who is the you that Christ was manifest
for? Who is this you that they're
speaking of? Well, just as Christ was manifest,
so we, whom Christ represented, shall be manifest. We're going
to be made known just as Christ was made known, So his people
will be made known. How are they made known? They
believe. They believe Jesus Christ. They
believe God. They believe on his son. They
trust him. Look at verse 21. Who by him
do believe in God? Look at verse 22, seeing ye have
purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit.
That obeying, that obedience is worked in us, it's by Christ,
Christ's work in us What he obtained and accomplished for his people,
the salvation of his people, he's working all that in his
people so that they believe. So all his people will be made
manifest that they are his people. So we're made manifest by the
working of the Spirit, that reveals faith in us. And to that faith
that He makes known in us, that faith in Christ, He's revealing
this gospel to us. He's revealing what Christ has
done, that He really is our righteousness. And everything He's obtained,
He's making it known to you and me that believe Him. It's all
His work. It's all the result of what He's
accomplished for us. And look at verse 23, there's
that word, those two words, being born again. See, we are born
of Christ's seed. We're born of His seed, and it's
going to be made manifest and known that we are His, that His
Spirit is in us because we believe. We trust Him for all our righteousness. Not of corruptible seed, not
of Adam's seed. That's by nature. This faith
isn't of Adam's seed, but of incorruptible, the incorruptible
seed of Christ. They were represented in Adam
now. By the Word of God, the Word of God is Jesus Christ.
He's the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. So he's
the seed whereby the people, the children of God, are now
born. And so everything that he's obtained
as our representative is ours by imputation. And everything
necessary for salvation is worked in His people because He's obtained
that for us. So, another way to look at it
is, had we not been born of Adam's seed, then when Adam sinned and
died, it would have had no impact upon us. It wouldn't have affected
us in any way. If you weren't of Adam's seed,
what he did has no bearing on you at all. It couldn't touch
you or affect you. in any way, not intrinsically
your person. Well, in the same manner, if
you're not born of Christ's seed, then you have no part in Christ
either. You see that? If you're not born of his seed,
then what he did has no impact or bearing upon you either. Alright, so that's another way
to look at it. In the next point, we'll see
this comparison between Adam and Christ, and what we'll see
is that there really is no comparison. What Adam did and obtained for
his seed can't even compare to what God has abundantly provided
for the seed of Christ. What we see here in these next
verses is they're meant to show Adam's disobedience, which brought
sin and death to all he represented, that there's no comparison to
Christ's obedience, which brought life and light and liberty and
justification and righteousness to all his people. Now I'm going
to read verses 15 and 16 from the Amplified Version. So there's
going to be a few more words than what you see in the King
James, the Amplified Version. It says, because it's a little
clearer, but God's free gift is not at all to be compared
to the trespass, to the disobedience of Adam. His grace, he's saying,
God's grace is out of all proportion to the fall of man. It goes far
and beyond what is deserving to us. God is abundantly doing
more than even what he has to in saving us. Four, if many died
through one man's falling away, in Adam's offense, much more
profusely to God's grace and the free gift that comes through
the undeserved favor. of the one man Jesus Christ abound
and overflow to and for the benefit of many, the many he represents. Verse 16, nor is the free gift
at all to be compared to the effect of that one man's sin,
for the sentence following the trespass of one man brought condemnation,
whereas the free gift, following many transgressions, brings justification,
or brings forth the act of righteousness." He works righteousness in his
people. He justifies his people so that
what Paul is trying to show to us is have us look at how tender
and loving kind and generous our God is to us in sending His
Son and working this faith in you. As a result, overflowing
the life and the knowledge of what He's done for us, the liberty
He's provided for us in His Son, Jesus Christ. And so, Adam's
disobedience brought death. It brought an end. The fellowship
was severed. We no longer grew in the grace
and knowledge of God. We no longer walked in faith
before God. There was no relationship there
in Adam. We don't know anything spiritual.
We don't know how to worship God. There's no relationship
there in Adam. It died. We died. And so that
was the end. In Christ, though we don't deserve
it, in Christ, because we're of his seed now, there's light. and there's life, life eternal,
and we now have his fruit being born in us by his Spirit in the
new man, born of the incorruptible seed of Christ, and we grow in
grace and knowledge of what our Savior has done for us. Look
at verse 17, Romans 5, 17. For if by one man's offense death
reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace
and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ." And so, under Adam, all the human race was subjected
to the reign of death. And that's why Paul calls us
children of wrath and also children of disobedience. See, Adam disobeyed
God. We're the children of disobedience.
We disobey God because we all come from Adam. And that's why
he said, that's all in Ephesians 2, he says we're dead in trespasses
and sins. We're just children of disobedience,
naturally. But in Christ, we're made children
of obedience. He's worked obedience in us.
That is, that faith whereby we believe God and trust Him and
know Him and have fellowship and light and life in Him so
that under Christ, we're under the reign of life and righteousness.
We now know the true and living God. So Christ has accomplished
for us in the likeness of the weakness of our flesh, that which
we cannot do in the weakness of our flesh. We couldn't do
it, but He came and He accomplished everything necessary for our
salvation, and our redemption, and our joy, and our life. And
so Peter says in 1 Peter 2, 9, But ye are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people, that
ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out
of darkness into his marvelous light. And so, that's what we're
to see is that all these blessings are poured out upon the seed
of Christ. And this is what our God tells
us throughout the scriptures, even in Isaiah 44, verse 3, the
Lord says, I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing
upon thine offspring. So all the blessings we have
are, because we are the seed of Christ, manifest as the seed
of Christ because we believe Him. We walk in Him, in faith,
looking to Him. So, He didn't say that to Adam.
He said that to Christ. So, I pray the Lord will bless
that and encourage you in that word. Alright, let's pray. Our gracious Lord, we thank you
for the rich blessings that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we had no part in this
work, but we are the happy recipients of your grace and mercy. Lord,
and we bless your name and thank you for how that you make manifest
your Son to your people and make manifest who your people are
through the faith which you work in the hearts of your people.
Lord, we pray that You would pour out Your Spirit upon this
people, that You would bring forth that faith unto salvation,
which is the work of Christ our Lord and Savior in His people,
not of this flesh, but of Your Spirit. We pray that You would
give us protection, those that are still traveling here, and
as we leave and travel home, this afternoon, Lord, that you
would give us safe travels, protect us on the road. We pray this
in Christ's name, our Lord and Savior. Amen.