The Benefits Of Justification - [Romans 5]

The Theme of Romans as Righteousness Revealed in the Gospel

Romans chapter 5 is for tonight, but we're gonna do Romans 1 first and Chapter 2 chapter 3 chapter 4 kind of jet tour through 1 through 4 and then we're gonna hunker down into chapter 5. Now certainly it would probably take me on Sunday morning.

I Don't know five messages to get through Romans 6 8. I don't really know and so we're gonna have to be moving pretty much at breakneck speed but I think you're going to be encouraged as we see Romans 5 really one of the gems of The book of Romans.

William Tyndale the great reformer referred to Romans as the principal and Most excellent part of the New Testament. So out of all the Bible in the New Testament, he loved Romans. Martin Luther wrote this of Romans.

Romans is worthy. Not only that every Christian should know it word for word. Who here's memorized the book of Romans by the way. All right, we have one. My wife is I think in chapter 6 so she's taking up Luther's charge as well.

Good job, Vida. Every Christian should know it word for word by heart, but occupy himself with it every day as The daily bread of the soul. It can never be read or pondered too much. And the more it is dealt with the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes.

And that good the conference I was at the last two days Friday night and Saturday night grace Bible Church in East Bridgewater. The message theme was six different local pastors Lou Faustino and others the glorious gospel in The book of Romans and as I sat and let listen to the other men preached that was absolutely true.

Augustine said I greatly longed to understand Paul's epistle to the Romans and nothing stood in the way. But that one expression the righteousness of God Pondered it day and night just like Martin Luther, so here's what we'll do tonight.

Fast. Through chapters 1 2 3 4 a little slower, but still pretty fast in chapter 5. But my goal is to teach most of chapter 5. Tonight could somebody give me the key word for the book of Romans? Sunday nights a little different if you want to just raise your hand and give me the answer one keyword Ferdie.

Very good. Righteousness and Paul will go to great lengths to establish that we don't have our own righteousness and we need righteousness provided by another one writer said this is a Concentrated vitamin pill designed to cure modern rickets.

How about that for a good introduction to the book of Romans a vitamin pill? It's like a protein drink. How many people here like protein drinks. If I could drink any protein drink at all. It would be one of those $5 Isopures with about 40 grams of protein boy.

They taste good. This is even better now if I were to give you an outline of the book of Romans just Topically before we get into exegetically. Here's how I would do it super simple Baptistic as well with alliteration chapters 1 2 3 a sin chapters 3 b 4 5 salvation chapter 6 7 Sanctification chapter 8 Wesley security good chapters 9 10 11 Sovereignty good Brian chapters 12 through 15 service chapter 16 Salutations, I've also heard it called stuff kind of just random things and greetings.

So sin salvation and you can just think about this logically sin salvation Gang to fit sanctification security sovereignty service and Salutation and the theme really if we go to chapter 1 verse 16 if you'll go there with me.

The Wrath of God and the Need for Righteousness

For I'm not ashamed of the gospel. And certainly if you wanted to call the book of Romans about it's a book about the gospel. That is certainly true. I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also To the Greek or to the Gentile for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.

Or the NIV even probably gets this right by faith from first to last as it is written, but the righteous man shall live by Faith so here. We have a book. That's about God's righteousness how it's revealed vindicated and Applied and at the very beginning chapter 1 verses 18 and following.

We see there is a lack of righteousness all men are sinful Jew and Gentile and they need personal righteousness. I could apply it to you you need righteousness. And so if you look at verse 18 not only is righteousness revealed verse 17.

Something else is revealed. It's the wrath of God. These Gentiles here in verses 18 through 32 are sinful and have no righteousness for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress our hold down the truth in unrighteousness.

Man minimizes sin. God exposes sin through the pen of the Apostle Paul. Everyone needs a Savior that's going to be the point. How can you know you need a Savior unless you know you're sinful now. There's some moralistic Jews.

They don't have righteousness either. Chapter 2 verses 1 through 16. More than that even confident well-taught Jews chapter 2 verses 17 through 3 8. They don't have righteousness either. Let's just look at verse 23 and again.

I'm just trying to go through this quickly. I can't talk about every verse. You who boast in the law. Through your breaking the law do you dishonor God for he is not a Jew who was one? Outwardly verse 28 of chapter 2 neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.

But he is a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision is that which is of the heart by the Spirit. Not by the letter. And his praise is not from men. But from God. And then he gives a conclusion chapter 3 verse 9 and following.

What then are we better than they not at all? For we all. Excuse me for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. Man is corrupt depraved. Sinful and what are we to do? Well if we were angels and sinned nothing happened yet.

God had a plan for Humans, and so we see the righteousness revealed in chapter 3 verse 21 and following. Justification by faith alone. Righteousness of God from God credited to our account so that we have righteousness.

That's not ours Chapter 3 verse 21, but now apart from the law the righteousness of God. That's what we need. That's what we're lacking has been manifested being witnessed by the law and the prophets.

Even the righteousness of God through faith in Christ Jesus for all who? Believe. For there is no distinction for all have sinned both Jews and Gentiles and continually fall short of the glory of God.

Who could tell me give me a good definition of justification by the way there was a Christian booksellers conference and two out of 100 people could give the definition of justification. I think the odds are better here, but I'm not a betting man even though I drove past the Dog track the other day and in rain.

Rameth. Pardon me. Yeah, there it is. Is it still open all right Jonathan? Justification. Okay, do you like that? I didn't hear any infused Kind of language. Is there more to be said Vita? Okay received by faith alone would anybody else like to add anything to that?

Yes Bruce. Okay, good many times people say just as I've have never sinned. That's only partially true. Although it's true when God declares us righteous. It's just he sees us as if we just have never sinned ever and just as if we perfectly Obeyed the law of God what God has commanded good.

I like preaching to you Wesley. Okay, and really if I was thinking about justification. I would think of three particular components. I would think about my sin Credited to Christ account. I have my personal sins, but Jesus never sinned yet.

He got credit for them Christ righteousness Credited to my account even though Jesus was perfect. I was not perfect yet. I have his Righteousness credited to my account and then the third component is Confirmed by or vindicated by the resurrection and that would be found in Romans 4 that we're going to look at in just a minute.

You've did so much better than the than the Christian booksellers conference. You know how Michael Horton does that the white horse in he'll go up and ask people. What are the Ten Commandments? What is justification by faith is theology important very very interesting?

So what Paul does in chapter 4 is he gives an illustration of something Abraham Abraham was justified by faith apart from works a legal declaration. It's like the judge's gavel goes down and the judge sells says what based on the work of another what?

Not guilty. I had Kim find me at the antique auction a gavel and it sits on my desk because I like to think about forensic Justification legal justification based on the work of another an alien righteousness not of an alien Martian.

But of someone who's not like me God. So Paul says in chapter 4 Verse 2. Here's a man who models this justification by faith for if Abraham was justified by works He has something to boast about but not before God.

Abraham believed God verse 3 and it was credited are reckoned are imputed to him as righteousness. Faith was the non meritorious instrument done by God done outside of him credited to Abraham's account certainly not justified by works verse 4 now to the one who works his wage is not reckoned as a favor.

But what is do are but what as is? Do. And so now we move to chapter 5. Here's what we'll call chapter 5 verses 1 to 11 the benefits of righteousness. Righteousness has many benefits and that's exactly what Paul is going to talk about.

Right here and I could turn it into a sermon if I told you. These are some of the things that you should be praising God for you are made to praise God and to extol him. I think about the world. I think about my grandparents and for them their life wasn't one of praise.

It was complaining and bitterness and the world is horrible and here we have been redeemed. We have been declared righteous and we have lots of reason to praise. Thomas Watson said praising God is one of the highest and purest acts of religion.

How many people here remember what sandwich boards were? Right some remember some have studied some have googled it. I can see some of the younger ones googling sandwich boards Jowett said a little while ago.

I saw a half-dozen sandwich men walking through the streets of London looking thoroughly pinched and starved and wretched and their boards carried the Advertisement as to where the onlookers could get the best dinners in London.

These emaciated people with the sandwich boards and here's what Joe it said famished wretches advertising the best dinners. And then here comes the knife cheerless men and women. Advertising the joy of the Lord.

I wonder what your neighbors think of you. I wonder what your friends think of you. I wonder what people who are your family members who aren't Christians think of you. I Wonder if they look at you and say you know like with Psalm chapter 1 That Particular person as they look at you.

They say I'm envious. I wish I had their God. I wish I had the blessings that they had. I wish I had the joy that they have. I wonder if that's how people think of you. So what Paul does here is he gives some benefits that you receive upon?

Justification it's great enough to have a pronouncement to be accepted and Treated as just based on the work of another but there's more and that's just like the Lord He just gives and gives and it's over and above and so there are privileges.

Because of justification and so he says in verse 1 therefore having been justified by faith He gives the first benefit we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. You could make that a praise point if you wanted.

I want to praise the Lord for something you have peace with God now. What's the opposite of peace? Now I don't want you to think kind of Eagles easy peaceful feeling. I don't want you to think of tranquility.

I don't want you to think of the Pacific Ocean even though I'll be there in a couple days. Pacified ocean compared to the roaring Atlantic. This has nothing to do with feelings. This has nothing to do with Philippians 4 where when you pray, there's a peace that passes all understanding.

This is you used to be an enemy. Of course. I was too and now you are friends. That's what this is. This is objective peace. This means the guns used to be pointed at you until armistice day and now they're put away.

Used to be war now, there's peace. People say well, I was never at war with God. Well, you think that although you were but worse he was at war with you. Every person has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

It's either that of friend and brother. Child art is that of enemy? The bazooka of God has you in its sights and because of what Christ has done God is faithful and just so he's not going to try to punish us and punish Jesus.

Jesus has already been punished for us. So we have Peace with God. Hostility has ceased. Colossians 1 says having made peace through the blood of his cross through him. There's no peace said the Lord for the what for the whom?

Wicked they might have tranquil feelings, but God is after them. Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. He's the high priest Order of Melchizedek who grants us peace. Actually the Greek text is we have peace Facing God in the presence of God.

Remember Jude you can stand in his presence. Sort of cowering down and on your face. This is peace Facing God. Ever watched a criminal. This didn't happen with a Sandusky case. But I thought it might they walk out to the police car to get taken to the jail.

And what do they do even trying? With their handcuffs handcuffed behind behind them are in front of them. What do they try to do? They try to hide their face. That's exactly right and here now because of Christ's work in the presence of God.

No hiding your face. No cowering. Well, there's something more than that. Second benefit could be the second praise point if you will in terms of justifications benefits found in verse 2. Through whom you also have obtained an introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand.

Now we have permanent access to God before no trespassing sign. Just like with the seraphim guarding the Garden of Eden can't get back in Adam and Eve driven out. Just like Cain driven away from the side of Eden.

But now God has brought us toward him. Introduced us through our mediator Christ Jesus. The French word for this I'm told is entree. This is something that one person brings another and now you're favorably disposed towards God.

Philippians excuse me Ephesians says we may approach God with freedom and Confidence. Hebrews chapter 4 let us therefore draw near with confidence to through the to the throne of grace. Well Paul goes on the third thing is.

We have a reason for hope. Look at verse 2 and we exalt in the hope of the glory of God. Peace takes care of the past. Entree takes care of the president as of the president. I wish it would. I Think I need a vacation.

Peace takes care of the past issue. Entree takes care of the present issue and now there's hope we can be very very hopeful people because we have the righteousness of Christ credited to our account. How great is it when I read verses like John 14 and if I go and prepare a place for you?

I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am. Therefore you may be also joyously. Realizing that God has determined the course of all future history and you will be with Christ Jesus. Well, he keeps going verses 3 through 5 he talks about how you can rejoice even in trials.

In the world we're gonna have tribulation but God does something with the trial of the Christian of the Justified one who has the righteousness of God credited to his account and not only this first three.

But we also exalt in tribulations knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance and perseverance proven character and proven character. Hope hope does not disappoint because of the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

Who was given? to us. When we experience trials we can remain under them. Actually, the Greek is bearing up under pressure. I want to say more about this, but I need to get to chapter 5 verse 12 soon.

So let's just go to number 5 here. God gave you himself in love. God demonstrates his love towards you by giving his Son as a sacrifice found in verses 6 through 8. By the way before I read this true or false put your thinking caps on love is blind.

You should probably say to me. It just depends what the context is. Our society likes to say love is blind. You fall in love with some person and and If you don't have elders to help you and friends to help you and yourself to help you in the word.

Sometimes you should see things in the other person that should give you warning signs. But as you think about the love of God God's love for his people isn't blind. Just imagine God knew every sin you would ever commit and he still loved you.

God's love isn't blind at all and he gave himself in love verse 6 for while we were still helpless at the right time Christ died for the ungodly one will hardly die for a righteous man though. Perhaps for a good man, someone would dare even to die.

By the way, this kind of language does not sound like poor Richards almanac. Does it God helps those who? Helps themselves. That is such bad advice. I'll go on the record now and say that shouldn't come from poor Richards almanac.

That should come from little Richards almanac. All right. See some don't even know which is probably better but God Continually makes conspicuous verse 8 his own love towards us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

Christ dies for the ungodly. Christ dies for the helpless. Christ dies for sinners. Christ dies for enemies. We'll see in a second, you know the way I do weddings and officiate weddings. Don't you. I do the same thing every single time because I want to preach this passage and what do I end up doing?

The bride-to-be and the groom. Come into my study and I love to just talk a little bit. This is what we do for premarital counseling. You meet with the elders. You do this you do that. The part that I love to say to them.

I love to say I'm gonna give you a couple books to read and I'm going to give you some assignments of premarital counseling and then I want you to do your paperwork and if you do those I'll show up for the wedding and I'm not kidding.

If you don't want to do it, I won't show up. Of course. They always get their homework done. It's exciting and then I look to the groom. To be and I'll say tell me four reasons why you love Your fiance why you picked her and you know what?

It's classic. I love it because as this man begins to say things out loud. Maybe the lady hasn't even heard some of these things. They say all kinds of wonderful things. They say she's pretty. They say She's smart.

They say she's godly. They say she serves other people. One person said she's a five-point Calvinist though. Wow pretty romantic. They say all these things and Some are just things that God has given us.

When we when we're attracted to someone of the opposite sex and you think that's just beautiful and nice some are very spiritual. And then I think about this passage. Because when God sees us Eternally God sees us when we are on the earth.

There was nothing good in us. There was no good reason he should pick us. We weren't pretty we weren't smart. There was nothing there in a romantic sense, obviously. But there was nothing there because when God picked us when we were what were those words?

Helpless ungodly. Sinful and enemies. Now that's nothing wrong for a husband to pick a wife because she's godly on the inside and pretty on the outside. Not that's not wrong. But it's better love when God you can think of Hosea and Gomer.

Were for the sake of the other people and for the sake of his own glory. God picks the worst. Christ dies for sinners. He renders that conspicuous that is his love. And if that wasn't enough if you look at verses 9 to 11, basically.

The point here is there should be assurance for your salvation if you struggle with assurance. This will be good for you. Versus 9 10 and 11. Someone came into my study the other day and they said I'm struggling with assurance.

I'm trying to do things. To get my assurance. I'm trying to stop from doing things to get my assurance and with Spurgeon I'll tell you what I told him. When you try to grab the dove of assurance it flies away.

But Spurgeon said when you focus on the person and work of Christ the dove of assurance just comes and sits on your shoulder. Am I saved. Am I saved? What do I do? I've got to feel saved. I want to feel saved.

That's not bad. When you struggle with your assurance, but what's bad is the continual myopic focus on trying to get your assurance. So you go straight to Calvary straight to the cross. How about straight to these verses verse 9 10 and 11 much more than having now been justified by his blood.

We shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. For now get this for if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son. Much more see the much more in verse 9 much more now in 10 much more having been reconciled.

We shall be saved by his life. How is God going to treat us now as children if he loved us when we were enemies? How does God treat you as a child? And not only this but we exalt also in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have received the reconciliation.

Adam, Christ, and Federal Representation

Now Paul is a master at anticipating questions. What's the anticipated question that he's going to hone in on in chapter 5 12 through 21? You can just see somebody go like this. I've got a question, sir.

What's the question Paul's going to ask in one of the greatest? Wildest passages of all time. That's why I picked it yesterday to preach at the conference because it just. It it just when you focus on who God is there's nothing like it and what he does there's nothing like it.

What's the question Paul is trying to get across? The answer. Here's the answer. Well, let me give you the question. How can one man save so many people? How could one person. How could one person Jesus rescue a whole slew of people?

And so Paul is going to talk about that and let's look at federal imputation representative. Salvation found in verses 12 and following Christ triumph over Adam's sin. Now I asked you before what was justification and some answered.

And collectively you got it, right. Too bad you weren't, you know judged at Judgment Day by collective knowledge. I'm just kidding. No, you did a good job. I'm gonna ask you another question. What is imputation?

Now some of the things we've already described in justification, but how about imputation. What is the word imputation? You say I don't even need to know why bother how about this? How about ten times?

It's in Romans chapter 4. That'd be good to know. Give me a synonym for for imputation. Credited. Excellent. What else? Reckoned. Nice. You look at NES. Is the SVC reckoned. Okay, it means to charge. To credit to your account.

To attribute to your account. To set something to someone's account. Remember Paul talking to Philemon. Ferdie you should know this. Your home Bible said he did Philemon in 25 weeks. Apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

If he has wronged you at all or owes you anything charge that to my account imputation. Charge that reckon it to my account. This doctrine imputation is at the heart of justification. If justification is at the heart of the gospel the heart of justification is imputation.

Thomas Askew said of justification is the heart of the gospel then imputation is the heart of justification and. By the way, this is just the way God does things. If you drop an apple and it falls down you say to yourself Gravity, that's how God has designed the world.

How does God design the world of people by the principle of federal? Representative imputation. When Gehazi sinned the leprosy went to his posterity. God deals with people through imputation. The sins of the father's Exodus 20 verse 5 are Visited on the children to the third and fourth generation.

The Egyptians get wiped out because of Pharaoh's federal representation. Israel true or false. I know John has been preaching in Samuel Suffered for David's sin. The answer is yes. Federal representation you said I don't know if I'm liking this.

I'm kind of feeling this isn't too good. Do you have senators. If you're an American citizen you have senators? How many do you have? Two American senators. They are your representatives and when they vote for something It affects you.

It's just the way the world goes. For evil or for good. Federal Headship isn't foreign. When our government says America is going to war and they vote for that you go to war with them. And imputation is found in the Bible a lot.

And if you get imputation, it's going to be good for you. So going to chapter 5 verse 12, we're going to see how Adam sin is going to be imputed to his posterity. And so here's the big picture. So you get it.

How can one man affect so many? He's going to get to Jesus, but before he gets to Jesus He's going to show you how Adam one sin affected many and then there's going to be a greater Adam. So Paul is going to answer the question and he's going to say, you know imputation isn't anything new.

That's really what he's saying in chapter 12. Chapter 5 verse 12 13 and 14. He compares the saving work of Christ with the condemning work of Adam and he's talking about one man one work affecting many.

When we have preaching class here, I pull the guys in and I'll say all right. Let's go over to your message before you preach it. Shut your Bible shut your notes and tell me the sermon in one sentence.

And if you can't do that, you can't preach. Many of the guys give me the answer some kind of do the son of flubber stuff, you know, I don't know what they do. Here's the distillation one man one act. Affects many people but he starts off with Adam.

Solidarity in Adam the New England primer for the letter a in Adams fall. We sinned all but the question is how did we sin in Adam? Were we there? Federal Representation is going to be the answer because God is going to have it wisely decreed that Adam sin was not his alone.

But it was placed to every person's account including yours. One sin one man affected many people. Now I have never done this before but I'm going to do this right now. I'm going to quote the American Atheist Journal.

And you're not going to forget it I'm sure because when I read it I thought I'm never gonna forget that Christianity has fought still fights and will fight science to the desperate end over evolution.

Because evolution destroys utterly and finally the very reason Jesus's earthly life was supposedly made necessary. Destroy Adam and Eve and original sin and in the rubble you will find the sorry remains of the Son of God.

If Jesus was not the Redeemer who died for our sins and this is what evolution means then Christianity is not. There is an attack on Adam. Why. Because there's another Adam the last Adam Christ Jesus and look at verse 12 of chapter 5 therefore just as sin came into the world through one man death through sin and so death spread to all men because all Sin.

Now think about the account in Genesis for a minute. Did Paul ascribe to literal Adam literal Eve? Very much so. Adam was the federal representative. He was the head when Eve sinned it was bad for her.

But as SOS Johnson says all hell breaks loose when Adam sins the text reads. So when the woman saw the tree was good for food. And it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise.

She took of its fruit and ate and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened and they knew they were naked sin in the world. Satan sin yes, but he wasn't the covenant head Eve sinned.

She wasn't the covenant head. Adam sinned. Affected everything. I read something funny the other day, and it was a little quip and it said. The problem of evil wasn't found in the apple on the tree. It was found on the pair in the ground the pair on the ground.

But that's not right. Because it wasn't found in the pair of the ground the federal representative was the one man Adam and he didn't believe God. That's the essence of all true sin. Unbelief leads to rebellion which leads to immorality.

This has nothing to do with the medieval people saying it was sex or it was grapes. No, it was unbelief. You say I don't like this because I wasn't there. I Didn't do it. I didn't deserve it. I didn't merit it.

I didn't eat it. If it was an apple, I didn't eat it. If it was a pair. I didn't eat it. I didn't do anything. I have a question for you. Would you have fared better? If you would have been there, how would you have done.

And I would submit to you that me with you. We would have sinned faster. We would have sinned quicker. How about God's arrangement one man determines the fate of the many? And I would imagine along with the commentators that I have read.

That if we all got together. We are all alive at that time and we got together and God said by the way I want to have somebody represent you you guys go ahead and pick you guys vote. We would have all voted for Adam.

That's who we would have voted for. Charles Simeon of Cambridge said If preferred to be judged in Adam or in himself every thinking person would answer in Adam. He had all his mind. He had his faculties.

He had a perfect wife a perfect environment. He was older. How would you like to stand before God as a federal head as a little baby a Little creatura an infant a toddler. Adam was maybe a day old or five days old or ten weeks old.

However old he was but he was fully developed in his mind and if Adam would have Succeeded we would have been singing praise Adam from whom all blessings flow. Federal representation isn't new it isn't novel.

How can one person affect so many. How can Jesus die for lots of people. Well Adam affected a lot of people. To Adam was what the Puritans called a public person. He didn't act as a private person for his own sin.

He acted as a public person in our place in our stead. And again, you said I wasn't there. I didn't deserve it. I didn't merit it. Sneak peek right here at Calvary. Were you there? Did you merit salvation.

Did you earn salvation. Pretty soon you should start saying yourself I kind of like federal representation. I Like it a lot. Adam did something bad, but Christ did something better. Now if you look at the passage there in verse 12 because all sinned.

One man sin entered the world death through sin. Death spread to all men because all sin. What does that all sin mean. And it's a huge theological question. For time's sake I won't give you every detail, but here's what I will tell you.

Here's how you solve the question. So if you want to make him for extra emphasis, sometimes you can yell louder as a pastor you can repeat it. I'm gonna stand over here for a second to get your mind going.

Some of you are having a hard time staying awake. That's okay. I'd probably be fall asleep too, but I'm the pastor. It's when you're preaching you're awake. If you think symmetry you'll get this. If you think symmetrical you'll understand what's going on.

So if I take my hands like this and I open them and I close them. It's exactly the same, right? There's symmetry if you take a parallelogram and a piece of paper felt parallelogram and fold it in half.

It's equal. I'm gonna use the word I haven't used from this pulpit I don't think for years if you have a rhombus and fold it in half. The rhombus is not symmetrical. So what happened in the garden? You have to think about Calvary.

Because symmetrical thinking is going to help you solve the problem. I guarantee it. So when all says all sin Pelagians say Adam was a bad example and we all sin by example. I Have a couple questions.

How did Adam sin who gave him the bad example? Now let's think symmetry for a second. Adam sin bad example. Jesus was righteous and if Jesus had a good it'll Jesus it was a good example and I follow him.

I'll get to heaven. Paul's been smashing that down in chapters 1 2 3. You can't earn your way to heaven so you can't say to yourself we all sin by bad example because if we follow the bad sin of Adam and now we think Symmetrically we follow the good obedience of Christ then we'll get to heaven.

No, that can't be that destroys the force of the analogy. Well, there's another way to try to describe this and this is called hereditary depravity. I Think we do have Adam's nature. Ephesians chapter 2, of course, we're children of wrath.

But that's not what Paul's talking about here. Paul's not talking about hereditary depravity here. He's talking about federal Representation. I've got a question for you if you think it's hereditary depravity solves a problem or what people call Seminal our realistic view somehow.

We're organically united to Adam. Why aren't we credited with Adams later sins. We get credit for the first sin of Adam, but if we're linked somehow Seminole, why don't we get credit for the other sins?