WHAT ABOUT GOD'S GRACE?

Background Passage: ROMANS 5:12-21

Lesson Passage:ROMANS 5:12-21

THE EXTENT OF GOD'S GRACE AVAILABLE IN SALVATION IS ALWAYS GREATER THAN OUR SINS.

KEY BIBLE VERSE: ROMANS 5:15

How many verses of “Amazing Grace” can you sing from memory? Or as some folks put the question, how many verses can you sing by heart? Indeed, the song has made its way into the memories and hearts of Christians everywhere. For generations, the song has been a kind of universal expression of Christian worship. Believers around the world sing it as a way of putting into words our wonder at God's amazing grace toward us in Jesus Christ.

Do you think you could tell someone what makes God's grace so amazing? Would you know where to start? To help us express the many wondrous facets of God's grace, we turn our attention to an intriguing section of Paul's letter to the Roman Christians. In this passage Paul showed us the contrast between our sin and God's grace. The contrast gives us a clear picture of what God has done for us by saving us from our sin. Seeing the picture moves us to reflect on the wonder of His grace toward us. Also, it will help us to share with others what it means for us to sing about His amazing grace.

BACKGROUND PASSAGE OVERVIEW

Our appreciation for God's grace increases when we contrast His grace to our sin. The best way to do so is to contrast Adam to Christ. Sin cam to every person in the world by way of Adam. When he sinned in Eden, he had to face the judgment of death for it, and so did all of us with him. We know that the law of God shows us we have sinned. But the law did not come along until the time of Moses. Before the law existed, however, people died. Their deaths prove that they were sinners. And so are we. Adam's relationship with sin begins the story that Christ finishes .

The contrast between sin and grace continues. It reveals the difference between the gift of God's grace and the sin of Adam. The result of Adam's sin is death. By contrast, God's gracious gift of salvation is extended to everyone. God's gift is the result of the grace revealed in Jesus Christ.

His grace toward us shows us another point of contrast. Adam's sin resulted in judgment for each of us. The outcome of God's judgment is condemnation, which closes the door on a relationship with God. By contrast, the gift of God's grace to us is justification, which opens the door to a personal relationship with God. Our relationship with God through Christ means that death no longer has a grip on us. Instead, God's gracious gift is life through Christ.

Paul continued to contrast Adam and Christ. Because of Adam's sin, everyone stands condemned before God. Because of Christ, however, all people everywhere can be given new life in a new relationship with God. Furthermore, Adam disobeyed God, and his disobedience resulted in an act of sin that affected all of us. But Christ obeyed God. His obedience has resulted in God's gift of salvation that can make us right with Him. Moreover, the penalty for our sin increased when the law of God appeared. But the more our sin increases, the more we can expect God's grace toward us to be increased. Eternal life in Christ is a gift no one by God can give.

Take a moment to reread Romans 5:1-11 from last week's lesson. This passage conveys Paul's grasp of what happens to us when we receive God's gift of salvation. It provides an excellent backdrop for Paul's contrast of our sin and God's grace. His contrast gives us a clear picture of our desperate need for God's grace to be extended to us through Jesus Christ.

STUDY QUESTIONS 1.Why would anyone think that Adam was not accountable for his sin?(Romans 5:13)
2.To what was Paul referring when he wrote about the trespass?(5:15)
3.Which benefit did Paul bring up as he wrote about our justification?(5:18)

NEED OF GRACE ( ROMANS 5:12-14)

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:
13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

VERSE 12 ~ Paul began by calling attention to one man, whom he identified later as Adam (5:14). In Paul's explanation of sin and grace, the story in Genesis 3 about Adam's sin and its consequences took center stage. Although both Adam and Eve sinned against God, Paul called particular attention to Adam's sin. From the beginning of humanity, Adam's act of sin has plagued the entire human population.

Sin entered our lives by means of Adam's act of disobedience, and it continues to infect each one of us. And like any deadly plague, the sin of Adam always brings death to everyone who is afflicted with it. None of us can consider ourselves immune from death because all of us have sinned. Starting with Adam, the consequence of death because of sin has been passed down from one person to the next.

VERSE 13 ~ In his explanation, Paul brought up the law of God. Earlier Paul wrote that God's law provided the only appropriate standard for judging someone's behavior. Accordingly, the law shows us that we are sinners (3:20).

But Adam lived before the law of God existed. For that reason, someone may have concluded that Adam couldn't be held accountable for his sin. His account could not be charged with something he did before the law of God came along. (See study question 1) .

~VERSE 14~ Paul responded by referring to the fact that Adam died. Adam's death proved that he sinned, even though he committed his first sin before God's law was given to Moses. In fact, Adam and Moses as well as everyone else in that era died, proving that death reigned over people everywhere during that time.

Nothing has changed since the days of Adam. Death still reigns over humanity. As we read Paul's explanation about death, what comes to mind immediately is physical death. But we cannot overlook spiritual death as we follow Paul's explanation. Such insights show how desperately we needed God's grace to be extended to us.

The personification of God's grace appeared in the Coming One—the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Adam serves as a prototype of Christ in at least one significant way. Adam's act of sin ruined everyone, but Christ's act of grace can redeem anyone.

EXPERIENCE GRACE (ROMANS 5:15-17)

Romans 5
15 But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
16 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.
17 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.

VERSE 15 ~Moving on in his explanation, Paul revealed the glaring contrast between the gift and the trespass. His reference to the gift has to do with what God has done in Christ to save us. His remark about the trespass was another way of talking about the sin of the one man—Adam. (See study question 2.) Again, Paul pointed out the effect of Adam's sin on everyone in the world, whom he identified as the many. Because of Adam's sin, everyone who lived after him died. Physical death is what any of us can expect to experience because of our sin.

Next, look at the effect of God's gift of salvation. Because of God's grace, we experience so very much more! Sin steals the life out of us, and we die. But the gift of God's grace overflowed in us so that we experience life in all its fullness. And who is responsible for such an overflowing expression of God's grace? Jesus Christ, the one man who stands eternally in stark contrast to Adam, extended His matchless grace to us.

VERSE 16 ~ Paul went on to describe another way in which the free gift of God's grace is radically different from our sin. God's grace becomes only more wondrous when we think about what He does for us because of it. Our sin leaves us with no other choice but to face God's judgment. Standing before Him, we already know for certain what the judgment of God would be: We would stand condemned.

Now see what God does to us when we receive the gift of His grace. Instead of condemnation, we receive His justification. In other words, He pardons or forgives us from our sins and makes us right with Him.

VERSE 17 ~ The contrast is also seen in what reigns over us. Because of Adam's sin, death has the final word in our lives if we reject Christ as God's Son. But God's grace in Christ gives us so much more in terms of what rules over us. In Christ, we experience the gift of righteousness ruling over us and allowing us to enjoy real life right now.

Paul's contrasts remind us that God's grace gives us so much more than we could ever experience in our humanity and sin. Sin destroys us. But God's grace overwhelms us when we experience His free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. No one could ever ask for anything better than this lavish gift of God's grace.

ABUNDANCE OF GRACE (ROMANS 5:18-21)

18 Therefore as by the offence 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.
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

VERSE 18 ~ Paul identified two solitary actions that had eternal consequences for everyone. First he underscored Adam's one trespass. With Adam's single act of going astray, humanity was set on the course of the worst kind of destruction.

However, Christ's solitary action can also make a difference in us. Unlike Adam's act that led to our condemnation, the action Christ took on our behalf offers us the most promising future we could ever imagine. Because of what Christ did, we can experience justification—we can be made right with God. The justification that's extended to us in Christ has a particularly important benefit. It's life-giving. (See study question 3.) If we receive God's gracious gift in Christ, we experience His life in us. Or put another way, we can begin to live in a close relationship with God. And as any Christian can testify, that's were real life begins.

VERSE 19 ~ Abundant grace in Christ can also be seen in the way His obedience gave us the offer of new life. By contrast, Adam disobeyed God, and his action affected us in the worst way of all. As Paul shared, what Adam did made us sinners. But what Christ did for us through His obedience can only be seen as an act of extreme grace. Thanks to Christ's willingness to be obedient on our behalf, we will be made righteous if we receive the gift of salvation He offers. Believers live in the awareness that Christ's obedience is the superlative reflection of God's grace toward us.

VERSE 20 ~ What Adam did in one solitary act of disobedience made us sinners. When the law came along, the acts of disobedience committed by people only multiplied. The reason is clear. The law of God made sin more obvious. The law served as a mirror that showed people who they really were when they stood before God. The more they looked at themselves from the perspective of the law, the more they could see their sins. The same is true for us today.

Again, that's what makes God's grace so amazing. Our sin can never be multiplied more than He extends His grace in forgiving us. The mountain of His grace overshadows the mound of our sin.

VERSE 21 ~ His grace is evident in yet another life-or-death way. While Adam's act of disobedience resulted in sin that ruled over us and led to death, notice what grace can do in us through Jesus Christ our Lord. We can have eternal life. In a spiritual sense, we will never die. And the life God gives us will be enriched and fulfilling because we have a personal relationship with God. Only a gracious God would offer to us such a remarkable gift.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

This section of Paul's letter prompts us to reflect on God's remarkable grace that He extended to us when He saved us. It shows us how far God's grace reaches out to us and what would have happened to us if He had not reached out to us in such a gracious way.

But the passage we have studied is meant to affect us in another important way. Knowing more about God's grace is also intended to make us think about the number of people who also need to know about God's grace, but who don't know yet. They need to know about what Jesus can do for them as the ultimate expression of God's grace. Most such persons are unbelievers who need you to help them explore the vast dimensions of God's grace in their lives.

Consider the following suggestions as you put to work what you have studied regarding God's Grace.

* Write a letter to a Christian friend in which you explain why God's grace is so amazing to you.

* Focus on the expressions of His grace to you in saving you from your sin as you worship the Lord personally as well as at church.

* Thank God for extending His grace to you by giving you new life in Christ.

* Ask Him to help you to become more sensitive to people who need to know about His grace.

*Tuck away another verse or two of “Amazing Grace” in your mind and heart.