Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
Welcome back to Delving into the Scriptures! Today, we will look at what appears to be quite an involved section of scripture – and whilst there is truly a lot in there, there is a very simple message to come out of it.
- Everyone has sinned – personally.
- Through Adam, we also all inherited a sinful nature
- The result? Judgement and condemnation
Don’t stop here! That is just the first part of the message! The key here is everyone has sinned – both through personal sin, and by inheritance of the sinful nature that has existed since Adam sinned. There is no escaping sin. And even before the ‘law’ was given with Moses, sin still abounded (for example, look at the passage about Noah and the people of his time). There was not yet an express commandment to break (ie, Law), but the sinful nature of man was in full swing. So, we have established (again) that all have sinned – there is no one who can claim to be sinless (Jesus excepted).
So what is the second part of the message?
- Jesus died on the cross to save ‘all men’
- That death gained us justification
- In turn, we will be made righteous
So now we come to it – it’s the same message as we have been getting up to now in Romans. Jesus died for our sins, and we are now clean of them! And even as I type it, it remains amazing to me…
So lets cover one little tidbit in here, ’the free gift came to all men‘. What does it mean? Is everyone saved? The quick answer – No! But can everyone be saved? Yes! The free gift is available to anyone who wants it. And it is just that – an undeserved gift that we had no right to expect or ability to gain on our own. But yet it is ours if we just ask for it.
And that, is the amazing summary of not just the book of Romans, but of the core message of the Bible. Keep it in focus always!
Lord God, continue to teach us to understand Your message to us – that of Jesus. Teach us in some way to know what it truly means, and how we can respond. In Jesus Name. Amen.
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