Romans 5:17-21 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.) (18) Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so [...]]]> This series began 7/17/11

Romans 5:17-21 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.) (18) Therefore as by the offense 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 offense 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.

Romans 6:1-10 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? (2) God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (3) Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? (4) Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (5) For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: (6) Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. (7) For he that is dead is freed from sin. (8) Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: (9) Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. (10) For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

Remember that this passage was written to believers in Jesus Christ at Rome. The unsaved person is not going to understand what is being taught here. The unsaved person denies who God is and may even declare that God does not exist. That is what an atheist is – a person that does not believe that God is real. The Bible does not use the word “atheist” – instead it calls them what they truly are: fools. Psalm 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. It is foolishness to deny that God exists and that He is real and that He is personal. The Bible tells us that God knows the hairs on our heads, so how can anyone state that God is not personal and how can anyone think that God does not know what we are saying, thinking and doing? For a person to call himself an atheist, even while joking is to call himself a fool. Why do people tempt God with their foolishness? They deny that He exists or they remake Him into their own image. They make statements like, “My God would never do that” or “My God is like this.” And you know what, they are correct – their god would never do those things because that god (little “g”) is not the God of the Bible. People have developed their own ideas about God rather than allow God to develop their ideas. They are essentially putting themselves in control, when it is suppose to be God that is in control. And you know what? Even though people have decided that they are in control, they are wrong, because God is still in control despite what people may believe. Sherman Nagel wrote:

You cannot put one little star in motion;

You cannot shape one single forest leaf,

Nor fling a mountain up, nor sink an ocean,

Presumptuous pigmy, large with unbelief!

You cannot bring one down of regal splendor,

Nor bid the day to shadowy twilight fall,

Nor send the pale moon forth with radiance tender;

And dare you doubt the One who has done it all? – Sherman A. Nagel, Sr

Adam and Eve were persuaded by the serpent, Satan, that they could be in control. The serpent told them: Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. This is what Satan had wanted for himself – to be as God, and have control. Satan convinced them that they could have control – all they had to do was eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Sadly, when they did eat, they realized their mistake and then compounded it further by trying to hide from God. Nobody can hide from God and He knows the jokes that you make, and He knows the times when you take His Name or Jesus Christ’s name in vain.

Sin entered the world because of Adam and with sin came death. Romans 5:17 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.) Sin and death bring separation from God. For the saved person, they do not lose their salvation, but their relationship is damaged. Think of it this way: a child lies to their mother, are they no longer the son or daughter of the mother? No, but there is damage done to the relationship. That is what sin does in a person’s life: it not only hurts the sinner, but it also hurts those around the sinner.

Believers in Jesus Christ must be very careful to be a proper example to others around them. With the advent of technology today, people can affect a larger number of people than ever before. If you are a believer, what do your words and actions mean to others? Charles Spurgeon said: A man’s life is always more forcible than his speech. When men take stock of him they reckon his deeds as dollars and his words as pennies. If his life and doctrine disagree the mass of onlookers accept his practice and reject his preaching. When there is sin in the believer’s life, he or she must repent of it and ask for forgiveness from God and the person they sinned against. This must be done to repair the damage done to their relationship with God and others. I have heard people curse and take the Lord’s name in vain nd then they apologize to me. I have told them thank you, but they need to apologize to the one whose Name was taken in vain. Ultimately, it was not me that was sinned against but God was sinned against. David wrote: Psalm 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

For the unbeliever, they sin against God and their relationship is not changed either with God. They were born separated from God and the only way they can reconcile with God is by placing their faith in Jesus Christ and repenting of their sin of rejecting Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said: John 3:18-19 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (19) And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

The unbeliever is already condemned and needs to come to Jesus Christ for redemption. But they must realize why they need Jesus Christ. If they look at Christians who live worldly lives, and use worldly language, and listen to worldly music, then why would the unbeliever want to come to Christianity? From the way Christians are behaving, they are showing themselves to be any different from the unbelievers. A believer in Jesus Christ is suppose to be different, not the same. A believer’s life should show the difference in his or her life because of Jesus Christ.

Years ago the communist government in China commissioned an author to write a biography of Hudson Taylor with the purpose of distorting the facts and presenting him in a bad light. They wanted to discredit the name of this consecrated missionary of the gospel. As the author was doing his research, he was increasingly impressed by Taylor’s saintly character and godly life, and he found it extremely difficult to carry out his assigned task with a clear conscience. Eventually, at the risk of losing his life, he laid aside his pen, renounced his atheism, and received Jesus as his personal Savior. Whether we realize it or not, our example leaves an impression on others.

Romans 5:18 Therefore as by the offense 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.

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

Lets sum this up for a moment by looking at verses 17 – 19: Because of Adam’s offense and Adam’s disobedience against God, judgment came upon everyone that every person is a sinner and every person is condemned and death has entered the world. Verses 14 and 21 tell us that death reigns, but because of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, death does not reign over the believer in Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ conquered death! He sacrificed Himself on the cross, was buried in the tomb for three days, and rose victorious over death! And people make fun of Him and make jokes about Him. People do not show Jesus Christ the respect that He alone deserves. They do not follow Him the way He desires. A man once said: “It is a great deal easier to do that which God gives us to do, no matter how hard it is, than to face the responsibilities of not doing it.” Furthermore, because of believer’s disobedience to God, they are leading unbelievers farther away from God and being a discouragement to other believers. Elisabeth Elliot told of her brother Thomas Howard. Their mother let him play with paper bags she’d saved if he put them away afterward. One day she walked into the kitchen to find them strewn all over the floor. Tom was out at the piano with his father singing hymns. When confronted, he protested, “But Mom, I want to sing.” His father stated, “It’s no good singing God’s praise if you’re disobedient.”

Because of Adam’s offense and disobedience to God, sin and death entered the world, but because of the obedience of Jesus Christ, all who come to Him for salvation will have the free gift of eternal life with Him. There is no better gift than that!

Romans 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

God provided the Law to Moses and He also provided the system of sacrifices for the Law. Later on, God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to fulfill the Law and be the final sacrifice. J. Vernon McGee wrote: God has given to the human race, a lost race, an opportunity to be delivered from the guilt of sins – not the nature of sin. You and I will have that old sin nature throughout our lives. As powerful as sin is, grace is that much more powerful. As awful as we may sin, God’s grace is abounds even more, when we have repented of our sin. Over twenty years ago, newspapers carried the story of Al Johnson, a Kansas man who came to faith in Jesus Christ. What made his story remarkable was not his conversion, but the fact that as a result of his new-found faith in Christ, he confessed to a bank robbery he had participated in when he was nineteen years old. Because the statute of limitations on the case had run out, Johnson could not be prosecuted for the offense. Still, he believed his relationship with Christ demanded a confession. And he even voluntarily repaid his share of the stolen money!

Romans 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sin reigns in this world today. Just read the newspapers, and watch the news: sin is everywhere and it is becoming more and more available. Death reigns in this world today. Our nation has a culture of death around it. Look at the movies about vampires. Look at the number of skulls you see on clothing today. Satan reigns in this world today. He is roaming the earth looking to see who he can devour. Sin, death, and Satan reign today, but look at what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:

Ephesians 2:1-3 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins (2) Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: (3) Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Sin, death, and Satan reign as princes, not as a king. There is only one King: the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one that truly reigns in this world. At this time, He allows sin, death, and Satan to reign, but there will come a day when sin, death and Satan will be conquered and bother believers no more. Because Jesus Christ does reign, He has given people the opportunity to be able to escape from the penalties of sin and death. For believers, they had been the children of disobedience – the children of the devil – but through the new birth – the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, believers do not have to sin. Sadly, we do choose to sin, but Jesus Christ gives believers the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sin and show us how to obediently walk with God. Further, we have the Bible to guide and direct us. Because of Jesus Christ, people can walk in newness of life. Believers in Jesus Christ should behave like they are believers in Jesus Christ. Reject the lusts of the flesh, reject the need for approval of others, reject the disobedience to God and walk as the new creature you are. Further, remember, that as a believer, you are an example to others around you. What is important to you as a believer will be important to others around you. What are your priorities? Someone once asked Tom Landry why he had been so successful as a football coach. He said, “In 1958, I did something everyone who has been successful must do, I determined my priorities for my life — God, family, and then football.” Haddon Robinson points out that one old recipe for rabbit started out with this injunction: “First catch the rabbit.” Says Robinson: “The writer knew how to put first things first. That’s what we do when we establish priorities — we put the things that should be in first place in their proper order.

What are your priorities? Who is your priority? What are you saying to others through your actions and do they match up with your words?

For many years Monterey, a California coast town, was a pelican’s paradise. As the fishermen cleaned their fish, they flung the offal to the pelicans. The birds grew fat, lazy, and contented. Eventually, however, the offal began to be used by the fisherman, and there were no longer snacks for the pelicans. When the change came the pelicans made no effort to fish for themselves. They waited around and grew gaunt and thin. Many starved to death. They had forgotten how to fish for themselves. The problem was solved by importing new pelicans from the south, birds accustomed to foraging for themselves. They were placed among their starving cousins, and the newcomers immediately started catching fish. Before long, the hungry pelicans followed suit, and the famine was ended.

We live in a world today that is spiritually starving, are you showing others the proper way to feed themselves spiritually through your actions and words?

- The following is excerpted from “Most Christians Cannot Explain Their Faith,” Christian Post, June 3, 2010.

Josh McDowell is New Evangelical in his philosophy, but he is right about reproving evangelicals for their gross ignorance and inability [...]]]> APOLOGIST REPROVES THE GROSS IGNORANCE OF CHRISTIANS (Friday Church News Notes, June 18, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

- The following is excerpted from “Most Christians Cannot Explain Their Faith,” Christian Post, June 3, 2010.

Josh McDowell is New Evangelical in his philosophy, but he is right about reproving evangelicals for their gross ignorance and inability to defend the faith scripturally, and what he says is widely applicable to fundamentalists, as well.

“The faith of most Christians, even that of many pastors, will not stand up to intellectual scrutiny, according to renowned apologist Josh McDowell. This is a concern because pastors’ inability to present biblical truth comprehensibly and relevantly has led to children from Christian families leaving the church, research has shown. In the United States, the age at which nearly all such children leave church has decreased to 18 years.

… During the past six years, he asked hundreds of Christians and leaders why they see themselves as Christians. Again no one gave him an ‘intelligent’ answer. In the past 17 years, he has asked over 4,000 pastors, leaders and parents why they believe the Bible is true. A mere six ‘came close to giving an intelligent answer,’ McDowell noted. … Ninety-five percent of Christians gave disappointing responses when asked why they believe Jesus is the Son of God. Asked why the Bible is true and historically reliable, Christians replied that it was what they had been taught by their church or parents.

A common response that most Christians gave to both questions was that it is ‘what I believe.’ McDowell responded: ‘That’s voodoo thinking. Where did we ever get that crazy idea that something is true just because we believe it? If that is true, then there will never be heresy. Everybody would be right.’ On one occasion, 13 youth pastors at a large convention were unable to reasonably answer the apologist’s question.

Finally one young person stood up, walked toward him and told him he knew the answer. The young man promptly held up his Bible and said, ‘Because I believe it.’ And to McDowell’s dismay, all the youth pastors applauded him. McDowell said, ‘Young man, do you know the difference between you, me, and the majority of Christians in the world? ‘To you, it is true because you believe it. For me, I believe it because it is true.’

http://wayoflife.org/files/f621e908c3a0de4041524baa5f227ea4-592.html

Listen to me now about the difference in meaning between the short-term matters of our physical beings and the eternal relationships between the believer and his God.

If you save a person from diptheria when he is a baby, or save him in his teens from smallpox, or save him in [...]]]> AW TOZER WROTE:

Listen to me now about the difference in meaning between the short-term matters of our physical beings and the eternal relationships between the believer and his God.

If you save a person from diptheria when he is a baby, or save him in his teens from smallpox, or save him in his fifties from a heart attack, what have you done?

If that man lives to be ninety and still is without God and does not know why he was born, you have simply perpetuated the life of a mud turtle. That man who has never found God and has never been born again is like a turtle, with two legs instead of four and no shell and no tail, because he still does not know what life has been all about.

I am thankful that I have found a promise from the God of all grace that deals with the long-term and the eternal. I belong to a company of plain people who believe the truth revealed in the Bible. We believe that it was God who made man in His own image and breathed into him the breath of life and said unto him, “Now, live in my presence and worship Me — for that is your chief end. Increase and multiply and fill the earth with worshipers.”

Yes, these plain people, these believing people, will tell you that God created the flowers to be beautiful and the birds to sing so that men and women could enjoy them. The scientist, with an entirely different  kind of perspective, would never admit that fact. The scientist contends that the bird sings for a totally different reason.

“It is the male bird that sings, and he sings only to attract the female so they may nest and procreate,” he tells us. “It is simply biological.”

It is at this point that I ask the scientist, “why doesn’t the bird just squeak or groan or gurgle? Why does he have to sing and warble and harmonize as though he had been tuned to a harp?”

I thin the answer is plain — it is because God made him to sing.

If I were a male bird and wanted to attract a female I could turn handsprings or do any number of tricks. But why does the bird sing so beautifully?

It is because the God who made him is the Chief Musician of the universe. He is the Composer of the cosmos. He made the harp in those little throats and the feathers around them and said, “Go and sing.”

Thankfully, the birds obeyed and they have been singing and praising God ever since they were created. The scientific man may protest and say, “No, no!” But my heart tells me that it is so. ”

Ecclesiastes  3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time:

1 Corinthians 1:21-24 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching [...]]]> Everything boils down to Jesus Christ – He is the Rock of the Christian belief and a stumbling block for every other belief. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:

1 Corinthians 1:21-24 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.  (22)  For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:  (23)  But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;  (24)  But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

The people of the world consider believers in Jesus Christ to be foolish. They think that we are ignorant, brainwashed idiots to follow someone who they have never seen. They mock our Saviour and state that it is foolish to have faith. Even atheists have faith, but unfortunately their faith is not in God or Jesus Christ. Their faith is in themselves and the things around them. Those of you reading this are probably sitting down. How do you know that chair will not fall apart? How do you know someone did not come in earlier and loosen all of the bolts? Or that they had not rusted through on one of the legs? You probably never considered that either of those two things could happen. Why? Because you have faith in the quality of that chair. Recently at a parade, I had faith in the chair I was sitting in. We have had that chair for a few years now and I have used it many times. I was sitting in it before the parade started and I shifted in the chair a little when suddenly the fabric gave way and I sank down into the frame. I trusted the chair and it let me down. And that is precisely the difference between trusting in Jesus Christ and trusting in people or things: people or things will fail you and let you down – Jesus Christ will never fail you or let you down.

You cannot trust in your works or actions to get you into Heaven, because you cannot trust yourself. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that our hearts are deceitful and we can all too easily deceive ourselves. We probably lie to ourselves more than we lie to anyone else. Jesus Christ never lies — He is absolute Truth, in fact, He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We can never do enough to merit salvation, we simply need to trust in Jesus Christ’s finished work on the cross. He only needed to be sacrificed once for our sins. Amen!