The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee
Forgiveness of Sin Through Jesus Christ - 4
Note: See the Answer Key at the bottom of this page to fill in the blanks.
Overview:
Romans 3:21-31 |
Jesus Christ took our punishment. |
These 11 verses establish that there is only one way for us to be made right with God: for us to receive salvation as a gift through the blood of Jesus being poured out to satisfy God’s justice. In His death on the cross Jesus took our punishment for sin. |
Romans 4:1-23 |
The faith of Abraham |
In chapter 4, Paul uses the life of Abraham as an example of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus. |
Romans 5:1-11 |
Faith brings joy |
In these 11 verses, Paul demonstrates that while salvation is a gift from God through Jesus, it is lived out as a ____________ in our lives, that leads ultimately to joy and eternal life in God’s presence. |
Romans 5:12-21 |
Adam and Christ contrasted |
Here Paul makes the case that through the “first” Adam sin entered the world, and that through the “second” Adam—Jesus, all are made whole. |
Romans 5:12-21
In this section, Paul contrasts the life, actions, and consequences of Adam, with the life, actions and consequences of Jesus Christ. He makes it clear that because of Adam’s sin, sin and death are __________________, while because of Jesus’ righteousness, each of us may be ______________ to righteousness.
12When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
The consequence of Adam’s sin is pervasive. Humanity was no longer “good” as God had created us to be. Sin, evil and death became part of human experience, through Adam and Eve’s sin. Paul points out that death is the ultimate result of sin, and that death “spread” to everyone, because everyone sinned. The universal nature of sin has been a “given” in the history of the church, although in “modern” times, the fields of socially and psychology have often sought to deny the reality of sin. This is one more challenge faced by Christians in the 21st century. We live in an era where more absolutes are no longer _____________________ by the culture at large. Morality is seen as “relative,” based on the situation. Paul leaves no doubt that sin is a constant, and that death is the ultimate consequence of sin.
APPLICATION POINT: Paul has made this point clear throughout the book of Romans: ALL are sinners. We must constantly guard against two extremes with regard to this reality—the first: to deny it, as our culture so often does. It is unbelievable that folks can look at our culture and deny the existence of evil and sin, saying rather that what we observe is merely the result of faulty “conditioning,” or poor laws, or injustice. This deception that sin doesn’t exist comes from Satan. The second extreme is to “wallow” in sin, believing Satan’s lie that we can never overcome sin. Some see the condition of humanity and say, “What’s the use?” Our reality as followers of Jesus Christ is that sin IS real, AND Jesus died to remove it’s ultimate impact from our lives. Therefore, we need no longer experience separation from God, in this life, or in the next!
13Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. And though there was no law to break, since it had not yet been given, 14they all died anyway—even though they did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. What a contrast between Adam and Christ, who was yet to come!
Note: The division between Romans 5:13-14, shows how arbitrary verse markers are, and that often we ought to ignore them in our reading of Scripture. (Sometimes sentences are even divided between chapters!) These “markers” were added 800 years after the New Testament was written to make it easier for readers of the Bible to locate specific passages—which is obviously a blessing. Especially since the original Greek text, not only had not chapter and verse markings but no punctuation, either. In fact the text was written in columns, in all caps, with no spaces between words. It would be something like this:
YESPEOPLESINNEDEV NTHOUGHTHEYDIDNOT
ENBEFORETHELAWW DISOBEYANEXPLICITCO
ASGIVENANDTHOUGH MMANDMENTOFGODAS
THEREWASNOLAWTO ADAMDIDWHATACONTR
BREAKSINCEITHADNO ASTBETWEENADAMAND
TYETBEENGIVENTHEY CHRISTWHOWASYETTOC
ALLDIEDANYWAYEVE OME
Imagine how difficult Bible reading would be, if we were faced with this “format”!
Think About: What mistakes do you suppose could occur in the hand copying of texts such as this, and in the interpretation of what had been written?
THANK GOD that Biblical Scholars have undertaken, not only the re-formatting of the Bible into sentences with punctuation, divided into chapters and verses, but have also translated them into the “vernacular” languages of us all!
Paul here points out a reality that most of us may not have considered: Adam and Eve broke a specific commandment of God. After that all the people who live until the time of Moses had not specific commandment or “law” of God to break. Nevertheless, they all ____________ anyway. This was a consequence of Adam’s sin—and their own sin. Even though folks did not have an explicit code of laws from God, they all had the natural understanding of who God is and what God expects within them, that Paul established of all humanity in Romans chapter one.
APPLICATION POINT: It is often said that “ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Paul points out the full validity of this statement in relationship to God’s expectations of humanity. God holds us accountable for living in righteousness, because He has placed an innate understanding of righteousness within us all. Even when we aren’t sure that our actions are breaking a specific law, we know by that internal “deposit” of God’s expectations within us that what we are during is right or wrong. This does not mean that we will do what is right—only that we know what is right, even without having any explicit instructions.
15And what a difference between our sin and God’s generous gift of forgiveness. For this one man, Adam, brought death to many through his sin. But this other man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many through God’s bountiful gift.
Here Paul starts the comparison and contrast between Adam and Jesus. Adam sinned, and THEREFORE, we all sinned. Adam’s sin brought death to “many” through his sin. (The word “many” is placed in quotes here, because although it is an accurate translation of the Greek words “hoi polloi”, Paul’s intent is obvious. He did not mean that Adam’s sin brought death to “many,” people, but to ALL people. He establishes this in Romans 5:12-14. The consequence of Adam’s sin is universal death to the human race. Now Paul introduces “this other man, Jesus Christ.” It is through Jesus Christ that God’s generous gift of forgiveness came to the world, and it is only through Him that we may receive it. Adam’s actions brought sin and death. Jesus’ actions bring forgiveness—righteousness and life!
APPLICATION POINT: If we want to be right with God, we must rely not our human ancestry: it doesn’t matter how good our ancestors may have been. They weren’t good enough!; but on our spiritual ancestry through Jesus Christ. Many folks trace their genealogies back generations, and while it may be fun to find that we are the descendants of royalty, in the very real sense from God’s perspective, the only ancestry that matters is that we become descendants of Jesus, because all human ancestry is traced back to ________________, the originator of sin in humanity.
16And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but we have the free gift of being accepted by God, even though we are guilty of many sins.
The consequence of Adam’s sin was condemnation for all people. The “consequence” of receiving the free gift of being accepted by God, through Jesus Christ is that we have a new life, and we are no longer condemned (as we will read specifically in Romans 8) Paul makes it clear that this new life, and this wiping away of our condemnation is not because of any inherent goodness on our part—it is a gift of God. He shows us this through his words, “even though we are guilty of many sins.” Paul knew and understood human nature, starting with his own. Paul referred to himself as the “chief of sinners,” before Jesus Christ gave him a new life. We are all guilty of many sins. That is the “bad news” of the Gospel. The Good News is that Jesus Christ came to die to receive the just punishment for those sins, and to give us a new life.
17The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over us, but all who receive God’s wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
From here to the end of the chapter Paul will simply focus on different “facets” of the same “gem.” He will say in various ways that Adam caused humanity to be condemned, and Jesus overcame the condemnation for us. Here he puts it in terms of the sin of Adam causing “death to rule over us.” This is the ultimate “bad news.” As if it weren’t enough that Adam’s sin brings about God’s condemnation and separation from God, after we live through the consequences of our sin—we die. But that is NOT the final word, at least not for “all who receive God’s wonderful, gracious, gift of righteousness.” We who receive that “will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”
APPLICATION POINT: Paul makes it clear that death IS universal. Salvation from that death is universally ____________________. In other words every person MAY receive it, but it is a gift that must be accepted. That’s why Christianity is a missionary faith. Once we have received the new life that Jesus offers, the best way we can show our gratitude to God is by sharing it with as many others as possible. After all, God’s ultimate design in sending Jesus to the world is to restore humanity, not just a select few. While it may be true that many people will reject the free gift, it is our responsibility to offer it to everyone we can!
18Yes, Adam’s one sin brought condemnation upon everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness makes all people right in God’s sight and gives them life.
Here we see the incredible consequences that can issue from ONE action. Adam’s one act brought condemnation on everyone. Jesus’ one act of righteousness makes people right in God’s sight and gives them life.
APPLICATION POINT: We often buy into Satan’s lie that we are only one person and that what we do doesn’t matter. What we do matters, and may matter eternally for a family member, or co-worker, or neighbor, or classmate. Paul tells us that Adam’s sin has consequences right up to the present, as does Jesus’ righteousness. In the same way our __________________ whether noticed by many or only by God, may alter the course of eternity for ourselves and for others! Your life and my life matter to God---and to those around us!
19Because one person disobeyed God, many people became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many people will be made right in God’s sight.
Here again, Paul contrasts Adam and Jesus in regard to their actions and the consequences. The implication for us is that our actions have consequences. We cannot live in a “vacuum,” even if we want to. What we do or fail to do makes an impact on others. Disobedience and obedience always issue forth in consequences. As Adam disobeyed, the consequence was death for us all. As Jesus obeyed, the consequence was the possibility of life for us all!
20God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful kindness became more abundant.
Here Paul introduces the “purpose” of God’s law. It isn’t what we may think. Usually we think of laws as being for the purpose of helping people do what is right. Paul says nearly the opposite. God’s law was given so we could see how sinful we really are. As we look at the law and we see how pitifully we fall short of it, we realize that we are never going to become right with God through our efforts. Paul tells us that as people sinned “more and more, God’s wonderful kindness became more abundant.” This image of God, as the one who wants to forgive our sins, and to restore us to righteousness, despite our sinning “more and more,” flies in the face of the imaginings of many of the severity of God, of His desire to punish the wicked. God DOES punish the wicked, but only if they fail to respond to the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. God doesn’t want to punish the wicked, but it is in His nature to punish evil. He cannot tolerate sin, but rather than eliminate us for our sin, He eliminates the effect of sin in us, by dying Himself, in the form of Jesus.
APPLICATION POINT: In the parable of the talents three servants are given varying amounts of money to manage for their master. Two see the inherent goodness of their master and risk His wealth in order to gain more for Him. The third sees the master as hard and cruel. Therefore, he hides the Master’s money in the ground. When the master returns He rewards the faithfulness of the two who saw His goodness and risked His wealth in order to gain more. He punishes the third servant severely, according to the servant’s viewpoint of the Master. Before we receive the new life Jesus offers us, God may seem strict, judgmental, even evil to us. It is only after we see God for who He really is, through the eyes of faith that we recognize God’s “wonderful kindness” and that it becomes more and more abundant throughout our lives.
21So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful kindness rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
God’s wonderful kindness has always ruled over humanity. It is His “general grace” that keeps Him from eliminating us all for our sin. It is His specific grace in Jesus Christ that offers us right standing with God and eternal life. This Good News, overcame (and overcomes) all the bad news we experience in daily life. As we look at Adam – and see ourselves – we know that we need a Savior. We need someone to restore us to relationship with God. Thank God that in his wonderful kindness, death is “put to death” and life rules through Jesus Christ our Lord!
ANSWER KEY: universal, restored, accepted, died, Adam, available, actions
Back to the study guide for Nee's The Normal Christian Life.