Through Christ, Life, Part A (Romans 5:15–21) | John MacArthur

Today on Grace to You. The proof that we're ((music playing)) all sinners, we die, all of us. No one escapes. Adam by his one act impacted ((music playing)) the entire human race. It is the sin of Adam that explains the world. What in the world makes us so embarrassed about the gospel? >> ((music playing)) >> For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus ((music playing)) Christ and him crucified. >> ((music playing)) ((music playing)) >> Last week Pastor John opened up Romans 5 and explored the reality of how sin entered the world through one man and death through sin.

We saw how death spread to all men as all have sinned. The proof that we have all sinned, we die, all of us. Now we understand how one man's act can ((music playing)) affect many. Through Adam, death entered the world, but today we turn to the one man who would conquer sin and death.

Grab your Bibles as we embark on a 2-week study in Romans 5 with Pastor John's message entitled Through Christ, Life. We have been obviously giving honor to our Lord Jesus Christ for his resurrection from the dead. He conquered death not only for himself, but for all his people, all who believe in him.

This is the glorious gospel which we proclaim. That Jesus came into the world to give life, life abundant and life eternal to all those who believe in him. The Apostle Paul wrote a lot about the gospel. Perhaps the heart of what he wrote could be found in the book of Romans.

And in that book he speaks about the fact that Christ in his one act of dying provided salvation for all his people. Reaching forward to history yet to come, reaching backward to history already completed. The one act of Christ on the cross provided salvation for all who would ever believe in God genuinely through all of human history.

That poses a very significant question. How is it that one man could do one act and have such a massive effect on millions and millions of people? Paul answers that by saying you should already know that. And his answer comes in Romans 5. I want to invite you to turn to Romans chapter 5.

We began to look at it on Friday night. And I want you to see how he demonstrates that the act of one man can affect many. In fact, all men. He makes a comparison between the one act of Christ and the one act of Adam. In verse 12, he says, "Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin.

And so death spread to all men because all sinned." How can one act by one man affect so many? Paul's answer is one act by one man, Adam, one sin committed by Adam, poured pollution and corruption into the human stream so that every human being born in all of human history is cursed with sin and headed for death.

The proof that we're all sinners, we die, all of us. No one escapes. Adam by his one act impacted the entire human race. Adam, by God's design, was the representative for the whole of mankind. What he did affected all of us. The proof we all sin, the proof we all die.

Adam's one sin caused all the human race to fall into corruption, sin, and death. This explains life as we know it. Originally, Genesis 1 and 2 says God created everything and it was good. It was very good. That's Genesis 1 and 2, and then in Genesis 3 Adam sins and everything becomes bad, very bad.

The result of that one sin, we're all sinners, we're all dying. Sin became so rampant that by the sixth chapter of Genesis, God looks at the world and sees only evil continually and drowns the entire human race. Except for eight people. They started over again, but >> [clears throat] >> they were sinners and sin kept moving and all people kept dying.

It is the sin of Adam that explains the world. All evil, all iniquity, all sin is because of Adam's sin. All illness, all disease, all infirmity is because of Adam's sin. In fact, it touches every area of life. Even in the physical world, the law of entropy, the things are breaking down.

Out of every transaction of energy, there is waste. And we have to articulate that waste, understand it, deal with it. What that means is that in the garden, when Adam originally was living in the presence of God before he sinned, he could eat anything in the garden and 100% of what he ate would be transferred into energy with no waste.

Since the fall, there is waste and we have a world full of it. We have to constantly account for it. We have a world full of crime, lawlessness, lawbreaking. We have to constantly create systems of jurisprudence that deal with stopping people from committing crime and holding them responsible.

We have courts and jails. We have armies to defend ourselves against evil aggressors. All government, all police are a reflection that we are fallen. All goes back to Adam's sin. All education indicates that we are born ignorant, alienated from the life of God. All economics are based upon work, scarcity, and management.

In the garden, there was no work, there was no sweat, there was no scarcity, and there was nothing to manage. Everything we know of in life is a reflection of Adam. In fact, even those people who deny the Genesis account of Adam, even those people who deny that Adam was a real person in Genesis, should understand that the story of Genesis 3 is the story that explains why they deny Genesis 3.

Because they are fallen and alienated from God and not subject to his truth. Now, we understand how one man's one act can affect can affect many. Adam's affected every human being. And we looked at that on Friday, so so today we want to turn to Christ. One act by the Lord Jesus Christ offering his life on the cross provides for his people the antidote to Adam's sin.

Adam's sin brought death to all. Christ's death brings life to all. Let's look at Romans 5:15. We looked at verses 12 through 14 on Friday. This is starting in verse 15. Now, Paul is going to help us make this comparison between Adam's one act and the reign of death and Christ's one act and the reign of life.

I'm going to give you five contrasting features in this text. It's really an incredibly rich portion of scripture. Five contrasting features comparing the impact of Christ's one act with Adam's one act. The five overlap, but they are not redundant. Rather, they express a kind of eloquent fullness and richness concerning this truth like facets of the same jewel.

I want you to follow the contrasts of the effect of Christ as compared to Adam. And let's start with that point. The first, there is a difference in their effectiveness. There was a certain effectiveness in what Adam did. There is a differing effectiveness in what Christ did. Adam's offense had a certain effect.

Christ's gift had a different effect. Let's go to verse 15. And here the contrast is introduced immediately. But the free gift, the charisma, is not like the transgression. That introduces us to this comparison. This analogy between Adam and Christ. It was really introduced at the end of verse 14 where we are told that Adam is a type of him who was to come.

That that is to say there's a there's a parallel, there's a connection, there's there's an analogy there. The free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abound to the many.

The first difference is indicated by much more. The free gift is much more effective than the transgression. Transgression is per optima, it means a a full deviation, a trespass, an offense against God. And as a result, verse 15 says, of [snorts] that transgression the many died. Who are the many?

All who were in Adam. And that means all the human race. We were all in his loins. He acted as our representative when he did what he did, and we all went down with him. The free gift, the charisma, the grace gift, which is good and righteous and pleasing to God, also abounded to many.

And who are the many? All who are in Christ. For all who are in Adam, death. For all who are in Christ, life. One is a transgression, the other is a grace gift. Now, how are we to understand this issue of effectiveness and its difference? By the transgression, many are dead.

The sin of Adam killed the race. The one sin of the one man became the ground for the death of all human beings. Many is used for the sake of the analogy. You'll see down in verse 18 that the word all is used there again for the sake of the analogy.

Many died, and the many are all who are in Adam. Many live in Christ, and the many are all who are in Christ. Or if you use the language of verse 18, all men were condemned who are in Adam, and all men are justified who are in Christ.

The many and the all used as a literary device. Regarding Adam, the many are all human beings. Regarding Christ, the all who are in Christ are many human beings. This is the parallelism of the analogy, and it's repeated in 1 Corinthians 15:22, "As in Adam all die, so in Christ all shall be made alive."

All who are in Adam die, all who are in Christ are made alive. So the sin of Adam then pollutes all his posterity, all who are in him, all who are represented by him, are catapulted into sin, guilt, ruin, judgment, and death. He acted as our head and took us down with him.

But the contrast, what Christ did in his one act is much more. He does much more. The end of verse 20, it abounded, the work of Christ all the more. Is the effect of Adam's sin devastating? Yes. Is it widespread? Yes. But the effect of Christ's one act is much more.

The evil gift of Adam, death. The grace gift of Christ, life. And simply stated, life is much more than death. Christ is more powerful to save than Adam is to ruin. Adam had the power to kill, but Christ has the power to give life. And Paul piles up the expressions related to Christ in verse 15 and following.

He talks about the grace of God, the gift of grace, the gift of righteousness, all coming by the one man Jesus Christ. By grace, not by law, but by grace, free gift of grace. So the grace that comes through Jesus Christ does much more than just repair the evil done by Adam.

The grace of God that comes to us in Christ through his death on the cross does not just return us to a pre-fall condition, but rather, end of verse 15, it has an an abounding reality. The gift of the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abounds to the many.

This is the verb perissuo, to be over and above, to be beyond, to excel, to be better, to be superior. It is better, this grace gift through the one act of Christ on the cross, than the act of Adam. How are we to understand that? The evil from Adam has been more than neutralized.

The evil from Adam has been more than canceled. In Christ, it is not just that death is canceled. It is that we receive righteousness, holiness, reconciliation with God, conversion, adoption, eternal life. Paul says to Timothy that it could be understood this way. Christ abolished death and brought life and immortality to light. 2 Timothy 1:10.

Sin in Adam brought death. Grace in Christ gives everlasting life. Now, here's the way to simply understand that. Adam's effectiveness can be and is nullified. Do you hear that? Adam's effectiveness, the effect of his sin, is nullified in Christ. But nothing in heaven or hell will ever nullify Christ's effectiveness through his one act.

Adam's one act has been, is, will be overturned. Never will Christ's be negated. This is the promise of John 10 that we have looked at so many times in our Lord's words. Verse 27, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish.

No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who's given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." I give them eternal life, and that is settled. None of them will ever perish.

What Adam brought can be overturned. What Christ brought cannot. So in the sense of effectiveness, Adam's impact for many was temporary. Christ's impact for all who are in him was everlasting. A second comparison that the Apostle Paul makes is the comparison of extent. And this is rich. The extent.

The comparison between Adam's condemnation and Christ's justification. Look at verse 16. Verse 16, "The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned." Again, you can see that this verse begins as the previous one with this statement of contrast. "The gift, the grace gift in Christ, is not like that which came through the one who sinned.

For on the one hand, the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation. But on the other hand, the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. You need to understand this because this is this is staggering truth. He starts out by saying the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned.

The gift of grace through Christ and his one act is not like the gift of death through Adam and his one act. There is a huge difference, massive difference, incalculable difference. It is this. The judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation. Do Do you understand the whole human race is condemned?

All born sinners, all die. It extends beyond them. The whole creation is subjected to the curse. The whole universe has to be replaced. And in its place in the future, after it is finally destroyed, God will create a new heaven and a new earth. The whole universe is cursed.

And it's all cursed and all humans are cursed because of one sin by one man. That's how powerful sin is. One sin by one man curses the entire universe, condemns the whole human race to sin and death. One sin by one man. But on the other hand, to show you how much greater the free gift is, the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.

What is this saying? This is saying this. One sin by one man catapulted the human race into sin and death. Christ's gift brings forgiveness to all who believe in him for all their sins. The extent of the grace gift is incalculable. It covers many, many billions of sins, transgressions, trespasses, iniquities, perversions, deviations.

Condemnation came by one sin. One sin is enough to condemn the whole human race and pollute the universe. Justification cancels all the sins of all the people who are connected to Christ. The one transgression demanded the condemnation of all, nothing less. But the free gift in Christ is of such massive character that it operates with regard to all the sins of all who are Christ's.

Damned by one sin by one man. Justified by one sacrifice by one man through whom all our sins are forgiven. This is how great forgiveness is. It only took one sin to damn the whole race. And oh, by the way, it was the sin of eating. It wasn't moral.

Eating. You say, "Well, God, wouldn't God give him a little break? All he did was eat something." >> [laughter] >> God hates sin. If God says don't eat and you eat, that's enough to damn the whole human race and curse the universe. That's how bad sin is. The evil from which Christ saves us is far greater than just one sin.

It is an inconceivable iniquity. And so, Christ has done much more. Much more. Not only removed the effect of the one sin, but forgiven all the results of the one sin on behalf of his people. Yes, God hates sin. He sentenced the whole human race to death for one sin of eating.

And that's justice. Any sin calls for holy judgment, extensive holy judgment. There are no first, second, third degree sins. There are no venial, mortal sins. Sin is sin. Adam's sin was eating. That's God's view of sin. Just eating when you're told not to is enough to damn the race.

If that had the power to damn the race, imagine how powerful grace is to forgive all the sins of all the people who will ever believe. This is how you understand the extent of the work of Christ in his one act on the cross compared to the extent of Adam's one sin.

If the whole human race suffered death because of Adam's sin, and yet on the other hand, we can be justified from all our sins by the one act of Christ, and how much greater in extent is his work. The abundance of grace in Christ takes all our sins away because he paid the penalty in his death for all our sins.

In 3 hours of darkness, he absorbed the fury of God against all the sins of all the people who would ever believe. One sin was enough to condemn the entire universe. He absorbed all the sins of all his people. The suffering is inconceivable. But it is also sufficient.

Even after many transgressions, the free gift is given to us. Free gift, the charisma, the gift of grace. So, Christ's one act on the cross is greater in its effectiveness. Adam's act can be reversed and overturned and conquered. Christ's cannot. It is unchangeable and everlasting. It is greater in extent.

Adam's act was in relation to one sin. Christ His act was in relation to countless sins. Let me give you a third E word. Efficacy. Efficacy, that's an old word. It's a good word. You say, "What does effi- efficacy mean?" The dictionary definition would say the capacity for d- for producing a desired result.

When you say something is efficacious, you mean that it it produces the desired result. It is effective in the sense that what you intend for it to do and what it purports to do, it actually accomplishes. And when you look at the efficacy, the contrast between Adam and the work of Christ, you see the difference between death and life.

Let's look at verse 17. If by the transgression of the one, death reigned. That That That is the efficacy of Adam's sin. It produced the result of death. And death reigned. It was the ultimate sovereign over all of human life. Everyone dies. The transgression of one brought about the reign of death.

Much more, we hear for the fourth time in this chapter, much more, those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. Adam and the reign of death, Christ and the reign of life. Much more, much more.

Next week on Grace to You. Death reigned because ((music playing)) of the sin of Adam. Life reigns or we reign in life, as Paul says it, by the one act of Christ on the cross. That is God's promise to us.