“Freedom from Sin” -- Romans 5:12-21

Kim has told me that my brain doesn’t work like other people’s brains. While I appreciate the fact that Kim acknowledges I have a brain, I have come to agree with her that I don’t always approach problems in the same way that most people do.

When I offer a solution or a way to do something, it’s not unusual for the response to my suggestion is a curious glance at best, downright disbelief at worst. It’s satisfying, then, when my suggestion to solve a problem or to do a task actually works.

In today’s passage, Paul is explaining the difference between how sin entered into our world and how God, through His Son, Jesus Christ, sets us free from sin—how God justifies us through Christ. At first glance, Paul’s words can seem confusing, but in the end, he brings us to a point to realize that God’s plan was the right one all along.

Background

Paul is writing this letter to the Romans as an introduction to the church there. Up to this point, the apostle’s ministry has been focused on the eastern Mediterranean world, working in modern-day Turkey and Greece. It was while Paul was delivering an offering taken up by the missions for the church in Jerusalem that he falls into the hands of an angry mob. The Pharisees started a riot when they tried to arrest Paul for heresy. After being rescued by Roman soldiers, the governor was intent to turn Paul back over to the mob. Paul, who was a Roman citizen, appealed to Caesar, meaning that his case would have to be heard before the ruler of Rome.

It is in anticipation of this visit to Rome that Paul writes the letter. In it, Paul seeks to express to the church what he believes about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul writes in Romans 1:16-17, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes—first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’”

He has spent most of the first four chapters pointing out that no one is able to have a right relationship with God—neither the immoral, the moral, nor the religious. He states that righteousness comes through faith, and in Chapter 4 demonstrates how Abraham is the example of someone who received righteousness from God because of the faith Abraham had in God.

As we come to today’s passage, Paul wants us to know that the one act of God in Christ justifies us and sets us free from sin and death.

Central Truth: Freedom from sin is restoration in Christ.

Sin:

1. predates the law (12-14)

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.”

When we read Genesis 1, we find an interesting question. In our world, the sun provides all the light and energy we need. In Genesis 1, we learn that God created light and dark on the first day (Genesis 1:3-5). He created the sun, moon and stars on the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-19). So the question arises: If God created the sun on the fourth day, where did the light come from on days 1-3? There are various theories about what it means, and these various theories can provide hours of discussion.

Paul raises a similar question about sin. Most Bible scholars and believers in general agree that sin entered into the world when Adam and Eve took the forbidden fruit. But God didn’t give the law until Moses, thousands of years later. So the question arises: How could we know we sinned before God gave the law?

Paul is very clear that sin entered the world through Adam—not through Eve, but through Adam. The apostle equates sin and death as going hand-in-hand. Sin entered from one man, and death through sin. The pattern of sinfulness was established in Adam and has been carried down through the ages through all people.

The Bible further tells us that sin predates the law—“for before the law was given, sin was in the world.” The next line is the puzzling line: “But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.” What does that mean? Does it mean that everyone who sinned from Adam until Moses was not guilty of sin? The answer seems to be yes, all who sinned before the law are guilty of that sin. We see this from the next line: “Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.”

What is the Bible saying here? We go back up to v. 12, where sin was introduced and, because of sin, death also entered our world. People died from Adam to Moses, so we know the wages of sin is death. In Romans 1:18-20, Paul writes that God reveals Himself through creation, and, in that creation, there is a natural law that men disobey. This disobedience results in sin, and death entered through sin. Paul isn’t rehashing the idea of natural law here. He is telling us that death has been present for as long as sin has been present, and sin entered our world through Adam’s decision to rebel against God.

And that’s an important point to make. Sin is not a specific action or inaction. Rather, it is an attitude of the heart. Sin is rebellion against God. It is our way of telling God that we don’t need Him or His ways to tell us how to live; we can do it on our own. That’s how the serpent tempted Adam and Eve, by telling them if they partake of the fruit they shall be like God. It is this attitude that leads to sin, not a legal system.

When Paul writes that sin is not taken into account when there is no law, he means that God takes that into account. Shortly after we moved to the Waco area, I was driving through Hewitt on a road I had travelled once or twice before. I was going 40 miles an hour, when a policeman pulled me over. He informed me I was speeding. I told him that I thought the speed limit was 40, and that it was an honest mistake. He gave me the benefit of the doubt and only gave me a warning, and since then I have always driven 30 miles an hour on that road. If we break laws we were not aware of, we may have to pay a price, but the judge will take into account the intention or the ignorance and will rule accordingly.

From the time of Adam, sin has been in our world. This attitude of sin predates the law that was given by God to Moses. Sin is an attitude, not a specific act or inaction. Each of us is guilty of sin, and each of us is condemned for our sinfulness.

2. is overcome by the gift of God’s grace through Christ (15-17)

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”

Almost everyone enjoys receiving a gift, particularly if the gift is what that person has really wanted and needed. Such a gift is cherished and used.

Paul goes from talking about the introduction of sin into our world and shows what God did through Jesus to overcome sin and make us righteous in His eyes. Paul contrasts the difference of the introduction of sin into our world with the gift of justification by faith in Christ. The emphasis is on God’s intervention to bring salvation to all through Jesus. Just as sin entered the world through Adam’s sin, so justification enters the world through the crucifixion of Jesus.

What God did through Jesus is that He took all the sins of the world and made them forgivable through Jesus. Notice Paul’s words in v. 17: “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

What Paul is telling us is that sin may have entered the world through Adam’s actions in the garden, but Jesus’ act of love at Calvary takes away the ultimate consequences of sin and gives grace and righteousness to those who receive God’s gift. As a result of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have forgiveness of sins and eternal life in Him. As a result, though we are tempted and though we may still sin, we have the assurance that our sins are forgiven and our lives are secure in the One who gave His life for us.

This doesn’t mean that we now have free license to sin. We were shown that fallacy in last week’s passage from Galatians 5. We do not seek out sin, but when we sin, we are forgiven. We ask God’s forgiveness in order that we may acknowledge to Him that we recognize when we sin, but we find forgiveness has been given even before we acknowledge the sin.

While sin is still in our world, and Christian men and women still succumb to temptation and sin, we know that God overcomes our sin through the free gift of grace through Jesus Christ.

3. gives way to life in Christ (18-21)

Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

It was in seminary when I first heard that salvation comes in three parts. The three parts are justification, sanctification and glorification. Justification is forgiveness of sins we commit before we came to know Christ. Justification is that I have been saved. Sanctification is God working in us through the Holy Spirit to help us overcome sin and grow more like Him. Sanctification is I am being saved. Glorification comes when Christ returns and we are transformed into eternal glory. Glorification is I will be saved. So there is past, present and future aspects of one salvation, described in three ways.

Paul is focusing on justification in these last few verses. Paul tells us that justification is a result of Jesus’ one act of righteousness. The result of this justification is that we are given life in Christ. Our righteousness comes through Jesus and Jesus alone.

Paul comes back to the idea of the law and sin in v. 20. By giving the law to Moses, God makes us more aware of the many ways we can sin against Him. No longer can we rely on our ignorance, because God has given clear revelation of what He expects from us. But just as our awareness of sin is made more apparent through the law, His grace overcomes the sin and we are brought into eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus tells us eternal life is knowing the Father and the Son, and the indwelling Holy Spirit reveals the Father and the Son to us. By Jesus’ act of redemption at Calvary, the sin that would destroy us is washed away and we are made fully righteous in the eyes of God. We are restored into a right relationship with Him. The result is that we have life in Christ from the day we accepted Christ as savior and remains in effect for all eternity.

Conclusion

Years ago, my parents hired a piano tuner to return our piano. We had had it for many years and had moved it from El Paso to Tyler.

The tuner was at his work when I wandered into the room to watch him. He would hit his tuning fork with a rubber mallet and then strike a key on the piano. It looked interesting. At one point, he told me to listen to the tuning fork. He struck the fork and I heard a hum. It wasn’t until he held it up to my ear that I could really hear the note that was coming from the fork, and I noticed it was exactly like the key he was striking. The look of wonder must have come across my face, because when I finally heard the note, the man smiled at me as if to say that I finally got it.

There’s a lot we may not understand about what it means to be free from sin. We struggle and we wrestle with temptation and, more often than we’d like to admit, we fall. We may have a rudimentary understanding. It’s like when we hold our ear close to the fork that we can really hear the note that we have to lean close to the Father and the Son. We have to listen with near ears to the Holy Spirit to understand what it means to truly be free from sin.

Are we listening?