Book of Romans - Ch. 5, Vs. 12-Ch. 6, Vs. 3 (06/02/2002)

The Origin of Sin and the Meaning of Romans 5:12

Romans 5, 12. Romans 5, 12. 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. Virg, can you do anything out of the will of God?

All right. Let me give you a definition of sin, where it came from. When David said that I had just forgotten, I went back and looked it up. Sure enough, he's right. From where did sin come? Since God is God and nothing else, we conclude that sin is the place where God is not.

You must have an opposite in order to have the present. God could not have righteousness unless there was unrighteousness. God did not have to create sin, for it was there as the other side of righteousness.

When you close a door and you shut something in, you automatically shut something out. Sin is wherever God is not. It's the absence of God. All right, is sin spiritual, David?

No, you don't have to guess. No, well, no. But if I'm spiritual, do you mean spiritual as flesh? Or flesh as other forms of spirit, or do you mean spiritual? What's your opinion?

I mean, is sin mental, then? Yes.

Diane, do you want to say something? What is sin? It can't be spiritual.

You said it can't be spiritual? Yes, it can. How do we know that it is spiritual? Spiritual, spiritual is the non-seeable world. No, not when you're talking about spirit. Evil spirits, sinful spirits, godly spirits.

They cannot be spiritual.

We need to realize that Satan and God both are spiritual. That's what? Yes.

About God. Being with God as flesh. That's right.

All right. Since it's spiritual, how do we know this? Since sin is spiritual, how do we know that it's spiritual? All right. We know because the devil's spiritual. The generator of it is spiritual. Can you do anything that is sinful?

Can you do anything that is sinful? Greg? Well, can you do anything sinful? All right. The doing is of God. Sin is in the mind. We sin in our mind. And we carry it out in the world. But that part is under God.

Pharaoh sinned. Then he carried it out physically. All right. Thirteen. Yes. That's true, but there was a law. Yes, there was sin before the law. But the laws, he's talking about the Ten Commandments.

All right. Thirteen. For until the law was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law. He could not judge you by the commandments until the commandments were given. But there was a law of life and death prior to that.

Imputed means to charge with the fault or responsibility, to attribute credit. If sin had never been permitted, the wisdom of God could not have appeared in overruling it, nor his mercy in pardoning it, nor his power in subduing it.

God loves us not for what we are, but for what he will make of us in his kingdom. Fourteen. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses. That proves that sin was in the world. Sin brought death. When Adam sinned, he separated the spirit and the body.

Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam, Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. Now here we have a direct reference to who, Greg?

Jesus Christ. Adam was a figure of Jesus Christ. In what way, Greg? All right, what did Adam have that I did not? All right. Jesus then, being in like figure, did he have a free will? Yes. The only two people in the world that ever did.

Now we have a right of choice, but we're already sinners. By free will, I'm taking it back to the state of Adam. Fifteen. But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one, what's the next word?

Many, not all, but many, be dead, and you're dead in that state, how? Spiritually or physically? Spiritually. Much more the grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

Now, to tear open a feather pillowcase and allow the feathers to blow wherever they want to blow, and they would blow, in that Adam committed the first sin and it affected everybody else, the feathers blowing wherever they wanted.

But the task of gathering each and every feather so as to put them back in the pillow is a far greater task, would you not say? You cannot compare these two events. This is what Jesus the Christ did while on the cross for the elect.

Adam and Christ as Federal Heads

Sixteen. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. A second difference between Adam and Christ is pointed out.

One offense of Adam caused condemnation to be sent on Adam and all his race. All have been put under death. We all die because of what Adam did. And what Adam did was separate the spirit from the body.

But the free gift, through Jesus Christ, not only pardons the connection of our race with Adam's sin, but provides a way for the pardoning of many offenses. All are offenses so as to secure justification.

One sin of Adam destroyed all, but the atonement of Jesus Christ provides conditions for forgiveness of all sins. Are you still with me? 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. The super abounding grace of God. Can it ever run out? Greg, when he extended grace to you, did that lower the storehouse? Not one bit. Well, the super abounding grace of Christ is still further shown as a result of Adam's one offense.

Death reigned over men, so the other hand, on the other hand, those who receive Christ's grace and enjoy his righteousness shall through Christ reign. It has to be if you're in Christ. Eighteen, therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

Therefore, to make it short, as by one man's offense, that guiltiness came on all men to make them subject to death. Now, is death universal? Yes. So on the opposite side, the righteousness of Christ, which by God's mercy is imputed to all believers, Yes.

What? Well, the believer's not in that verse. You're going to the all, came upon all men. Alright, if you want to make it available to all, from man's viewpoint, that's fine, that's right. From God's viewpoint, it isn't.

Therefore, as by one man's offense, the guiltiness came upon all men, all men die. So on the opposite side, the righteousness of Christ, which is by God's mercy, is imputed to all believers, justifies them, that they may become partakers of everlasting life, not only because of our sins are forgiven us, but also because the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us.

19, for as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. Now, if you understand that much of the 19th verse, you're ahead of most seminary students. Joy, for as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners.

Not all. So by the obedience, of one, shall many, be made righteous. The same many again. Well, we have to... It may be available to all, but all will not. Alright. From man's viewpoint, that's right.

But not from God's viewpoint. Here, Paul sums up his argument on federal headship. Adam's one act of disobedience made all sinners. Is that right? Alright. Not just possessors of a sin nature, but guilty of the act of sin, Christ's obedience, his death, and resurrection, makes it possible for God to declare righteous the sinner who believes in him.

Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. Why was the law given, Greg? And where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Did he have grace to save a sinner before the law? David, did God have the grace to save a sinner before the law was given?

That's right, you have to answer yes. When God gave the law, he gave with it a sacrificial system. Then later on, Christ came to fulfill that part of the law also. In other words, God has given to the human race a lost race to be delivered from the guilt of sin.

Now, not just the nature of sin. You and I will have that old nature throughout all of our lives. We can't get rid of it. We have it so that we will grow. 21. That as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Grace Reigning Through Righteousness in Christ

Again, we come to Jesus Christ. As death has reigned unto death, as sin has reigned unto death, you and I are living in a world where sin reigns. Do you want to know who's the king of the earth? Scripture tells us that Satan is the prince.

He's the one that goes up and down seeing who he can devour. Sin hath reigned unto death and the cemeteries are still being filled because of that. Even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ, our Lord.

He is calling out a people out of the lost world. Man is alienated from God. He has a sin nature. When you come into this world, before you come into this world, you have a sin nature, if that's possible.

You'll always have that sin nature. Now God gives salvation to his people. The claims of God's righteousness are fully met in the death of Christ. The kingdom is fully and firmly established on the cross of Christ.

All other ground is sinking sand. The believer now has eternal life by being united to the last Adam. And he was called that, the last Adam. The raised and glorified Christ. This makes possible the sanctification of the saved sinner.

Now let's go back and review a little bit. In verse 12, 5 -12, Wherefore has by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin? Greg explained to me what is meant by sin bringing death with it. Alright, how does that work?

Do you remember the three finger exercise? And when Adam sinned, Christ said you're going to die the day the moment you do that. Well he didn't die physically, he died spiritually. He separated the body and soul from the spirit.

Now the spirit resides in every last human being and always will. That's what makes it possible for us to be saved. Let me ask you a question. Does the sinner and we're talking about somebody that just went out on the street and found this person and we know he's a sinner, does he know it?

What did you say over here? I heard a deep male voice. Well that's different. He sinned before he killed him. Does a sinner know that he is a sinner? Well we can't put editorials on this. Does the sinner, did you know you were a sinner before you were saved?

No. David? The sinner, the sinner to define the sinner depends upon the society in which you live. To have sin is to be without God, without Christ. And those that are sinners with that definition do not know that they're sinners.

That's right. Teaching from the view of God you people are subject to that but the world is not. You cannot explain to a Christian the difference unless they've been in class. Yes. Well let's go into chapter 6 just for a little bit.

Yes. Yes. Statement that I made. The statement I made was do you want to know who is king of the earth? Well Christ is. But Satan has the power only the power he can't make you do anything he has the power to travel the earth and devour who he can.

The unsay. That's right. Who he can eliminates us. Can Satan can Satan Satan can do only that that God has for him to do. And that's to grow us. To make us grow. Believe it or not we grow by adversity.

Never give credit to the devil. That's right. Alright. Are we ready to go on? I didn't say that he had the Lord of the earth or that he was king of the earth. I said do you want to know who is king of the earth?

I didn't go ahead and finish saying Christ but Satan is here he's from one end to the other. Now let's leave that in Romans 6. I just want to open this chapter because I want to spend some time on it.

Dead to Sin and United with Christ in Baptism

But first of all in this chapter I want you to read every place that it says sin you read it sin nature or the old sin nature. Now verse 1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in the sin nature that grace may abound if you think that Christ has given you freedom of righteousness without a new life you're dividing Christ asunder.

God has provided a way for us to sin. Do you ever think of that? What is this way? We don't know. You simply leave your walk with him. It's sin when you leave him not when you sin but when you leave is the sin.

2. God forbid how shall we that are dead to the sin nature live any longer therein? The verb dead is a perfect verb meaning that it is an action that goes on and on imperfect verb forever you're dead forever never again will you return to the old sin nature.

You can't. How can a cow how can a dead cow give fresh milk? David. You can't. So how do you any longer live in the old man? You can't. He was crucified. He's dead. He's gone. Now don't get confused we're dead to the sin nature alright but it's still alive to me and it picks at me all of the time but he can never have me you can sin but you cannot any longer live in sin habitually.

Know you not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. First of all there is no water in this verse at all so just get that yet we're baptized. Joy what does baptized mean?

Baptized means to be placed into meaning you were outside of placed into Greg give me the long definition give me an example alright did it change the outside or the look of it? No. The minute you are placed into Christ does not change your position in this earth.

Paul says do you not know it is common knowledge know this you were baptized now is that a passive verb or an active verb? Passive because it was done to you you were placed you had no choice in it you had nothing to do with it but the moment that you become aware that you were saved you were already placed into Christ at his death why at his death?

Why not the resurrection Greg? Alright the bond servant relationship cannot be broken unless one of the two parties dies on the human level the slave would have to die or the master would have to die one or the other on the spiritual level we were doulos bond servant to Satan say it again did I recognize the moment I was I did not realize it until I began to study if that is what you.

Mean help me out what she is saying. Alright.

Adam separated it we joined it not by moving the spirit by him giving me a new life. That life is part of the spirit and that according to Ecclesiastes 12 7 goes back to God who gave it. The the old sin nature is dead now whether I recognize it or not that comes with study.

David? That's right.