POPULARITY
4 episodes with Federal headship
4 episodes with Federal headship
3 episodes with Federal headship
2 episodes with Federal headship
3 episodes with Federal headship
3 episodes with Federal headship
2 episodes with Federal headship
2 episodes with Federal headship
2 episodes with Federal headship
by Elder Chris McCool, Pastor (preached on December 1, 2024) Yesterday we learned about the Bible doctrines of “federal headship” and “original sin”, which simply teach that Adam represented all of his posterity in the Garden, and therefore his sin … Read More
by Elder Chris McCool, Pastor (preached on December 1, 2024) In Romans 5:12, we find two very important theological concepts that are essential to our understanding of our eternal salvation: the doctrines of “federal headship” and “original sin”. Federal headship … Read More
Romans 5:12-21 contrasts the first Adam, whose disobedience brought sin and death, with the second Adam, Jesus Christ, whose obedience offers grace and life. This episode explores the theological concept of "Federal Headship" and how one act can transform the world—for better or worse. Christ's redemptive work reconciles us with God, offering the hope-filled truth of justification. Explore questions about sin, grace, and our shared humanity in Adam and redemption in Christ.
Romans 6:1-10 Compare Romans 5:12
IS MULTICULTURALISM GOOD? America has been called “The Melting Pot” for all people, cultures and countries around the world. But is multiculturalism good? More importantly, is it biblical? In today's podcast I am going to show you the answer through reality and God's Word. In PART2, we will dig even deeper into God's Word to see what God says about the subject. The Scriptures makes clear that the gathering of many cultures in one place, or “multiculturalism” can be beautiful, but ONLY when under the Federal Headship of Jesus. Let's jump into PT1!Please give the old Gancio Sinistro Sicilian Right Hook and SMASH that "SUBSCRIBE BUTON!"I want to invite yo uno Join our Blog-Community at www.StevenGarofalo.ComBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reason-for-truth--2774396/support.
All the Episodes of the Heidelcast Subscribe to the Heidelcast! On X @Heidelcast On Insta & Facebook @Heidelcast Subscribe in Apple Podcast Subscribe directly via RSS Call The Heidelphone via Voice Memo On Your Phone The Heidelcast is available wherever podcasts are found including Spotify. Call or text the Heidelphone anytime at (760) 618-1563. Leave a message or email us a voice memo from your phone and we may use it in a future podcast. Record it and email it to heidelcast@heidelblog.net. If you benefit from the Heidelcast please leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts so that others can find it. Please do not forget to make the coffer clink (see the donate button below). SHOW NOTES How To Subscribe To Heidelmedia The Heidelblog Resource Page Heidelmedia Resources The Ecumenical Creeds The Reformed Confessions The Heidelberg Catechism Recovering the Reformed Confession (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2008) Why I Am A Christian What Must A Christian Believe? Heidelblog Contributors Support Heidelmedia: use the donate button or send a check to: Heidelberg Reformation Association 1637 E. Valley Parkway #391 Escondido CA 92027 USA The HRA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
The Matt Slick Live (Live Broadcast of 07-11-2024) is a production of the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry (CARM). Matt answers questions on topics such as: The Bible, Apologetics, Theology, World Religions, Atheism, and other issues! You can also email questions to Matt using: info@carm.org, Put "Radio Show Question" in the Subject line! Answers will be discussed in a future show. Topics Include:The Work of Baptism in Relation to FaithSharing The Gospel in Persecuting CountriesAnswering a Radio Question about Choices and a Responding CallerAn Explanation of Federal Headship and How it Relates to ElectionJuly 11, 2024
The Matt Slick Live (Live Broadcast of 07-11-2024) is a production of the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry (CARM). Matt answers questions on topics such as: The Bible, Apologetics, Theology, World Religions, Atheism, and other issues! You can also email questions to Matt using: info@carm.org, Put "Radio Show Question" in the Subject line! Answers will be discussed in a future show. Topics Include:The Work of Baptism in Relation to FaithSharing The Gospel in Persecuting CountriesAnswering a Radio Question about Choices and a Responding CallerAn Explanation of Federal Headship and How it Relates to ElectionJuly 11, 2024
Soteriology 101: Former Calvinistic Professor discusses Doctrines of Salvation
Dr. Leighton Flowers responds to the most recent Dividing Line broadcast by James White, who critiques the Provisionist view of Romans 5, Federal Headship, and human intuition, followed by some other things. JOIN US LIVE! To get your copy of Dr. Flowers new book, Drawn By Jesus, go here: https://a.co/d/6s767Ey To SUPPORT this broadcast please click here: https://soteriology101.com/support/ Is Calvinism all Leighton talks about? https://soteriology101.com/2017/09/22/is-calvinism-all-you-talk-about/ Dr. Flowers' book, “The Potter's Promise” and his book, “God's Provision for All” can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Leighton-Flowers/e/B06VWXZBXM/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1 DOWNLOAD OUR APP:LINK FOR ANDROIDS: https://play.google.com/store/apps/de... LINK FOR APPLE: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/soterio... To ORDER Dr. Flowers Curriculum “Tiptoeing Through Tulip” please click here: https://soteriology101.com/shop/ To listen to the audio only be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or one of the other podcast players found here: https://soteriology101.com/home/ For more about Traditionalism (or Provisionism) please visit www.soteriology101.com To engage with other believers cordially join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1806702782965265 For updates and news follow us at: www.facebook.com/soteriology101 Or @soteriology101 on Twitter Please SHARE on Facebook and Twitter and help spread the word! To learn more about other ministries and teachings from Dr. Flowers go here: https://soteriology101.com/2017/09/22... Go to www.ridgemax.co for all you software developing needs! Show them some love for their support of Soteriology101. To become a Patreon supporter or make a one time donation: https://soteriology101.com/support/ Thanks for watching. #Leighton Flowers #Predestination #Calvinism #Provisionism #Calvinist #Salvation
What is the meaning of federal headship? What does it mean that Adam was our federal head?
In this episode I begin with some comments about the "online world" of theology and apologetics. Then we continue our study through the book of Romans. We walk through this passage and define the terms and show what all who are "in Adam" recieve from Adam and we also look at what all who are "in Christ" recieve from him. We also read a passage from The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges on the federal headship of Adam and Christ, and set the stage for the next part of Romans, chapters 6-7.
Federal headship or federalism. A Bible study in Malayalam. Watch more videos in English and Malayalam @ naphtalitribetv.com Listen to the audio message @ https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/naphtalitriberadio Read Bible study notes in English at our official web: naphtalitribe.com Read Bible study notes in Malayalam @ vathil.in For free eBooks visit our eBook store @ www.naphtalitribebooks.in or whatsapp to +91 9961330751 To support us financially, click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LjyBGsz4SkUV9mr20CzDzLoKENA5yPRj/view?usp=sharing
This message, preached by Pastor Brock, continues our series on the Epistle to the Romans, and was preached on February 18, 2024.
Ever pondered the ripple effects of Adam's sin or questioned how it could possibly influence your life today? Prepare for a theological odyssey that examines the topic of sin, individual accountability, and the deep-seated implications of The Federal Headship of Adam—the doctrine that through Adam's transgression, all of humanity has inherited a sin nature. In our latest episode, we dissect this complex Biblical reasoning and Pelagianism, a view historically rejected by the church for its assertion that humans are born with a clean moral slate. Join us for a thought-provoking session that explain this important Christian doctrine. You can listen to the full session here - https://www.buzzsprout.com/1892337/13110350 Support the show
1. Total Depravity (Matt. 12:34-36; Mark 10:18; Rom. 3:9-18, 23; 8:8; 14:23; Prov. 16:2)2. Federal Headship & Original Sin (Rom. 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:22)3. The Flesh Is Dead In Sin (Eph. 2:1-3; John 6:63-66)4. Total Depravity, the Gospel and the Church
Gospel in a Minute - -What is Federal Headship--- You can hear the entire sermon this clip came from here https---www.sermonaudio.com-sermoninfo.asp--SID-123231852226011
Federal Headship refers to one who represents a group bound by a common cause or agreement, such as those in a covenant or federation. You are either under the headship of Adam or Christ.
Federal Headship refers to one who represents a group bound by a common cause or agreement, such as those in a covenant or federation. You are either under the headship of Adam or Christ.
Further understanding the blessings of Christ's Federal Headship
Can a loving God truly punish the children for their father's sins? How does this idea connect with original sin and our relationship with the Holy Spirit? Join us as we grapple with these questions and more, diving deep into the phrase in Exodus 20:5, "visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth generations of those who hate me."We also explore the complicated concept of 'Federal Headship of Adam' and its implications on humanity's inherited sin. Investigate how the Pelagianism doctrine, which claims that we are all born innocent and don't require the Holy Spirit's guidance, has been historically condemned. Learn about the significance of the Holy Spirit in our lives and how our beliefs impact our relationship with God.Lastly, discover the importance of honoring God's name and the long-standing tradition of Sabbath keeping. Uncover the consequences of using the Lord's name in vain and the central role of observing the Sabbath as a way to express reverence for our Creator. Tune in to this thought-provoking episode as we continue to reason through the Bible and unveil more of God's teachings in the Ten Commandments.Support the show
The Matt Slick Live daily radio show broadcast is produced by The Christian Apologetics Research Ministry -CARM.org-. During the show, Matt answers questions on the air, and offers insight on topics like The Bible, Apologetics, Theology, World Religions, Atheism, and other issues-- The show airs live on the Truth Network, Monday through Friday, 6-7 PM, EST -3-4 PM, PST--You can also watch a live stream during the live show on RUMBLE---Topics include---- 10- Is it ok for Christians to get tattoos and body piercings---- 15- Is Jesus God-- Acts 20- 27-29, Hebrews 1-8.-- 40- Where do Demons target people---- 41- Government, Term limits.-- 51- Original vs Imputed Sin, Federal Headship, Romans 5-19.
The Matt Slick Live daily radio show broadcast is produced by The Christian Apologetics Research Ministry (CARM.org). During the show, Matt answers questions on the air, and offers insight on topics like The Bible, Apologetics, Theology, World Religions, Atheism, and other issues! The show airs live on the Truth Network, Monday through Friday, 6-7 PM, EST (3-4 PM, PST) You can also watch a live stream during the live show on RUMBLE! MSL: June, 02 2023 Topics include: 10- Is it ok for Christians to get tattoos and body piercings? 15- Is Jesus God? Acts 20: 27-29, Hebrews 1:8. 40- Where do Demons target people? 41- Government, Term limits. 51- Original vs Imputed Sin, Federal Headship, Romans 5:19. MSL: June, 02 2023 This show LIVE STREAMS on RUMBLE during the Radio Broadcast! Subscribe to the CARM YouTube Channel Subscribe to the Matt Slick YouTube Channel CARM on Facebook Visit the CARM Website Donate to CARM
The Matt Slick Live daily radio show broadcast is produced by The Christian Apologetics Research Ministry (CARM.org). During the show, Matt answers questions on the air, and offers insight on topics like The Bible, Apologetics, Theology, World Religions, Atheism, and other issues! The show airs live on the Truth Network, Monday through Friday, 6-7 PM, EST (3-4 PM, PST) You can also watch a live stream during the live show on RUMBLE! MSL: June, 02 2023 Topics include: 10- Is it ok for Christians to get tattoos and body piercings? 15- Is Jesus God? Acts 20: 27-29, Hebrews 1:8. 40- Where do Demons target people? 41- Government, Term limits. 51- Original vs Imputed Sin, Federal Headship, Romans 5:19. MSL: June, 02 2023 This show LIVE STREAMS on RUMBLE during the Radio Broadcast! Subscribe to the CARM YouTube Channel Subscribe to the Matt Slick YouTube Channel CARM on Facebook Visit the CARM Website Donate to CARM
The Matt Slick Live daily radio show broadcast is produced by The Christian Apologetics Research Ministry -CARM.org-.-During the show, Matt answers questions on the air, and offers insight on topics like The Bible, Theology, Apologetics, Religions, Atheism, and other issues-- The show airs live on the Truth Network, Monday through Friday, 6-7 PM, EST -3-4 PM, PST---Topics include---05-Discussion with a Mormon on air, Ontological and Economic Trinity, Communicatio Idiomatum, Federal Headship and much more-
The Matt Slick Live daily radio show broadcast is produced by The Christian Apologetics Research Ministry -CARM.org-.-During the show, Matt answers questions on the air, and offers insight on topics like The Bible, Theology, Apologetics, Religions, Atheism, and other issues-- The show airs live on the Truth Network, Monday through Friday, 6-7 PM, EST -3-4 PM, PST---Topics include---- 05- Social Media Evangelism, Luke 24-13 Christophany-- 20- Agnosticism and Atheism-- 27- 1 John 2-2 propitiation-- 48- Romans 1,- Federal Headship
The Matt Slick Live daily radio show broadcast is produced by The Christian Apologetics Research Ministry -CARM.org-.-During the show, Matt answers questions from live callers, and offers insight on topics like The Bible, Theology, Apologetics, Religions, Atheism, and other issues-- --Today's topics include--- Debating Atheist, Youtube censorship, Rumble move-- 10- Kelly Powers vs Sean Griffin Debate-- 23- John 7-37-39 vs Romans 8-31-39, Difference in indwelling and pouring of the Holy Spirit-- 30- Ephesians 1-4 Federal Headship, Hypostatic Union, Semi-Pelagianism-- 52- Is Mocking and name calling wrong, Example- Elijah Mocking Prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18
The Matt Slick Live daily radio show broadcast is produced by The Christian Apologetics Research Ministry (CARM.org). During the show, Matt answers questions from live callers, and offers insight on topics like The Bible, Theology, Apologetics, Religions, Atheism, and other issues! The show airs live on the Truth Network, Monday through Friday, 6-7 PM, EST (3-4 PM, PST) MSL: April, 6 2023 Topics include Debating Athiest, Youtube censorship, Rumble move 10- Kelly Powers vs Sean Griffin Debate 23- John 7:37-39 vs Romans 8:31-39, Difference in indwelling and pouring of the Holy Spirit 30- Ephesians 1:4, Federal Headship, Hypostatic Union, Semi-Pelagianism 52- Is Mocking and name calling wrong, Example: Elijah Mocking Prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18 MSL: April, 6 2023 ==> Subscribe to the CARM YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/carmvideos ==> Subscribe to the Matt Slick YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/mattslick ==> Like CARM on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Carm.org ==> Visit the CARM Website: https://carm.org ==> Donate to CARM: https://carm.org/about/partner-with-carm/
The Matt Slick Live daily radio show broadcast is produced by The Christian Apologetics Research Ministry (CARM.org). During the show, Matt answers questions from live callers, and offers insight on topics like The Bible, Theology, Apologetics, Religions, Atheism, and other issues! The show airs live on the Truth Network, Monday through Friday, 6-7 PM, EST (3-4 PM, PST) MSL: April, 6 2023 Topics include Debating Athiest, Youtube censorship, Rumble move 10- Kelly Powers vs Sean Griffin Debate 23- John 7:37-39 vs Romans 8:31-39, Difference in indwelling and pouring of the Holy Spirit 30- Ephesians 1:4, Federal Headship, Hypostatic Union, Semi-Pelagianism 52- Is Mocking and name calling wrong, Example: Elijah Mocking Prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18 MSL: April, 6 2023 ==> Subscribe to the CARM YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/carmvideos ==> Subscribe to the Matt Slick YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/mattslick ==> Like CARM on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Carm.org ==> Visit the CARM Website: https://carm.org ==> Donate to CARM: https://carm.org/about/partner-with-carm/
Speaker: Pastor Jeremy Sexton
Een belangrijk concept in Christelijke Theologie is dat van Adam als vertegenwoordigend hoofd van de mensheid. En dat van Christus Jezus als nieuw vertegenwoordigend hoofd van de mensheid die in Hem vertegenwoordigd is. In deze video staan we stil bij dit idee zodat het je helpt om beter te begrijpen hoe Jezus voor onze zonden aan het kruis kon sterven.Muziek: Khi Rho Beats
1 Samuel 17, David and Goliath, Federal Headship, Obedience, Confidence
Jerry, Josh, and Grant cover a vital doctrine concerning our two representatives: Adam for condemnation and Christ for justification.
The OBT Talks crew discusses the doctrine of Representation and Federal Headship. Recorded on May 2, 2022.
The principle of Federal Headship is found throughout scripture, although this concept runs contrary to our modern culture. This lesson focuses on federal heads which imparted negative consequences to those they represented --1 in a 3 part series-.
The principle of Federal Headship is found throughout scripture, although this concept runs contrary to our modern culture. This lesson focuses on federal heads which imparted negative consequences to those they represented --1 in a 3 part series-.
The principle of Federal Headship is found throughout scripture, although this concept runs contrary to our modern culture. This lesson focuses on federal heads which imparted negative consequences to those they represented --1 in a 3 part series-.
The principle of Federal Headship is found throughout scripture, although this concept runs contrary to our modern culture. This lesson focuses on federal heads which imparted negative consequences to those they represented (#1 in a 3 part series).
You are either in Adam or in Christ. There is no in between, and you do not get to represent yourself.
ABU is an educational institution, and that sometimes mean doing shorts about educational topics in theology. Today's episode of "What's That Word" is "Federal Headship". Sounds like something out of political science, but in fact it's a biblical truth that cuts to the core of how we are saved as God's people. Listen to hear more on this VC Short.
We begin this episode by welcoming back Jimmy D after being out of commission for a few weeks due to having covid! We then kick off this PART 1 by giving a brief overview of what we have already touched on in past episodes, such as the 3 main views of the Imago Dei (substantive, relational, functional). Then, Sherman poses a great question of how different systems of theology (I.e Calvinism/ Non Calvinism) can have an impact on how we view the Image. We then center the entirety of the two episodes on one very important question concerning Genesis 1-3….did something “go wrong” with God's original intention in Creation with human beings? This episode really is a mashup of previous episodes we've had with Joshua S. and J.D. before and throughout the two parts, it is really cool to see how our personal view of what it means for humans to be created in God's Image effect so many different aspects of our theology. I think bringing two differing systems of thought together, like we did in this episode, just makes the possibilities of how one can view theology in general, all the more incredible! It also shows that when we come together as family, we can truly do all things through Christ who gives us strength in His Name and through His Holy Spirit! God Bless everyone, and remember, if you like CSG's content give us a big thumbs up and share our videos on social media! Also subscribe to our YouTube channel and check out our other platforms like Apple & Google Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, Listen Notes, etc! All CSG content is 100% FREE so head over to our website and get to listening, downloading and sharing with others!!! :) BIBLICAL TEXTS CITED Genesis 1-3 1 Corinthians 15 Romans 5 SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS: Imago Dei Part 2 https://youtu.be/6elavNlc9bU CSG Episode Archive www.feed.completesinners.com/episodes CSG Facebook www.facebook.com/CSG2G CSG YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj5tQ-U89BIjrmQIQ_35zbg/videos Tending Our Nets (Joshua Sherman's YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB6_hYWRfyKTQb0AspIf-ag Exploring Theology (J.D. Martin's YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKr4xur6rhTrvkw_fAAuJRg
Federal Headship For today's episode, I want to talk about one of the most important but least taught bits of theology and scripture, the Doctrine of Federal Headship which is the foundation of everything we believe, about sin, salvation, and our riches in Christ. We look at the main idea of Federal Headship and go through several scriptures to develop this teaching. Lastly, we answer the question of whether or not this doctrine is fair. This episode is great for anyone who wants their mind blown and their heart filled. Let's go bigger, better, and deeper! If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe to the Godstuff podcast so you're always first to know when a new episode is released. Episode Highlights: Introduction [0:00] What is the Doctrine of Federal Headship? [3:45] Adam as our Federal Head [4:42] Adam merits death, Christ merits life [7:50] All sinned when Adam sinned [13:47] From being in Adam to being in Christ [14:57 ] We were, by nature, children of wrath [18:37] Abraham as the prototype of the plan of salvation [20:53] Christ as our Federal Head [23:28] Is Federal Headship fair? [27:25`] Biblical References: Romans 5:12 Romans 5:15 Romans 5:17 Romans 5:18 1 Corinthians 15:22 Ephesians 2:3-4 Acts 17 John 3:36 Genesis 12:3 Galatians 3:8 1 Corinthians 15:45 Galatians 3:22 Romans 11:32 Enjoy free 1-month enrollment to our online theological school https://www.veritasschool.life About Our Host Bill Giovannetti is the Senior Pastor at Pathway Church, Redding, California — an experienced senior pastor with a demonstrated history of working in the religious institutions industry. He also teaches ministry related college classes at Simpson University and the A. W. Tozer Theological Seminary. Bill has always had a passion to bring the deep things of God's word to the everyday people of God. Resources: Veritas School Online Theological School https://www.veritasschool.life/ Connect with Bill Giovannetti: Visit the website: https://www.veritasschool.life/ Subscribe to the podcast: https://maxgrace.com/category/podcasts/ Follow Bill on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.giovannetti Follow Bill on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillGiovannetti Follow Bill on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billgiovannetti/ Thanks for tuning in! Please don't forget to like, share, and subscribe!
The Gospel in Minute - Federal Headship
Community Fellowship Group Electives - Lakeside Community Chapel
Community Fellowship Group Electives - Lakeside Community Chapel
Season 5: A Study of Romans Buckle up husbands, this one’s for you! Every single pain, peril, and evil on earth was because one husband was passive, watched evil happen, and didn’t say or do anything to stop it. Men, are you taking responsibility and lovingly leading your family? You have a choice to be like Adam or like Jesus. Satan is coming for your marriage and men, if you don’t fight you’ll lose. A lot of people are counting on you. Download the free Romans study guide and go through it with your spouse by texting ROMANS to 31996.Need personal counseling? Check out our sponsors at Faithful Counseling. Get 10% off your first month as a listener of the Real Marriage podcast. Go to getfaithful.com/realmarriage and join the over 500,000 people taking charge of their mental health with the help of an experienced professional.Naked & Healthy Book - Our good friends Dave & Ashley Willis on the Naked Marriage podcast have just released a new book called Naked & Healthy. In this book, they uncover the lifestyle your mind, body, spirit, and marriage need. We love Dave & Ashley and we know this book will help your marriage. nakedandhealthy.comFind more from Mark and Grace at xomarriage.com/realmarriage
Moving on from Federal Headship, today we'll look at another popular interpretive option for understanding humanity's connection to Adam and the fall. Following yesterday's pattern, Steve will briefly overview theContinue readingOur Connection to Adam: Seminal Headship – FS 164
In this episode, we'll look at what is probably the most popular interpretive option for understanding our connection to Adam – Federal Headship. We'll look at the biblical case forContinue readingOur Connection to Adam: Federal Headship – FS 163
Join us as we do an exegesis of Romans 5:12-21. We take a comparative look between the Federal Headship of Adam versus the Federal Headship of Christ. Hint: The Federal Headship of Christ is a lot better. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ghewsten/support
Start of the Show - 00:00(Excursus, a brief return to last week) - 02:10WSC Question 16 discussion - 08:43History of the Week - 39:20Heresy of the Week - 40:55Questions with the Catechumens - n/a, please email us!Send questions to: catechized@gmail.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/catechizedpodTwitter: https://twitter.com/catechizedpodWebsite: catechized.org
In this episode Dusty, David, Nicholas, and Dustyn talk about Federal Headship and the Covenants.
Sunday at Christ Community Church (PCA) in Simpsonville, SC
On this week’s episode: We’re back in the four confessions (Abstract of Principles, New Hampshire, 1689 LBCF, and the Westminster) to discuss what they say about the fall of mankind. If God is sovereign, why would he allow the fall? Why do we say “fall” when describing what happened in Genesis 3? What is the "Age of Accountability?" We briefly discuss what “Federal Headship” is and why it’s important to this topic. Plus, we get into what we thought of the new Aladdin movie (hint, there’s some disagreement here). EPISODE NOTES | PATREON | TIP JAR | WEBSITEinfo@simpletheology.org#simpletheologypod614.233.1098
Romans 5:12-21 "Federal Headship of Adam and Christ" by Christ Church Carbondale
Today Coalt, Jay, and John discuss the fall of our first parents from righteousness and Adam as our federal head
Sanctuary Service 3/3/2019: Original Sin And Federal Headship http://media.urclearning.org/audio/MSJ_2019-03-03_Original_Sin_And_Federal_Headship.mp3
1 Corinthians 15-1-28, Resurrection as a future reality that is certain for the believer.-Logical union -if A, then B--Organic union -firstfruits--Federal Headship union -Two Adam Christology-Ephesians 2-1-10, Resurrection as a past reality -with ongoing significance- in the life of the believer.Romans 6-1-14, Resurrection as a present reality in the believer.
This story of a cursed castle and a poor provincial village holds much more than Belle, the Beast, or Gaston can possibly tell. Join the guys from The Pop Culture Coram Deo Podcast as they take a thorough look at a story that features Federal Headship, Substitutionary Atonement, and a morality tale (almost) as old as time. Well, okay... not quite that old. Let me try again... Jared and Jeff have set the table and they invite you to relax, pull up a chair, and be their guest for a podcast that is never second best! Follow The PCCD Pod on Twitter and Facebook! Website listeners can stream this episode on Stitcher here.
On this episode of Table Talk Radio after we discuss our Buzzwords we apply the Praise Song Cruncher to the rap hymn Theology Q&A with Seven the Levite, as well as to the song Oceans by Hillsong United! Is there mystical form in music? Tune in and find out!
A sermon on Romans 5:12-19 by Pastor Andrew Dionne. Preached on July 24, 2016 (evening) at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Spartanburg, SC.
What if any effect does the sin of another person have on you and me? Are we culpable if another sins? And if so, what can be done about it? Join us in this installment in our FREE | The Book of Romans Series.
What if any effect does the sin of another person have on you and me? Are we culpable if another sins? And if so, what can be done about it? Join us in this installment in our FREE | The Book of Romans Series.
Reading Romans 5:18-21, Pastor Gabe talks about the doctrine of Federal Headship, how we are born into sin but born again into righteousness. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos and ministry resources!
Soteriology 101: Former Calvinistic Professor discusses Doctrines of Salvation
In the last two Dividing Line programs, Dr. James White, confronts the Traditionalist statement of SBC by attempting to redefine Federal Headship. He also confronts Dr. David Allen's accusation of his "Hyperisms." In doing so he admits that he and other Calvinists (JD Hall) have been wrong ("muddle headed") to label us Pelagians. I'm glad that Dr. White has recognized his error. Let's discuss! To join Professor Leighton Flowers and others in a discussion please visit www.soteriology101.com
Spring Cypress Presbyterian Church is a body of believers, called by the Holy Spirit, transformed by the Gospel to enjoy and glorify God as we proclaim the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ.
The Kingdom of God Series, Chapter 3D. Covenant theology is an interpretative paradigm by which one views all of Scripture in light of God's covenants within the Trinity and with mankind.
In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins!
I. Meditating on Melchizedek, Worshiping Christ "O magnify the Lord with me. And let us exalt his name together." Isn't that a great statement in the Psalms, I love that. It's kind of mysterious in a way because I don't know how you make an infinite God, greater. He's already great, infinitely great. The only way I can make sense of it is that he's too small in my estimation and yours. We're all thinking too small thoughts of Jesus. That's what we're doing, and seems like our task is to stop doing that, at least for a short period of time, for 40 plus minutes, that we would start thinking great thoughts of Jesus and specifically that we would think great thoughts of Jesus as our high priest, that we would have a sense of the greatness of his office at the right hand of God that you can have somewhat of an internal vision of all of heaven on its face before Jesus, as he moves through and takes his place at the right hand of the throne of the majesty. By faith you can see all of heaven bowing down, covering their faces because of the greatness of Jesus, and he takes his place at the right hand of God and he begins praying for you. Interceding for you, that you will finish this race of salvation that he has begun in you, that you would have great thoughts of Jesus. That's our task. And in order to do that, God has given us Hebrew 7, Psalm 1:10, and this person of Melchizedek. And the author to Hebrews is just unfolding the mysteries of this man Melchizedek and so we're going to meditate on Melchizedek, so that we can think great thoughts of Jesus. And as believers we're going to think great thoughts of Jesus, so that our hope will be strong, our faith energized and we'll do great things for him in this world and not fail or flag because of unbelief, but we'll be fed well from the word, that's the goal. So we're going to meditate on Melchizedek so that we can worship Christ. The Context in Hebrews Now this book of Hebrews, a magnificent work of grace, the scripture that portrays so beautifully, I hope you've seen it, but so beautifully the greatness of Jesus in every way. The reason for its writing, I think, as I just read between the lines, as I glean the situation from the text, that these were Jewish people who had made a profession of faith in Christ. But the authors write in them that they would hold on to their profession to the end, that they would continue to believe in Jesus to the end. I perceive that there're probably some Jewish style pressures on them and that they're being tempted to turn away from Jesus specifically away from Jesus to go to Old Covenant Judaism, to go to old covenant religion. And so the author gives them Jesus, that's the remedy. Jesus: Greater than Angels, Moses, Joshua, and the Priests Great thoughts of Jesus, the greatness of Jesus, the one who created heaven and earth, with the Father, the one who speaks a greater and a clearer word to us than any of the prophets ever did. The one who is greater than all of the angels, even all of the archangels, even all of the 100 million angels put together and multiplied by 100 million, the greatness of Jesus, greater than any angel. Greater than Moses, who is merely a servant in God's house. A great man. Yes. But greater than Moses. He was just a servant in God's house. But Jesus, his son, reigning over God's house. Greater than Joshua, who brought them into the promised land, and gave them rest but just for a time. Because the sin problem hadn't been cured and they got evicted. The covenant evicted them from the land, and so it was no permanent rest. But Jesus gives us our permanent rest. And we're yearning for that today, aren't we? We're yearning to come into the rest where we will lay down our labors forever. We've not reached it yet. Hebrews 4:9. We're not there yet, we're running a race with endurance. In one sense, by coming to faith in Christ, we've come to rest from our works, knowing that they won't save us anyway, but that's just a fore taste through the Spirit, we are going to someday lay it all down and we're going to come into our final rest. And so the author is writing to give us a sense of the greatness of Jesus and so he brings up in chapter five, this figure of Melchizedek. Jesus is a greater priest than the Levitical priest than the Aaronic priest, Aaron, a descendant of Levi. So it's one and the same, Levitical priest or Aaronic priest are the same thing, and Jesus is praised as better, it's greater. So the mentality here is, why in the world would you want to go back to what's inferior? What's inferior, what's temporary, what's a shadow, a pattern is finished, it's obsolete. It's gone. And so the author is giving them the sense, and very difficult, I think we can hardly imagine how difficult it would be for a first century faith-filled Jewish man or woman who has believed that Jesus is the Messiah, and has come to believe the prophecies to know that their religious system that they grew up with, that their ancestors did, that they received from Almighty God, is now obsolete. You don't need it anymore. Never again, the blood of an animal being accepted by God, never again, it's obsolete to be told that. So the author gives us Melchizedek. And so he's focusing on Melchizedek, this figure mentioned historically in Genesis 14, after Abraham had defeated the kings and was returning in victory and Melchizedek shows up and he has an encounter. We talked about it last time, the history of it, and then the Psalm the single reference in Psalm 110, and Verse 4, "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek." So I think in my opinion Hebrews 7 is just a careful word-by-word exit Jesus of that statement. You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek's. We've already worked on the word Melchizedek in verse 1-3. Today in verse 4-10 we're going to talk about him as a priest and compare him to the priest, the Levitical priest specifically, and the order, the order of priesthood in verses 11-12 is going to be in front of us, God willing, next time that we preach on Hebrews, not next week, but the next time, and then verse 13-14. I think the author addresses just the word "you." He gives two verses to the word "You..." "You are a priest forever." And then verses 15-25, he just unfolds the word forever, what it means that he's a priest forever so we get 11 verses on forever. Last Week: the Mystery of Melchizedek’s Person in 7:1-3 So last time we saw the mystery of Melchizedek, the history of Melchizedek verses 1-3, look at it with me if you would. "This Melchizedek was king of Salem, and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First His name means 'king of righteousness;' then also 'King of Salem' means 'King of Peace.' Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the son of God, he remains a priest forever." So we looked at that last time. If I'm not careful I'll just slip right back into preaching that sermon again, so we just need to keep moving. But we've seen the greatness and the majesty of Melchizedek in these verses. Now: The Author Wants Us to Consider His Greatness Now the author in verse 4 wants us to consider Melchizedek's greatness. Look at verse 4. I'm going to go New American Standard here. "Now observe how great this man was…" Just think how great he was. But I think more technically, observe, the Greek word means See or Look. Let's look at Melchizedek. And since we can't literally physically do that, we can only do it by faith. So in the preaching of the word now, my desire is that the Holy Spirit would give you an internal vision of the greatness of Melchizedek. Again and again, the author of the Hebrews calls on that internal vision, that faith vision, that we would see things in the spiritual realm. For example, in Hebrews 2:1, it says, "We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away." So there's a more careful looking at the Gospel. Let's look at it. And then in 3:1, the author says, "Fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession." So there we're supposed to look at Jesus as our apostle and our high priest, 3:1. So we're seeing Jesus. And then later in this book, in 12:2 it says, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross. Despising it's shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." So we're supposed to look at these things, these invisible things, we're supposed to do it by faith. And so, the call here is to focus all of our attention on this man Melchizedek, and specifically on his greatness. That we should consider the greatness of Melchizedek. Why should we do that? Is Melchizedek our personal Lord and Savior? No, not at all, but Jesus is. And Melchizedek teaches us some things about Jesus. So, in considering the greatness of Melchizedek, we're going to consider even more the greatness of Jesus. And so that's the author's approach here. The author wants his readers' hope in Jesus to be very strong. I want your hope in Jesus to be very, very strong today. And so I'm preaching. I believe in preaching, I believe in preaching the word, my desire is to stay really close to the text, because the word feeds your faith, and your faith strengthens your whole life. I think all sin is a failure of faith. Conversely, all good service to God is a triumph of faith. And so if I can strengthen your faith, you'll live well to the glory of God, having already been justified by faith. So we're going to meditate on Melchizedek and we're not going to be lazy listeners, like he warned them not to be in Hebrews 5:11, said they were actually. But we're not going to be that. We're going to work hard here, we're going to try to dig in and try to understand this hierarchy that the author is giving us here. II. A Hierarchy of Greatness: Christ, Melchizedek, Abraham, Levi So he gives us a hierarchy of greatness, Christ, Melchizedek, Abraham, Levi. And just simply put, if I can just go to the heart of the matter: The reason he's doing this, is he's going to tell you that Christ is a greater priest than the Levitical priest. That's what he's telling you. That's it in a nutshell. And so the application of that is why in the world would you go backward to the Levitical priesthood? Christ is a great priest and he's all you need as a priest, he's infinitely more than you could possibly ask or imagine, and so that's what he's going to do. And so, the greatness of Christ is displayed by hierarchy. And so at the center of the argument is going to be the basic position that Melchizedek's greater than Abraham. And he's going to unfold that and the point of all of this is give us a sense of the greatness of Jesus as our high priest. Melchizedek Represents Christ Melchizedek represents Christ. It's a type of Christ, the pattern of Christ, and then Melchizedek, verse 7, is greater than Abraham. Look at verse 7, without a doubt, the lesser person is blessed by the greater, that's the author's point. Melchizedek is greater than Abraham. And if you keep going, then you're going to say that Abraham is greater than Levi and that's how it works. How great was Abraham? Well, Abraham, father and faith, the father of the Jewish nation. I guess someone have to say some Jews would say the greatest in all of their history. He is called here a patriarch, that means a father ruler, he is the father of their nation, he was a great man to whom the promises of God had come, a great man because he believed those promises enacted courageously on them, he became therefore, a father of a multitude greater than anyone could count. Abraham had walked with God and he was called God's friend, he interceded with God over Sodom and Gomorrah, he was a great man. And the Jews openly boasted in and (in some, I think, wrong way) trusted in their relationship with Abraham. They felt that because Abraham was their father that they were fine spiritually, that God could never condemn them because Abraham was their father. John the Baptist came having to just destroy that mentality. He said like fire, as he was preaching, he said, "And do not begin to say to yourselves. We have Abraham as our Father. I tell you that out of these stones. God is able to raise up children for Abraham. The axe is already at the root of the tree, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." Don't trust in being a biological descendant of Abraham. But they did, they boasted in this. Jesus had a very similar encounter in John Chapter 8. To the Jews who had believed him. Jesus said, "If you continue in my word, then you are truly my disciples and then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." Well, some of them got offended at this statement. "Set us free?" "We are Abraham's descendants" they said, "and have never been slaves of anyone." Stop there. Just a simple Sunday school lesson would have taught them that they had actually indeed been slaves of someone. But this is just the mentality, the arrogance, "We are Abraham's descendants and we've never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin, but if the Son sets you free, then you'll be free indeed." How sweet is that? But later in a few verses, they said, "Abraham is our father." Went back to it again, and Jesus said, "If you were Abraham's children, then you would do the things Abraham did." Abraham is Great, but Melchizedek is Greater So in fact Abraham was a great man. But Melchizedek was greater. And you might think, "well, if he was greater why don't we have more on him?" Well, I think that Genesis 14, Psalm 1:10 and Hebrews 5:6-7 is enough. Amen? And those verses tell us that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham. And why? Because he was priest of God most high, King of Salem, and mostly especially because Abraham, this great man, thought that Melchizedek was greater. And gave him a tenth of everything and Melchizedek blessed him. That's why. And you might think, well, that's not satisfying to me. Well, it's clearly satisfying to the author of Hebrews. And he was writing on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We will go with him. Amen? Amen. So Melchizedek was greater than this great man, Abraham, and Abraham was greater than Levi, his great-grandson. The author to Hebrews continues to make his point, about the greatness of Melchizedek, he goes on to talk about the connection between Abraham and Levi. Levi was Abraham's descendant, his great-grandson. Abraham was clearly greater than Levi. Levi was in the body of his ancestor. It says here, we'll talk more about that in a moment. And Abraham acted on his behalf as a father represents his children. In the mind of the author to Hebrews there is no doubt whatsoever that Abraham was greater than Levi. Levi was just one of the 12 patriarchs. It was his descendant Aaron, who was the first high priest, under the Mosaic covenant. So it just keeps on going, the hierarchy of greatness just goes on down from there. And therefore, the argument here in this section of scripture is that Christ is greater than all of the Levitical priests. He's greater than all of the sons of Aaron. Christ is a greater priest than all of them. And therefore, why in the world would you want to turn back from Jesus to anything? And by the way, that's the connection to us gentiles, I'll make it at the end of this sermon, but we're not tempted to go back and offer an animal sacrifice. What does this text say to us? I'm telling you, we are all under intense pressure to turn away from Jesus every moment of our lives, and to meditate on the greatness of Jesus is also negatively to meditate on the greatness of the crime of forsaking him. That's what the author is getting at. So how does he make his point? Well, the key issues here are the tithe and the blessing, this is what he's doing, is the key link in this whole argument. III. The Tithe and the Blessing So look at the tithe first, verses 4-6. "Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder. Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people (that is, their brothers), even though their brothers are descended from Abraham. This man however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham." So the evidence that the author gives us here of the greatness of Melchizedek is that he collected a tenth of the plunder that this great man Abraham had gotten from the defeat of the Kings. Literally, Abraham had given Melchizedek, a tenth of the top of the heap. The highest, the best, the cream floats to the top and from the top of the heap, he gave a tenth. The best he had to offer. That's what Abraham gave to Melchizedek. Now many who believe that the tithe is a permanent regulation for the people of God, point to this passage. A key passage, they would say, because it pre-dates the Law of Moses and shows it somewhat of a universal standard. I'm going to talk more about tithing at the end of this sermon. But whatever you think about tithing, however, it's clear that the author to Hebrews is using this as an indication of the superiority of Melchizedek to Abraham, that's his point. So, ponder the significance of this moment. Abraham, this great man is at the pinnacle of his earthly power, he's just won a mighty victory militarily, he's a hugely influential figure now in Palestine, what will become for the people of God, their inheritance. And at this key moment in history when Abraham's at the pinnacle of his success, this mysterious figure steps out of nowhere, Melchizedek. And Abraham gives him a tenth of all that he had plundered. Abraham clearly thinks that by giving this offering to this priest, he's giving to God Most High. And so, as honored and powerful and chosen and blessed as Abraham was, he considered Melchizedek to be greater and a conduit of giving right to God. Now the Levitical priests were required by law to collect the tithe from their brother Israelites, it says in verse 5. This is clearly recorded for us, this law is recorded in multiple places. But Numbers 18, "To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance." Tithe means a tenth. So a tithe of all of the produce of the land, all the good things that God was going to give them because they were rich now in the Promised Land, that went to the Levites for their service at the tent of meeting. So that was their inheritance. They didn't get any land, but they got the service at the tent of meeting and they got the tithes. But this man Melchizedek was under no such law. The law of Moses requiring the tithe would not be written for another half a millennium, another 500 years and more. And clearly he is not descended from Levi. And yet, for all of that, he collects the tithe. He's not doing under the law and he's not doing it by genealogy, he just collects the tithe. So, this exchange then represents the giving of gifts and offerings to God through a different kind of priest, a priest in the order of Melchizedek. This order of Melchizedek was a greater order of priesthood than the Levitical priesthood, which has now become obsolete. And so, the tithe is evidence of the greatness of Melchizedek over Abraham. So also is the blessing. Not only did Abraham give Melchizedek a tithe, but Melchizedek gave Abraham a blessing. Now, this isn't just any blessing. Have you ever stopped to wonder why we say "Bless you" when people sneeze, but we don't say it when they cough? Why is that? I think there's some superstition from way back when in the dark woods of Northern Germany or something like that, where you're going to say "gesundheit" or something like that every time someone sneezes, and you need to speak a blessing. That's weak, friends. It's a weak blessing. I wish you well, I hope you don't die from whatever is ailing you. Or some elderly ladies will say, "Well, bless your heart." I don't say that, but I've been... My heart has been blessed a number of times by some people that definitely mean well, they want to bless my heart, and I'm grateful for that. But those are the weak pale kind of blessings that we're used to every day. What are these Blessings? The blessings that are discussed here are of a different order. There are patriarchal blessings, and there are priestly blessings. And these patriarchal and priestly blessings are really together prophetic blessings. They have a power to them, a significance to them. The call of Abraham is saturated in blessing language, isn't it? "Leave your country, your people and your father’s household…" Genesis 12. God said to Abram, "Leave your country and your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation…I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." That's not just any blessing, friends, that's how you get to Heaven. We are engrafted into this cultivated olive tree. The blessings given to Abraham, they come to us through Jesus, that's the blessing. But then think about Isaac blessing Jacob, not knowing it was Jacob, but he did bless him. And he said, "May God give you of heavens dew and of earth's richness and abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and people's bow down to you. Be Lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed." That's a prophetic blessing. And though he thought he was giving it to Esau, he was giving it to Jacob. And when Esau sought the blessing, he couldn't change it. God had meant it for Jacob and he would be blessed. It was prophetic. And so also Jacob with his 12 sons. He gives them prophetic blessings, each one of them a different blessing appropriate to the tribe. And when Joseph brought his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim to his bedside, he crossed his hands and put the left hand on the head of the firstborn, and the right hand on the head of the second born, and he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh, and so it would be. It was a patriarchal blessing, those are powerful words. So also the blessing that God through the law of Moses instructed the priests to give to the people. In Numbers 6, "Tell Aaron and his sons, this is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them, 'The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.' So they will put my name on the Israelites and I will bless them." These are significant and weighty things, these blessings. So the author to Hebrews makes much of the blessing that Melchizedek gave to Abram. He blessed Abram saying, "Blessed be Abram, by God Most High, creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." And the author who says this clearly proves that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham. Verse 7, "Without doubt the lesser person is blessed by the greater." This is, in fact, the whole point of the section of Hebrews 7, and an even greater point was made very plainly by Jesus in John Chapter 8. Not only is Melchizedek greater than Abraham, but Jesus is greater than Abraham. Jesus said to the Jews, "Your father Abraham, rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day. He saw it and was glad." They responded to him, "You are not yet 50 years old." But Jesus said to them, "Before Abraham was born, I am." That's the real point. Not so much Melchizedek, but the infinite greatness of Jesus. But the author's point here has been to show the superiority of Jesus' priestly ministry through Melchizedek, greater than that of the Levites. The Levites were required to collect the tithe, they did so, it says, as men condemned to die. Richard Baxter said he used to preach as a dying man to dying men. I've never forgotten that. Never forgotten that. Death comes on us quickly, doesn't it? You don't expect it. Eulene was at Sarah Newton's funeral. The next day she took ill and God took her home quickly. Are you ready to die? Are you ready to die? Are you ready to face your maker? Are you ready to face your judge? Only one way to get ready, faith in Jesus, trust in him. He died on the cross, he shed his blood, that's what we were celebrating in the singing. That's what we're going to celebrate next week, Easter Sunday. I'm not waiting for next week, I'm going to celebrate it today. Alright? I'm going to celebrate the resurrection, I'm going to celebrate the crucifixion. That is the only provision for a sinner like me to stand blameless before God. It was Eulene's hope, and in the name of that hope she has her reward now. Are you ready to die? The tenth is collected by dying men from other dying men. But in the other case, by him who is declared to be living, Jesus is our living great High Priest. All of those priests died, Jesus ever lives to intercede for us. Amen. Death no longer has mastery over him, he cannot die again. Death is finished with him, and Jesus will someday destroy death, and that's the future. IV. The “Presence “ of Levi, and the Principle of Representation Final point the author makes here is mystical, deep, difficult to accept, but true. The presence of Levi and the principle of representation. Look at verses 9-10, "One might even say that Levi who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor." Perhaps the most mystical and most significant statement here. Here the author's claiming that in some way Levi was there. Think about that hymn, "Were you there?" I'm not going to sing. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Sometimes it causes me to tremble. Levi was there when Abraham paid the tithe. The key connection here is the issue of what we call federal headship, or representation. That the father of the tribe represents the whole tribe there. The key understanding. It's very foreign to us who live in this meritocracy known as America. We actually kind of rebelled against that whole thing, the aristocracy of Great Britain, the idea that your whole social status was defined by your genealogy, by who your father was. No, no, no, we'll make our own way in the world, thank you very much. If we have skills and abilities, we will rise. That's America. So we have a hard time with the idea of federal headship, really we struggle with that. We struggle with the fact that Levi was there in the body of his ancestor and did something, he paid the tithe because Abraham paid. But I tell you, it is foundational to two of the most key moments, key moments in redemptive history, what happened with Adam at the Garden of Eden, and what happened with Jesus at the cross. Federal headship, representation in both cases. Adam was there at the tree representing you and I, and we were in some mysterious way there with him. And when he ate from that fruit, we sinned. Friends, that's the teaching of Romans 5:12. "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men," listen, "because all sinned." That is so hard to accept. I didn't do anything. Yes, you did, you sinned in Adam. And if you can't accept that, how can you accept forgiveness at the cross of Christ? Because the Bible reveals that you were there spiritually if you are united with Christ by faith. You were there, friends, spiritually. If Christ is your substitute, if he is your savior, you are one with him, united with him. So it says in Romans 5:19, "Just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." I was made a sinner in Adam, I am made righteous in Jesus. And again, you could say the same thing the other way. I didn't do anything. I didn't obey the law like I should have. No, God sees you as righteous, and you are righteous, just like God saw you a sinner, and you were sinner in Adam. It's federal headship. Or again, 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, "For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." Paul sums this up very powerful in Galatians 2:20. He says there, " I have been crucified with Christ. I died with Jesus, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." There is a spiritual union there. We were dead, friends. We were dead in our transgressions and sins in which we used to live, when we followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh, following its lusts, its evil desires. Like the rest, we were, all of us, by nature, children of wrath. But God, because of his great glorious mercy in which he loved us, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in our transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ, and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. So were you there when they crucified my Lord? Yes, I was there. I was on that cross dying with Jesus. Was I there resurrection day? Yeah, spiritually I was there because I'm one with him by faith. And so, in some mysterious way, Levi was there paying the tenth through Abraham. V. Applications So, what applications can we take from this? Well, trust in Christ alone. Trust in him. It's all about faith in Jesus. That's what the whole Book of Hebrews is for. So that's what the whole Bible is for. Put your hope solely on Jesus and trust in him. You can't stand before such a holy God alone without a substitute, without a high priest pleading the merit of his blood on your behalf, you cannot survive. While there's time, put your trust in him. You don't need to go anywhere or do anything, you just need to stand there and see the salvation of your God, and let Jesus' righteousness be yours, let his death be yours by simple faith. And for you, as believers in Christ, make the connection too today. I have already said none of you is feeling a strong pull back to Old Covenant Judaism. If you are, let me know, please come and tell me. I would think we would have dealt with that by seven chapters of Hebrews by now, but come and talk to me. We're not going backward that way, but I don't think that's a strong pull for 21st Century Americans. But there is something pulling on you to pull you away from Jesus, something's pulling on you to get you to stop reading your Bible, to stop praying, to stop fellowshipping with believers, to stop coming to church, to stop walking the Christian walk, something's pulling on you, you know what I'm talking about. And you must have a great High Priest at the right hand of God, praying for you. And it seems you must know about it, you must know that he's there, you must know it vigorously, you must really kind of get into knowing that you have a great High Priest at the right hand of God. Feed your souls on that, picture him there standing and pleading on your behalf. Thirdly, Worship. Worship Christ. Worship him. By the Spirit of God, we worship Jesus. This point, the point about Melchizedek. Melchizedek will now fade into the background, Jesus will stand alone, bright, shining in your minds. We were here today to worship Jesus. Amen. We're here for him. And you should live your whole life pouring out worship on Jesus. This meditation Melchizedek has helped you see the greatness of Jesus. Worship him today. Set aside your cares, Jesus has it covered, he knows everything you're facing, he's brought it to you actually. Worship him. Finally, briefly, about the tithe. Some people say that the tithe is an abiding standard and that Christians should give the tithe, and they would point right here to the New Testament. Listen, let me tell you something, I think Randy Alcorn summed this up for me when he said that tithe is the training wheels of Christian giving. That's humbling. Training wheels. Remember when you were little kids, or when you were a little kid, you're riding wobbly, wobbly, wobbly, and you got these little wheels left and right, and they keep you upright. You're a beginner bike rider, okay? He said that's the tithe for Christian giving. Whoa, how does he say that? Well, his argument is that everything in the old covenant is better and enhanced in the new. It always goes better, bigger, brighter, more beautiful, more awesome. And for a Christian to say, "Okay, the old covenant people, they had to give a tenth. Thank God we're not under the law, we can give less than the tenth." "Wrong direction," Randy Alcorn is saying, "Wrong direction." The law is a law of love. Give what you want, but want a lot. Give and it will be given to you, pressed down, full measure. It'll pour over into your lap. Jesus is saying, "That's the way I gave to you. Learn of Me, and give like that." And so if the tithe helps you get going, then let it help you, training wheels have their purpose. But then take them off when you can. And like Randy Alcorn said, "If You gave a tenth of your income, would you die?" I love that question. I think that's just huge. "I don't know if I... " Well, just try it and see if you expire, and if you do, you'll be with Jesus. You might, maybe you'll die, but probably you won't. And then go on from there. That's, I think, the best teaching on tithing. But the final word can't be tithing. The final word has to be the greatness of Jesus. Some day you will see your great High Priest, you'll see him with your eyes, and you will worship him. Feed your souls on that this week. Close with me in prayer.
Andy Davis preaches a verse by verse expository sermon on Hebrews 7:4-10. The main subject of the sermon is how Abraham's interaction with Melchizedek paves the way for our access to Christ.
I. The Terrible Tyrant Dethroned Please take your bibles and open to Romans Chapter 5. This morning, we're going to be finishing our look at Romans 5:18-21. I think every Fourth of July is an opportunity for us as Americans to praise God for the blessings that we have. And one of the greatest blessings, I think, is the system of government, which has endured all this time. We talked about that last Sunday evening. I hope you were there to hear David Barton. I heard him this week on Focus on the Family. I turned on the radio, and I heard someone talking about the original signers of the Declaration and how a letter was written from John Adams. I said, "This sounds familiar." And it turned out to be David Barton. But he was talking about the form of government that we've enjoyed these many years. And juxtaposed with that was a piece of current events. I don't know if you saw that Slobodan Milošević has been handed over to face a trial for his atrocities, war crimes, for he's called "the Butcher of the Balkans," and he was involved in ethnic cleansing. And it got me thinking just about the close of a chapter, namely, the 20th century. And how it really, the 20th century, you almost could write it as a history of tyranny. One tyrant after another in the 20th century. And Milošević, perhaps the final one, perhaps. I don't know when you would say the first 20th century tyrant was, but Mussolini maybe began it, a Fascist leader in Italy. And Hitler picked up some things from him, and led Nazi Germany into World War II. Thousands, and hundreds of thousands, and eventually, millions of lives cost by those two. Along with them, Joseph Stalin, the tyrant and dictator of Russia. And Mao Tse-Tung, immediately after, in China, the devastation that's come through his policies and his tyranny. Pol Pot in Cambodia, the killing fields. Perhaps you saw the movie, Killing Fields. He's responsible for the genocide of perhaps as many as 3 million of his fellow countrymen. Nicolae Ceaușescu, and now, the Butcher of the Balkans, Milošević, one after another. And it got me to try to understand what is a tyrant? What is a dictator? What is the nature of tyranny? And I came across this thing, this story about Joseph Stalin entitled "How To Be A Good Dictator. What an odd title, and it intrigued me, so I read it. And this is what it said: When Joseph Stalin was on his death bed, he called in two of the potential leaders that would follow him. And I think the idea was that he would choose one of the two of them to take over in communist Russia. And he ordered that two small birds be brought in, and each one of them was to hold the bird, and he wanted to observe how they would hold it. And he said that, the way that they would hold the bird would give an insight into how they would lead Mother Russia. The first one, desiring not that the bird should get away, squeezed it too tightly, and the bird died. He was holding on to it so tightly that the bird died. And Stalin had a look of obvious displeasure on his face. The other one saw that look, and held on very loosely, and the bird slipped through his fingers, and flew out the window, and was gone. And Stalin was outraged at both of them and said, "Bring me a bird." So the bird was brought in. And he held the bird by its feet. And one by one, he plucked all its feathers until it had no feathers left. And he cupped it in his hand like that. And then he opened his hand, and the bird lay there shivering, and naked, and helpless in his hand. And this is what he said, "He is even thankful for the human warmth coming out of my palm. That's how you rule Russia." Brothers and sisters, that is the nature of tyranny, isn't it? And praise God, we haven't had to put up with that in 200 years in America. But you have had to put up with it in your own lives. And what am I talking about? The tyranny of sin. Isn't that what sin does to us? Doesn't it strip you bare little by little until you have nothing left but the sin itself? And you lay there shivering, and cold, and naked in the hands of sin. You talk to somebody for whom perhaps alcohol brought them down, and they're out on the street now. They lost a spouse. They lost kids. They lost a job. They lost self-respect. And all they have left is the bottle. And at least they're grateful for the warmth the bottle gives them. You see? That's the nature of the tyranny of sin. And Jesus, I believe, spoke of this when He said in John 10, "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy. But I have come that they may have life and might have it abundantly." And I believe that the passage we're going to look at today contrasts the tyranny of sin and death with the unshakable and unbreakable reign of grace and life through Jesus Christ. We go from a tyrant, sin and death, to an emperor, grace and life. And the amazing thing that Paul is going to teach us in this passage is that the determination, and the will, and the power of grace and life is even more powerful than the tyranny of sin and death. Now, that might not seem to be the case. We've seen some terrible things even this week down in Texas, and other things about the nature of sin and death, and it's shocking, isn't it? And it's scary. And then we see the effects of sin and death in our own lives. Sin in our lives, death in the lives of loved ones, and it's scary. And we think, "How can anything be more powerful than sin and death?" If you look at the history of the world, not just the 20th century, but every century, we've seen the brutal imprint of sin and death. And how can it really be that grace and righteousness reigns even more? But that is exactly what Paul is teaching in Romans 5. II. The Adam-Christ Parallel Restated Now, we have looked at verses 12-21. I'm not going to read the whole section. I'm going to allude to it, but I'm going to begin my reading today at verse 18 of Romans Chapter 5. It says, "Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase, but where sin increased grace increased all the more. So that just as sin reigned in death so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Now, this is the culmination of a very elaborate and complicated argument that Paul is making, in which he is comparing Adam with Christ. And it's very deep, remember at the beginning of this whole section, I said that you need to not take a rake because if you rake across the top you'll get leaves. You need to get the pick and the shovel and dig down, and that's where the truth is going to be found. We have to understand the relationship between Adam and Christ. And he sets that up right at the start. In verse 12 it says, "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man in death through sin, and in this way death came to all men because all sinned." And he stops there. Remember I said that logically we're waiting for a "so also." Just as this, so also that. We're going to compare two things, but he stops himself and doesn't complete the comparison until verse 18 that I just read. He interrupts himself, but he's setting up half of the comparison talking about how sin and death enter the world through one man. And who was that one man? In verse 14, he tells us it's Adam who was a pattern or a type of the one to come. So Adam was the original man. God choose in His wisdom to create the entire human race through one man and his wife Eve, and through that one man came every nation on the face of the earth. God created all the races, all the nations through one man. And it says in Paul's sermon in Acts 17:26, "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live." But it all came through one man, through Adam. And we know that God gave Adam a test. He said, "You can eat from all the trees, all the fruit-bearing trees in the garden of Eden but one. The tree in the center. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. From the day you eat of it, you will surely die." And so God at the very start linked together sin and death. Adam chose to disobey. He disobeyed that command. He threw off the reign and the rule of God. He would not have God rule over him. And the moment he did that, it wasn't Adam that took the throne, was it? It was sin and death that took the throne. And until Christ threw sin and death off that throne, sin and death has reigned unchallenged as a tyrant in the human race. And all of us, all of us died that day. And this is a mystery, isn't? It's nothing we could have ever figured out. We're just born in a certain year, for me 1962. Some of you way before that, some of you after that, some of you way after that. All of us, though, no matter when we were born, we died the day Adam died. And how can that be? It's a deep mystery. So he interrupts himself in verse 12, "Because all sinned." He stops, lest you misunderstand. He does not mean because all sinned like Adam sinned, in other words we imitated him. He had a known command from God and broke it. We have known commands from God and we break that. That's not what went on there. That's not what he's saying. That is true, but that's not what he's saying. So he wants to clarify in verse 13 and 14. He talks about, "even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come." So there are those that did not sin, and yet they died in Adam. They died in Adam. The Compare and Contrast Between Adam and Jesus Christ And so there's a comparison in verses 12-14, and the first half is set up with Adam, but then he can't go far, except that in verses 15-17 he says, "Yes, Adam and Christ are similar but oh, they're so different." They're so different. The things we receive from Adam, sin and death, are actually far less, no matter how powerful they may seem. Far less than what we received in Christ. The things that we got are different and what Christ did for us is far greater than anything we got in Adam. That's hard to believe, isn't? Don't you feel sometimes like sin has greater power over you than the grace in your life? We just accept this by faith. And when you look around in the world, doesn't it seem that sin's got the upper hand all the time, sin and death? And that grace sometimes seems nowhere to be found. We just have to accept this by faith. In the end, Christ and what we get through Christ will be obviously, clearly, infinitely greater than what we got from Adam, we just haven't gotten it all yet. We haven't received it all. So he's got to say in verse 15-17, that Adam and Christ are so very different. The gift is not like the trespass, he says. He says "not like" twice. And he says "how much more" twice. So not only is it not like, but Christ is much more greater than Adam, and what we get from Christ is much greater than what we got from Adam. So that's the unfolding. What We Received in Adam And now we get in verse 18. He finishes the comparison. Look at it again. In Verse 18, "Consequently just as... " We get that "just as" again. "Just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men." Now we get the "so also." So also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men." Verse 19, "For just as... " There it is again. "Through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man, the many will be made righteous." And so we have this comparison "just as," "so also." What do we get in Adam? We get sin. We get death. We get condemnation. And how is that? Well, that's a mystery, isn't? But it seems in some profound way God saw us united together with Adam when Adam stood in front of that tree. You were there in Adam, all of you. Every person on the face of earth. We were all there. We were represented in Adam the day he stood before that tree and made that fateful choice. We were all somehow united. We were represented by him. He was a covenant head, an agreement head together, and he stood for us, and he made the decision for us. Now, I know you think you would have made a different decision. If I had it to do, I'd have done differently. Is that the case? Think. God knows what He's doing. We've had that chance, again and again and again, haven't we? Clear command of God, and what do we do? We disobey. We've had that chance, but Adam stood as our representative. And everything that came down on Adam flowed through him to the entire human race. And so all of humanity immediately condemned with Adam because of Adam's sin. And in this way, I'm going to use a heavy, kind of theological word. Adam's sin was imputed to you, it was credited to your account. When God opens up your credit book, he sees the deficit as a result of Adam's sin, it was credited to you. That's not fair, we'll get to that. Because neither is your salvation either. We're going to talk about imputed righteousness in a minute. But that's what you got through Adam. You got imputed sin, something credited to your account, given to you, through no fault of your own, you didn't do it. You weren't even born, and yet it was credited to you. What We Receive In Christ And so also, through Jesus Christ, one act of righteousness justifies many. Jesus stood and represented you at the cross of Calvary, and His righteousness is taken wholesale and credited to your account. And when God opens up your account book, He is not looking for a bunch of good deeds that you do in righteousness. He is looking for the righteousness of Jesus Christ, credited to your account. You know, like a Swiss bank account, those numbered accounts, no one knows it. Open it up and what's in there? There's been a deposit into your account, from someone else, and it's credited to you and it's sufficient for your salvation. It's an alien righteousness, Luther called it, and it comes from Jesus Christ. Now, it's interesting, it says, just as through one trespass, all of this happened, so also through one act of righteousness, we get justification. What is that one act? Do you ever stop and think about it? It's really kind of hard to figure out. Commentators and theologians say maybe it was the death of Jesus Christ. But the death of Jesus really wasn't one act, was it? It was really a series of acts. Think about it. In Gethsemane, Jesus decided to drink that cup, remember? The cup was handed to Him and He said, "Yet, not as I will, but as you will." And He was willing to drink that cup. But He didn't drink it in the garden, did He? He just declared His willingness to drink it. Was that the one act of righteousness? Or how about when He commanded Peter to put his sword back in his sheath? "Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?" Was that the one act of righteousness when He told Peter not to fight for Him? How about when He stood before Annas or Caiaphas and did not revile back and did not answer a word in fulfillment of prophecy. How about that? Was that the one act of righteousness? Or when He stood before Pilate and made the good confession, was that the one act of righteousness? Or when they stretched Him out on the cross, and He didn't pull his arms off or strike back at the soldiers, was that the one act of righteousness? What was it? You see, it doesn't really work, does it? It's a whole collection of righteous acts, and not just there, but His whole life was one act of righteousness, wasn't it? And all of that righteousness, you remember when Jesus went to be baptized, John the Baptist went to stop Him, and Jesus said, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness. " It was on His mind all the time. He lived for righteousness. He loved righteousness. At every moment He lived and breathed the righteousness of God, from birth until death, the righteous in God. And all of that righteousness has been given to you as a gift. Isn't that incredible? That whole righteous life is credited to your account. And you want to tell me that original sin is not fair? It's exactly the way that we get saved. Can I construct for you right now a great religion? I just want to put a good religion together. Let's say we put together a religion where it is preached that you are sinners, and you do things you shouldn't do, we all know that. And you have some struggles you shouldn't have, and we know that. And you need to turn away from those struggles and start doing good things and be really sorry for all the struggles that you had and start, step by step, to obey the law, and to do the right things that you're commanded to do. That sounds like a good religion, doesn't it? I mean, start giving money to the poor and care and not argue with your spouse or submit to your boss and not chafe again. Just start doing right things that God expects. That sounds like a good religion, doesn't it? Well, it does, it's just not Christianity. It's not Christianity. Christianity talks about us and Adam receiving something we never did, and then receiving in him a sin nature that compels us to sin. And then in like manner receiving from Christ a righteousness we don't deserve. And then a new nature in order that we may obey. That's Christianity, does that sound alien to you? I'm not standing up here and proclaiming a system or morality and righteousness. I'm proclaiming the Gospel of an alien righteousness that's credited to your account through no blessing of your own, through no dessert of your own, but simply by grace. And God wants us to understand it. And therefore it says in verse 18, "Just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men." Remember what I told you justification was? It's the judge looking at you as a judge and declaring you to be not guilty, and the gavel was down, case dismissed, not guilty. Wow! Is it possible on Judgement Day that the judge is going to look and know all those things about you and declare you to be not guilty, case dismissed? Yes, it will happen, but does it just hang in the middle of space? As though there's nothing there, He's just going to... As the sheer act of His sovereign power and will, just say, "You're not guilty, go and do whatever you want." No. He's going to do it on a basis. So also the result of that righteousness was justification, you see. And so that righteousness is credited, then the justification comes. Isn't that beautiful? So justification's a just thing. He sees the righteousness of Christ on you and declares you not guilty. III. Original Sin: “Made Sinners” By the Sin of Adam So as we sum up all that we've been seeing in Romans 5:12-21, what we see is Adam and Christ, we see two covenant heads, two representatives. All of us were sin in Adam. He sinned for us all. We received from him the sin and guilt. So also in Christ we received righteousness through that justification and eternal life. That's the parallel. And as we compare them, what we get through Adam is sin and death and devastation. What we get through Jesus Christ is grace and righteousness and life forever more. And therefore Christ is far greater than Adam. That's the argument of Romans 5. But now I want to dig in a little bit more and try to understand original sin. What is going on here. In verse 12 it says, "Just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin and in this way death came to all men." Look, "because all sinned." Now, look at verse 19, "For just as through the disobedience of the one man, that many were constituted or made to be sinners. So also through the obedience of the one man the many will be constituted or made to be righteous." The doctrine of original sin works this way. You get two things because you are united with Adam. You want to know what they are? This is what you get. By being united with Adam, you get two things. You get guilt and the condemnation that comes through that guilt, and you get a nature, a sin nature that pulls you toward unrighteousness. Do you feel that within you? Do you realize it's still there? You still have it? So what are we going to do about it? We'll get to that in Roman 6, 7 and 8. It's still there, pulling you. We get two things. Now, suppose... Now, of course, this doesn't relate to any of us. I know the Southern Baptist Convention had its meeting in Las Vegas a few years ago. But none of you ever go to the crap tables, I'm sure, and none of you ever gamble. And so they went there to witness and to witness alone. I'm sure that not one messenger from any church went to the crap tables except to witness. But suppose you were there and maybe there was a gambler there and they were rolling out the dice and the dice came up sixes. Wow! Double six. Pick up the dice and roll them again, come up sixes again. Now, that's remarkable. Suppose they pick them up and for the third time double six, and the fourth time, and the fifth time, and the sixth time. When do you start wondering about the dice? How about after the 10th time? Maybe a little slow. The 100th time, the double sixes. The 10,00th time, the 10,000th times, the millionth time, the billionth time. Sixes every time. How about 6.3 billion times? Every single time, it comes up the same way. Sinner. Every single child born in every single culture will violate their conscience at some point if allowed to live long enough. They will violate their conscience and do sin, without fail. Now, how do you explain that? Do you deny that it's true? You know it's true. How do you explain it? Original sin. There's a nature, a character. It's not just environment. It's far more powerful than that. Now, there's an ancient debate between Augustine and Pelagius. Augustine said, "Original sin, we're getting in nature. We're getting a pull toward sin." Pelagius said, "Impossible, that makes God the author of sin. Every single baby born in the world gets a clean slate. Absolute possibility to choose to do righteousness at all times. And that's true of all of us at all times. We can at any moment choose to do righteously, anytime you want." Now, which of those two more nearly explains both your experience and the experience of the entire world? Original sin. There was a study done by the police out in California. This is not done by Christians. This is just observation. I thought it was very interesting. We tend to take babies and think of them as very innocent, don't we? If only we knew everything they were thinking and all of their worldview. What is the worldview of a baby? Do you ever wonder about that? Does a baby have a worldview? Well, this is what this police study in juvenile delinquency said, "Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish and self-centered. He wants what he wants, his bottle, his mother's attention, his playmate's toys, his uncle's watch or whatever. Deny him these and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness which would be murderous were he not so helpless. He is dirty. He has no morals, no knowledge, no developed skills. This means that all children, not just certain children, but all children are born delinquent. If permitted to continue in their self-centered world of infancy, given free rein to their impulsive actions to satisfy every want, every child would grow up a criminal, a killer, a thief and a rapist." That's true. Now, I know that Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and of such is the kingdom of heaven," but what was He zeroing in on? Faith. Justification by faith alone. The ability just to simply trust and to believe. Not the essential nature. I appreciate Andy reading about this sin nature in Ephesians 2:3. It says, "All of us also lived among them at one time. Gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts; like the rest we are by nature children of wrath." By nature, children of wrath. Now what I tell you is that this is not a big theme in Romans 5. He's focusing on the momentary sin, and we got the momentary sin, we get the momentary righteousness. But it's in there because we were constituted sinners and it flows out. Now, when does it flow out? I'll tell you when, as soon as you understand law from God. "Once I was alive," he says in Roman 7, "Apart from the law, but when the law came, sin sprang to life and I died." Well, the beauty of the gospel is that it has a response to both aspects of original sin. Imputed guilt and sin from Adam, justification by faith alone through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Imputed sin nature from Adam, we get a new nature, a new heart, we are new creations in Jesus Christ with a bent toward doing right, a yearning to please. Interestingly enough, though, the two are left to struggle, aren't they? The rest of your life, that's called sanctification by faith, and we'll get to that in Roman 6. IV. Sin and Death Dethroned; Grace and Life Enthroned So what do we get ultimately? Sin and death have been dethroned, grace and life have been enthroned. And you may ask, why did God choose to do it this way? Why was the law added, for example? Why this river of sin? Why didn't He just live it at one command? Would it be better if we all just had the one command, don't eat from that tree? The Purpose of the Law: The Increase of Sin So then sin becomes very simple, but now we have lots of commands, don't we? We have the whole Mosaic law. We have the ten commandments. We have the two great commandments. We have all kinds of commandments. And therefore we can sin in lots and lots of ways, why was the law added? Verse 20 says, "The law was added so that the trespass might increase." But why did God want the trespass to increase? Well, understand what God's motive is. First that you may see just how wicked and evil sin is. When we get to heaven, are you going to want anything more to do with sin? Haven't you had enough? And if you still have a memory, we're not talking Hinduism Nirvana where you lose yourself, we'll still have a memory. We'll remember our history and we're going to say, "Forever I am done with sin, praise God." We've seen its career. We've seen it for millennia, and we've had it with sin forever. So that sin might become utterly sinful, it says in Roman 7, the law was added. And then sin just gets exposed for what it is. But that's not even the final goal, the final goal is the praise of His glorious grace, so that we see that no matter how big the sin unfolded, grace was even bigger. No matter how much sin devastated, grace restored and healed even more. Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. It's incredible. John Bunyan, who wrote Pilgrim's Progress, he chose this title for his spiritual autobiography, his testimony, how he came to Christ. He was once a blasphemer, and a vile man, and God saved him by His grace. And the name of his autobiography was Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. Do you feel that Christian? Do you feel that God's grace has abounded to you, the chief of sinners? How many times have you gone to Him to confess that sin? What sin? Well, the one you're thinking about right now. Whatever is on your mind. How many times have you confessed it to Him and asked Him to forgive? Grace abounding. Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. You can't out-sin the grace of God. It is impossible to out-sin the grace of God. It's impossible. And you can say, "Wait a minute, should we sin lots and lots?" We'll get to that next time. But I want you to understand Chapter 5 before we get to the question, "Shall we sin all the more so that grace may abound?" Understand grace first, you can't sin more than God's grace. You can't get ahead of it. Sometimes you try and try. And those are grievous times in your life, but God is gracious and His grace covers all your sin. So what was God's purpose? That we may see how wicked and evil is sin through a full history in career, but even more that we may be all of us for the praise of His glorious grace. That grace is far greater than any of our sin. But even more than that, he uses language here which is phenomenal. "Where sin increased [or abounded], grace increased all the more so that, just as sin reigned in death..." Remember, like Joseph Stalin, a tyrant, reigning over you, dominating you, in charge of you, right? "Just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The Glorious Reign of Grace Grace is a king. Grace is an emperor. Grace calls the shots. Grace is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Grace is in charge, and grace will get you home. His grace, it's grace that's brought you safe this far, and it's grace that's going to bring you all the way home. You have no other confidence or assurance than that. God's grace is going to get you home. Grace is a king, it's a sovereign. What do you think the word reigns means? Just as sin and death reigned like a tyrant, now grace reigns like a good emperor. Roman 6:14 says, "Sin shall not be your master, for you are not under law, but under grace." So who's your master now? Grace is your master. Grace is in charge now. Romans 8:9, "You however are controlled, not by the sinful nature, but by the spirit. If the spirit lives inside you." Grace isn't going to let you go. Grace will not let you be lost. Amen. Praise God for that. And it's on that basis that we can have joy in our Christian life. It's on that basis that you're going to stand and fight sin through Roman 6, 7 and 8. It's on that basis. Total assurance and security. Just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Note the two "throughs," through righteousness, through Jesus Christ our Lord. That already answers the question we're about to get to. Shall we sin all the more? No. Grace reigns through righteousness. What grace does, is it makes you righteous. It won't let you, for long, stray. It's going to bring you back and say, no, that's not the life you should be living. You're going to be righteous. You're going to confess that sin, and you're going to repent and you're going to keep walking. Grace is strong, and powerful, like a drill instructor sometimes. You know what I'm talking about, to keep you walking with Jesus until you come home. Grace is an emperor, a reign, a ruler. Through righteousness the grace reigns, but also, he can't help but say, through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. We can never get far from Christ, can we? All of this has come because one day, a long long time ago, our second Adam, our second covenant head walked up that hill with our cross and died in our place. He shed His blood in our place that we might have eternal life. V. Benefits of Understanding This Doctrine Now, by way of application, I want to ask you, you say, "What benefit? Why do we have to go through this? What benefits come to us from understanding the doctrine of original sin?" Well, I got these from John Piper. I'm not smart enough to come up with these, so he helped me. The first is humility. As you look at this, I believe right understanding of salvation always promotes or leaves you with two things, humility and security. Humility and security. Those two, you get humility, you get security, God gets the glory, not you. You get the joy. And so, humility, well, in what way? Number one, it's not the case that you just do bad things. I just do sin, it's kind of like one of my hobbies. It's that you are a sinner. It's deeper than that, it goes to the root of your nature, and not just you, but me, every one of us. We are not just... It's not just that we do bad things, we are bad, essentially. And therefore we need a savior, a great savior. So that's humbling, doesn't that humble you? And it also means that we are all constituted one family, so the terrible things that happen as a result of sin, like in Texas, I'm not essentially different from that lady. I'm not essentially different. We're kinfolk. That's kind of hard, that's humbling, isn't it? I'm essentially like somebody who'd bomb an office building. I'm essentially like that. I'm not essentially different. And second of all, it's humbling because this brings us to the edge of what we can handle intellectually. How is it that God can give us somebody else's sin and somebody else's sin nature and yet not be the author of sin? I don't know, but I know that it's true. So it brings us to the edge and it humbles us. And secondly, it deepens our gratitude for salvation. You should be thankful, grateful. Roman 6:17 says, "Thanks be to God that though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted." Thanks be to God that you obeyed. That's what he says. Thank you, God, that I obey. It deepens gratitude for salvation. Look that one up, if you don't think it's there. It's there, Roman 6:17, we'll get to that. Thanks be to God that you obeyed. Take no credit whatsoever for your salvation. Number three, though we want to fight against this doctrine, doesn't it explain the world we live in better than any other system? Isn't that what's going on? We have Adam's sin, and Adam's sin nature, every one of us. And that explains it, and we get sin and death, as a result. And number four, for the Fourth of July, it gives us insights into human government. To concentrate power in the hands of one person is dangerous. Why? Because of original sin. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, unless it's Jesus Christ who has it. He can't be corrupted, He's incorruptible. So He's got this power, and grace has the power, and it's incorruptible. But humans, you need to spread the power out, as wide as you can, and it's not to pat ourselves on the back that we know how to rule ourselves, democracy. No, it's to minimize the effects of original sin. And also this doctrine should produce compassion for others. When you read a story of a lady who kills her own children, I'm not condoning that, it brings me to tears. I don't understand it. But at the same time, I can say there's still hope for somebody like that. It's still possible… You can't say you've sinned so much that grace can't reach that. And so that no matter what any of you who are hearing me today are into, any of the ways you've expressed your sin nature, there's still forgiveness possible. And also, we are able to look out to a sinner and say, "I'm not any different than you. There's nothing I don't see, there's nothing I see in your life that I don't see a reflection in my own nature." Because we're kinfolk. And it also motivates us in evangelism, because there is no other answer for the world. Is there any other answer than Jesus Christ to this? There is no other answer but Christ alone. We need to get out and share the gospel, all of us. And we need to have our eyes on the whole world, because there is one gospel for the whole world. And one final word before we close, I want to know, I'm so... My only desire is that everyone in this room here, this is my field today, right now. All of you would be seen by God, in Christ, not in Adam. There's only two possibilities. You're either going to be seen on Judgement Day in Adam, or you're going to be seen in Christ, there's no third option. Does God see you right now in Adam, or does He see you in Christ? Some people take Romans 5 and push it too far into universalism, just as every single solitary person in the world sinned in Adam, so every single solitary person in the world will be saved in Christ. Is that what it's teaching here? Not at all. Look at verse 17, Remember, "For if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." Have you received it? Have you received this free gift of Christ's righteousness? Have you received Christ? And if so, you're in Christ now. You're in Christ today, and nothing can take you out. But if you have not yet received by faith Jesus Christ, please don't leave this room. Please don't, don't go away until you know you've received grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We're going to sing a closing hymn, in a minute I'm going to pray. And if you want to talk to me, if you don't know whether you have received grace, please come and talk to me. Talk to me while the hymn's playing, talk to me afterwards, I go up to the back, come and say, "I need to talk to you. I need to talk to you about my soul." Don't put it off. Please close with me in prayer. Heavenly Father, we can only bow in amazement at what you've laid before us. We don't understand your ways, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are your ways higher than our ways, and your thoughts than our thoughts. But we do see the wisdom to what you're doing, in that we are utterly humbled by the gospel, and we all, all of us, feel the gratitude, the praise of your glorious grace that we are saved by grace alone. And that means, oh Lord, if we're in Christ today, we're going to see you someday face to face. Holy and blameless, without sin, on that final day. Father, I pray now, for any who have heard me today, who do not have assurance of salvation, they've never looked to Christ, to Him crucified, they've never trusted in Him to take away their death penalty, they've never trusted in Him, that they would today put their trust in Christ. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
I. A Black Cloth, A Glittering Diamond Today we are looking at Romans 5:15-17. We're going to read a larger section than that, but our goal is to understand specifically Romans Chapter 5:15-17. A number of years ago, as I was on my way to a mission trip, I was going to Kenya, we had a stop for about eight hours or ten hours in Amsterdam. Now, Amsterdam used to be the center of diamond sales throughout the world. It's no longer that way. Many of them go through Belgium. But I remember some friends of mine and I went to a diamond seller, and we just wanted to look at diamonds. And he sat us down in these plush leather chairs, and he rolled out this black velvet piece of cloth. And then he took out this black velvet bag and just spilled these rocks out onto the cloth. And I remember being taken in by that, because against the backdrop of that black velvet, these diamonds seemed to sparkle with a light that seemed to come from within them. It was amazing. And so it is, I think, as we look around the world and see all the evil and all the sin, and the death, and the struggle, and the suffering, and then we look in Romans Chapter 5 and see that all of it flowed from our union with Adam. And we have to wonder, "How, God? How could it be that anything good could come out of this union with Adam and all the sin and the struggle?" And every one of us feels that struggling within us, don't we? We feel that sin nature. And so we come to Romans and we find out it's because in Adam we died. In Adam we received the sin nature. And we're struggling with that, and we wonder, "How could anything good come out of that?" This passage today, Romans 5:15-17, shows that very brilliantly, the sin of Adam, and the death that we receive, and all of that struggle, all of it serves as a backdrop against which the light of Jesus Christ shines all the more brightly, so that we might understand the grace that God has given us in Jesus Christ. II. Paul’s Purpose: “To the praise of His glorious grace!!” Paul's purpose here is that we might praise His glorious grace, to the praise of His glorious grace. This is exactly what he said in Ephesians. That all of us, when we stand before God and we are acquitted through the blood of Jesus Christ, through a righteousness not our own, through a gift of righteousness, through faith in Jesus Christ, when we are pronounced once and for all, (and it's declared to the universe) 'not guilty' through the blood of Jesus Christ, we will all be there for the praise of His glorious grace. And for the rest of eternity, we will be praising His glorious grace." And so what is Paul saying here in Romans Chapter 5? He's enabling us to understand our union in Jesus Christ and the certainty of our salvation through faith in Him. Look with me if you would. I'm going to begin reading at verse 12, and I'm going to go through verse 17. "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way, death came to all men, because all sinned. For before the law was given, sin was in the world, but sin is not taken into account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern or a type of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass, for if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin. The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ? Let him who boasts, let him boast in the Lord. Let him who boasts, let him boast in Jesus Christ, for our salvation is found in no one else other than the free gift of righteousness through faith in Christ. Spurgeon put it this way… If you want to understand the logic of the passage, what is going on here, we've got a comparison between Adam and Christ. They are compared, Adam and Christ. Last week we said that Adam was a type of Christ. We're going to talk about that. But in these verses, verses 15-17, Adam and Christ are contrasted. There's a difference between Adam and Christ, so they're compared and they are contrasted. And here we have highlighted in verses 15-17 the differences between Jesus Christ and Adam. Spurgeon put it this way, “The sin which destroyed us was the transgression of a finite being, and cannot be compared in power with the grace of the infinite God; it was the sin of a moment, and therefore cannot be compared for force and energy with the everlasting purpose of divine love. If, then, the comparatively feeble fount of Adam’s sin sends forth a flood which drowns the world in sorrow and death, what must be the boundless blessing poured forth from the infinite source of divine grace? The grace of God is like his nature, omnipotent and unlimited. God has not a measure of love, but he is love; love to the uttermost dwells in him. God is not only gracious to this degree or to that, but he is gracious beyond measure; we read of ‘the exceeding riches of his grace.’ He is “the God of all grace,” and his mercy is great above the heavens.” Thank you, Charles Spurgeon. This is what this is all about. This little fount of Adam has polluted the whole race. How much more will what we get from Jesus bring us to everlasting life? The comparison between Adam and Christ. Now, let's set our context. We always want to understand where we are. It's easy to lose your way when you're going in detail, trying to understand. So what's the big picture? In the book of Romans, where are we? We're in a book that's given to us that we may understand and that it may be explained to us plainly, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the only message of our salvation. "I am not ashamed of the Gospel," Romans 1:16, "For it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." For in the Gospel the righteousness from God, that is by faith from first to last comes to us. A righteousness that is a gift of God. This is the Gospel. And then in Romans 1, 2 and 3, it explains why we all need this gift of righteousness. The Gentiles, suppressing the truth in unrighteousness, growing in perversion, not understanding the way of God. The Jews having the law but not able to keep it, locked up under the law, unable to fulfill it. And so the summation, Romans 3:23, All have sinned, Jew and Gentile alike. "All have sinned and lack the glory of God and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in His blood." That is the Gospel. Well, how shall we tie in? How shall we be united with Christ? By faith alone, apart from works of the law. You can't work your way to heaven. You can't through good work seek to pay for your sin. By faith alone do you receive this righteousness. It's the same faith of Abraham. When God made a promise to Abraham, He said, "Abraham, look at the stars. See if you can count them. So shall your offspring be, Abraham." And Abraham inside his heart heard that promise, believed it and was justified. He was declared not guilty by God. A righteousness was given him that is not his own. And then in Romans Chapter 5, we've seen this assurance that God wants to give us. Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wants us to know that there's an absolute unbreakable chain tying us to the grace of God, nothing can break it. And so we have link after link in Romans 5:1-11. The sum of it all is the declaration that if we have been justified through faith, we will most certainly in the end be glorified. We will someday see God face to face and nothing can change that. So right in the middle of this section, we're trying to understand justification by faith alone. We're trying to understand how it is that God declares us not guilty simply by faith. And so he delves into the depths of the relationship between Adam and Christ, and us in Adam, and us in Christ, that is our context. And Paul's purpose here is answering some very difficult root questions. How did we come to this depravity, this sin nature that's so hard for us to wrestle against? Do you feel it? Do you feel that sin nature inside? It's so hard to do what is right. How did we come to that sin nature? And how did sin come to have an unshakable reign over the earth, and not just sin but death as well? How did we come to it? And more than that, how shall we escape it? How shall we break the bonds of sin? How shall we escape death? Is there any way? These are the answers that Paul is seeking to give us these deep questions, and how are we secure in Christ and how much glory, above all, how much glory should God get for our salvation? These are the issues that he's facing. III. Adam and Christ: Our Federal Heads Compared and Contrasted Now, as we look at Adam and Christ, we see the issue of Federal Headship, our Federal Heads compared and contrasted. Now what does that mean, Federal headship? Well, Federal means covenant. There's a covenant, an agreement between God and a representative, that's a covenant. We have a covenant made between God and Adam, it's called the covenant of works. And basically it was this, that if Adam would be righteous in the face of his test, that all of us would be righteous in Him, but Adam failed his test. Adam is our covenant head, he is our representative in that covenant. And so in effect, God saw all of us, the entire human race, every tribe and language and people and nation, all of us represented at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, at Adam, in Adam, all of us represented there. He is our covenant head, our Federal head. And in the same way, Jesus Christ is the representative to all united in Him. Just as we are represented at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Adam, so we are represented at the tree on Calvary in Jesus Christ. It's the same. And so these two are being compared, Adam representing us and Christ representing us. And so Adam and Christ are compared. Now, we finished last week in verse 14, in the very last part of the verse it says, "As did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come." Adam was a type or pattern of Jesus Christ. A short time ago, I took a vacation with my family and we went to Williamsburg. Have you ever been to Williamsburg? You see all those trade shops, you've got the ceramic and the leather worker and all these different ones, jewelry maker? But I love the print shop, I always love going to the print shop because I realize the importance of the printer back then. And these folks always have interesting stories to tell. And if you go in the print shop, there is a little bin, all these little bins with these little letters inside them. Modern day, we have the word processor and all that. When I was growing up, we had a typewriter. Some of you younger folks might not remember a typewriter. I see the look of confusion on your children's face, "Typewriter? What is that?" But some of you know what I'm talking about. When I went to MIT, that's what I used, was a typewriter, until finally word processors came and freed us from white-out and all those other things we had to deal with. But before the typewriter, there was type itself. There were these little letters, remember? And all of them would be set up in a roll by printers in wooden frames. And they'd press them in and then they'd ink them up and they would print the page. And so in the same way, that's the kind of word that's used, there's a type, a relation between the S or the T or the L that's inked and then the imprint made on the page. So there's a comparison here. Adam is a type of Christ. But Paul is very urgent that we understand that there's a difference as well. The same thing is said of the relationship between the father and the son. There there's a perfect correspondence between Jesus, between the son and the father. Perfect correspondence, but there is not a perfect correspondence between Adam and Christ. And so in this section, in verses 15-17, he wants us to understand the contrast as well as the comparison. And what is the comparison? Well, it's the idea of the one and the many. Look at verse 15, "For if by the transgression of the one, the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ overflow to the many!" So we've got the one representing the many. Do you see that in verse 15? One and many. "Just As" - "So Also" We also have a "Just as" and a "So also." He begins the whole thing in verse 12, "Therefore, just as sin entered the world... " we're waiting for a so also, we don't get it until verse 18, look down at verse 18. "Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men." So there's a comparison here, just as, so also, and we've got the one and we've got the many. And all of it come together in verse 19. Look down at verse 19. "For just as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man, the many will be made righteous." So you see the comparison, it's the idea that both Adam and Christ stand at the head of a huge group of people and they represent those people. Adam represents a huge group of people, the many. Christ represents a huge group of people, the many. And God sees us either in Adam or in Christ, there's no other option. You're either seen in Adam or you're seen in Christ. So that's the comparison. What's the contrast? Well, first of all, we know it's a contrast. As you look at verse 15, what's the first word you see in verse 15? It's "but," isn't it? Now as you're moving along in a sentence, you're flowing along and then you come to the English word, "but." That's a contrasting word. We've been heading in one direction, now we're going to go in a different direction. Adam is a type of Christ, but he's different too. And so we're contrasting, we're trying to understand the difference, and there's basically two ideas that Paul is trying to get across here. Number one, Christ is not like Adam in some significant ways. And number two, even better, Christ is much greater than Adam. Those are the two things he wants to get across here. If you forget anything else of what am saying, 15 through 17, Christ is not like Adam. In fact, Christ is much greater than Adam. The effects of Jesus Christ on those in Him is much greater than the effect of Adam on those in him. That's a dynamite statement, we're going to unfold it a little bit more. But look at verse 15, it says, "But the free gift is not like the transgression." Do you see the words 'not like' in there? So there's a difference. Verse 16, "And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned." And then Christ is greater than Adam, we get that from the words "much more." Again look at verse 15, "But the gift is not like the trespass, for if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflow to the many?" Again, verse 17, "For if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ." Now what is Paul trying to work on here? Well, John Piper put it this way, suppose we look at it this way, that Adam has in effect put us at negative 10. Jesus Christ did not come to offset with a positive 10 so we end up back at zero, back at neutrality, back at the Garden of Eden, not at all. If Adam gave us a negative 10, what did Jesus give us? Positive infinity. Positive infinity. You can't compare them. The effect of Christ is so much greater than the effect of Adam. That's what he's getting across here. Verse 20, we have the statement, "Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more." There's a multiplication of goodness and grace. IV. Unfolding the Contrast: Christ MUCH MORE Than Adam Now, as we unfold the contrast, we see that Christ is much more than Adam. The free gift, for example, is much greater than the judgement. Grace to many is much greater than death to many. Many transgressions which Christ followed is much greater than one transgression, the result of Christ much greater than Adam's result, and the reign of the grace receivers much greater than the reign of death. Let's explain or understand each of these. First, the free gift is much greater than judgement. Several times in this passage he mentions the free gift. Now, the word in Greek actually is redundant. If I were to say free gift, it's redundant. The word for gift is charisma. The word for grace is Charis, they're related together. So all of the gifts that we get come from grace. We don't deserve any of them, but there's an underscoring of the freeness of this gift. What is it you could find in your bag of collections that you could use to pay God the father to have Him send Jesus to die in your place? Is there anything you could find? Any of your gold or silver or your most costly possessions that would persuade the father to send the son in your place? Is there anything you can offer on judgement day for your soul? And therefore it's a free gift, and the free gift is much greater than Adam's trespass, much greater. All of this is for the praise of His glorious grace. Secondly, it says the grace to many is much greater than the death to many. Look at verse 15, "For if by the transgression of the one, the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gift that came by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflow to the many?" What do you get through your union with Adam? You get death, you get to die. What do you get through your union with Jesus Christ? Eternal life. And which of those two is greater? The eternal life is far greater than what you got in Adam. This is the logic of the passage, much greater. And there's an effusion, there's an abundance of grace flowing to us, somewhat like a river. The gift of grace overflowed, it said, to the many. The Amazon River, second longest river in the world, actually flows more water than any other river. 4.2 million cubic feet of water per second flow through the Amazon. You wonder what that looks like? 4.2 million cubic feet of water? And that's what I think of when I come to the grace of God, it's a river that flows. It just flows and it overflows all of our sin. It's just like the image I got when I said we're standing in grace of a shower of grace. Now, you think, "If I get 4.2 million cubic feet of water per second flowing on me, it'll kill me." But the grace of God is just sufficient for your sin, it just overflows and cleanses you from all of your sin. John MacArthur put it this way, "Adam's sinful act, devastating as it was, had but a one dimensional affect. It brought death to everyone. But the effect of Christ's redemption, redemptive act has facets beyond measure. Because he not only restores men to spiritual life, but gives them the very life of God. Death is by nature static and empty, Whereas life by nature is active and full. Only life can abound." And so what we get from Jesus, we get the Garden of Eden in your life. We get full flowering coming up out of grace in your life, and that for eternity. The two don't even compare. What do you get from Adam? A struggle with sin and death and all this wrestling. What do you get from Christ? A river of grace flowing to eternal life. And so Christ's results are far greater than Adam's results. Now, you can only understand that if you understand how much damage has been done through Adam. It's been terrible, hasn't it? Think of all the damage that sin has done in your life. Think of all the things that sin has done. What would you give, brother or sister in Christ, to have sin gone forever from your life, right today? What would you give to be free forever from sin? All the damage that comes, and Spurgeon put it this way, "We came into the world with a bias towards evil. Those of us who have any knowledge of our own nature must confess that there is in us a strong tendency towards sin, which is mixed up with our very being. This is not derived solely from faults of education, or from the imitation of others; but there is a bent within us in the wrong direction, and this has been there from our birth. Alas! that it should be so; but so it is. In addition to having this tendency to sin, we are made liable to death — nay, not liable alone, but we are sure in due time to bow our heads beneath the fatal stroke. Two only of the human race have escaped death, but the rest have left their bodies here to moulder back into mother earth, and unless the Lord comes speedily, we expect that the same thing will happen to these bodies of ours. While we live we know that the sweat of our brow must pay the price of our bread; we know that our children must be born with pangs and travail; we know that we ourselves must return to the dust from whence we are taken; for dust we are, and unto dust must we return. O Adam, you did a sad day’s work for us when you listened to the voice of your wife and ate of the forbidden tree. The world has no more a Paradise anywhere, but everywhere it has the place of wailing and the field of the dead. Where can yon go and not find traces of the first transgression in the sepulcher and its mouldering bones? Every field is fattened with the dust of the departed: every wave of the sea is tainted with atoms of the dead." That's what we got through Adam. We got sin and we got death. But do you see the logic of the passage? What we get from Christ is abundantly more. I know it's hard to believe, isn't it? Do you feel it now? You feel like, "Boy, what I got from Adam is far more than I'm getting from Jesus. I struggle with Adam every day." The text says what you get from Christ can't even be compared with what you get from Adam. "How much more?" it says. You should marvel at this. And many transgressions greater than one transgression, verse 16, "Again the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin. The judgement followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification." How can it be that one sin did all this? Do you ever think about that? How could it be that one sin brought all of this suffering into the world? Somehow it doesn't seem right, does it? But this is the nature of God. This is the holiness of God. I was talking to a brother recently who was talking about alabaster lampshades. Can you imagine a big chunk of alabaster, what it would take to work that thing until it was just thin enough around to be translucent, so you could see the veins of the alabaster? What would you pay for an alabaster lampshade? And if you had small children, would you pay it? And he says, the worker says after days and days of labor, it gets to that dangerous place at the end where he's working and polishing it, can you imagine taking it off? And imagine taking a spike, just one, and a hammer and just crack. What's going to happen to that alabaster lampshade? It's gone. And so it is, one sin before a Holy God. One sin and the whole is ruined. The book of James says that if you keep the whole law and yet falter at just one point, you're guilty of all of it. Have you ever been to an aquarium? Have you ever seen an aquarium? I've seen this aquarium which is six stories high. This big tank that's got sharks swimming around. You know what I'm talking about? And off to the side they have a display of the glass, have you seen that? And the glass is like, this thick. They're basically saying, "Don't worry. It's okay. It's going to hold." Well, suppose we just had one hole in the glass. What then? The whole thing would be destroyed, it'd get bigger and bigger, the pressure, and the whole thing would be destroyed. This is the holiness of God. But the sad thing is we're not talking... Brothers and sisters, let's be honest. Are we talking in reference to you about one sin? Is that what we're talking about? How long does it take for you to commit one sin on a given Tuesday? I'm not just talking about sins of commission where you break something when you knew you were... I mean just the things that God has commanded you to do and you don't do. We're supposed to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We're supposed to love our neighbor as our self. Are we talking about just one sin on your account? Are we talking, brothers and sisters, about one sin or many transgressions? We're talking about many, more than can be counted. Jesus said, "I tell you that men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken." That's one scripture, but then there's another scripture. Revelations 7:9-10, "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’" How did they get there? On what basis are they going to stand there robed in white saying, "Salvation belongs to the Lamb?" Because of this far greater gift we got from Jesus. That's how powerful it is. That's the power of what Jesus Christ did for us. And then finally, the reign of grace receivers is greater than the reign of death. Now this is a surprise. Look at verse 17. "For if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those... " I'm going to put the word people. It's implied. It's not actually in the text, but [those people] "who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ." This is an unexpected break of parallel. I'll explain what I mean. You would expect if you're following along, if you're paying attention, something like this. For if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through the one man, how much more will life reign through the one man Jesus Christ? Do you see that? Death reigns in Adam. Life reigns in Christ. Is that true? Yeah it is, but it's not what he says. What does he say reigns in this verse? Death reigned in Adam. We reign in Christ. Those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. You are, as it says in Romans 8, more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. You have become kings and queens through faith in Him. Isn't that incredible? Those who receive God's grace will reign in life forever and ever through Jesus Christ. Now, do you see the how much more? Adam gave you death. Christ gives you an eternal reign of life through His blood. It's incredible. And you reign now, you're going to reign more later. There's coming a new Heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness, and you will reign with Jesus. Revelation 3:21, "To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with Me on My Throne just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His Throne." Paul's point is the reign of those people who receive grace, grace receivers, is greater than the reign of death ever was. The reign in Christ is an eternal reign. Death's reign is temporary. It is an unbreakable reign. Death's reign has been conquered. It is an abundantly fruitful reign. Death's reign is fruitless and empty. It's an abundantly great reign that God has given us in Jesus Christ. There's one final point I want to make. This is a conditional promise. Remember we said that Adam represented the many, and Christ represents the many? Don't be confused about this. Adam represents everyone physically descended from him. Christ represents those who receive God's grace. Do you see the difference? This is not universalism. There is a parallel between Adam and Christ, but it's not true that everyone is saved in Christ. It is not true. Everyone died in Adam, but only those who receive God's gift of grace will reign in life through Christ. V. Application: Assurance Do you see the difference? Oh, it's so important to understand that. And so what is the application? Well, to you who have never received it, receive it today. Today is the day of salvation. If you have never come to faith in Christ, God sees you in Adam, and you're under the condemnation of Adam. And you're living out your nature and cranking out sin after sin after sin for what you will be held accountable on judgment day. But through faith in Jesus Christ, you can have all that washed away and be seen in Christ, and receive the abundance, the river of grace, cleansing you forever from sin. Now, I've printed out some applications on the page. You can read that, but I want to finish again with a quote from Spurgeon. Preaching on this passage, Romans 5:15, he entitled his sermon "Honey from a lion". Any of you know the story of Samson? Remember Samson, how he killed the lion on his way to a meeting, and then he comes back and what does he see in the lion's carcass? He sees honey. And so what is Spurgeon saying? Out of the death of Adam, and out of all of that curse comes honey. And what is it? Eternal life through Jesus Christ. Simply by contrast, take everything you got from Adam and then turn it around and multiply by a billion, by infinity, and that's what you get through Christ. What did you get? You got a sin nature. Turn it around, you're going to be perfect forever in Christ. What did you get as a result of Adam? You got the ability to wrestle with the ground for thorns and thistles the rest of your life, while you wipe the sweat off your face. And some of you know what I mean, because you're going to have to go to that job again tomorrow morning. Do you know what I'm talking about? That job? I had a 'that job', I've had many 'that jobs.' You feel it most acutely on Monday morning, don't you? At least I did. And you can get in there tomorrow, and if you want to be bitter about it, you can say, "Thanks Adam, I appreciate it. Here I am day after day, having to hold down that job, wrestling with things that don't seem to matter, just so I can provide for my family." Turn it around. God gives you abundant, eternal fruitfulness in Jesus Christ. And what do we get in Adam? We get death. We get death. And we who are alive, we all know somebody who's died. We all know people that have died. We love them and we miss them. Turn it around, what do we get from Jesus? Eternal life in the presence of God. We get honey from the lion. If you've never received it, will you receive it today? We're going to be singing the invitation hymn. Please come forward and talk to me. If you've never come to faith in Christ, perhaps you need to be baptized. If you have never given yourself to Christ in believer baptism, maybe today is the day. But if you're a Christian, you've already been baptized, you're walking with Jesus, understand that you reign in life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Close with me in prayer, please. Father, we thank you for this time that we've had to understand this passage. And father, all we can do is just stand amazed at the abundance of your grace. Lord, in your own way, you united us with Adam, and though we don't understand that fully, we also see that it's in the same way that we have eternal life through faith in Christ. You don't see us as sinners, you see us in Christ. And I praise you for that alien righteousness, a righteousness not my own, that covers me now and forever. And father, now I want to direct a specific prayer to those who have never received this abundant provision of God's grace, that today they would receive it. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.
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