“A Tale of Two Men, and the Long History of Sin” Pt. 2
Romans 5:13-14
September 17, 2017
How long? Don’t you wonder sometimes how long it will take to get something completed?
- How long will it take to finish the road work on 377 through Benbrook?
- How many more years can a nine-month pregnancy take?
- How long will it take for the IRS refund to come?
- How long will it take to pay off that credit card? Or student loan? Or car loan? Or mortgage?
And more seriously, how long will you continue to battle with sin? I feel that in my own heart — how long will I have to battle against the sins that often entangle me? I often have people ask me, “Will I ever be free from this battle against this sin? Is there any hope that it will one day be gone?” I saw a similar sentiment in an email blog I received on Friday morning: “Are you discouraged by how slow you grow?” YES!
In a similar manner, Paul didn’t ask, “how long will we battle with sin?” but he did ask the related question, “how long sin has been in existence?” In Romans 5:12 he stated that sin had entered the human race when Adam sinned and that all men demonstrated that reality through their own personal sins. And in verses 13-14 Paul anticipates an objection to that statement — did all men really sin? What about those who didn’t have the Law — since one can’t know what sin is without the Law, could those who lived before Moses have been free from the guilt of sin? Has sin really been with us this long? Has there really been no reprieve from sin? And in these questions there is a sense of hopelessness — is there nothing that can be done in the long battle against sin?
In these verses, Paul says that,
Adam’s sin resulted in all men being under sin.
These verses speak to the pervasiveness and universality of sin. Are all men really under sin and sinners? Yes, we really are.
Context: All men are sinners because Adam was their representative when he sinned (v. 12a), and further all men themselves sin (v. 12d). Here are five chapters in the sorry story of sin’s long history.
- Sin Was in the World After Adam (v. 13a)
- The Full Extent of Sin’s Sinfulness Was Not Recognized without the Law (v. 13b)
- Death Was in the World After Adam (v. 14a)
- Adam’s Representation of Man Was Complete (v. 14b)
- Christ’s Representation of Man Is Hopeful (v. 14b)
Download the rest of this sermon on Romans 5:13-14.
The audio will be posted on the GBC website tomorrow morning.
Words of Grace 