1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:17,560 Now, come along. 8 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,440 Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today. 9 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,840 We're going to be in Romans chapter five here this morning, and 10 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:28,520 we're going to start in verse number 12. 11 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:32,520 Where we left off last week was this idea of God's love and what 12 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,720 that means, how deep the Father's love for us that. 13 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:40,320 That he would send his only begotten Son in that while we were 14 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:44,000 yet sinners, he would give His Son and offer that sacrifice for 15 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:44,200 us. 16 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:45,480 That's the greatest act of love. 17 00:00:45,480 --> 00:00:46,120 We know that. 18 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:49,320 But what we're going to be talking about here this week is the 19 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:52,280 understanding of sin and the understanding of grace. 20 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:55,840 Part of growing in our knowledge of God is knowing where 21 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:59,720 we stand in his sight and knowing what he has gifted us in 22 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:00,280 his grace. 23 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:03,240 And so we're going to talk about those two concepts here this 24 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:05,080 morning, sin and grace. 25 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:07,000 What is sin? 26 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:10,280 Well, literally, sin means missing the mark. 27 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:11,400 What. 28 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:12,600 What mark are we talking about? 29 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:14,000 Well, we're talking about God's standard. 30 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,680 The Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory 31 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:18,120 of God. 32 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:20,860 So we might think that we are good people. 33 00:01:21,260 --> 00:01:25,500 We might even be considered against somebody else, a good person, 34 00:01:25,660 --> 00:01:29,820 relatively speaking, meaning I don't do as much sin as that person, 35 00:01:30,220 --> 00:01:31,140 so I'm a good person. 36 00:01:31,140 --> 00:01:34,659 But the Bible says outside of a relationship with God, there is 37 00:01:34,659 --> 00:01:35,380 none righteous. 38 00:01:35,380 --> 00:01:36,060 No, not one. 39 00:01:36,060 --> 00:01:36,940 There is none good. 40 00:01:37,100 --> 00:01:37,900 No, not one. 41 00:01:38,300 --> 00:01:41,460 And so the Bible teaches us throughout the book of Romans and 42 00:01:41,460 --> 00:01:44,780 throughout the Scriptures, that we, in and of our own strength, 43 00:01:44,780 --> 00:01:47,340 in and of our own flesh, fall short of the glory of God. 44 00:01:47,340 --> 00:01:50,820 Therefore, in our sin, we find a punishment. 45 00:01:50,820 --> 00:01:54,420 The Bible says for the wages or the payment of sin is death. 46 00:01:55,220 --> 00:01:58,900 But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 47 00:01:59,300 --> 00:02:02,220 And so we're going to look at our side of things, our sin, and 48 00:02:02,220 --> 00:02:06,540 what that brings us to and why we sin and how we sin and how God's 49 00:02:06,540 --> 00:02:08,660 grace is more abundant than our sin. 50 00:02:08,820 --> 00:02:12,540 And we're going to see that through this passage that where sin 51 00:02:12,540 --> 00:02:16,980 is, where there is punishment, where there is death, where there 52 00:02:16,980 --> 00:02:19,960 is brokenness, the grace of God abounds. 53 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:24,040 And so often we forget about how powerful the grace of God is. 54 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:28,120 And so many times we can actually live our lives defined by 55 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:30,520 our sin, defined by our failures. 56 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:35,120 But what the Christians real hope is found in is not becoming 57 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:35,960 a better person. 58 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:40,080 The believer's true hope is found in a relationship with Jesus 59 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,960 Christ and experiencing his grace and experiencing his forgiveness. 60 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:46,820 And so Romans chapter 5, verse 12 says this. 61 00:02:47,380 --> 00:02:52,940 Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world. 62 00:02:52,940 --> 00:02:54,060 Now we're going to stop there. 63 00:02:54,060 --> 00:02:55,220 What is he talking about here? 64 00:02:55,620 --> 00:03:00,100 He's talking about how this world, how what we would consider 65 00:03:00,100 --> 00:03:04,100 to be a marred world, a, a broken world, how did this world 66 00:03:04,100 --> 00:03:04,660 come to be? 67 00:03:04,980 --> 00:03:06,340 How do we have sin in our life? 68 00:03:06,340 --> 00:03:07,500 How do we have sin in this world? 69 00:03:07,500 --> 00:03:10,100 There's a lot of people that will ask the question, why? 70 00:03:10,100 --> 00:03:12,440 Why do you bad things happen to good people. 71 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,360 Now there's a lot of ways that we can answer that, theologically 72 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:16,840 speaking. 73 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:17,960 Again, there's none good. 74 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:18,680 No, not one. 75 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:22,520 But we understand what we mean by when that question is asked. 76 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:22,920 Like why? 77 00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:24,600 Why, why is there pain in this world? 78 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:25,800 Why is there death? 79 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:26,999 Why is there suffering? 80 00:03:26,999 --> 00:03:28,880 Why is there brokenness? 81 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,040 Well, the Bible tells us right here it's because of sin. 82 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:35,000 Maybe some of you have wrestled with that concept. 83 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:38,170 Why would God allow me to get sick? 84 00:03:38,170 --> 00:03:42,010 Or, or why would this person have to go through this pain? 85 00:03:42,010 --> 00:03:44,890 The Bible says it's not because God hates us. 86 00:03:45,210 --> 00:03:48,250 It's not because God necessarily ordains that to happen. 87 00:03:48,490 --> 00:03:51,130 The Bible says that we live in a sin curse world. 88 00:03:51,130 --> 00:03:54,970 And with sin comes death, with sin comes brokenness. 89 00:03:55,610 --> 00:03:59,010 And so what we see here in this passage is that sin entered 90 00:03:59,010 --> 00:04:00,890 the world through one man. 91 00:04:00,890 --> 00:04:02,490 Now does anyone know who that man is? 92 00:04:02,490 --> 00:04:04,060 It's Adam. 93 00:04:04,060 --> 00:04:04,780 Right, Adam. 94 00:04:04,780 --> 00:04:08,020 And we're going to look here in this passage about the first Adam. 95 00:04:08,260 --> 00:04:11,460 And then we're going to see later on what many people call as 96 00:04:11,540 --> 00:04:12,820 the second Adam. 97 00:04:13,700 --> 00:04:14,460 That's Jesus. 98 00:04:14,460 --> 00:04:19,140 We're going to see how through Adam, through one man, sin entered 99 00:04:19,140 --> 00:04:19,700 this world. 100 00:04:20,660 --> 00:04:25,700 But just as one man and his sin caused great issue, within this 101 00:04:25,700 --> 00:04:29,100 world, within pain and suffering and death, came one man 102 00:04:29,100 --> 00:04:33,210 who conquered death through his death, burial and resurrection. 103 00:04:33,210 --> 00:04:34,290 And that is Jesus Christ. 104 00:04:35,970 --> 00:04:39,290 But if you were to read verse 12, outside of understanding the 105 00:04:39,290 --> 00:04:43,010 context of scripture, you might say, well, why does God judge 106 00:04:43,010 --> 00:04:43,210 me? 107 00:04:43,210 --> 00:04:46,930 If it's Adam's fault for my sin, why does God judge me for my 108 00:04:46,930 --> 00:04:47,330 sin? 109 00:04:48,210 --> 00:04:50,210 Well, it goes on to say a little bit more. 110 00:04:50,530 --> 00:04:55,780 It says, wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and 111 00:04:55,780 --> 00:04:56,780 death by sin. 112 00:04:56,780 --> 00:05:01,020 So, so he equates death to sin, sin to death. 113 00:05:01,740 --> 00:05:06,180 The reason why death is here is because of sin and the Reason 114 00:05:06,180 --> 00:05:08,940 why we have to go through all of that, all that pain and suffering 115 00:05:08,940 --> 00:05:09,700 is because of sin. 116 00:05:09,700 --> 00:05:12,780 And then he says, and so death passed upon all men. 117 00:05:13,660 --> 00:05:15,260 For that all have sin. 118 00:05:15,740 --> 00:05:19,260 And so, yes, Adam is guilty of that first sin and ushering in the 119 00:05:19,260 --> 00:05:21,100 sin that we have in this world. 120 00:05:21,100 --> 00:05:23,420 And the Bible says that we all have a sin nature. 121 00:05:23,900 --> 00:05:26,260 And then it goes on to say, for that all have sinned. 122 00:05:26,260 --> 00:05:27,980 Now, how do we know that all have sinned? 123 00:05:28,140 --> 00:05:29,020 Well, we. 124 00:05:29,020 --> 00:05:30,620 One could say, well, the Bible says that. 125 00:05:30,620 --> 00:05:33,180 But number two, we could say that all have sinned because all 126 00:05:33,180 --> 00:05:35,740 of us are in jeopardy of death. 127 00:05:36,220 --> 00:05:39,180 None of us are immortal in the sense that we are right now. 128 00:05:39,820 --> 00:05:41,180 And so I'm. 129 00:05:41,180 --> 00:05:43,340 I'm going to die one day if the Lord tarries. 130 00:05:43,500 --> 00:05:47,100 And all of us eventually, at some point in time, will succumb 131 00:05:47,100 --> 00:05:49,100 to physical death if God does not return. 132 00:05:49,180 --> 00:05:50,940 So what we see here in this passage is this. 133 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,960 Yes, Adam ushered in sin and the sin nature was passed on to those 134 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:58,120 that are born into this world. 135 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:00,440 Now, some of you might say, I don't believe in a sin nature. 136 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:03,640 I believe that we're all good until we learn bad. 137 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:06,200 Maybe you didn't have children then. 138 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:08,960 Because my children, when they were born, I didn't sit down with 139 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:12,120 my children and say, okay, look, you know, Micah, Nora, Silas, 140 00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:14,760 there's an alternative to telling the truth. 141 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:17,970 You know, you can lie, you can get angry. 142 00:06:17,970 --> 00:06:22,810 You don't know what we see that within our flesh comes sin. 143 00:06:22,810 --> 00:06:24,090 It's in our nature. 144 00:06:24,570 --> 00:06:25,770 The Bible speaks of that. 145 00:06:26,810 --> 00:06:32,530 But some might say, well, if I'm cursed by Adam and his sin, you 146 00:06:32,530 --> 00:06:35,890 can read that in Genesis chapter three, God curses Adam and 147 00:06:35,890 --> 00:06:37,530 that curse comes onto to all. 148 00:06:38,490 --> 00:06:43,250 And then if God allowed that to happen, and I'm just a sinner 149 00:06:43,250 --> 00:06:44,140 by nature, when. 150 00:06:44,290 --> 00:06:46,370 Why does God judge me for my sin? 151 00:06:46,370 --> 00:06:48,170 Why does God judge me for my wrongdoing? 152 00:06:48,170 --> 00:06:49,690 Isn't that just what I'm going to do? 153 00:06:49,690 --> 00:06:51,130 I'm a human, so therefore I just. 154 00:06:51,130 --> 00:06:51,810 I sin. 155 00:06:52,530 --> 00:06:55,410 Well, no, the Bible doesn't say that we can blame anybody else. 156 00:06:55,410 --> 00:06:56,450 We can't blame God. 157 00:06:56,930 --> 00:06:58,210 We can't blame another person. 158 00:06:59,330 --> 00:06:59,650 We. 159 00:06:59,650 --> 00:07:01,410 We can't blame our upbringing. 160 00:07:01,730 --> 00:07:03,850 And I want to take you to a passage of scripture that speaks 161 00:07:03,850 --> 00:07:04,130 to this. 162 00:07:04,130 --> 00:07:05,250 It's in the book of James. 163 00:07:05,570 --> 00:07:09,250 The book of James tells us how sin is accomplished in our life. 164 00:07:11,740 --> 00:07:15,420 Now, I know that many of you here this morning have heard that 165 00:07:15,420 --> 00:07:15,940 word sin. 166 00:07:15,940 --> 00:07:16,340 I mean, it's. 167 00:07:16,340 --> 00:07:19,820 It's something that people use very frequently that even aren't 168 00:07:19,820 --> 00:07:20,300 in church. 169 00:07:20,860 --> 00:07:22,340 But when we're talking about sin here. 170 00:07:22,340 --> 00:07:24,540 We're not just talking about something that makes us upset. 171 00:07:25,820 --> 00:07:28,380 Like I heard people say, man, you didn't finish all that meal. 172 00:07:28,380 --> 00:07:30,380 That's just a sin that you didn't finish that meal. 173 00:07:30,380 --> 00:07:32,020 There's starving people all over the world. 174 00:07:32,020 --> 00:07:35,100 Well, one could argue that that's not necessarily a biblical 175 00:07:35,100 --> 00:07:35,500 sin. 176 00:07:35,740 --> 00:07:38,380 When we're talking about sin, we're talking about God's standard 177 00:07:38,380 --> 00:07:39,580 according to his word. 178 00:07:39,820 --> 00:07:44,380 And so in the book of James, James chapter one, it says here very 179 00:07:44,380 --> 00:07:47,500 clearly what happens when we sin. 180 00:07:48,060 --> 00:07:51,859 It says in verse number 13 of James chapter 1, Let no man say when 181 00:07:51,859 --> 00:07:55,260 he is tempted, I am tempted of God. 182 00:07:55,660 --> 00:07:57,700 For God cannot be tempted with evil. 183 00:07:57,700 --> 00:07:59,300 Neither tempted he any man. 184 00:07:59,300 --> 00:08:02,340 So the Bible says that the temptation to sin does not come from 185 00:08:02,340 --> 00:08:02,620 God. 186 00:08:02,620 --> 00:08:04,850 God is not the source of, of our sin. 187 00:08:05,010 --> 00:08:07,010 God is not the source of our temptation. 188 00:08:07,490 --> 00:08:07,850 Why? 189 00:08:07,850 --> 00:08:08,690 Because he's perfect. 190 00:08:08,690 --> 00:08:09,330 He's sinless. 191 00:08:09,330 --> 00:08:11,970 And so therefore he does not tempt us with sin. 192 00:08:12,690 --> 00:08:15,330 So it says here we can't blame God. 193 00:08:16,770 --> 00:08:19,290 And sometimes when people read Romans chapter 5, verse 12, they 194 00:08:19,290 --> 00:08:22,210 say, well, I'm going to either blame God or blame Adam or blame 195 00:08:22,210 --> 00:08:23,970 somebody else, but I'm not going to blame me. 196 00:08:24,770 --> 00:08:27,210 Well, that's what James chapter one tells us right here, 197 00:08:27,210 --> 00:08:29,570 is that you can't blame anybody else except yourself. 198 00:08:30,390 --> 00:08:32,350 So it says when you were tempted, by the way, the temptation 199 00:08:32,350 --> 00:08:33,070 is not the sin. 200 00:08:33,070 --> 00:08:34,150 We all understand that. 201 00:08:34,230 --> 00:08:37,150 I think you understand that, that the temptation itself is not 202 00:08:37,150 --> 00:08:37,750 the sin. 203 00:08:37,830 --> 00:08:39,070 We're all going to be tempted. 204 00:08:39,070 --> 00:08:40,590 We even know that Jesus was tempted. 205 00:08:40,590 --> 00:08:45,070 But the Bible says in Hebrews chapter four, yet without sin, so, 206 00:08:45,070 --> 00:08:46,150 so what happens? 207 00:08:46,470 --> 00:08:49,790 When does it become just the temptation and when does it change 208 00:08:49,790 --> 00:08:50,470 to sin? 209 00:08:50,470 --> 00:08:53,430 Well, it says it very clearly here in James, chapter 1, verse 14. 210 00:08:53,830 --> 00:08:58,930 But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust. 211 00:08:58,930 --> 00:09:00,930 Meaning we follow our lust. 212 00:09:00,930 --> 00:09:02,690 We follow our desire to something. 213 00:09:02,690 --> 00:09:06,490 Now, the Bible says that sin is a very desirable thing, that that 214 00:09:06,490 --> 00:09:10,490 sin in its package looks good, or we would not go after it. 215 00:09:10,810 --> 00:09:14,330 So it says when this happens, when we're drawn away of our own 216 00:09:14,330 --> 00:09:15,610 lust and enticed. 217 00:09:16,090 --> 00:09:20,210 The idea here would be that we are tempted to go after something 218 00:09:20,210 --> 00:09:22,520 like, like a fish wants to go after a lure. 219 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:23,760 I don't know if any of you fish. 220 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:27,400 The whole idea of fishing if you're using an artificial bait is 221 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:30,280 you want to throw something in the water that looks like what they 222 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:31,680 eat so that they'll go after it. 223 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:33,080 Now, they don't know it's fake. 224 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:35,960 They think it's real and they go after it and then the hooks are 225 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:36,480 set in. 226 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:38,720 And that's the picture that's being laid out here. 227 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,840 It's that, that when the temptation comes, it looks enticing. 228 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,080 But when we go after it, when we, when we go for it and we desire 229 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:45,320 it. 230 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:47,650 And the Bible says that there's lust of the flesh, lust of 231 00:09:47,650 --> 00:09:49,010 the eyes and the pride of life. 232 00:09:49,010 --> 00:09:51,570 When we go after it, it says, what then? 233 00:09:51,570 --> 00:09:54,370 When lust hath conceived, so. 234 00:09:54,370 --> 00:09:55,850 So it's our desires. 235 00:09:55,850 --> 00:10:00,090 And when it comes to pass, when we act upon our lust, when we 236 00:10:00,090 --> 00:10:03,010 act upon this desire, it says, and when love has conceived that 237 00:10:03,010 --> 00:10:07,810 bringeth forth sin and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth 238 00:10:07,810 --> 00:10:08,130 death. 239 00:10:09,490 --> 00:10:10,490 So what does it say here? 240 00:10:10,490 --> 00:10:10,970 It says this. 241 00:10:10,970 --> 00:10:11,210 It's. 242 00:10:11,210 --> 00:10:12,370 It's kind of like a birth. 243 00:10:12,610 --> 00:10:17,140 And it says there's this, this temptation and then there's our, 244 00:10:17,140 --> 00:10:18,620 our lustful desires. 245 00:10:18,620 --> 00:10:22,220 Our lustful desires meet with the temptation and it's conceived 246 00:10:22,220 --> 00:10:23,260 into a sin. 247 00:10:23,420 --> 00:10:26,140 But when it comes forth in birth, what does it bring forth? 248 00:10:26,140 --> 00:10:27,100 It brings forth death. 249 00:10:27,260 --> 00:10:29,179 It's actually a picture of like a still bird. 250 00:10:29,340 --> 00:10:31,860 It's talking about this idea that, hey, this sin is going to bring 251 00:10:31,860 --> 00:10:33,020 me something satisfying. 252 00:10:33,100 --> 00:10:35,100 But when it comes to pass, what does it bring to us? 253 00:10:35,100 --> 00:10:36,140 It brings forth death. 254 00:10:36,620 --> 00:10:39,580 And so James chapter one tells us that we cannot blame anybody else, 255 00:10:39,660 --> 00:10:43,610 but we cannot blame Adam, we cannot blame God, we cannot blame 256 00:10:43,610 --> 00:10:46,450 the person who we consider caused us to sin. 257 00:10:46,450 --> 00:10:46,770 No. 258 00:10:46,850 --> 00:10:50,970 So when we look at Romans 5:12, we do see that yes, sin comes 259 00:10:50,970 --> 00:10:53,930 in through one man, but we are all responsible as it ends that verse 260 00:10:53,930 --> 00:10:56,450 with for that all have sin. 261 00:10:57,090 --> 00:11:01,650 And so when our sin comes, guilt in our sin comes, brokenness 262 00:11:01,650 --> 00:11:05,170 in our sin comes pain and suffering and ultimately death. 263 00:11:06,300 --> 00:11:08,140 But then one would argue, well, you know what? 264 00:11:08,140 --> 00:11:08,580 It's. 265 00:11:08,580 --> 00:11:09,260 I didn't know. 266 00:11:09,260 --> 00:11:09,620 I didn't. 267 00:11:09,620 --> 00:11:11,740 I didn't know that it was wrong. 268 00:11:11,740 --> 00:11:13,260 I didn't know that I was sinning. 269 00:11:13,500 --> 00:11:14,700 Well, verse 13 says this. 270 00:11:14,700 --> 00:11:16,580 For until the law, sin was in the world. 271 00:11:16,580 --> 00:11:21,020 Meaning this sin was in the world before the law, before Moses. 272 00:11:21,180 --> 00:11:22,820 We know that because Adam sinned. 273 00:11:22,820 --> 00:11:25,700 We know that because Abraham sinned, all those individuals that 274 00:11:25,700 --> 00:11:28,980 came before Moses and the law sin and they're. 275 00:11:28,980 --> 00:11:30,140 And how do we know that? 276 00:11:30,620 --> 00:11:33,430 Because Adam died, because Abraham died. 277 00:11:33,590 --> 00:11:37,230 And the response to that would be that if they died, they were in 278 00:11:37,230 --> 00:11:37,590 sin. 279 00:11:37,750 --> 00:11:39,950 So for unto the lost, sin was in the world. 280 00:11:39,950 --> 00:11:42,230 But sin is not imputed whether there is no law. 281 00:11:42,310 --> 00:11:47,350 Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, sin reigned from 282 00:11:47,350 --> 00:11:49,710 Adam to Moses, even over them. 283 00:11:49,710 --> 00:11:52,990 That had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression. 284 00:11:52,990 --> 00:11:56,790 Which means this, if you don't catch that says this, you don't have 285 00:11:56,790 --> 00:11:59,190 to sin exactly like Adam to be guilty of sin. 286 00:12:00,050 --> 00:12:03,050 Obviously, we know that there are people out there that say, well, 287 00:12:03,050 --> 00:12:05,010 I didn't do that sin, so I'm okay. 288 00:12:05,490 --> 00:12:08,650 What the Bible is saying is that there's no excuse now. 289 00:12:08,650 --> 00:12:10,370 Now, I'm not teaching here. 290 00:12:10,850 --> 00:12:13,090 Make sure that you are clear and that I'm clear. 291 00:12:13,090 --> 00:12:16,690 I'm not teaching here that all sins are equal in the punishment 292 00:12:16,690 --> 00:12:18,930 when it comes to the earthly side of things. 293 00:12:19,250 --> 00:12:22,610 So, for example, there are certain sins that I commit here that 294 00:12:22,610 --> 00:12:25,870 I might pay some consequences here on this side of heaven, but 295 00:12:25,870 --> 00:12:28,430 there's some other sins that I might commit that might have greater 296 00:12:28,430 --> 00:12:29,990 condemnation on this side of heaven. 297 00:12:29,990 --> 00:12:32,910 But what we do know is that as the Bible says, that if I've sinned 298 00:12:32,910 --> 00:12:36,630 once, whether it be a white lie, as some would call it, or murder 299 00:12:37,030 --> 00:12:39,270 in the eyes of God, I've fallen short. 300 00:12:39,590 --> 00:12:42,150 Therefore I am going to face judgment. 301 00:12:42,710 --> 00:12:45,470 So nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them 302 00:12:45,470 --> 00:12:48,310 that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression. 303 00:12:48,550 --> 00:12:51,350 Who is the figure of him that was to come? 304 00:12:51,980 --> 00:12:53,140 So, so again, what is he. 305 00:12:53,140 --> 00:12:54,140 What is he talking about here? 306 00:12:54,220 --> 00:12:56,700 He's specifically talking about this idea of guilt. 307 00:12:57,340 --> 00:12:58,860 Sin brings guilt. 308 00:12:59,100 --> 00:13:03,540 But then he says, Adam was just a type or a representation of 309 00:13:03,540 --> 00:13:04,620 the one who is to come. 310 00:13:04,620 --> 00:13:07,140 Now we know who the one that is to come, that is Jesus. 311 00:13:07,140 --> 00:13:08,780 And so he's going to shift gears here. 312 00:13:08,780 --> 00:13:11,900 In verse number 14, he's going to say, what did Adam bring? 313 00:13:11,900 --> 00:13:12,940 What did man bring? 314 00:13:12,940 --> 00:13:14,060 What did sin bring? 315 00:13:14,700 --> 00:13:15,180 Sin. 316 00:13:15,820 --> 00:13:16,540 Mankind. 317 00:13:17,190 --> 00:13:20,470 Flesh brought death, it brought judgment, it brought condemnation. 318 00:13:20,870 --> 00:13:24,590 But then he says, hey, Adam is just a picture of what is to come. 319 00:13:24,590 --> 00:13:26,790 And what comes in Jesus is so much more. 320 00:13:26,790 --> 00:13:30,550 And so he's going to go on and talk about the contrast to the sin 321 00:13:30,710 --> 00:13:32,869 and the guilt and the condemnation. 322 00:13:32,869 --> 00:13:35,910 He's going to now bring this idea of gift and grace. 323 00:13:36,070 --> 00:13:39,270 And so he says in verse number 15, but not as the offense, meaning, 324 00:13:39,510 --> 00:13:40,790 so the sin was different. 325 00:13:41,110 --> 00:13:43,910 The action of Adam is different than the action of Jesus. 326 00:13:45,100 --> 00:13:49,820 He says, yes, Adam's sin made all of all of mankind forever guilty. 327 00:13:50,140 --> 00:13:54,020 But what Jesus does is he brings a free gift. 328 00:13:54,020 --> 00:13:55,900 Verse 15, it says, but not as the offense. 329 00:13:55,900 --> 00:13:57,340 So also is the free gift. 330 00:13:58,940 --> 00:14:01,100 The idea here is this, the free gift is different. 331 00:14:01,740 --> 00:14:05,900 And the idea that Jesus now offers an opportunity for all who 332 00:14:05,900 --> 00:14:09,260 believe in him to have Forgiveness, to not pay for their 333 00:14:09,260 --> 00:14:13,970 sins, to not live in condemnation, says, for if through 334 00:14:13,970 --> 00:14:16,050 the offense of one, many be dead. 335 00:14:16,690 --> 00:14:20,050 And that's one of the biggest understatements of scripture, right? 336 00:14:20,050 --> 00:14:23,210 Throughout all of history, there have been people who have been 337 00:14:23,210 --> 00:14:25,490 guilty of sin through Adam. 338 00:14:25,810 --> 00:14:29,170 But then it goes much more the grace of God. 339 00:14:29,170 --> 00:14:30,610 So he says, you think it's. 340 00:14:30,610 --> 00:14:34,090 You think it's a big thing that Adam's sin showed everybody 341 00:14:34,090 --> 00:14:36,930 else sin and Adam's sin brought everyone else death. 342 00:14:37,260 --> 00:14:40,820 He says, how much greater is it that through one man there can 343 00:14:40,820 --> 00:14:41,420 be grace? 344 00:14:41,980 --> 00:14:43,020 And it says there that. 345 00:14:43,020 --> 00:14:45,500 That there is this free gift of salvation. 346 00:14:45,900 --> 00:14:46,700 Now, I want to be. 347 00:14:46,700 --> 00:14:49,780 Be very cautious when I say free gift, because when I say free 348 00:14:49,780 --> 00:14:52,940 gift, it's free for us, but it was not free for him. 349 00:14:53,340 --> 00:14:55,020 It was not free for Jesus Christ. 350 00:14:55,180 --> 00:14:57,740 We, we know that we are bought with the price. 351 00:14:58,140 --> 00:14:59,500 Jesus paid the price. 352 00:15:00,380 --> 00:15:07,430 And when we undercut the grandeur and the majesty of what 353 00:15:07,430 --> 00:15:10,910 Jesus Christ did for us, we live in something called cheap grace, 354 00:15:11,950 --> 00:15:12,910 which means this. 355 00:15:12,990 --> 00:15:15,990 We become so flippant about what God has done for us that we 356 00:15:15,990 --> 00:15:19,390 just live the life that we want to live. 357 00:15:19,630 --> 00:15:20,830 And so what that means is this. 358 00:15:20,830 --> 00:15:22,030 We abuse grace. 359 00:15:23,150 --> 00:15:25,990 But when we truly understand what Jesus Christ did for us, it 360 00:15:25,990 --> 00:15:27,630 brings us to a place of soberness. 361 00:15:27,790 --> 00:15:29,710 It brings us to a place of conviction. 362 00:15:29,930 --> 00:15:33,570 It brings us to a place of understanding that we can do everything 363 00:15:33,570 --> 00:15:36,490 in our lives for him because of what he has done for us. 364 00:15:36,490 --> 00:15:39,770 And so it says, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude 365 00:15:39,770 --> 00:15:42,010 of Adam, we're still guilty. 366 00:15:42,170 --> 00:15:45,530 But Jesus gives us the opportunity to overcome that through 367 00:15:45,850 --> 00:15:46,490 faith in Him. 368 00:15:46,490 --> 00:15:48,610 So he says much more. 369 00:15:48,610 --> 00:15:49,290 Verse 15. 370 00:15:49,290 --> 00:15:49,770 Much more. 371 00:15:49,770 --> 00:15:53,690 The grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man. 372 00:15:54,330 --> 00:15:57,670 Jesus Christ hath abounded unto many. 373 00:15:58,070 --> 00:16:01,750 So he says, just as many people that have been guilty of sin 374 00:16:02,070 --> 00:16:07,430 because of Adam can find grace, can find salvation through 375 00:16:07,430 --> 00:16:08,870 one man, that is Jesus Christ. 376 00:16:09,350 --> 00:16:12,190 Now, we could talk a lot about that, but what is he saying here? 377 00:16:12,190 --> 00:16:15,030 He says, there's only one way to find salvation. 378 00:16:15,190 --> 00:16:17,750 There's only one way to find true grace. 379 00:16:17,910 --> 00:16:21,110 There's only one way to find true forgiveness, and that is through 380 00:16:21,660 --> 00:16:22,260 Jesus Christ. 381 00:16:22,260 --> 00:16:27,260 Folks, if there's anybody who teaches that, it's Jesus plus anything 382 00:16:27,260 --> 00:16:29,340 else or anything that we can do. 383 00:16:29,340 --> 00:16:31,500 What they're doing here is they're saying, hey, you know what? 384 00:16:31,820 --> 00:16:34,940 I like the grace of God, but I think I can meet it. 385 00:16:35,020 --> 00:16:38,740 I think I can match it, I think I can in some way compete with 386 00:16:38,740 --> 00:16:39,020 it. 387 00:16:39,020 --> 00:16:41,420 But What Paul is saying here is this. 388 00:16:41,580 --> 00:16:44,580 There is no way that we can bring anything to the table when 389 00:16:44,580 --> 00:16:48,460 it comes to the gift of grace because of our failures, because 390 00:16:48,460 --> 00:16:49,660 of our brokenness. 391 00:16:50,260 --> 00:16:54,460 And so it shows us that we are in desperate need of Jesus, desperate 392 00:16:54,460 --> 00:16:55,060 need of Jesus. 393 00:16:55,060 --> 00:16:57,620 It's by faith alone in Jesus Christ. 394 00:16:58,580 --> 00:17:01,780 I want to warn you that in Second Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 395 00:17:01,780 --> 00:17:06,820 4, it says that there will be people that preach a different Jesus. 396 00:17:08,180 --> 00:17:10,660 Folks, just because someone says that they believe in Jesus, 397 00:17:10,660 --> 00:17:12,900 it doesn't mean that they believe the Jesus of the Bible. 398 00:17:13,780 --> 00:17:16,420 Just because someone says that they believe a gospel, it doesn't 399 00:17:16,420 --> 00:17:18,670 mean it's the Gospel of, of the Bible. 400 00:17:18,750 --> 00:17:21,310 What we need to be very cautious of is that people preach 401 00:17:21,390 --> 00:17:24,230 Jesus, but they're not preaching the Jesus of Scripture. 402 00:17:24,230 --> 00:17:27,390 And the Jesus of Scripture says that we are all sinners, we 403 00:17:27,390 --> 00:17:30,830 all deserve judgment and only he can save us through complete faith 404 00:17:30,830 --> 00:17:32,030 and reliance in Him. 405 00:17:32,430 --> 00:17:34,830 It's not by works of righteousness that we have done, 406 00:17:35,390 --> 00:17:37,150 but according to his mercy. 407 00:17:37,550 --> 00:17:39,950 The Bible says it's his mercy, it's his grace. 408 00:17:40,830 --> 00:17:43,810 The reason why we preach this is because the most important thing, 409 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:47,520 thing that we do within the church is talk about the Gospel of 410 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:48,200 Jesus Christ. 411 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:51,720 It's not just for those that are in the world that are unsaved. 412 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:53,240 The Gospel is for everybody. 413 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,520 And I can tell you by way of example, I grew up in a Christian 414 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,640 church, Bible believing Baptist church. 415 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:03,480 I went to a Christian school. 416 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:07,360 But it wasn't until the day before my 16th birthday that I came 417 00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:10,000 to a place in my life where I believed and understood the Gospel 418 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:10,640 of Jesus Christ. 419 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:12,970 Because before that I thought I was a good person. 420 00:18:13,210 --> 00:18:14,890 Even though I knew that I wasn't perfect. 421 00:18:14,890 --> 00:18:15,850 I thought I was good enough. 422 00:18:16,730 --> 00:18:19,050 But there was a point in my life where I realized that I could 423 00:18:19,050 --> 00:18:20,770 not match God's grace. 424 00:18:20,770 --> 00:18:22,810 I could not meet his perfection. 425 00:18:22,810 --> 00:18:25,450 And therefore I had to come to him and fall before him and say, 426 00:18:25,450 --> 00:18:27,890 you know, there's nothing else that I can do other than trust in 427 00:18:27,890 --> 00:18:28,170 you. 428 00:18:28,970 --> 00:18:31,130 And folks, I don't want to take for granted that everybody here 429 00:18:31,130 --> 00:18:33,450 today knows Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. 430 00:18:33,450 --> 00:18:36,770 But even if, even if every single person in this room has come 431 00:18:36,770 --> 00:18:38,950 to that place in their life where they say, you know what? 432 00:18:38,950 --> 00:18:41,790 I have trusted in Jesus Christ as my Savior, we still need to go 433 00:18:41,790 --> 00:18:44,950 back to this because we're tempted sometimes to forget about 434 00:18:44,950 --> 00:18:47,710 this abundant grace and live our lives the way that we want to 435 00:18:47,710 --> 00:18:50,750 live it and blame other people for our sin. 436 00:18:51,710 --> 00:18:54,270 Folks, we have to take the responsibility for the decisions 437 00:18:54,270 --> 00:18:57,470 that we make and when we fall short and when we can't meet that 438 00:18:57,790 --> 00:19:00,070 we have to go to God and say, lord, you have to give me the strength 439 00:19:00,070 --> 00:19:00,830 to overcome this. 440 00:19:00,830 --> 00:19:02,510 You have to give me the strength to forgive. 441 00:19:02,510 --> 00:19:04,150 You have to give me the strength to overcome. 442 00:19:04,150 --> 00:19:05,380 You have to give me the strength to. 443 00:19:05,530 --> 00:19:06,730 To pursue and to. 444 00:19:06,810 --> 00:19:09,290 To perform what you have called me to perform in my life. 445 00:19:09,850 --> 00:19:13,290 And so it says here that the gift of grace, which is by one man, 446 00:19:13,290 --> 00:19:15,770 Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 447 00:19:16,890 --> 00:19:17,730 And verse 16. 448 00:19:17,730 --> 00:19:23,050 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift, for the judgment 449 00:19:23,050 --> 00:19:24,730 was by one to condemnation. 450 00:19:24,730 --> 00:19:29,970 So we go back to Adam's sin, we go back to humanity, we go back 451 00:19:29,970 --> 00:19:33,890 to our way, we go back to our wisdom, we go back to our path that 452 00:19:33,890 --> 00:19:35,850 we have gone, decided to follow. 453 00:19:35,850 --> 00:19:36,730 And what does that bring? 454 00:19:36,730 --> 00:19:42,330 It says here in verse number 16, that brings judgment and condemnation. 455 00:19:43,690 --> 00:19:45,690 But what does the free gift bring? 456 00:19:46,250 --> 00:19:52,810 Well, it says here that the free gift is given in abundance, 457 00:19:53,530 --> 00:19:54,130 much more. 458 00:19:54,130 --> 00:19:57,930 They which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness 459 00:19:57,930 --> 00:20:00,650 shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ. 460 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:06,360 So the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. 461 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:07,720 That's what verse 16 says. 462 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:14,360 So sin and man's wisdom brings condemnation, it brings judgment, 463 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:16,920 it brings death, it brings separation. 464 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:18,760 But faith in Jesus Christ. 465 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:19,720 What does it say here? 466 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:23,920 It says that it in many offenses, by the way, meaning you 467 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:25,560 can, you can sin, you can, you. 468 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:26,360 You can be a. 469 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:28,560 A person who has lived your whole life sinning. 470 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:30,100 So a lot of people say, well, I'm just too. 471 00:20:30,100 --> 00:20:30,860 I'm too far gone. 472 00:20:30,860 --> 00:20:31,140 I'm too. 473 00:20:31,140 --> 00:20:33,660 I'm too much of a sinner to be saved by Jesus Christ. 474 00:20:33,660 --> 00:20:35,420 No, the Bible says that we can. 475 00:20:35,420 --> 00:20:36,860 We can live a life of sin. 476 00:20:37,340 --> 00:20:38,460 But what does it mean here? 477 00:20:38,460 --> 00:20:39,580 Not after we're saved. 478 00:20:39,580 --> 00:20:41,420 And it doesn't mean that we can live the way that we want to 479 00:20:41,420 --> 00:20:41,540 live. 480 00:20:41,540 --> 00:20:44,180 But what it says here is that there's no sin there. 481 00:20:44,180 --> 00:20:48,260 There's no person who has gone too far for the grace of God to save 482 00:20:48,260 --> 00:20:48,420 them. 483 00:20:48,420 --> 00:20:50,500 And it says here that in verse 16. 484 00:20:50,500 --> 00:20:53,660 But the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. 485 00:20:53,660 --> 00:20:55,660 Now, we talked about that word justification a lot. 486 00:20:55,980 --> 00:20:59,700 It just means a declaration of righteousness by God, meaning that 487 00:20:59,700 --> 00:21:02,700 God can look at me and no longer see my sin and no longer see 488 00:21:02,700 --> 00:21:05,220 my problems, and no longer see my shortcomings. 489 00:21:05,220 --> 00:21:09,900 But he looks at me and he sees his Son's blood on my account. 490 00:21:10,300 --> 00:21:12,180 He looks at me and says, that is my child. 491 00:21:12,180 --> 00:21:15,980 Therefore there is righteousness and so it says in verse 492 00:21:15,980 --> 00:21:16,380 17. 493 00:21:16,460 --> 00:21:18,620 For by one man's offense, death reigned. 494 00:21:19,420 --> 00:21:22,540 So through sin, death reigns by one much more. 495 00:21:22,540 --> 00:21:26,300 They which received abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness 496 00:21:26,460 --> 00:21:28,900 shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ. 497 00:21:28,900 --> 00:21:29,580 Meaning this. 498 00:21:29,980 --> 00:21:34,380 The life of grace is a life characterized by righteousness. 499 00:21:34,460 --> 00:21:36,620 It's a life characterized by forgiveness. 500 00:21:36,940 --> 00:21:40,060 I don't know about you, but I want to live on the side of grace 501 00:21:40,380 --> 00:21:42,300 because I want to be characterized by righteousness. 502 00:21:42,300 --> 00:21:44,140 I want to be characterized by forgiveness. 503 00:21:44,380 --> 00:21:46,860 I don't want to be characterized by my works, by the 504 00:21:46,860 --> 00:21:47,580 way, if I'm. 505 00:21:48,130 --> 00:21:49,970 None of us want to be judged by our works. 506 00:21:50,450 --> 00:21:51,170 None of us. 507 00:21:51,890 --> 00:21:54,610 Because again, all fall short of the glory of God. 508 00:21:55,970 --> 00:21:57,450 So if you're tempted to think, well, you know what? 509 00:21:57,450 --> 00:21:58,290 I'm just not a good person. 510 00:21:58,290 --> 00:21:59,490 I'm just not a good Christian. 511 00:21:59,490 --> 00:22:00,930 The reality is this. 512 00:22:01,170 --> 00:22:02,690 The reality is this, okay? 513 00:22:02,690 --> 00:22:05,050 And I know this isn't necessarily something that we all 514 00:22:05,050 --> 00:22:08,050 want to hear, but the reality is, is that there is no one that's 515 00:22:08,050 --> 00:22:08,930 a perfect Christian. 516 00:22:09,090 --> 00:22:09,490 How. 517 00:22:09,810 --> 00:22:11,810 Don't raise your hand, but how many of you have been tempted in 518 00:22:11,810 --> 00:22:14,050 your life to think, I've got to be a perfect Christian? 519 00:22:14,530 --> 00:22:16,530 The truth is that we can be a perfect Christian. 520 00:22:16,690 --> 00:22:19,930 All we can do is rest in the grace of God and we will become more 521 00:22:19,930 --> 00:22:20,370 like him. 522 00:22:20,450 --> 00:22:22,050 We will live in righteousness. 523 00:22:22,050 --> 00:22:25,330 And we see here it's a submission to Christ in every way. 524 00:22:26,210 --> 00:22:28,930 Folks, I've been really, really convicted recently. 525 00:22:29,730 --> 00:22:32,850 I've been doing a lot of research and doing a lot of study 526 00:22:32,930 --> 00:22:39,570 on the church history, going back and looking at different individuals 527 00:22:39,570 --> 00:22:39,810 who. 528 00:22:39,810 --> 00:22:44,010 We might not agree with every aspect of their theology, but there 529 00:22:44,010 --> 00:22:49,410 were individuals throughout history that were willing to die 530 00:22:49,490 --> 00:22:50,770 for what they believed in. 531 00:22:51,570 --> 00:22:54,490 Things today that we take for granted, things today that we just 532 00:22:54,490 --> 00:22:55,970 go, yeah, whatever, we're going to church. 533 00:22:55,970 --> 00:23:00,210 There, there are people who were willing to be burned at the 534 00:23:00,210 --> 00:23:03,170 stake for matters that we just go, okay, yeah, of course. 535 00:23:03,170 --> 00:23:03,970 That's what we believe. 536 00:23:04,930 --> 00:23:08,610 And we don't understand the investment of people throughout the 537 00:23:08,610 --> 00:23:11,020 centuries and ultimately the investment of what we. 538 00:23:11,170 --> 00:23:14,250 We see in scripture when it comes to the apostles and all of 539 00:23:14,250 --> 00:23:15,650 the sacrifice that they did. 540 00:23:15,650 --> 00:23:16,650 Why did they do that? 541 00:23:16,650 --> 00:23:18,010 Because of what Jesus Christ did. 542 00:23:18,010 --> 00:23:19,890 They understood the beauty. 543 00:23:19,890 --> 00:23:23,130 They understood the power of forgiveness in Jesus Christ, and 544 00:23:23,130 --> 00:23:25,450 they were willing to live for it, and they were willing to die 545 00:23:25,450 --> 00:23:25,890 for it. 546 00:23:26,929 --> 00:23:30,930 And today we live a very casual Christianity, and I'm included. 547 00:23:31,250 --> 00:23:33,490 We live very comfortably in this world today. 548 00:23:34,130 --> 00:23:37,170 And because the reality is that persecution doesn't really find 549 00:23:37,170 --> 00:23:40,170 us because we live in a place that there's a lot of freedoms. 550 00:23:40,410 --> 00:23:42,610 But I'm going to tell you here this morning that there has been 551 00:23:42,610 --> 00:23:45,370 times in my life that I'm not living boldly enough for Christ. 552 00:23:45,370 --> 00:23:47,450 And therefore no one's even going to know I'm a Christian. 553 00:23:47,450 --> 00:23:49,690 I'm never going to face persecution because I'm living too 554 00:23:49,690 --> 00:23:50,250 comfortably. 555 00:23:50,250 --> 00:23:54,250 And what the Bible says here is that when we understand the beauty 556 00:23:54,250 --> 00:23:57,530 that we can live in Christ and live in his righteousness. 557 00:23:57,610 --> 00:24:02,410 Folks, there will be an opportunity for us to see struggles 558 00:24:02,410 --> 00:24:03,050 and suffering. 559 00:24:03,290 --> 00:24:06,210 But at the end of the day, we get the beauty of walking with him 560 00:24:06,210 --> 00:24:08,910 and knowing what it means to be a child of the king. 561 00:24:08,910 --> 00:24:11,790 So verse 18, it says, Therefore, as by the offense of one, 562 00:24:11,790 --> 00:24:15,990 judgment came upon all men, to condemnation, even so by the righteousness 563 00:24:15,990 --> 00:24:19,710 of one, the free gift came upon all men unto the justification 564 00:24:19,710 --> 00:24:20,270 of life. 565 00:24:21,310 --> 00:24:22,670 And there's this repetition. 566 00:24:23,069 --> 00:24:26,670 And what Paul is trying to do here is he's trying to emphasize 567 00:24:26,910 --> 00:24:31,430 the importance of seeing our lives in Christ, in his grace, and 568 00:24:31,430 --> 00:24:34,590 walking in that and not going back to what we've been saved from, 569 00:24:35,070 --> 00:24:38,430 not going back to live in our flesh, not going back to what we've 570 00:24:38,430 --> 00:24:41,710 been rescued from, and that is that judgment and condemnation. 571 00:24:42,510 --> 00:24:45,150 He's going to address this throughout the book of Romans. 572 00:24:45,550 --> 00:24:46,950 Romans, chapter 6, verse 1. 573 00:24:46,950 --> 00:24:49,950 He talks about what it means to abuse the grace of God. 574 00:24:49,950 --> 00:24:50,510 Meaning this. 575 00:24:50,510 --> 00:24:50,829 You. 576 00:24:50,829 --> 00:24:51,190 You've. 577 00:24:51,190 --> 00:24:53,430 You've probably heard someone say this before throughout their 578 00:24:53,430 --> 00:24:53,710 life. 579 00:24:53,870 --> 00:24:56,190 Well, God's already forgiven me. 580 00:24:57,230 --> 00:24:58,630 And God says that he loves me. 581 00:24:58,630 --> 00:25:00,510 So why can't I just live my life the way that I want to live 582 00:25:00,510 --> 00:25:00,750 it? 583 00:25:02,300 --> 00:25:05,220 Why can't I just live in sin throughout the week and fulfill all 584 00:25:05,220 --> 00:25:07,580 my lust and my desires and then come back on Sunday morning 585 00:25:07,580 --> 00:25:09,580 and say, well, Lord, forgive me. 586 00:25:09,660 --> 00:25:10,860 Won't he forgive me? 587 00:25:11,980 --> 00:25:15,940 Well, number one, his grace is abundant and he can forgive and he 588 00:25:15,940 --> 00:25:16,620 will forgive. 589 00:25:16,940 --> 00:25:20,180 But at the, at the core of that, I will say that if we live 590 00:25:20,180 --> 00:25:23,340 our lives that way, we don't understand the grace of God. 591 00:25:23,340 --> 00:25:27,110 He says, how can we continue in sin that gracious continues to 592 00:25:27,110 --> 00:25:27,470 abound? 593 00:25:27,470 --> 00:25:31,190 He says, God forbid, how can we live in such a way that we've 594 00:25:31,190 --> 00:25:32,030 been saved from? 595 00:25:33,230 --> 00:25:36,270 So it's not to say that that's that Christians can't sin anymore, 596 00:25:36,350 --> 00:25:37,270 but it goes back. 597 00:25:37,270 --> 00:25:37,550 He. 598 00:25:37,550 --> 00:25:39,470 He always is concerned with our heart. 599 00:25:40,350 --> 00:25:42,830 If my heart is like, well, I just want to do whatever I want to 600 00:25:42,830 --> 00:25:45,310 do and God will just keep forgiving me, our heart's not in 601 00:25:45,310 --> 00:25:45,950 the right place. 602 00:25:46,430 --> 00:25:48,110 Our Heart is not submitted to him. 603 00:25:48,350 --> 00:25:51,550 We're not presenting our bodies, a living sacrifice wholly 604 00:25:51,550 --> 00:25:53,710 acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service. 605 00:25:54,410 --> 00:25:57,130 We're living our lives according to our fleshly desires. 606 00:25:57,290 --> 00:25:58,810 He says, that's not what it's all about. 607 00:25:59,770 --> 00:26:03,330 And so he says, yes, there is a free gift, and it was given upon 608 00:26:03,330 --> 00:26:05,530 all men to the justification of life when we. 609 00:26:05,530 --> 00:26:07,210 And that doesn't mean that everybody's saved. 610 00:26:07,690 --> 00:26:10,129 And a lot of people teach universalism, which means that God 611 00:26:10,129 --> 00:26:12,930 just loves everyone so much that he just brings everyone to heaven. 612 00:26:12,930 --> 00:26:13,970 That's not what he's saying here. 613 00:26:13,970 --> 00:26:17,090 He says it's those who come in faith that Jesus Christ receive this 614 00:26:17,090 --> 00:26:17,690 free gift. 615 00:26:18,090 --> 00:26:18,730 Verse 19. 616 00:26:18,730 --> 00:26:22,330 For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, 617 00:26:23,330 --> 00:26:27,570 so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteousness. 618 00:26:28,530 --> 00:26:30,130 I love how that's mentioned there. 619 00:26:32,050 --> 00:26:36,410 Through Jesus's obedience to the Father, we now have an opportunity 620 00:26:36,410 --> 00:26:37,570 to live in righteousness. 621 00:26:38,690 --> 00:26:41,370 We often don't think about that, that Jesus was willing to submit 622 00:26:41,370 --> 00:26:42,370 to the will of the Father. 623 00:26:43,650 --> 00:26:49,580 If you go back to the garden of Gethsemane, you go back to Jesus's 624 00:26:49,580 --> 00:26:49,980 prayer. 625 00:26:50,620 --> 00:26:54,700 Obviously, we know that there was a lot going on in Jesus's heart 626 00:26:54,700 --> 00:26:58,060 at that time, and he was always willing to do what the Father 627 00:26:58,220 --> 00:26:59,140 asked him to do. 628 00:26:59,140 --> 00:27:03,100 But he even was pleading with him in prayer, saying, lord, if there 629 00:27:03,100 --> 00:27:06,460 be any other way to do this, can it be done? 630 00:27:06,460 --> 00:27:07,500 Let this cup pass. 631 00:27:08,620 --> 00:27:12,500 But we know that he ends that prayer with, nevertheless, thy will 632 00:27:12,500 --> 00:27:12,940 be done. 633 00:27:14,710 --> 00:27:19,710 And that's a hard prayer to pray because sometimes the will of 634 00:27:19,710 --> 00:27:21,350 God is not what our will is. 635 00:27:22,230 --> 00:27:25,470 And the true question is, is that are we going to be willing as 636 00:27:25,470 --> 00:27:26,070 believers? 637 00:27:26,070 --> 00:27:29,509 Are we going to be willing as those that are children of God to 638 00:27:29,509 --> 00:27:33,470 look at the Father and in prayer say, lord, this is my desire, 639 00:27:33,470 --> 00:27:35,070 but I want your will to be done. 640 00:27:35,070 --> 00:27:38,070 Your will is the first and foremost thing that I want to be 641 00:27:38,150 --> 00:27:39,430 accomplished in my life. 642 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:43,920 That's true submission. 643 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:49,680 I believe that's what it means to be a quote, unquote good Christian 644 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:51,920 is not to be successful. 645 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:53,680 The Bible never says that. 646 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:55,719 It is required of a steward. 647 00:27:55,719 --> 00:27:58,320 It required of a servant to be successful. 648 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:04,040 It says that we're required to be faithful, faithful to him who 649 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:04,800 has called us. 650 00:28:06,250 --> 00:28:08,850 And so verse number 20 here, here's, here's his synopsis. 651 00:28:08,850 --> 00:28:09,530 Here's everything. 652 00:28:09,610 --> 00:28:12,170 This is, this is everything wrapped up into one thing. 653 00:28:12,170 --> 00:28:16,010 He says, moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, 654 00:28:16,010 --> 00:28:19,290 meaning the law is there to show us where we fall short. 655 00:28:19,290 --> 00:28:20,970 The Law is there not to save us. 656 00:28:21,130 --> 00:28:23,850 I cannot create any law that makes us righteous. 657 00:28:25,050 --> 00:28:25,570 Okay? 658 00:28:25,570 --> 00:28:25,850 The. 659 00:28:25,850 --> 00:28:26,130 The. 660 00:28:26,130 --> 00:28:28,370 The Mosaic Law, which was followed for. 661 00:28:28,370 --> 00:28:31,880 For many years, in which is for many people, people are still 662 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:33,440 trying to follow the Mosaic Law today. 663 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:36,160 The Mosaic law cannot see it. 664 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:40,800 Middletown Baptist Church law or rules cannot save. 665 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,600 For many years, people had thought, well, maybe we can just 666 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:46,959 create good Christians by creating a rule book. 667 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:48,440 And this rule book will. 668 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:50,760 Will be, hey, this is the way that you're supposed to be. 669 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:53,720 And if you look like this and you talk like this and you act like 670 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:56,840 this, and you don't go here, and you go here, and you show up 671 00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:59,890 to church every single time the doors are open, you are a good 672 00:28:59,890 --> 00:29:00,490 Christian. 673 00:29:01,290 --> 00:29:05,210 But what we've tried to do over the years, and I've. 674 00:29:05,210 --> 00:29:06,410 I have been guilty of this. 675 00:29:06,410 --> 00:29:08,330 Some of you maybe have not grown up in this. 676 00:29:09,850 --> 00:29:10,970 God bless you for it. 677 00:29:11,370 --> 00:29:14,610 But the reality is, is that sometimes we can fall into the trap 678 00:29:14,610 --> 00:29:18,010 of thinking that we have to perform to be a good Christian. 679 00:29:18,410 --> 00:29:19,770 And we go off of the rules. 680 00:29:19,770 --> 00:29:23,450 Not of scripture, but we go off of the rules of one individual's 681 00:29:23,450 --> 00:29:25,130 convictions or preferences. 682 00:29:26,460 --> 00:29:29,020 What I want to tell you here this morning is what it means to 683 00:29:29,020 --> 00:29:34,220 be a good Christian is not looking like Pastor Josh exactly. 684 00:29:35,020 --> 00:29:37,740 Or preaching a sermon like Pastor Josh. 685 00:29:38,540 --> 00:29:43,300 What it means to be a good Christian is to love God with all 686 00:29:43,300 --> 00:29:44,860 of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. 687 00:29:45,500 --> 00:29:46,940 To love our neighbor as ourself. 688 00:29:47,260 --> 00:29:49,780 And the Bible says if we love God, we will obey him. 689 00:29:49,780 --> 00:29:50,700 And so what does that mean? 690 00:29:50,780 --> 00:29:52,780 We follow him and we follow his will. 691 00:29:53,860 --> 00:29:57,060 God's will for your life might not be the exact will for my life. 692 00:29:57,620 --> 00:29:58,140 You know what? 693 00:29:58,140 --> 00:29:59,540 You know what God's will is for my life? 694 00:30:00,900 --> 00:30:02,980 To be the pastor of Middletown Baptist Church. 695 00:30:03,540 --> 00:30:06,500 To be the father to Micah, Nora, and Silas. 696 00:30:06,500 --> 00:30:08,340 To be a husband to Alicia. 697 00:30:08,660 --> 00:30:11,340 Now, if some of you said, well, I think that's God's will for 698 00:30:11,340 --> 00:30:13,940 my life, well, we're gonna have some problems, okay? 699 00:30:15,140 --> 00:30:17,060 Because you're not Micah's dad. 700 00:30:17,140 --> 00:30:18,660 You're not the pastor of the church. 701 00:30:19,620 --> 00:30:22,820 But I can tell you that God does have a will for your life. 702 00:30:23,380 --> 00:30:27,100 And at the end of the day, God's will for my life and God's 703 00:30:27,100 --> 00:30:29,660 will for your life will intersect when it comes to the idea 704 00:30:29,660 --> 00:30:34,620 of giving him glory and praising him and honoring him and 705 00:30:34,620 --> 00:30:35,860 following his will. 706 00:30:36,500 --> 00:30:38,660 And so he says, moreover, the law entered. 707 00:30:40,420 --> 00:30:40,780 We. 708 00:30:40,780 --> 00:30:41,140 We. 709 00:30:41,140 --> 00:30:45,820 Alicia and I went to a Christian school, and there was something 710 00:30:45,820 --> 00:30:47,140 called demerits there. 711 00:30:47,300 --> 00:30:49,100 Any of you ever know what a demerit is? 712 00:30:49,100 --> 00:30:51,060 You get in trouble and they write you a little demerit. 713 00:30:52,020 --> 00:30:54,820 They slap it on your desk and you get in trouble for that. 714 00:30:55,540 --> 00:31:00,100 And if, if you got 15 demerits, you couldn't play sports, 715 00:31:00,659 --> 00:31:01,220 okay? 716 00:31:02,340 --> 00:31:04,500 So I liked sports. 717 00:31:04,980 --> 00:31:06,020 So I was like, I can't. 718 00:31:06,020 --> 00:31:07,540 I can't get 15 demerits. 719 00:31:08,260 --> 00:31:10,900 So what I saw as demerits was this. 720 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:15,160 I've got about 14 demerits to play with through, through the week. 721 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:17,640 And, and if you went one week without a demerit, you could earn 722 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:17,880 it off. 723 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:20,120 So what I. I formulized in my mind was this. 724 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:22,400 I can, I can afford to get in trouble here, right? 725 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:22,920 Cause that's not. 726 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:24,160 That's only going to be three demerits. 727 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:26,320 And I can get away with that because. 728 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:28,640 And, and you see, that's a silly way to think about it, but 729 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:29,880 that's sometimes what we do with the law. 730 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,920 We manipulate the law to fit into our desires. 731 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:34,440 Well, I can get away with this. 732 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:36,680 Certainly can't get. 733 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:39,330 If I get 15, then that's when it really hurts, folks. 734 00:31:39,570 --> 00:31:40,130 The first. 735 00:31:40,290 --> 00:31:40,610 My. 736 00:31:40,610 --> 00:31:41,170 My heart. 737 00:31:41,410 --> 00:31:44,370 My heart wanting to break the rules was where I was wrong. 738 00:31:44,770 --> 00:31:45,090 The. 739 00:31:45,090 --> 00:31:47,570 The idea here is that the law cannot save. 740 00:31:47,650 --> 00:31:49,090 Rules cannot save. 741 00:31:49,170 --> 00:31:50,770 Only what can save is Jesus Christ. 742 00:31:50,770 --> 00:31:54,010 The law is there, as it says here, to show that we fall short 743 00:31:54,010 --> 00:31:56,850 of the grace or the goodness of God. 744 00:31:57,010 --> 00:31:58,050 We need his grace. 745 00:31:59,090 --> 00:32:01,810 It's like the Bible says that the law is like a mirror. 746 00:32:02,370 --> 00:32:05,970 It reveals who we really are, and it shows us that we are sinners. 747 00:32:06,790 --> 00:32:10,910 And so there is a principle of showing the law to those who are 748 00:32:10,910 --> 00:32:11,550 in pride. 749 00:32:11,550 --> 00:32:11,830 Why? 750 00:32:11,830 --> 00:32:15,870 Because the law should humble us, and the grace comes to those 751 00:32:15,870 --> 00:32:17,590 that are humble before God. 752 00:32:18,710 --> 00:32:21,230 And that's what we can see here, is that he says, moreover, 753 00:32:21,230 --> 00:32:23,910 the law entered that the offense might abound but where sin 754 00:32:23,910 --> 00:32:24,470 abounded. 755 00:32:24,470 --> 00:32:25,350 Which means this. 756 00:32:25,910 --> 00:32:27,830 So the law shows us that we're all sinners. 757 00:32:28,310 --> 00:32:30,430 And if we're all honest with ourselves, the law is going to show 758 00:32:30,430 --> 00:32:33,750 us that we all are sinning more than we actually want to admit 759 00:32:33,750 --> 00:32:34,430 that we're sin. 760 00:32:34,510 --> 00:32:36,630 And because the reason why we know that is because Jesus comes 761 00:32:36,630 --> 00:32:39,750 and he says, you've been told that what you do is a sin, but I'm 762 00:32:39,750 --> 00:32:41,390 going to tell you what you think about as a sin. 763 00:32:41,790 --> 00:32:44,030 And everyone's like, whoa, that's something I don't want to 764 00:32:44,030 --> 00:32:44,270 hear. 765 00:32:45,150 --> 00:32:46,430 Because for me, I'm. 766 00:32:46,430 --> 00:32:48,070 Maybe, maybe you're different than me. 767 00:32:48,070 --> 00:32:51,270 But I'm good enough in some ways to not have people see me do 768 00:32:51,270 --> 00:32:51,870 bad, right? 769 00:32:52,270 --> 00:32:55,590 I can kind of like manipulate myself to make myself look good in 770 00:32:55,590 --> 00:32:56,270 front of people. 771 00:32:56,350 --> 00:33:00,260 But what Jesus says is that I know your heart in. 772 00:33:00,260 --> 00:33:00,980 In your mind. 773 00:33:00,980 --> 00:33:02,900 I know your mind and what you're thinking about. 774 00:33:02,900 --> 00:33:06,700 And therefore I know that you're not sinning outwardly, but 775 00:33:06,700 --> 00:33:07,620 inwardly you're sinning. 776 00:33:07,620 --> 00:33:10,500 And eventually that inward sin will manifest itself in outward ways. 777 00:33:10,980 --> 00:33:16,900 So he says, this being the case, sin of balance. 778 00:33:16,980 --> 00:33:19,380 And by the way, I think we could all say that in way of testimony 779 00:33:19,460 --> 00:33:21,060 if we were honest with ourselves. 780 00:33:23,710 --> 00:33:26,670 Sins abounded in my personal life. 781 00:33:26,910 --> 00:33:28,670 Sins abounded in our midst. 782 00:33:28,670 --> 00:33:30,190 Sins abounded in our culture. 783 00:33:30,350 --> 00:33:33,230 Sins abided in our world, abounded in our world for a very, 784 00:33:33,230 --> 00:33:34,110 very long time. 785 00:33:34,430 --> 00:33:35,950 And it will continue to abound. 786 00:33:35,950 --> 00:33:41,550 But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. 787 00:33:42,510 --> 00:33:45,070 I think that's beautiful picture here. 788 00:33:45,710 --> 00:33:50,430 It's this idea that, yes, in our flesh we are. 789 00:33:50,430 --> 00:33:55,870 We are those that desire the things of our flesh, lust of the 790 00:33:55,870 --> 00:33:57,430 flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life. 791 00:33:57,590 --> 00:33:59,310 But then there's God's grace. 792 00:33:59,310 --> 00:34:01,030 God's grace is bigger than our sin. 793 00:34:02,150 --> 00:34:03,670 Now, I have to be cautious here. 794 00:34:03,670 --> 00:34:04,990 I think I've hit on it a few times. 795 00:34:04,990 --> 00:34:06,310 I gotta hit on it one more time. 796 00:34:06,550 --> 00:34:09,590 This is not to say that we just abuse the grace. 797 00:34:10,150 --> 00:34:12,310 We are all to strive to be like Christ. 798 00:34:12,710 --> 00:34:15,720 None of us should wake up in the morning and go, well, like, like 799 00:34:15,720 --> 00:34:19,440 I did many years ago, I can afford a couple demerits today. 800 00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:23,840 No, wake up in the morning striving to be like Christ. 801 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:27,440 If my heart is going after sin the moment I wake up in the morning, 802 00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:28,480 there's an issue there. 803 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:29,760 There's a heart issue there. 804 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:33,840 And so this is not to say that, hey, guys, sin is. 805 00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:35,520 Sin is just something we're going to do. 806 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:36,760 Grace is going to balance. 807 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:38,320 So just live your life the way the world lives. 808 00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:41,320 No, it's to be different in many other places. 809 00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:43,920 In scripture, the Bible says, be holy, for I am holy. 810 00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:48,080 The Bible says that we're to be different, distinct, unique, striving 811 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:48,760 after him. 812 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:53,160 But the goodness is, is that even when at our best, at our best, 813 00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:54,520 we are failures. 814 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:58,280 And therefore, where sin abounds, grace abounds so much more. 815 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:05,560 That as sin hath reigned unto death, verse 21, even so my grace 816 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,800 reigned through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ 817 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:09,400 our Lord. 818 00:35:11,330 --> 00:35:13,010 May grace reign in our lives. 819 00:35:14,050 --> 00:35:19,410 I think that there's so much to be said about living a life that 820 00:35:19,410 --> 00:35:24,250 has experienced grace, because if we truly experience grace, we're 821 00:35:24,250 --> 00:35:27,170 able to show that grace to other people around us. 822 00:35:27,170 --> 00:35:34,050 And so Paul states Hey, in sin that brings death, grace brings life. 823 00:35:34,450 --> 00:35:36,290 Grace brings righteousness. 824 00:35:36,530 --> 00:35:39,850 And so grace reigning through righteousness means this, that. 825 00:35:39,850 --> 00:35:42,930 That we have an opportunity not to live a perfect life, but to 826 00:35:42,930 --> 00:35:45,930 live a life resting in the truth of God and growing in the truth 827 00:35:45,930 --> 00:35:46,450 of God. 828 00:35:46,450 --> 00:35:50,090 And so therefore we are called in Titus, chapter 2, verse 11 and 829 00:35:50,090 --> 00:35:50,370 12. 830 00:35:50,690 --> 00:35:54,850 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared 831 00:35:54,850 --> 00:35:55,250 to all men. 832 00:35:55,250 --> 00:35:56,690 So grace is there for salvation. 833 00:35:56,850 --> 00:36:01,050 But grace is also there to teach us how to live our lives properly. 834 00:36:01,050 --> 00:36:04,680 It says this, teaching us that, denying ungodliness. 835 00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:08,200 This is Titus 2:12. 836 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:11,680 I would encourage you to think about this verse, teaching us that 837 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:15,800 denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, 838 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:20,360 righteously and godly in this present world. 839 00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:23,920 And so the grace of God here, what it says here is, it's not just 840 00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:28,600 for salvation to get me to heaven, but grace is there also to 841 00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:32,700 teach me how to deny ungodliness and lustful desires in 842 00:36:32,700 --> 00:36:33,140 this world. 843 00:36:33,140 --> 00:36:37,540 And grace is there to teach me to live soberly, seriously focused, 844 00:36:38,100 --> 00:36:41,940 living righteously and godly in this present world. 845 00:36:42,740 --> 00:36:46,860 So God's grace is not just for the eternal matters of heaven, but 846 00:36:46,860 --> 00:36:48,380 it's also for the matters of today. 847 00:36:48,380 --> 00:36:50,940 Because technically we're supposed to be living lives that 848 00:36:50,940 --> 00:36:52,740 are reflecting eternity right now. 849 00:36:53,940 --> 00:36:58,300 And so that's what he's saying here is he says, yes, grace is so 850 00:36:58,300 --> 00:37:01,580 sufficient for our salvation, but grace is also sufficient for 851 00:37:01,580 --> 00:37:05,900 us to live godly lives, so that as sin reigned unto death. 852 00:37:06,380 --> 00:37:10,460 If we want to go back to that, the Bible says it's a terrible picture, 853 00:37:11,260 --> 00:37:14,420 but it talks about how the dog returns to his. 854 00:37:14,420 --> 00:37:15,140 His vomit. 855 00:37:15,140 --> 00:37:17,180 That's how we are when we return back to our sin. 856 00:37:18,540 --> 00:37:20,620 We go back to that thing that's detestable. 857 00:37:21,180 --> 00:37:22,620 We go back to that thing that. 858 00:37:22,980 --> 00:37:27,100 That Romans chapter 5, verse 8 says in that while we were yet sinners, 859 00:37:27,100 --> 00:37:28,020 Christ died for us. 860 00:37:28,100 --> 00:37:30,260 So it's not a large leap to say this. 861 00:37:30,420 --> 00:37:35,060 The sin that nailed Jesus to the cross is the sin that I'm going 862 00:37:35,060 --> 00:37:38,939 back to and finding my joy in that eventually will bring forth 863 00:37:38,939 --> 00:37:39,220 death. 864 00:37:40,020 --> 00:37:41,100 And so what does he say here? 865 00:37:41,100 --> 00:37:42,580 He says, don't go back to that. 866 00:37:42,740 --> 00:37:47,340 Live a life that is not reigning unto death, but reigning 867 00:37:47,340 --> 00:37:50,990 in grace and through righteousness into eternal life by 868 00:37:50,990 --> 00:37:52,390 Jesus Christ our Lord. 869 00:37:53,910 --> 00:37:56,230 And so grace reigns to eternal life. 870 00:37:56,390 --> 00:38:01,990 God's grace gives us something to take with us now and through eternity. 871 00:38:02,630 --> 00:38:06,190 It's giving us this idea that we can live a life of quality now. 872 00:38:06,190 --> 00:38:07,910 We can live a life of joy now. 873 00:38:07,910 --> 00:38:09,990 We can live a life of abundance now. 874 00:38:09,990 --> 00:38:12,870 And not in abundance of the way the world calls abundance and 875 00:38:12,870 --> 00:38:16,710 material wealth necessarily, but abundance in spiritual riches. 876 00:38:17,190 --> 00:38:19,670 Abundance and knowing that we have confidence in Him. 877 00:38:19,670 --> 00:38:24,870 And so he says here that it's so much, it's so much more important 878 00:38:25,030 --> 00:38:30,070 to understand who we are in Christ in comparison to who we are 879 00:38:30,070 --> 00:38:30,790 in our flesh. 880 00:38:31,110 --> 00:38:33,550 Now, even though we need to know who we are in our flesh, we 881 00:38:33,550 --> 00:38:34,950 need to let that go behind us. 882 00:38:35,110 --> 00:38:36,150 Remember what it says. 883 00:38:36,790 --> 00:38:38,630 Therefore, we are in Christ. 884 00:38:39,510 --> 00:38:40,590 We are new creatures. 885 00:38:40,590 --> 00:38:42,150 Old things are passed away. 886 00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:44,080 Behold, all things become new. 887 00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:48,080 Paul says, I'm looking forward to the things which are before me, 888 00:38:48,240 --> 00:38:50,160 not behind me, not to who I was. 889 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:53,680 So many times we look back to who we were before we came to Christ 890 00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:56,280 and we look back to our mistakes and our problems. 891 00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:58,439 And I'm going to tell you that, yeah, you can, you can learn 892 00:38:58,439 --> 00:39:00,840 from your problems, but don't rest in your problems. 893 00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:02,960 Don't rest in the sin that you committed in the past. 894 00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:05,520 Understand that God, if you were a believer in Jesus Christ, 895 00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:08,160 there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Jesus 896 00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:08,480 Christ. 897 00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:12,120 Therefore, if he's not judging you for the sin that you have committed, 898 00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:14,360 don't go back and say, you know what, ah, I just gotta keep 899 00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:14,840 paying for that. 900 00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:15,320 I gotta. 901 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:18,080 No, the idea is moving forward in the grace of God. 902 00:39:18,720 --> 00:39:21,120 There might be some people here that are struggling with a past 903 00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:24,999 sin, either before you were saved or even after you were saved. 904 00:39:24,999 --> 00:39:27,320 And the Bible says, yes, we don't condone sin. 905 00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:30,480 But the focus here in this passage and many other passages, 906 00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:33,400 especially Romans chapter 8, is that we don't live defined by 907 00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:33,800 our sin. 908 00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:36,660 We live defined by, by the grace that we find in Jesus Christ. 909 00:39:38,500 --> 00:39:43,100 And I would say this if you understand the grace of God, and 910 00:39:43,100 --> 00:39:45,300 I kind of sound like a broken record because I'm saying this every 911 00:39:45,300 --> 00:39:48,660 week, but if you understand the grace of God, you are able to 912 00:39:48,660 --> 00:39:50,420 extend grace to others around you. 913 00:39:50,980 --> 00:39:53,540 Because, like, look, look, there's that passage in scripture 914 00:39:53,540 --> 00:39:56,300 that, that Jesus talks about the, the parable of the guy who was 915 00:39:56,300 --> 00:39:58,660 forgiven this debt that he could never repay. 916 00:39:58,980 --> 00:40:01,740 Then he goes out right after that and gets a guy who owes him 917 00:40:01,740 --> 00:40:03,500 just a little bit of money, takes him by the throat and says 918 00:40:03,500 --> 00:40:05,230 he needs to be killed, right? 919 00:40:05,230 --> 00:40:08,630 He didn't understand forgiveness, he didn't appreciate 920 00:40:08,630 --> 00:40:09,270 forgiveness. 921 00:40:09,910 --> 00:40:15,190 And so I would, I would venture to say that if we don't extend 922 00:40:15,190 --> 00:40:19,350 grace to those around us, we, number one, either don't understand 923 00:40:19,510 --> 00:40:24,590 the grace of God or we are willingly rejecting that grace. 924 00:40:24,590 --> 00:40:25,590 Of God in our life. 925 00:40:25,590 --> 00:40:27,230 And therefore we're saying, you know what? 926 00:40:27,230 --> 00:40:29,510 I don't need God's grace because I can handle it myself. 927 00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:34,160 Folks, I'm going to tell you, we're all in need of abundant grace. 928 00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:38,920 For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. 929 00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:40,680 It is a gift of God, not of works. 930 00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:41,840 Lest any man should boast. 931 00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:44,960 Ephesians 2, 8, 9. 932 00:40:46,240 --> 00:40:47,680 None of us have a reason to boast. 933 00:40:47,680 --> 00:40:48,800 I don't care where we're at. 934 00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:53,000 I don't care how many years I stand behind a pulpit. 935 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:55,280 I don't care how many classes that I take. 936 00:40:55,820 --> 00:40:59,420 There is never a reason to boast in what I have done. 937 00:40:59,420 --> 00:41:02,700 There's only one person that we can boast in as a Christian, that 938 00:41:02,700 --> 00:41:05,340 is Jesus Christ and what he has done for us on the cross. 939 00:41:05,660 --> 00:41:06,700 And so here we see. 940 00:41:06,700 --> 00:41:09,580 Yeah, I used to read Romans 5 and say, thanks, Adam. 941 00:41:10,060 --> 00:41:11,899 Really appreciate what you did for me. 942 00:41:11,900 --> 00:41:13,340 You brought sin into this world. 943 00:41:14,060 --> 00:41:15,500 But let me tell you feel. 944 00:41:15,500 --> 00:41:19,220 I think theologically speaking, if we were Adam, we would 945 00:41:19,220 --> 00:41:19,980 have been there too. 946 00:41:20,700 --> 00:41:21,260 Okay? 947 00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:23,840 And the reality. 948 00:41:23,840 --> 00:41:27,000 And by the way, just a side note, just, just a little side note 949 00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:27,280 here. 950 00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:31,560 Paul is speaking in. 951 00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:35,000 In Adam being a real person that. 952 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:40,160 That committed a real sin, Jesus references Adam as a real person 953 00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:41,120 married to Eve. 954 00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:44,240 So therefore, we need to be very careful about this idea that 955 00:41:44,240 --> 00:41:47,920 Genesis is a big allegory, that Adam is just a picture of humanity. 956 00:41:48,590 --> 00:41:48,790 Though. 957 00:41:48,790 --> 00:41:51,430 Though there can be some similarities to the idea that Adam 958 00:41:51,430 --> 00:41:52,430 represents humanity. 959 00:41:52,510 --> 00:41:55,910 We must believe that Adam was a real person who committed a real 960 00:41:55,910 --> 00:41:58,550 sin, who eventually led to the death. 961 00:41:58,550 --> 00:42:00,030 And because why? 962 00:42:00,110 --> 00:42:02,110 Because Paul references him as a person. 963 00:42:02,350 --> 00:42:04,350 Jesus references him as a real person. 964 00:42:04,590 --> 00:42:07,030 And therefore I thought that was important to throw in there. 965 00:42:07,030 --> 00:42:10,350 But we cannot blame Adam for our sin. 966 00:42:10,350 --> 00:42:12,750 We cannot blame our society. 967 00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:16,760 Does society play a role in it? 968 00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:17,080 Sure. 969 00:42:17,880 --> 00:42:19,160 But what does James say? 970 00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:21,960 I can't blame anybody else except myself. 971 00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:22,520 When my. 972 00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:25,640 When that temptation comes, I buy into that temptation. 973 00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:29,080 And instead of resting in the grace of God and resting his righteousness, 974 00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:30,600 I say, no, that's what I want. 975 00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:33,000 But the beauty is that there's forgiveness. 976 00:42:34,200 --> 00:42:37,000 The beauty is, is that we're going to sin today. 977 00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:39,840 It doesn't condone it. 978 00:42:39,840 --> 00:42:41,000 It doesn't justify it. 979 00:42:41,310 --> 00:42:42,830 It doesn't say that, hey, you know what? 980 00:42:43,150 --> 00:42:43,990 Just keep sinning. 981 00:42:43,990 --> 00:42:46,990 But no, the reality is, is that there's beauty in the forgiveness 982 00:42:46,990 --> 00:42:47,870 of Jesus Christ. 983 00:42:50,510 --> 00:42:55,470 I don't know about you, but if I was God, I would not welcome myself 984 00:42:55,470 --> 00:42:56,030 back in. 985 00:42:56,989 --> 00:42:58,030 I would say enough's enough. 986 00:42:59,390 --> 00:43:02,030 Now Now I do need to make another point here. 987 00:43:04,030 --> 00:43:08,070 This does not mean that when we sin, either as an unbeliever or 988 00:43:08,070 --> 00:43:11,070 as a believer, that we are exempt from the consequence consequences 989 00:43:11,070 --> 00:43:11,890 on this side of heaven. 990 00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:18,760 If I, if I commit sin, even though God forgives me, I might still 991 00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:21,640 have to pay earthly payments for that. 992 00:43:22,920 --> 00:43:23,840 It's the reality. 993 00:43:23,840 --> 00:43:25,600 Some of you can speak to way of testimony. 994 00:43:25,600 --> 00:43:27,080 I can speak of way of testimony. 995 00:43:27,480 --> 00:43:30,560 I can't just live scot free in this world like, oh, I can keep sinning 996 00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:31,560 and God forgives me. 997 00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:34,000 So you know, just like I keep going back, I keep going back. 998 00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:38,710 No, like I've used this analogy before, I could be doing 999 00:43:38,710 --> 00:43:43,470 something wrong and, and drive my vehicle on the road and, and lose 1000 00:43:43,470 --> 00:43:46,910 control of that and make a bad decision in that regard and, and 1001 00:43:47,070 --> 00:43:48,270 get hurt really bad. 1002 00:43:48,670 --> 00:43:50,550 And God can forgive me for that sin. 1003 00:43:50,550 --> 00:43:53,550 But there might be a physical thing that I have to deal with the 1004 00:43:53,550 --> 00:43:54,270 rest of my life. 1005 00:43:54,430 --> 00:43:57,590 And that's a one way of a picture, but sometimes we deal other 1006 00:43:57,590 --> 00:43:58,590 baggage in our life. 1007 00:43:59,150 --> 00:44:02,150 And so it doesn't mean that everything is going to be wiped away 1008 00:44:02,150 --> 00:44:05,150 in, in the way of consequences on this side of heaven. 1009 00:44:05,490 --> 00:44:07,690 But there's no more condemnation when it comes to our 1010 00:44:07,690 --> 00:44:09,010 eternal standing before him. 1011 00:44:09,890 --> 00:44:11,730 And God's grace abounds much more. 1012 00:44:11,810 --> 00:44:14,290 But I want to challenge you here today, and this will be the 1013 00:44:14,290 --> 00:44:15,250 last thing that I say. 1014 00:44:15,490 --> 00:44:22,210 I want to challenge you today with this idea of taking responsibility 1015 00:44:22,530 --> 00:44:27,490 for sin, but then realizing that I can't do anything about my 1016 00:44:27,490 --> 00:44:31,410 sin other than relying on Jesus Christ to overcome that sin 1017 00:44:31,410 --> 00:44:36,130 in my life, to give me victory in that, to forgive me and to give 1018 00:44:36,130 --> 00:44:37,210 me a new life in Him. 1019 00:44:38,010 --> 00:44:40,090 And so here today, I don't want to shame anybody. 1020 00:44:40,330 --> 00:44:41,130 It's not my job. 1021 00:44:41,130 --> 00:44:42,890 My job is never to shame anybody. 1022 00:44:43,130 --> 00:44:47,770 My job is to point you to the truth of Jesus Christ, to point you 1023 00:44:47,770 --> 00:44:51,490 to what the word of God says about grace, what the word of God 1024 00:44:51,490 --> 00:44:52,170 says about sin. 1025 00:44:52,170 --> 00:44:52,970 What does sin bring? 1026 00:44:52,970 --> 00:44:56,570 Sin brings death, destruction, pain, all of those things, darkness. 1027 00:44:57,210 --> 00:44:59,450 But then on the side of grace, what does grace bring? 1028 00:44:59,450 --> 00:45:03,930 Grace brings light, life, forgiveness, righteousness. 1029 00:45:04,650 --> 00:45:06,930 And so if we could be characterized by anything in our 1030 00:45:06,930 --> 00:45:09,330 life, I think one of the things that we should want to be 1031 00:45:09,330 --> 00:45:11,770 characterized by is grace. 1032 00:45:13,450 --> 00:45:17,730 We're all at each other's throats in our culture, sometimes 1033 00:45:17,730 --> 00:45:18,490 within the church. 1034 00:45:20,490 --> 00:45:22,730 And there's a time and a place to stand on truth. 1035 00:45:22,730 --> 00:45:25,410 But there's also a time and a place to extend grace to people and 1036 00:45:25,410 --> 00:45:26,330 patience with people. 1037 00:45:27,490 --> 00:45:29,970 And I think that we look at Jesus Christ, and we realize his 1038 00:45:29,970 --> 00:45:31,490 example for us in that regard. 1039 00:45:31,570 --> 00:45:32,410 It's a free gift. 1040 00:45:32,410 --> 00:45:33,650 We talked about it last week. 1041 00:45:33,890 --> 00:45:34,410 I could. 1042 00:45:34,410 --> 00:45:36,290 I could have a gift in the lobby. 1043 00:45:36,610 --> 00:45:39,450 You could take that gift or you could leave that gift, but at 1044 00:45:39,450 --> 00:45:41,170 the end of the day, it's offered to you. 1045 00:45:41,170 --> 00:45:44,170 And so here this morning, that gift is for all, for those that have 1046 00:45:44,170 --> 00:45:45,970 believed, for those who have not believed. 1047 00:45:45,970 --> 00:45:49,050 Are you willing to take that gift of grace today and live in that 1048 00:45:49,050 --> 00:45:51,090 gift and rest in that gift? 1049 00:45:51,170 --> 00:45:52,250 Well, I'm going to conclude there. 1050 00:45:52,250 --> 00:45:54,210 I'm going to ask everyone to stand with me, every head bowed, 1051 00:45:54,210 --> 00:45:56,130 every eye closed, as the music plays here this morning. 1052 00:45:56,610 --> 00:46:01,250 We're going to take a time for you to respond to the preaching of 1053 00:46:01,250 --> 00:46:02,290 the word of God this morning. 1054 00:46:02,930 --> 00:46:05,370 And if you can think of any verse to meditate upon here this 1055 00:46:05,370 --> 00:46:06,370 morning, think about this. 1056 00:46:07,730 --> 00:46:10,930 Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where 1057 00:46:11,010 --> 00:46:15,090 sin abounded, grace did much more abound. 1058 00:46:17,170 --> 00:46:19,330 Are you resting in that grace here today? 1059 00:46:20,210 --> 00:46:24,670 Are you trusting in anything else to give you satisfaction, to 1060 00:46:24,670 --> 00:46:28,310 give you hope, to give you peace, to give you comfort? 1061 00:46:28,630 --> 00:46:31,470 The Bible says it is by the grace of God that we have anything 1062 00:46:31,470 --> 00:46:32,430 that we have in our life. 1063 00:46:32,430 --> 00:46:35,070 Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from the 1064 00:46:35,070 --> 00:46:35,750 Father above. 1065 00:46:36,390 --> 00:46:43,230 And so, therefore, today I challenge you, encourage you to meditate 1066 00:46:43,230 --> 00:46:45,670 upon the grace of God and what that means for you today. 1067 00:46:46,230 --> 00:46:48,350 Lord, I pray that you'd be in this time of invitation, working 1068 00:46:48,350 --> 00:46:49,030 hearts and lives. 1069 00:46:49,640 --> 00:46:53,000 There's anyone that needs to know you as savior, to experience 1070 00:46:53,160 --> 00:46:54,760 your grace today through faith. 1071 00:46:54,760 --> 00:46:56,200 Lord, I pray that today be the day. 1072 00:46:57,720 --> 00:47:02,120 But all those that are out there that might be a believer but 1073 00:47:02,120 --> 00:47:05,160 have been struggling with the concept of grace, struggling with 1074 00:47:05,160 --> 00:47:07,640 the concept of work, struggling the concept of guilt and 1075 00:47:09,720 --> 00:47:10,440 condemnation. 1076 00:47:10,440 --> 00:47:13,600 Lord, I pray that today could be the day where they're freed from 1077 00:47:13,600 --> 00:47:19,040 the bondage of sin, freed from the burden of sin and being, resting 1078 00:47:20,080 --> 00:47:21,720 and believing in your grace. 1079 00:47:21,720 --> 00:47:23,520 And so, Lord, I pray that you be in this time of invitation. 1080 00:47:24,240 --> 00:47:25,600 We ask all these things of Jesus. 1081 00:47:25,600 --> 00:47:26,000 Amen. 1082 00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:27,000 As the music plays, follow us. 1083 00:47:27,000 --> 00:47:28,080 The Lord leads here this morning. 1084 00:48:50,430 --> 00:48:52,910 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 1085 00:48:52,910 --> 00:48:53,550 podcast. 1086 00:48:53,790 --> 00:48:56,110 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1087 00:48:56,910 --> 00:48:58,840 You would like to find out more information about our channel, 1088 00:48:58,990 --> 00:49:02,590 church or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1089 00:49:02,830 --> 00:49:05,390 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1090 00:49:06,110 --> 00:49:10,630 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch 1091 00:49:10,630 --> 00:49:15,070 dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 1092 00:49:15,070 --> 00:49:17,870 along for future podcast and updates. 1093 00:49:18,510 --> 00:49:19,470 Thank you so much. 1094 00:49:19,710 --> 00:49:20,430 God bless. 1095 00:49:20,670 --> 00:49:21,950 Have a wonderful day.