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Soll Selections Lent 3
Romans 5:17-6:2 March 3, 2013
Dear Friends in Christ,
Our text for this morning is one that comes to us from the Holy Spirit through the Apostle
Paul. As most of you know, Paul was used by God not just to write this letter to the
Romans, but to write most of the New Testament. In epistles or letters that Paul wrote to
various congregations, God made known to the churches throughout the Roman Empire
the truth of His love and the salvation that comes by grace through faith. He also dealt with
the problems and difficulties that arose in various congregations as a lesson for us on how
to deal with such attacks of Satan.
But as we look at all the writings of Paul, all the words that God inspired this man to write,
all the Epistles to all the various congregations, the letter to the Romans might very well be
considered the Apostle Paul’s Opus Magnus. And if you’re unfamiliar with that term, it is
just a way of saying that Paul’s letter to the Romans was his greatest work. This does not
mean that the letter to the Ephesians or the epistles to Timothy were inferior or of less
importance, they are still the inspired and inerrant Word of God. But those epistles, along
with the rest, were not of the scope and magnitude of Paul’s letter to the Romans. For in
Paul’s letter to the Romans we find an exhaustive message of God’s salvation. He is not just
addressing a few issues and stressing what this church or that needed to hear. Rather, in a
discourse that starts with sin and ends with God’s grace we see the Apostle Paul deal with
more than just a problem or two, but rather he covers all of God’s work of salvation in a
way that leaves no questions unanswered. In many ways we can consider Paul’s letter to
the Romans as a condensed version of the entire Bible, a synopsis of God’s saving grace.
The reason that this Epistle is so thorough and so complete is because Paul had not yet
made it to Rome . All the other Epistles of Paul were written to congregations that he was
familiar with. Either they were congregations he had started or they were churches that
started by people he knew and had taught. This meant Paul knew what they knew. Paul
was sure that they had a full understanding of how God saves sinners. But this was not the
case in Rome. This was a congregation Paul did not start and at this point in his ministry
he had not been able to visit them on one of his missionary journeys. Paul’s concern for this
young and growing congregation was that there might have been holes or gaps in what they
were taught. They might have some misconceptions about how we are saved or some of the
other truths of Scripture. In a letter that was more an ounce of prevention than a pound of
cure, Paul wanted to be sure they knew all there was to know of our sin and God’s grace.
Since this message was going to be written to a group of people who came from all over the
Roman Empire , Paul wanted to make sure that every last one of them understood what he
was saying about how it is that God justifies us and gives us salvation. He didn’t want
backgrounds or preconceived ideas getting in the way of their eternal life so Paul presented
the simple message of salvation by grace alone in a number of different ways.
For the people of Jewish decent, those who took pride in being Children of God and sons of
Abraham, Paul was clear to point out that even righteous Abraham was not saved by his
works or deeds, but like us, Abraham was saved by grace through faith. For those who
were more legally minded, Paul used courtroom examples to demonstrate how the laws of
God, like the laws of men, are not there to save people but rather they are a standard we
cannot perfectly keep. And just to make sure that no one was left out, Paul also used the
idea of the Roman Empire ruling over all the people to give a clear example of how
everyone is under some form of authority. For no matter if Paul was addressing full fledged
Roman citizens or just the second class people who were living in the Empire, all of them
could relate to the fact that someone ruled over them or as Paul puts it, there is someone
who reigns over us.
It is that final point that is being covered in our text for this morning. For as Paul alludes
to that idea of being ruled by someone, he uses that image to teach the point that in this
world we are either ruled by the law or by the Gospel. Either we are under the reign of
regulations and demands that control our lives, or we are under the reign of grace and
freedom.
Our theme is one that asks the question, “WHO REIGNS IN YOUR LIFE?” And as a
further point of clarification, as a way of understanding this better, part one of our sermon
asks I. IS IT THE REIGN OF THE LAW AND DEATH? and part two asks II. IS IT THE
REIGN OF THE GOSPEL AND LIFE?
Now as Paul starts out this section and gets his readers thinking on the lines of who it is
that reigns over them and who it is that rules our lives, he uses a very old example that
everyone is familiar with, the example of death. And even though this is an example as old
as time, people don’t often think of death in the terms that Paul has outlined it. For Paul’s
message is one that says, “by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one.”
Let’s break that short sentence down. The “one man” that he is referring to is Adam, the
first human being created by God to live perfectly in the image of God. The “offense” is the
first sin in the Garden of Eden. There were no laws for Adam and Eve save to not eat of the
Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Yet soon after the seventh day Adam and Eve
committed this offence and ate from the forbidden tree. The result of that offence was the
reign of death. For Paul’s point is that man really should not have to die. His point is that
God created us to live forever in the paradise of Eden . God wanted everything to be
perfect forever and ever, but man ruined it. When God’s perfect creation, the “one”,
Adam, fell into sin he ruined God’s plan for mankind and brought to himself and all his
descendents the result of sin, both temporal and eternal death.
And ever since that moment, that moment when God gave the sentence that “dust you are
and to dust you shall return,” death has reigned without challenge. Adam and Eve had to
die, and not only them, but also all their children who were conceived in sin. Like the trait
of light skin or dark eyes, all mankind was to inherit the sinful nature of Adam and Eve
and all mankind was to be under the reign of sin, the reign of death. Oh there are those
who struggle and fight to hold on to life, rebels, if you will, against a cruel master, but as
Paul points out, death is having its way. Death is there for each and every one of us. Death
is something we cannot escape. It rules not only our lives but the lives of everyone we will
ever know. No one can escape the reign of death.
But this did not stop mankind from trying. Many feel that if we can go back and undo the
work of Adam and Eve we can set ourselves free from the reign of death. They think that
they can simply go back and keep the laws of God and they will be free from the
condemnation it brings. But Paul tells us, “Moreover the law entered that the offense might
abound.” This mean that the law is not there as something we can do to escape the reign of
death, but the law is there to add to the reign of death. The law simply makes it painfully
clear that we cannot do what God demands and save ourselves. For when God says to have
no other Gods, we find ways to make our family, friends and job more important that He
is. When God says to obey those in authority over us we find all kinds of “reasons” that
make it seem we don’t have to. And when it comes to things like sexual sins, we can always
excuse them because we feel that God would never want us to be alone or that it is just
natural and must be OK. The law that God has given never sets us free from the reign of
death but merely confirms that all of us are like Adam and guilty of the offense and the
death it brings.
Yet Paul’s message is not a one-sided message. Even as he shows how death rules and
reigns in the lives of us all, there is another game in town, another who can also rule or
reign over our lives. For even as Paul says, “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned
through the one,” he goes on to say, “much more those who receive abundance of grace and
of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”
What he had done is set up the reign of death brought about by man’s fall into sin against
the free salvation won by God Himself. Simply put, if one man can bring sin and death that
rules all mankind, can God bring salvation and life to rule in its place? The answer, of
course, is yes. Yes God can and has brought salvation to all mankind by the work of His
Son Jesus Christ. For in the righteous act of Jesus, the act of keeping God’s law perfectly
and giving His innocent life in exchange for ours God has shown us His Grace. HE has
shown us that even though we are condemned by Him to be under the rule of the law and
the reign of death it brings, we have the gift of eternal life. Paul says this very thing when
he tells us, “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in
death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord.”
Such a statement of salvation by grace alone really has nothing else that needs to be said.
We don’t need to add anything to it because we are not saved by what we do but only by
what Christ has done. Yet Paul asks a follow up question. IT is a question that really asks
the person who was under the reign of death and is now under the reign of the Gospel. IT is
a question that asks us, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may
abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”
This is such an obvious question it is really a wonder it needs to be asked. It is like asking
who would pay high taxes after their tax rate is cut? Who would bow down to the king if he
moves to a democracy? Who would keep on paying their mortgage when it is paid off?
Who would stay in prison when they have been set free? We understand that when the
rules change, people will change right along with them. If we don’t like the harsh situation
we are in, we are glad when it changes and our lives reflect that. We will gladly live under
the new if it is better than the old.
And that is Paul’s point. Since it was disobedience to the law that brought about sin and
death, since it was the offense of Adam against God’s law that give us the reign of death,
why would we want that same situation? Why would we want to go on sinning? For what
we have in Christ is not only the full payment for our sins but also the strength of the Holy
Spirit to go and sin no more. It is the reminder that we are under the reign of life, not
death. We are under the reign of grace, not the law. We are under Christ that we might
gladly serve Him until such a time as we meet face to face the One reigns for all eternity.
Amen.
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.
Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace
abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through
righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!
How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
In His Service,
Pastor Joseph R. Schlawin
Our Shepherd Ev. Lutheran Church
1515 W. 93rd Ave
Crown Point, IN 46307
219-663-5853