Our title this morning, the message,
title of our message, The Reign of Grace, is taken from Romans
5 and verse 21 of this particular study that we're going to look
into. In our last study, and what we're
doing is going through the book of Romans, and we're now at Romans
5, and we're going to begin at verse 18 this morning. If you
want to go ahead and turn there. In our last study, which covered
Romans 5.12-17, the main point of scripture was that there was
an offense committed against this holy God that we worship. The offense being Adam's sin
when he sinned in the garden. Also, there was a free gift of
righteousness, which was by Christ's obedience. In Romans 5.17, It says, for if by one man's
offense death reigned by one, that's speaking of Adam, much
more they which received abundance of grace and of the guilt of
righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Now
I studied this morning, we're going to concentrate on these
same two men, Adam and Christ. The main focus of these scriptures
that we'll deal with this morning will be the doctrines of representation
and imputation. These particular doctrines I
really knew very little of, not at all really, before God brought
me from darkness to light, having to do with how that there's two
representatives, Adam and Christ. We were represented by Adam in
the beginning. When he fell, we fell. We fell
in him because of his disobedience to God. And then there's another
representative, that's Christ. Now, all those who he represents,
all those who he represents, everything that he did, we, the
elect of God, we did in him. This righteousness that he worked
out, God imputes that to our account as we were in him even
from eternity now We'll go ahead and begin this morning Romans
5 begin at verse 18 as we go through this study Verse 18 reads
therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men
to condemnation That's speaking of Adam and his offense against
God. Even so, by the righteousness
of one, a free gift came upon all unto justification in life. Now that's all who Christ represented. The Apostle Paul continues his
comparison and contrast between the sin of Adam that brought
the whole human race to guilt, into guilt and condemnation,
and to death. and contrasted against the obedience
of Christ, which brought the whole election of grace into
justification and righteousness and eternal life. In essence,
there's really no comparison. As we who are in Christ, washed
in his blood and clothed in his righteousness, we have so much
more. We have the abundance of grace
and the gift of righteousness in Christ, in and by Christ,
spoken of in Romans 5.17. Now, notice that it was the one
sin of the one man that brought the whole human race into condemnation. Notice even more that it was
the one righteousness of the one God-man that brought all
whom he represented into the free give of salvation, even
unto justification and eternal life. The first part of this
verse says, judgment came upon all men unto condemnation. This describes all whom Adam
represented when he fell in the garden. The last part of verse
18 says, the free gift came upon all men unto justification and
eternal life. Now, this describes all whom
Christ represented in his death on the cross. Now John Gill,
speaking of the word condemnation, says that the word is used in
a legal sense, and intends condemnation to eternal death, as appears
from the exact opposite of the word justification. In verse
18, he says, for if justification of life means a judging to eternal
life, as it certainly does, then the judgment of guilt, which
is unto condemnation, must mean a condemnation to eternal death. which is the just wages of sin.
And this sentence of condemnation comes upon all men, all the sons
of Adam, without exception, even upon the elect of God themselves,
though, and that's an important word here, though it is not executed
upon them, upon the elect, but on their surety, whereby they
are delivered from it. See, the elect of God, we had
a surety. the Lord Jesus Christ, who stood
up in eternity past in our place, and he himself took on that debt,
that debt that we owe all of the elect, all those that God
chose in eternity. And God the Father imputed and
charged that debt to Christ to count. He became surety for it. And in time, he came to this
earth. and fulfill that obligation.
He paid that debt. He paid it in full. As he went
to the cross, hung on the cross, suffered, bled, and died in our
place, in all the elect's place. Now, this doctrine the apostle
delivers through these several verses here that deals with substitution
and representation. In the instance of Adam, God
considered all his children implicated in all that concerned him. And
as it is said of Levi, the descendant of Abraham, that he was in the
loins of his father when Melchizedek met him and blessed him. This
is found in Hebrews 7.10. Well, so the whole race of mankind
were in the loins of Adam when he sinned, when he transgressed
the command of God. and were with him involved in
that same condemnation. When he fell, we fell. He was
our representative in that fall. Now, on the other hand, on the
other hand, which must be equally considered is the whole church,
is that the whole church be in Christ, being chosen in him before
the foundation of the world. Now, we see this in Ephesians
1, beginning at verse 3, where it says, be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According to he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame in him in love. Having predestinated
us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."
That's Christ. As we see in these verses that
we just read, God's choosing or election of a people is according
to his own will and pleasure. But not only that, it was from
all eternity, for God never changes. The God we worship changes not. He did not look down through
time and then foreseeing who would believe, choose them on
that basis. It's according to his will that
he chose us, that he chose them from before he had even formed
this world or even created man. The next few sentences I'm really
taking from my brother Randy is a message that article I put
in the bulletin. Now, the doctrine of election
does not stand in isolation by itself. God chose a people unto
something, first of all, or with an objective in mind. Secondly,
he chose them in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that
God chose a people unto salvation in Christ, that they should be
holy and without blame before him. Think on that. God has always viewed the elect,
those he chose in Christ unto salvation, as holy and without
blame in Christ. The all-knowing God knew, even
ordained, that the saints would fall, along with all the rest
of humanity, all of them that were in Adam, which is all without
exception. And thereby, sin entered so that they may be made sinners,
not holy, and not without blame if judged in their own federal
head, Adam, or according to their own personal character and conduct.
Yet, here we see that God always viewed them in Christ as perfectly
flawless, having the merits of the obedience unto death that
Christ most certainly would accomplish in time accounted to their person. Now, all the elect were justified
from eternity in the mind and purpose of God. As we were given
to Christ as our surety in that everlasting covenant of grace
in eternity. The time work of justification
happened at Calvary's cross. As Christ died and put away our
sin and as he established righteousness for us at that time. Then in
each successive generation as we're born into this world the
elect, those that God chose and gave to Christ, those that he
came and died for, that we experience and come to realize our justification
before God in our conscience as we're brought to faith in
Christ in the new birth by the Holy Spirit and the power of
the Holy Spirit. This is justification by the
grace of God in Christ based on his obedience under death
as he paid the price to redeem all those that the Father gave
him, and all those that he came in time to work out this righteousness
for. Justification in Christ results
in or brings spiritual and eternal life unto all for whom Christ
lived and died and rose again. Romans 4.25 reads, who was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. This is
speaking of Christ. This is another scriptural proof
of the power and the efficiency of Christ's death to save all
for whom he died. All whom Christ died shall be
saved. He paid their sin debt. They
don't know that debt. This paid. He did not die for
those who perish eternally. Christ's death was effectual
and satisfactory to all God's demands. All whom Christ represented
in his life and death on the cross, they're justified by God
and they cannot perish, not if Christ died for them, not if
that debt's paid. They have the very righteousness
of God, all worked out by Christ and imputed or charged to their
account. They must have eternal life.
God's very character demands it. Romans 4.25 is another scriptural
proof of the fact that spiritual life does not come as a result
of anything that sinners do for God, but only as a result of
what God has done for sinners in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the next verse here that
we'll look at is Romans 5, 19. It reads, for as by one man's
disobedience, speaking of Adam, many were made sinners. So by
the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous. That's how
you're made righteous, is by what Christ accomplished at that
cross. By Adam's one act of disobedience, literally, the many, all without
exception, represented by Adam, they were made sinners, or legally
constituted, or counted sinners. On the other hand, by Christ's
one act of obedience, Again, literally, the many shall be
made righteous, or legally constituted or accounted righteous. Again,
the truths of representation and imputation are set forth
to emphasize God's covenant nature. God views the whole human race,
either in Adam as being condemned for sin, or he views them in
Christ as being justified for righteousness. First Corinthians
15.22 reads for as in Adam, all die, even so in Christ shall
all be made alive. That's all whom Christ represented.
Men are not condemned just because of their personal sins and acts
of disobedience. We're not condemned just because
of that. Men are condemned in Adam based on the terms of the
covenant of works. The personal sins and acts of
disobedience only add to that condemnation. but they're not
the cause of it. The point of this is that no
sinner can be justified by the deeds of law. Men are justified
in Christ based on the terms of the covenant of grace. The
personal acts of obedience do not add to justification, as
salvation is all of grace in and by Christ. Let's look at
the last part of verse 19 where it says, so by the obedience
of one shall many be made righteous. Let us be clear on this, on what's
being said here concerning how that many are made righteous. It is not by their own obedience
that they are made righteous, nor by their own obedience plus
Christ's obedience, but by Christ's soul and single obedience to
the law of God. Now the persons made righteous
by it are not all the posteria posterity of Adam. In other words,
it's not all that Adam represented. Adam represented, not at all
the posterity of Adam or all whom Adam represented, but the
many who all, even all the elect of God and the seed of Christ,
these are all made righteous in the sight of God. Not all
Adam represented, Okay, but all those that are in Christ, all
those that are represented by Him, all those that are of His
seed, they're all justified from all their sins, and they're entitled
to eternal life and happiness forevermore. In verse 20, our
next verse here says, moreover, the law entered that the offense
might abound. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. In light of what Paul has shown
concerning sin and righteousness, condemnation, and justification
between Adam and Christ, the question is, well, what purpose
did God have in giving the law to Moses on Mount Sinai to the
nation Israel? What purpose did he have for
giving that law, seeing that we're represented either by Christ
or by Adam? If we cannot be saved by our
works under the law, then why have the law given to us at all? The answer is profound. The law
was given mainly for two different reasons. And there's other ones,
but I just chose to use these two. It was given to expose and
show the exceeding sinfulness of our sin. as we look at that
law. Paul will expand a little bit
more on this in Romans 7, but the second point is, it was given
to show the great abundance of God's grace in Christ to save
His people from their sins. Paul described the abundance
of sin as if it were a flood overflowing to the point of drowning
us. He also shows that the overflowing
of sin cannot drown out the grace of God in Christ. no matter how
great that sin is. Grace abounding in Christ saves
us completely from all our sins, which includes Adam's sin that
was imputed. And it also saves us from our
own personal sin. Consider how the law was not
given only to call sinners to despair and leave them without
hope. It was given to drive sinners
to Christ for all salvation and hope of eternal life and glory.
As God applies that law to our hearts, as he reveals the spirituality
of that law, showing us really what that law says and how holy
God is, causing his elect, all those that are in Christ, to
flee to him, to see they have no hope in anything that they
do or anything that they're unable to do. But their only hope is
in the righteousness of Christ and that alone. That's their
righteousness before God. Now Romans 5.21, our next verse,
reads, that as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace
reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord. The dominion of sin has always
been manifested in death. Sin's dominion is overthrown
when death is conquered. As sin deserves death, it takes
death to conquer sin. As sin deserves death, this can
only be done, only be found, okay, in the reign of grace through
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, this conquering
of death. Grace reigns not at expense of
God's justice against sin, but through righteousness. God's
justice was satisfied in the death of Christ on the cross.
First Corinthians 15, beginning at verse 55, says, O death, where
is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And also, in Hebrews
2, beginning at verse 14, Reads for as much then as the
children, speaking of the elect, are partakers of flesh and blood,
he also himself, speaking of Christ, likewise took part in
the same, that through death he might destroy him that had
the power over death, that is the devil, and deliver them who
through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
For verily he took not only him the nature of angels, but he
took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore, in all things, it
behooved him to be like unto his brethren, that he might be
a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in
that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to
succor them or help them that are tempted. The result of the
reign of grace through the righteousness of Christ is eternal life and
glory forever. The reign of grace, which is
undeserved and unearned favor from God, is made possible by
the gift of righteousness, that righteousness that Christ worked
out on the cross. Now, this righteousness that
Christ worked out on the cross We owe a debt for that. Not to our own works and anything
that we do, but we owe that debt to the mediation of Christ on
the cross, and which opens up for him the certainty of eternal
life. Now, the gift of righteousness
is not the righteousness of men, but the righteousness of God
imputed. If grace were to reign through the righteousness Through
our righteousness, it would be on a throne to certainly fail. If we had anything to do with
it, it failed. It reigns, however, through the
righteousness that Christ himself worked out and is, therefore,
on an invincible throne of God. God conquers and forgives sin,
but he does it righteously through the Lord Jesus Christ, through
what he accomplished. God remains just and the justifier
of all those that are in Christ. And when he does it, he's just
in doing it. He's a just God when he saves
sinners by Christ in what he accomplished. And we're going
to end our study there. And the next study will pick
up at Romans 6. Thank you. Winston, come in.