I want you to turn with me to Romans chapter 5. I want to look at just two verses this morning. Romans chapter 5. As I told you, my title is, What is Grace? You know, sad but true, a lot of people talk about grace, a lot of people say that they're saved by grace, but few people really know what grace really is. We have our common definitions that we use, but these two verses, verses 20 and 21, tell us very plainly what grace is. And so let's just look at them today and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what grace is.

Verse 20, moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now in the scripture, few words are sweeter than the word grace. I can think of a couple. One, Christ. But it's Christ's grace that makes both sweet. Grace makes Christ sweet and Christ makes grace sweet.

And yet, there are few words that are more misunderstood than the word grace. Grace is not just God overlooking sin. Now that is gracious for God to do that, but that's not all grace is. And grace is not being kind to everyone. It's grace to be kind, but that's not all it is.

Grace is something far greater, far greater. God's grace is free. God's grace is unearned. God's grace is unmerited favor in its kindness, and here's the key, toward unworthy sinners. That's what makes it grace, because it's undeserved, it's unmerited. It's not something earned, it's not something merited, and it's certainly not something deserved.

It's a gift freely given. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2, 8, 9. We quote it all the time. Probably not a service if we don't. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that's not of yourselves. What is it then? Why? It's a gift of God. Not by works. If you work for it, it's not a gift. It's a gift, so it can't be of works. I know works lest any man should boast. If it's by works, we're going to boast. We're going to say, look at what I've done. Like those men on the Day of Judgment that said, Lord, Lord, haven't we? Haven't we done many more wonderful works? Well, we've done this and we've done that.

And you know, I have acquaintances that attend church that always tell me what they're doing. But I never, ever hear them say what God has done for sinners. Oh, our church, we're doing this, and we're doing that, and we've got missions, and we've got this, and we're going to the Holy Land, and blah, blah, blah. That's not going to save anybody. What has God done for sinners by His grace?

A gift given regardless of the recipient's unworthiness and merit unmerit and inability. So what is grace in the plainest of terms? Our text this morning answers the question clearly. First, grace appears where sin is exposed. Sin reveals our need of grace.

Paul writes in verse 20, moreover the law enters that the offense may abate. What is the offense? Sin against God. God did not give the law to make men and women righteous. God gave the law to reveal to us our sin. The law exposes what's already in this human heart of ours. Again, the law doesn't create sin. It exposes it. It reveals it. Paul said, I wouldn't have known what lust was. I wouldn't have known that lust was bad if God had not revealed to me my covetousness. So it exposes us and it shows us our guilt. It shows us our corruption.

It shows us our inability to meet God's standard. What is God's standard? Perfection. How are we going to do that? Well, we in and of ourselves aren't. We need a mediator. We need a substitute. We need a surety. And the law removes every excuse. Every single excuse a man has for sin. It strips away the illusion that man is basically good.

You know, I've heard that all my life, and for a big part of my life, I believed it. Well, you know, I'm not all that bad. You know, I've got my faults, You know, I'm better than most of those folks down at Bible Baptist Church. If I believed in chance, I'd say there's a good chance that you're better than most of them down at Bible Baptist Church. And they won't argue with you about it. Because God has revealed to them who and what they are. He does to every believer. Until our sin is clearly revealed, and only God can reveal it, We'll never see our need of grace.

That's what our first hour was about, the Psalm 141. David said, I cry unto thee, O Lord. Why'd he cry? Out of need. God's got to show you your need. God's got to show you your need of grace. Until you'll ever truly appreciate grace. You know, a man drowning in deep water, he values rescue. That's what he wants. And I've often said, you know, you've got a man drowning in the ocean, and you won't have to beg him to take that life preserver.

That's what religion does, right? Won't you just, you know, won't you let Jesus have His way? Won't you give Jesus your heart? Listen, if you see you're drowning, if you see that sin is, your sin's gonna send you to hell, you won't have to be begged to take that life preserver. You'll grab it, and you'll hold onto it with what little strength you've got left. A man drowning in deep water values rescue. A man standing safe on the shore doesn't. He doesn't have a need. Well, I don't want that rubber donut, but that man drowning does. Keeps him afloat, saves him.

Our efforts to measure up only shows us how far we've fallen and how far we still fall short. All come short of the glory of God. All of us. When God reveals to chosen sinners their inability to keep His holy law, their sin drives them to Christ, not to despair. The law enters and the offense, which is sin, it abounds. We see it, we go, oh, that's not good. It overflows. It's seen to be abundant. The law doesn't make our sin greater. It's already great. It just exposes it. It's total. It's total.

We're not only depraved. And I know that's offensive to some people, because depraved is not a good word, you know, in the way of a description of a man or a woman. But God goes a step further. He says, not only are you depraved, You're totally depraved. You have no good in you. If it's up to you, you'll choose evil every single time over goodness.

The law doesn't make our sin greater. It just reveals what it is. It reveals to us that we cannot do good. And we say this often, but it's so true. We cannot not sin. We cannot not sin. It becomes apparent by God's divine revelation that sin is what we are. I remember the first time I heard that and it hit, you know, a light bulb went off. Sin is what you are. And I thought, that explains a lot.

We're not sinners because we sin. We sin because we're sinners. Sins what we are. Human history proves it. Human hearts confirm it. Sin isn't just a small mistake. That's what folks make it out to be. Well, they just make a mistake. No, it's pervasive. It's rooted deep into our nature. It's universal. Paul's not talking about an occasional mistake. He's talking about enmity. He's talking about hostility.

He's talking about total rebellion against God. David said, against thee and thee only have we sinned and done this evil in thy sight. All our sin is against God. Now we may sin against a brother, may do a brother harm or sister harm, but ultimately that sin was against God. That's what God said. And that brings me to the second point. Grace is greater than our sin. You see that there in the last part of verse 20? We sung that. Grace that is greater than all our sin. It is. It sure is. What is grace? Well, I know this. It's greater than all my sin. And that's good news when you see sin is what you are. He said where sin abounded, grace did much more. How about that? Much more.

Not even close. Sin abounds in pride and in violence and lust and rebellion and unbelief. As I was getting ready this morning, I saw on the news, you know, where this has been like some kind of crazy weekend where people are just going nuts and all over the country. Listen, that's nothing new. That's been going on since man's end. Violence. hostility, lust, rebellion, unbelief.

It's rampant in this world. And it's rampant in our own hearts unless God intervened. Paul does not say that grace merely matches sin. It's like, okay, sin here and grace is here. No, it's much more abounds. where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. No sinner has ever out-sinned the grace of God.

And you know, I know people, some that even attend this church that have said to me, you know, brother, I could see how God could forgive somebody else. But I just can't see how He'd ever forgive me. You just don't know. You just don't know what I've done. Grace abounds above all our sin. All of it. It's greater than a lifetime of rebellion. It's greater than the deepest guilt. The darkest past.

There are people right now that are amazed that a fellow they went to school with by the name of David is a preacher. Not only saved, not only professes to love a Savior, but a preacher. Man, if God can forgive me, Luke, He can forgive anybody. And He does. Our sin is great, but grace is still greater. Sin rises high. Grace rises higher. No matter the depth of our failure, Christ's work on the cross exceeds it. And this is the gospel truth.

Sin brings death. The wages of sin is death. Sin brings condemnation, and it does. And sin brings separation from God. But grace brings justification. Grace brings forgiveness. Grace brings life and reconciliation. We've been alienated from God by our sin. Our sin has separated us from God, but grace brings them back together. Mercy and truth have kissed one another. Everything's okay. The remedy is infinitely greater than the disease.

No true believer deliberately continues in sin that grace may abound. Paul said that, do we continue in sin that grace may abound? In other words, if God is always faithful to forgive us our sin, well, isn't it okay to sin? No, it's not. However, the presence of sin, the sin within the believer, and let me add, that sin that the believer hates, that sin in them that the believer hates. Job said, I abhor myself. Paul said, O wretched man, that I am, not that I was. This causes the glory of God's grace to shine even brighter. Doesn't it? Sure it does.

The darker a room gets, the more noticeable a single little candle becomes. You have the light on, you light a candle, and you don't really even notice the candle. You keep turning that light down, and you're like, You know, the candle's kind of bright now. Grace is never overwhelmed by sin. It shines all the more vividly in the darkness.

Do you see my comparison there? You know, the experienced jeweler, I've told you this many times, I'll never forget the first time I saw this, he displays a pearl or a diamond against a black backdrop. And He does so to bring forth the whiteness and the brightness and the brilliance of the pearl or the diamond. Sin, well let me say this, Christ, our pearl of great price, oh, He shines with brightness and He shines with brilliance against the black backdrop of our sin.

Sin is deep, sin is dark. Left alone, it seems overwhelming and unending. We cannot not sin as I see. You know, we sin, we go, oh man, I just hate myself for this. I'm not gonna do that anymore. And what do we do? Same thing or worse. Sin tempts and condemns.

Grace liberates and restores far greater. The gospel of grace is not merely a covering of sin. The gospel of grace is a conquering force and much more than what we think it is. Even in our darkest failures, even though sin may seem to have dominion, God's grace is sufficient and abundant. Not just sufficient, not just meets the need, but excels the need.

Our sin is the stage on which grace is displayed. Look at verse 21. That as sin hath reigned under death. Now this is telling us something here. The reign of sin. This is the problem. We all got a problem, you know. Somebody, you know, I ask you, you got a problem? Well, do you have a problem? Yeah. I got a problem. I got a big problem.

It's called the reign of sin. Sin once had dominion over mankind it still does most sin brought the inevitable consequence of death most are still dead they're walking around dead men walking you've heard that term that's what most in this world are they're just dead men that are still walking around death is the natural outcome of rebellion against god not physical death because they're still walking around Look, read on, verse 21.

Even so, might grace reign through righteousness. Every word here means something. Unto eternal life, how? By Jesus Christ our Lord. And secondly, we see the power of grace. This is the provision. The problem is sin. But the provision for our sin is the power of grace. God's grace is supreme. where sin once reigned, grace now reigns. Grace doesn't merely forgive, as I said, it reigns. It actively rules the believer's life.

How? Through righteousness. Through righteousness. Not ours. We have none. But Christ's righteousness that's imputed to us by faith. Christ's righteousness that is credited to the believer's account. Now let me ask you, don't raise your hand, but have you ever had a bank account that was empty or overdrawn? I have. Our righteous account is broke. It's empty.

We owe a massive debt that we cannot pay. We need someone with the right credentials to agree and to guarantee the loan. What is our credit score by nature? What is it in Christ? Infinitely perfect. A man has needs and applies for a loan, but the lender is not sure that he can repay it.

They said, well, you're going to have to have a guarantor or you're going to have to have a cosigner. You ever had a cosigner? Another agrees to guarantee the loan. I'll have to borrow if I don't pay the guaranteed or the guarantor does, the cosigner does.

He's the one who stands behind another person's promise and makes it certain. and he assures the obligations are going to be met. He takes responsibility for the other person where the other person fails. He provides the security and the certainty that the debt will be paid. That's what Christ did for His people.

The writer of Hebrews writes, for the law made nothing perfect. Keeping the law cannot make us what God requires us to be, which is perfection. But, the writer goes on to say, the bringing in of a better hope did, by which we draw nigh unto God. What's the better hope that enables us to draw nigh unto God? It says, but so much was Jesus Christ made a surety, or better to testify. You know what that word surety means? A guarantor? A cosigner?

It actually means in the original language a fixed instrument. I like that. If something's fixed, it's fixed. It's not moving. That debt's going to be paid if he's my surety. A guarantor, someone who guarantees that debt or obligation that it'll be filled. He's one that stands for another. That's what we're talking about. One who assumes the liability of another's debt.

What does Christ guarantee to pay for anyone? The debt of our sin, which is death. That's what we deserve. Now, God's got to reveal that to you. We deserve death. We deserve eternal condemnation, eternal wrath, Eternal separation from God, that's what we deserve. But grace is God not giving us what we deserve. Our sin created the debt.

The law demanded payment. Christ stepped in as the surety. And Christ took the obligation upon Himself. And in effect, our Lord Jesus said to His Father concerning those that the Father gave to Him to redeem, He said, charge it to Me. I'll answer for it. You ever heard such good news? I'll answer for it. I'll take care of it. That's what a surety does. He's one who signs a document to guarantee the debt of another.

Christ is the one who takes responsibility of the debt of sin that we cannot pay. You see, our failure to pay the debt we owe doesn't release our debt. You go down to the bank and you say, okay, I got a payment due and I still owe a lot on this loan. But I can't pay it.

You think they're going to tear the paperwork up? They're going to say, I'm so sorry, but you still owe it. And if you don't have a surety, you're going to pay for it one way or another. They'll take whatever you got as collateral. But I got a guarantor. I got a surety. And he's going to pay that debt for me. I'm bankrupt. I have nothing to pay. I have nothing to commend myself to the creditor. But my surety says, I'll take care of it. And he's able. And he's willing. Sin, oh my, what a debt.

All the debt that I couldn't pay. Christ paid the debt and he didn't owe it. God can't simply ignore the debt because that would deny his own claim of justice and being perfectly just. You and I and no other fallen spiritually dead sinner can pay the debt.

But here's the gospel. Christ in perfect obedience to His Father's will and purpose steps in on our behalf to ensure that God's promises of eternal life are fully realized for us. Well, how do you know that you're going to go to heaven? Because my Lord paid my debt. And everything between me and God, my father, is perfect. I've got a perfect relationship with my father. Oh, and now we live in a conquered kingdom under a new king, and grace replaces sin as the governing authority. And allow me to break it down in just simple terms. This is the gospel picture.

God's justice is the rightful creditor. The sinner is the bankrupt debtor, and Christ, our surety, is the one that pays the debt. What did we do in that scenario? We did the sinning. God does the saving. We created the debt. Christ pays it in full. And when our Lord cried, oh, I wish we could get a hold of this. When our Lord said it is finished, he was declaring that the debt. that we owed was fully paid and God was fully satisfied. And again, justice wasn't canceled. It was paid in full by our surety.

And imagine standing before a judge who's also the creditor of a massive debt that we owe. The judge can't dismiss the case because he's just. If he's a just judge, he can't dismiss the case, even though he's the one owed. But then his own son steps forward and says, Father, charge his debt to my account and I'll pay it off. Listen, God remains just and yet is the justifier. God remains just, yet my debt is justly paid.

It's the only way it could be. For nothing good have I whereby thy grace to claim. God washed my garments white. in the blood of Calvary's lamb. You know who that is. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it, but it's not. The Lord Jesus signed as the surety and guarantor of my sin debt with the ink of His own blood. And then thirdly, and I'll finish up, the way to eternal life. That's what this is.

Grace is the way to eternal life. Grace in Christ, the promise. The reign of grace leads to life eternal. This reverses the consequence of sin. The wages of sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life. How? Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Christ's death and resurrection makes the grace effective. And when we submit to Christ, God exchanges sin's death sentence for the gift of life. Sin once reigned, but no more for the child of God. Grace now reigns. Death gives way to life. Condemnation gives way to righteousness. Despair gives way to hope and assurance.

Imagine a kingdom under the rule of a tyrant. They live in fear. They live under harsh laws. Every step they take is under that tyrant's dominion. There seems no way to break free. Sin is that tyrant. This is a picture of sin. Sin holds power, it enslaves, and it ends in death.

But the gospel of Christ turns this kingdom upside down, and where sin once ruled, grace now reigns. And that reign brings life, not death. That reign brings hope, not fear. And that, my friends, is what grace is. So the last question I leave you with is how do you and I obtain that grace? Let me give you four quick things.

We identify sin's kingdom. Let's be honest with God about our sin. Let's be honest with God about the areas that we cannot control, sin being one of them. Let's confess to God what He already knows, we're sinners, we're wretched, we're helpless, we're hopeless, unless He does something for us. Confession is not weakness.

It's acknowledgement of God's power. Lord, if you don't save me, I won't be saved. Secondly, we submit to Christ's rule. We bow to His righteousness as our own. Grace only works when we surrender. Never when we struggle in self-reliance. You'll never have grace if you keep trying to hang on to your righteousness. Thirdly, we rejoice in God's grace and victory. Grace is already won. You know, we say it all the time. We're fighting a battle and it's already been determined. It's already won. Sin's reign is broken. God's grace has proven victorious. Future hope is now a present reality.

And fourthly, we proclaim the gospel. That's why we're here today. We're proclaiming to God. We tell others the same good news. And you don't have to be a preacher standing in the bullpen to do that. Tell the people in your daily lives what Christ has done for you. Tell them their only hope of salvation is to be found in Christ. Sin once ruled, but grace now reigns. Tell them that it reigns only by Christ's finished work. You've got to have Christ. There's no grace outside or apart from Christ. Eternal life is certain to all who believe. Do you believe? The question is not whether grace can reign, because it already does.

And some might ask that age-old question, what must I do to be saved? I was talking to Brother Gene yesterday, and he said that he had an acquaintance once that came up to him with tears in his eyes and said, what must I do to be saved? And Gene said, you can't do nothing to be saved. God's got to save you. in and of ourselves that we can do is what Gene meant. He said we can only do what God demands us to do.

What's that? We bow to Christ's righteousness. It's the rule of our life. That's what submission is. That's what surrender is. We say, Lord, I'll never have what You require of me. I'll never have it unless You give it to me. It's acknowledgement to God that God has by that submission to His grace enabled us caused us and put us into the victorious reign of Christ's perfect righteousness.

Grace gives us the victory over sin and death. Grace gives us eternal life through Christ our Lord. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. But we're sin about it. Grace did much more abound. that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so my grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Listen, this is not a difficult message to understand. Actually, it's quite simple. But it's impossible to believe apart from God's sovereign, omnipotent, intervening grace. We don't glorify our sin, we don't continue in sin that grace may abound, but we acknowledge that sin magnifies God's grace, and it does.

For where sin is abundant, grace abounds more and more and more. Where death reigns, life reigns even more powerfully. Friends, the law came to show us our need, and sin came to overwhelm us, but grace has overwhelmed sin. Where darkness sought to rule, the light of Christ shines all the brighter.

Thus, don't leave here today burdened by the law, Defeated by sin, let us leave here today standing victorious in the finished work of Christ clothed in the abundance of God's grace that reigns through Him and Him alone. What do you say, Brother David? Look to Christ. Keep looking to Christ. Always look to Christ.