The Offense and the Free Gift...Romans 5

But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence 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.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 offences unto justification.For if by one man’s offence 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.) (Romans 5:15-17)

The Holy Spirit, by the teaching of Paul, has been comparing and contrasting Adam and Jesus, in the effect of their deeds on all of . Two acts, on of disobedience and one act of loving obedience, have marked all of humanity forever.

What Adam did, when he rebelled against God in the garden effectively alienated all of us, his children, from God. His sin put every human being under the “reign of Death”, altered our very nature. All of Adam’s offspring are sinners, there is not a son or daughter of Adam who will not die.

The clear teaching of scriptures is that the effect of Adam’s one deed upon the human race, has been calamitous! Death, condemnation, and a cursed ‘rule of death’ has been the sad lot of Adam’s children ever since the incident in the garden.

Death in all of it’s forms, goes far beyond physical decease. When Adam transgressed, he actually broke away from God, in proud independence and self will. Immediately this severance was reflected in his relationship with his wife, for they were manifestly estranged. Adam refusing accountability for his action, blamed Eve and God!

The curse which came upon the ground which was to be cultivated by Adam,manifested the separation of Adam from his environment. Now meaningful, satisfying work was to be infused with frustration, futility and anguish. This too is death.

Finally comes the physical death, Adam was separated from himself, body rent from soul, departure from the living. Death has a thousand forms, but all amount to separation, from God, from others, from meaning, satisfaction, from environment, and finally the disintegration of soul and body.

Multiply that by the number of every person who ever lived, and we get a picture of the magnitude of the consequences of what happened in the garden. Perhaps the most shocking effect of Adam’s sin was that by it we were ’made sinners’.

There is perhaps no biblical doctrine as controversial as this for it is an offense to fallen man that before were were even born our first father,could do something which affected us so greatly, and we didn’t even have a say in our own demise.

However, the economy of salvation hinges on this doctrine of imputation. For by the same principle, that one man’s act of disobedience could be imputed to all of us , even so the obedience of the second man, the last Adam, could also be so imputed.

…much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

19For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.(Romans 5:19)

What Jesus did unto God, and before God on our behalf is so much greater than what Adam did, unto God, and against God, also on our behalf. If there the one sin can plunge us into condemnation the one obedience can bring us back to God and put us into the reign of Life.

If Adam could say to God” Not thy Will but mine be done!” and the consequences would totally alter our very nature, How much more could Jesus, in another garden, say unto God in loving submission,”Not my will but Thy will be done..”, and transform our very being?

If Adam’s sin could be imputed to us, on our behalf, before we were even born, how much more could Jesus die on our behalf, before we were even born, to impute his righteousness to us?

"For He hath made hhim who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Cor 5:21)

I’ve thought that the Apostle’s explanation of the Price of Sin and the Means of Payment as explained in Romans to be the most logical argument for the need for Redemption through Christ to be found in the Scriptures.

-Mankind is doomed to die, why we must die, and how that happened.

-Christ’s example of how such a fate is not for those who believe in their hearts and confess with their mouths “Jesus is Lord”.

Imho, that cannot be any simpler or concise with as much physical evidence as can be discovered through unbiased inquiry.

So the line of thinking “well I’m too intelligent to believe that..” falls on deaf ears as Paul’s approach appeals to the soundest logic and clear conclusions..there is no escaping Paul’s testimony.

“But yes you must believe that God is, and that He raised Jesus from the dead for our sins”

Great! I’m completely screwed. It’s either nothingness or an eternity of torment in hell. There is absolutely no way I’m going to be able to believe a handful of witnesses of a fantastical event that happened over 2000 years ago.

Might as well just commit suicide.

Soothsayer, I sure hope you are being sarcastic about suicide, there is a lot of reason to believe the 12 apostles, in their testimony that God raised Jesus from the dead- not the least of which is that they actually sealed their testimony with their blood, they had a lot of time to think about things, as they were preparing to be crucified, boiled in oil, beheaded etc.

I’m serious although it would difficult to accomplish when I’m constantly surrounded by people. I would only have one shot (literally) at it and someone would likely knock it out of my hand.

Anyway I’m not sure about your reasoning. Perhaps they were just very wise people who knew that this new religion they created would develop an entire civilization. They wouldn’t be the first or the last to do this or the last to die for it.

There also isn’t anything particularly surprising about their willingness to become martyrs. People sacrifice their lives for far lesser causes. Some people put themselves at risk to save total scumbags. Our troops are doing that right now.

In order to believe that God is real and that Jesus actually did rise, I would need to witness some kind of persistent miracle. Of course, this isn’t going to happen. Many people asked for signs in the Bible and were denied. I must be one of the ones who don’t qualify for a sign. If it didn’t happen in the Bible then it sure as hell isn’t going to happen now.

The only thing I have to look forward to is oblivion. Wonderful.

Sooth I am sorry you feel that way- and I hope you never carry out the murder of your self, You were made in the Image of God, and there is much to live for, bur first things first, you have to be reconciled to God on His terms.

Consider this, Jesus didn’t write a book, he entrusted everything to the 12 apostles. They were commissioned to be witnesses, and the only way to become a christian is to believe their testimony.

Christianity is a historical faith, that is it is based on real time/space history. Jesus was “crucified under Pontius Pilate...” raised on the third(calender ) day- Tha apostles were monotheistic Jews, they already had a religion, why did they become christians and worship Jesus as God? They were compelled to because of the resurrection!

Why did Saul of tarsus , the arch enemy of te church, become its most profound proponant? he saw the risen Jesus!

Why did Jude refer to his half brother as the “only wise God and our Saviour” and James,another half brother of Jesus, called him “The Lord of Glory”? As monotheistic Jews they would have regarded that as vile blasphemy! But they worshipped him because they too met the ressurected Lord Jesus!
I believe in the apostles. If Jesus didn’t raise from the dead, they of all people knew it- but 11 out of 12 of them died violent deaths rather than deny the resrrection.You can have eternal life and start all over again,sooth...

In order to believe that God is real and that Jesus actually did rise, I would need to witness some kind of persistent miracle........

The problem with that thinking or rational is that you are saying if I and I and I witness something or you can prove something scientifically then I and I and I would belief. The problem is the faith would be your faith or logical rationing of facts and believing. The problem is the faith has to come from God, and not rational thinking. The problem is that for you to be saved you don't have to do anything. Anything that you would do would probably be the Holy Spirit working through you, and not your flesh or you. The Holy Spirit comes into your life with out you asking, HE convinces you that you are a sinner, not some evangelist, or other Christian, even though they may have been instrumental in the whole process. He the Holy Spirit does this so that He gets the credit for the deal and not you, and he does it in just a way that He gives the credit to Jesus Christ.............. I could go on and on........ but basically the flesh (you)can not do anything for salvation, it has to be God's decision and God's work totally. So basically if you are looking for God then possibly the work has already begun with the Holy Spirit, and basically anything begun by God will be finished by God. The problem with the work of God is that it can not be measured in any rational scientific way. It has to be all of faith which comes from God, basically the whole deal is in a way irrational and hard to believe. But all the processes of Salvation is mostly God the Holy Spirit working through some one.

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