Asking, seeking, and knocking. Remember when the Lord said,
ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and
it shall be opened to you. I've entitled the message for
this morning, The Reign of Grace. And notice in verse 21 that as
sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness. Grace is portrayed as a person,
as a mighty king who reigns. The law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ and grace is God acting
according to His nature. Now let me repeat that and I
want you to think about what I just said. Grace is God acting
according to His nature. He reigns, that's His nature. He's sovereign, absolutely sovereign
And he is gracious. He bestows his favor on those
who absolutely do not deserve it. Those who have absolutely
nothing to recommend themselves and can meet no requirement. Hence the reign of grace. This is where the phrase sovereign
grace comes from. The reign of grace. Sovereign grace is the only kind
of grace there is. If it's not just as I described
it, it's not grace at all. Now notice in verse 20, of Romans
chapter five, Paul says, moreover, the law entered. Now this is
after what had already taken place, the fall of our first
father, Adam and our fall in him by one man, sin entered the
world and death by sin. So the death passed upon all
men in that all have sin. Now this had already taken place.
And after this, moreover, the law entered. God's holy law,
the law given to Moses on Mount Sinai, the Ten Commandments,
all the thou shalt nots, the civil laws, the ceremonial laws,
the feast days. You can't really separate the
law of God. I've heard people say, well,
we're not under the ceremonial law. We don't have to observe
a Sabbath. We don't have to keep these feast
days and so on, but we're still under the moral law. Now you
got to take the whole law together. God never gives us permission
to separate his law. It's the whole law of God. The
law entered. How come? Moreover, the law entered
that the offense might abound, not be restrained, not checked
and stopped. But the word of God says the
law entered that the offense might abound. You see, there's one thing God's
law says about me and you. Sin abounds. That's what God's law says about
me and you. We're lawbreakers. And we have
not kept one commandment one time. Do you believe that about
yourself? You know, Genesis chapter six,
verse five says, and God saw the wickedness of man was great
in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually. Do you believe that about yourself?
Now, if you've understood God's law at all, you understand this
about yourself. Sin abounds in me. It bubbles up from me and covers
everything I do. I am a sinner. I don't say that
proud of it. I am a sinner. in the biblical
sense of the word. That means all I do is sin. If
I did it, it's sin. It means I cannot not sin. And if I really believe that
about myself, I can't look in judgment on anybody. I believe myself to be worse
than them. And I have no claims on God. I can't say God saved me because
I did anything. That's what a sinner is. Someone
where the offense abounds. I think of that scripture in
Romans 3.19. Turn back a couple of pages. Romans 3.19. Now we know We say this with absolute positive
confidence that this is the right thing. We know that what thing
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law
that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become
guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by
the law is the knowledge of sin. Back to our text. Verse 20 of
Romans chapter five. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound. overflow and cover everything
but don't you love this word in the scriptures but I'm so
thankful for this but where sin abounded grace don't you love the way
that word sounds I love the way it sounds grace
where sin abounded Grace did much more abound. Like a bucket of water being
poured over a lit match. Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. Now you find me a person where
sin abounds Grace does much more abound. And this is where grace
operates. This is the only place God's
grace operates. Where sin abounds. Where sin
abounds. Would that be you? Where sin
abounds. Would that be me? Where sin abounds. Grace. does much more abound. Verse 21. That as sin hath reigned unto
death. How much ability do you have
to prevent death? Let's say you practice perfect
health habits and only ate the very best and exercised daily
and never put yourself in harm's way and you just lived in such
a way as to promote health. How much would that do to prevent
death? Now, am I saying anything against
that kind of stuff? No, we ought to practice healthy
habits. Surely, no doubt about that,
but it won't prevent death. There's absolutely nothing you
can do to prevent death. No matter what you say, what
you do, you cannot prevent death. Now, in the same manner, what
can you do to prevent sinning? What can you do? to keep from
sin. I don't care if everything you
do outwardly is good. What can you do to prevent sin? Try going five seconds without
sin. Close your eyes and think nothing
but holy and pure thoughts. And if even a hint of something
comes up, you blew it. You can't do it, can you? You
don't even want to try it. Don't even want to go there. There's
nothing, just as there's nothing you and I can do to prevent death,
There's nothing you and I can do to prevent sin in myself. Do you believe that about yourself?
Let's go on reading. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign. Just as sin reigned unto death,
even so in the same manner might grace reign through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, just as sin reigned
unto death, in the same manner grace reigns as a mighty reigning
king whose will must be done. Grace has absolute control. It begins, it continues, and
it completes. And listen to this about grace.
God's grace is absolutely free of all influence by us. If it can be influenced, it's
not grace. God's grace is absolutely free. of all influence by us. Oh, I love that. I'm so thankful. Now, let's consider this thing
of the reign of grace. Grace reigns as a mighty king
whose will must be done. You could all, it's the grace
of Christ. It's the grace of God. It's not
just some kind of theory or doctrine. This is who God is. Grace is
God acting according to his nature. Grace was poured from the lips
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace reigns, first of all, in
election. Now, what is election? It's in
the Bible. There's a whole lot in it. about
it in the Bible. Romans 9, 11 says for the children,
talking about Jacob and Esau, two twins, being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God according to election might stay not of works, but of him
that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it's written, Jacob have I
loved, but Esau have I hated. Now election says God chose who
would be saved. It's the election of grace. As
a matter of fact, turn to Romans 9. You're so close. Romans chapter
9. Paul says in verse 14, in response
to what I just quoted out of Romans 9, 11 through 13, what
should we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Is God unfair in saving one and passing by another, in
choosing one and passing by another? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I'll have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Now that's election. God chooses
who will be saved. Now is there anybody that doesn't
understand that? You might not believe it, but you understand
it. God chooses who would be saved. And he does so because
he wills to do so. He's God, and whatever he does
is right. Now, understand this. If a man
does not preach this, he does not preach grace. He may call
it grace, but it's not biblical grace. It's works in grace clothing. If a man does not preach electing
grace, that grace that says that God freely chooses who he will
save, and that choice is not Based upon any foreseen goodness
or choice he sees that man making, he does it simply because he
will. If a man doesn't preach that grace, he does not preach
grace at all. And if someone doesn't believe
this, they do not believe grace at all. If someone rejects this,
they reject salvation by grace. Now, somebody says, well, I see
elections in the Bible. But is it that important? I mean,
couldn't you call this, does it really matter? Well, God calls
it his glory. When Moses said, show me your
glory, he said, I make all my goodness pass before you. I proclaim
my name before you and I will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious and I'll show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Now,
grace reigns in election. If God chooses you to be saved,
you're saved. You can't be anything but saved.
Grace reigns in his electing purpose. You know what this produces? First of all, it produces humility. Why me? Why would he choose me? It produces love. Oh, I love him who chose me. And it produces gratitude. Aren't you thankful that God
elected a people to be saved? And if you're one of the elect,
you know this, you wouldn't be saved if he didn't choose you
to be saved. That's why you love this. I mean,
you love the God who elects. Grace reigns in election. And grace reigns in justification. There is such a thing as justification.
I mean, once again, this is throughout the Bible that God takes sinful
men and justifies them and makes it to where they're not guilty
before him. If I'm justified, that means I have no guilt before
God. That means I have no sin before God. It means I'm perfectly
righteous before God. Now, there's only two ways that
a Individual can be justified only two ways, no other options.
Either you're justified by what you do, or you're justified by
what he did. You're either justified by your
personal works, your perfect law keeping that makes you stand
before God without guilt, or you're justified freely by his
grace. through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. Now, grace reigns in justification. And the glorious example we have
in the scriptures is that poor publican in the temple. In Luke
chapter 18, he beat on his breast, crying, God be merciful to me,
the sinner. I am the one, the sinner. You know what Christ said to
that man? He said, behold, I say unto you, this is divine authority
speaking. I say unto you, that man went
down to his house justified, without guilt. He never sinned. Now, grace reigns in justification. And if you're justified, you
know that the only way you're justified is by the grace of
God, don't you? You know that? Being justified freely by his
grace without a cause in you through the redemption that's
in Christ Jesus. Now, in our justification, and in everything
as far as that goes, in our justification, all that is relevant is Jesus
Christ. He is my justification before
God. Grace reigns as a mighty king
causing His will to be done. If God justifies me, if grace
says He's justified, you know what? I'm justified. Justified
by God. Grace reigns in justification. The imputation of righteousness
and the non-imputation of sin Justification is all together
by grace. It's God's response to his son. Now, grace reigns in justification.
You know where else grace reigns? Well, it reigns everywhere, but
I'm just naming some things. Grace reigns in forgiveness. Let me tell you three things
concerning God by his grace forgiving sins. His forgiveness is free. His forgiveness is full and his
forgiveness is everlasting. His forgiveness is free. That means his forgiveness is
for the individual who has nothing to pay and can meet no requirements. There are no conditions that
have to first be fulfilled in order to have it. Romans 5.10 says, if when we
were enemies, we were reconciled to God. When? When we were enemies. Nothing
we did. No conditions we met. You see,
salvation begins with forgiveness. It's not some process you've
got to go through in order to have forgiveness. It begins with
the complete, full, free remission of sins. Grace reigns in forgiveness
and it's full because God never forgives because of worthiness. And he never withholds forgiveness
because of unworthiness. You see, it's a full forgiveness.
It's not like that narrow, difficult, half-hearted, with strings attached
forgiveness that there is among men. It's full. It's free. It's absolute. It's bottomless. And it's boundless. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, the
way God forgives. He said, their sins and their
iniquities will I remember no more. And this forgiveness is
everlasting. That means it's irreversible. It cannot be lost because it's
founded on the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Don't you love the fact that
Christ is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world? Before there was
ever a sinner, there was a savior. Before there was sin committed,
there was the forgiveness of sin through the Lord Jesus Christ,
the lamb slain from the very foundation of the world. You see, when you're forgiven,
here's what takes place. You find out you've been forgiven.
You don't do something in order to be forgiven. You find out
you've been forgiven by God himself. Grace reigns in our calling. Whom he did predestinate, them
he also called. Oh, how grace reigns in our calling. You see, our calling, that's
hearing the gospel and believing. and receiving. That's what the
call of God is. When he calls, you respond. If you don't respond
to his calls, it's because he never called you. You see, all
he calls respond to that call. Now, our calling is not dependent
upon our response to his call. It has nothing to do with us
as an act of our free will, accepting what he did for us, or we wouldn't
have been saved without our positive response. You see, that makes
the response salvation rather than Christ salvation. His grace
reigns in our calling. And I think the most powerful
example of that is Lazarus. Lazarus was dead. Lazarus, he
cried with a loud voice. The scripture says, come forth.
He that was dead came forth. Does anybody pat him on the back
and say, well, at least he responded? No. This is the call of invincible,
almighty, irresistible grace. Grace that will not take no for
an answer. Grace that, Paul said, when he separated me from my
mother's womb and called me by his grace to reveal his son in
me, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. Now in
our calling, we hear of and depend upon grace that requires no worthiness,
and a savior who supplies all righteousness. You see, when
he calls, he gives life to respond to that call. It's called regeneration.
You see, if he calls you, he gives you life. If he didn't
give Lazarus life, Lazarus wouldn't have come out of the grave, but
he gave him life. And he responded to that call.
Now it's this life he gives you. It's called regeneration. It's
called the new birth. It's called being born again.
This life he gives you is the, it's what, it's the new man that
owns the sins of the old man. You wouldn't even see the sins
of the old man, not really. You'd see some bad things you
did, but it wouldn't go any further than that unless you had a new
man to see that all the old man is, is sin. It's the new man
that believes the gospel. It's the new man that lays hold
upon the Lord Jesus Christ that hears the call and responds and
cries, Lord, save me. Do something for me. That's the
new man. New nature, it actually comes
to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord said, all that the father
giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. Lord, I'm coming. And you promised
in your word you wouldn't cast me out. I'm coming even now as
a needy sinner, only in obedience to your command to come. Grace
reigns in our calling. And grace reigns in our adoption. Now when we're called, we're
made children. Children. Heirs of God and join
heirs with Christ. Ephesians 1, 5, and 6 says, In
love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Grace reigns
in our adoption. I made a child. And the only thing that makes
me a real child of God is grace. By nature, I'd be a child of
the devil. By nature, I would be under the complete control
of the devil. And only grace can truly make
me a child, children of God, brethren of Christ, his bride,
heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ with full liberty to
draw near without embarrassment and without fear. Now that's
grace, isn't it? Grace reigns in our adoption. And you know that that must be
all of grace. I love the way Paul said in Ephesians
2.8, by grace are you saved. Don't you know that, son? By
grace are you saved. Yep. That's the only way I would
be saved. Grace reigns. And grace reigns
in our perseverance. Now I'm going to have to endure
to the end. If I quit, I won't be saved.
The Lord said, he that endureth to the end, the same shall be
saved. I must persevere. The Lord said,
if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed.
If we're grounded and settled and we don't be moved from the
hope of the gospel. Perseverance in walking with
Christ. Perseverance in continuing in
the gospel is absolutely necessary for salvation. It's not he who
begins, but he who finishes. Now grace reigns. Oh, how grace
reigns in our perseverance. Before I quote some scriptures,
if you're a believer, you know, the only reason you've continued
to be a believer is because his grace has reigned in you and
caused you to continue. You know that, don't you? I don't
have to convince any believer of that. Listen to these scriptures. He that hath begun a good work
in you. Philippians 1.6. He that hath
begun a good work in you. will perform it, will complete
it unto the day of Jesus Christ. He began it. He'll keep it going
and he'll cause it to be completed. The Lord said, I give unto my
sheep eternal life and they shall never perish. Peter says we're
kept. Kept. He won't let me go. I'm
in his hand. Kept by the power of God through
faith and to salvation. Jude said, now unto him that's
able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless
before his presence with exceeding joy. Grace reigns in the preservation
of every believer. Now, if you're preserving, grace
reigns. You know that. And I've seen
people who seem to believe, and they aren't here anymore. I know this. John said, they
went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they'd been
of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went
out that they might be made manifest if they're not all of us. And
what that's a reference to is someone leaving Christ, leaving
the gospel, going back to works. I've heard people use this when
somebody leaves the church. Well, they went, no, no, that's
not what he's talking about. He's talking about somebody who
goes back to works, goes back to, he leaves the gospel. He
went, they went, they went out. Well, John said if they had been
of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. Grace reigns
in perseverance and grace reigns in growth. Now, I want to grow,
don't you? I want to mature. I want to grow
in love to God. I want to grow in peace, to feel
more peace. You know, the fruit of the spirit,
love, joy, peace. longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance. I want to grow in those things.
I want to grow in my confidence in the Lord. I want to grow in
my humility and my brokenness. I want to grow in my love to
him and love to his people. Growth! Every believer wants
growth. We don't want to be stagnant. I want to grow. But aren't you
thankful for that scripture in 2 Peter 3, 18? Grow in grace. and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. Grace reigns in growth. You know, here's when we'll see
just how much grace reigns. Because everything we talk about,
we don't have a whole lot of understanding of it. But we'll
understand how much grace reigns when I'm in His presence. When before thy throne dressed
in beauty, not my own. When I see thee as thou art,
love thee with unsinning heart. Then, Lord, shall I fully know
not to lend how much I owe. Now, don't you love the reign
of grace? Grace reigns. And notice back in our text,
this is so important. Romans 5.21, that a sin hath
reigned unto death, even so my grace reign. And look at the
next two words, through righteousness. You see, this grace that we're
talking about is righteous grace. It reigns through righteousness. It doesn't make sin okay. It
doesn't. It does not in any way is sin excused. No, this grace
reigns through righteousness. It's righteous grace because
it's God's grace. Righteous grace. This is not
an excuse for sin. We're going to consider next
week, Lord willing. What should we say then? Shall we sin that
grace may abound? God forbid. God forbid! This is righteous grace. And
here's why. Sin is dealt with in a righteous
way that honors the righteousness of God. You see, Paul said, I'm
not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of
God and the salvation of everyone that believes, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek. For therein in the Gospel is
the righteousness of God revealed. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Oh, don't you
love this righteous grace? It makes me really righteous.
It shows God's righteous requirements. It shows a righteousness needed.
I can't be accepted by God unless I'm perfectly righteous. It shows
a righteousness provided by Christ, providing me the righteousness
that God will accept. It shows us a righteousness that
God has accepted. Righteous grace. It in no way
minimizes sin. It's righteous grace. And look
what it says next, unto eternal life. Now, eternal life is the
life of God in the soul. But I believe here he's speaking
of heaven. You see, this is not life. This is the valley of the
shadow of death that we're walking through. It's a place where there's
sin and sorrow. This is the valley of the shadow
of death. This isn't life. Life is in his
presence. Life is seeing his face. David said, as for me, I'll behold
thy face in righteousness. I'll be satisfied when I wake
in thy likeness. This reign of grace ends up in
eternal life The place where there's no tears, no sin, no
darkness, no sea, no night, no curse, no separation, nothing
but holiness. And the last thing he tells us
about this reign of grace, it's by Jesus Christ, our Lord. You know, when a book is ended,
it says, by so-and-so. When a piece of art has done. The artist's name is on it. The
reign of grace is by Jesus Christ, our Lord. The law was given by
Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Now, the Lord
Jesus Christ, my Savior, it's his grace that reigns. You see,
he is utterly unique. There's nobody like him. He's
God and He's man. He's the God-man. And because
He's the God-man, what a prophet He is. He's not like some human
prophet. He who is the human prophet is also the Word of God
Himself bringing us the Word. Oh, what a priest He is as a
man. He's touched by the feeling of
our infirmities. That's what the scripture says.
He's moved to sympathy by the feeling of our infirmities. He
was all in all points tempted like us. He is a man able to
represent poor sinful men, but he's also God, therefore able
to offer a sacrifice that God can accept. What a king he is. I love thinking about his kingship.
He's king. You know what that means? That
means his will's gonna be done. He reigns. He is able to cause me
to believe the gospel. You know, how many times when
you pray, you pray, Lord, cause me to do this. Order my steps
in your word. Let no iniquity have dominion
over me. He's got the power to do it because
he is the king, the God-man. Now grace, let me make these
concluding statements. Grace, God's grace, will not
act where there is ability. God's grace will not act where
there is ability. Grace does not need help. It's all or nothing. Flesh has
no place in the purpose of grace. Grace does not need help. All it takes to fall from grace
is to add something to it. You add anything to it, it ain't
grace anymore. Grace is the only reason for
God's blessing. Therefore you have every reason
to be encouraged that God's blessing will be extended to you because
grace is the only reason for God's blessing. And grace always
produces true humility. Find me a proud, arrogant person
and I'll show you a person who knows nothing of the grace of
God. The grace of God always produces
true humility. And the grace of God always saves. By grace, you are saved. Anywhere where sin abounds, anywhere,
every time where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. Let's pray together. Our gracious heavenly father. Lord, I ask him.