Romans chapter 5, verse number 12 through verse number 21, Romans chapter 5, verse number 12 through 21, Romans 5, 12, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sin. For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed, for there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sin, so is the gift. For judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses under justification. For if by one man's offense death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men under justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one many shall be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound and where sin abounded grace did much more abound that as sin hath reigned unto death even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Let's pray. Father, I, I thank you for your goodness. I pray you'll forgive me for where I've sinned against you. Pray you'd help us to be sensitive to you. I plead the blood, just asking that your will might be done and bind us together, purge us and cleanse us and solidify and eucalyptus of a stand in these days in this place. Hover over us, form that vacuum that's needed, Lord, that we might see your Spirit manifest Himself unto some soul, that some soul might be drawn a little closer to you. might walk the narrow way a little closer to the straight gate, might come through the straight gate, whatever the need is, Lord, I pray that you do that, that it will please you this morning all in accordance to your will and for your glory. Help us, Lord, to be sensitive. Give us the recall we need. I plead the blood on the devil today and the fiery darts that he throws at us and at people here in this congregation. I pray you to remove them today if it please you that we might have liberty to hear today and to preach today and we'll thank you. Give us the recall we need, hide anything that don't need to be brought forth. Edify the saints and expose sin and reveal truth and exalt the Savior today. We'll thank you for all you do and praise you for it and be careful to give you the glory for it. We ask it all in Jesus' name for His sake we do pray. Amen. You may be seated. We've been dealing with the principle of salvation in the book of Romans, Paul's writing to the saints at Rome and as he writes to the saints at Rome he first, in the first part of the book of Romans he establishes the fact that all are guilty before God, it matters not whether it's the heathen and of course we know we're safe to reach the knowledge of accountability but when you reach that it matters not whether it's the heathen, whether it's the hypocrite, whether it's the Hebrew, we use that to show that all are guilty before God, it's like a court of and he proves the fact that you're guilty before a holy God. We've got to come to that place before anything can ever transpire in our lives is to be guilty before a holy God. Then in, in the next section he begins to unfold the fact that the salvation in which we talk about salvation we're talking about justification which is that the part that where we're saved from the penalty of sin the spirits dead in trespasses and sin the man is justified before God or we call it saved we know there's three parts to salvation there's justification there's sanctification and there's glorification but the part he's dealing with here in this section is that first part we call salvation but it's really justification is the and that's what he's dealing with here now Paul had proved already in this section, and we've already dealt with that. He proved the fact that we are, we are, in other words, we're not saved by works, we're not saved by rights, we're not saved by religion, we're not saved by rules and regulations, not saved by law, not saved by anything except by pure grace through faith alone, or faith alone. and in other words he used Abraham who is the head of the Hebrew racial family to prove that we are not saved but except by grace through faith and he used David who is the head of the Hebrew royal family to prove that they too believed that they were justified by grace and through faith or faith alone not of anything that man can do. We looked in also at the seven results of justification chapter 5 as we looked in, at the fact that we're, we have peace with God. We're made one with Christ again. We've broken in the first Adam and restored in the last Adam. We also have access to the grace wherein we stand. We've dealt with that. We, we glory in and we glory or rejoice in the hope of the glory of God and we glory in tribulation. Now that's not as easy to practice as it is to preach about but that's what he said. We give a shout of victory knowing that tribulation worketh patience, patience experience, experience hope, hope maketh not ashamed. Then another result is that the love of God is shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. And he also said then that we're, we're delivered from the wrath to come, the wrath, which is the lake of fire. No saint of God will ever face any of God's wrath in this life or in the life to come. They've been saved by the grace of God. They're delivered from the wrath to come. Now you'll, you'll face the wrath, the devil's wrath. which is the great tribulation, but you'll not face the wrath of God. And then of course we also dealt last week with the fact that we have joy, we joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, verse number 11. So those are the seven results of salvation, or justification. And everyone has that. Now, I said I, if you're not saved, I hope and pray that God uses that to cause you to get thirsty for that in your life. And if you're thirsty, He said He'll pour water on the thirsty. But now as we come to this today, these verses that we're dealing with, verse number 12 through verse number 21 of chapter 5, we're still dealing with the principle of salvation. And, and Paul is explaining here how it is that men are sinners and how it is that by one man's death, meaning Christ's death, that, that we can have a, that an ungodly sinner can be in right standing before a holy God. He's explaining that. And so in these verses, the key thought is that when God looks upon the human race, He sees two people. He sees either that you're in Adam, the first Adam, or that you're in Christ, the last Adam, if you please. Every human being, whether he's either in Adam and lost, or he's either in Christ and saved. And that tells us, if we'll really understand that, that'll help us to understand this group that believes that what's going to be is going to be. You know what I'm saying, as far as the hyper-Calvinists stand? You see you're chosen in Christ. God rejected Adam as far as the first Adam was concerned, but he chose his son, and he looks at you, you're either in Adam or you're in Christ. Which one are you in today? You see, in Adam, you're lost if you've reached the knowledge of accountability, of course. If you're not, you're still in Christ because you're safe. But in Christ, you've been chosen. You've been saved. You've been justified in Christ. So every human being is either in Adam and lost or he's in Christ and saved. there is no middle ground, no middle ground. There's a, some people, we talk about a no man's land sometime in some of these countries, they talk about a no man's land, but there is a, a no middle ground with, with salvation. Now first of all, in verse number 12 we see the universal reign of sin came through one offense one act if you please look what he said in Romans five twelve and this is a verse a lot of people use what they call the Roman road they use this to establish the fact you're a sinner well you are a sinner but you can have mental assent to that and still not be really have the understanding of the fact that I've sinned against the Holy God. Folks, there's one act that brought us in sin, and it tells us verse 12, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sin. He said it was by one man, and that was Adam. That was Adam in the garden of Eden who, who sin. Now that sin is, is of course that one act, that one offense that occurred there, but it's talking about what comes upon us is that corrupt and fallen nature. Why? Because Adam was disobedient to God's law. God gave Adam a law. He put teeth in that law. He said you can tend, eat of every tree in the garden except the one in the midst of the garden. Don't eat of that tree. It's called the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for the day you eat of that tree, You'll die the teeth was in the law said you'll die the day you eat of that tree as we think about it you see You see it was through that one offense because Adam partook of that tree Adam ate of that tree and through that one offense sin entered into the world That's what the Bible said in Romans 512 sin entered into the world now the word for worlds cosmos which is really in context is talking about human beings and for sin entered in human beings, sin entered in. Now it's the same word that's used in John 3, 16, it said, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in us should not perish, but have everlasting life. And so that world, cosmos, human beings, he loved enough to die on the cross of Calvary, even while they were that way. He loved them enough. And so therefore Adam was the channel for sin, but sin really originated with the archangel Lucifer who entered in the garden. He was rebelling against God and, and, and when Adam rebelled against God, and, and this being in that transgression or in that offense that it talked about, or in that one act, reached up, got the fruit, whatever the fruit was, and ate of that tree, he rebelled against God. He, and he received a sinful Now the devil tempted Eve and Adam of course sinned after he was deceived and Adam then sinned and through sin death entered the human race at that instant it entered. Now I know death denotes really both physical and spiritual death with the emphasis upon spiritual death because what is death? Death is separation that's all death is when man dies the soul, the body, the spirit and soul leaves out of the body, it's separated from the body, that's called physical death. Spiritual death, of course, is talking about the separation from God, when you're separated from God, and that's what happened to Adam that day. Now he, the moment Adam sinned, his body started the dying process, even though he lived 900 and something, some odd years after that time, but he started that dying process at that moment, but the moment he sinned, His spirit died, and he was separated from God. He died just like the Lord said, the day you eat of that tree, you'll surely die. Now, not only did Adam die, but he said here in Romans 5, 12, death is passed upon all men. Folks, you and I are born in trespasses and sin. Thank God we're covered by grace until we reach the knowledge of accountability. But Ephesians 1 where Paul writing to the saints at Ephesus and he said what you were. He said verse 1, And you, saints of God, hath he quickened who were, past tense, dead in the sphere of trespasses and sin. you were, you were in that circle and every man that's born in this world is a descendant of Adam and we're born in the sphere of trespasses and sin and as a result, we've, you see, we inherited death. Death is inherited through the human race, through one man, Adam. And the reason death is passed upon all men, he said, is because all have sinned. In other words, Romans 323 said, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So when Adam sinned, all sinned in that they were in Adam. You sinned when Adam sinned because, in a sense, you were in Adam's loin. Therefore, we're sinners, not because we've committed acts. Some people say, well, are you a sinner? And they'll talk about the fact, well, you're a sinner because you do, do, do this, that, and that. No, the reason you do those things is because you are a sinner by nature, because you've got a sin nature that was inherited from Adam, and therefore we sin because we were in him. Now verses 13 and 14, in these two verses, Paul proceeds to explain. You notice the parentheses. In fact, the parentheses goes all the way down to verse number 17, and it's explanation here. But Paul proceeds to explain that death comes from the sinful nature rather than just from transgression, verse 13 and 14, he said, For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned, after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. And so therefore we, we see, he used that phrase, for until the law, until the law, law came, in other words, for until the law, that little phrase, it speaks of the law that was given to Moses, the law. In other words, it's not, there's always been a law, but there's, the law was the law that God gave to Moses, but he said, until that time, he said, until the law, law, sin was in the world. And there was sin in the world. You realize, you see there, even though Moses was given that law, and by the way, Adam had a divine law, the law of one thing, thou shalt not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But yet Moses was given the moral law, the dietary law, the civil law, all those social laws and things that was given there to him concerning the people of God. But between Adam and Moses, he said there was not the law. Now I know that there was the law given to Moses, and I know they had some things that they had to do, but yet even though there was no divine law, but he said yet sin was in the world during that time. In other words, sin was not known, though, because the Bible said in Romans 320, For by the law is the knowledge of sin. In other words, I've used the illustration many times, and Brother Doug Todd talked about being up in Washington, and he didn't see the sign that said, you can park here till 6 o'clock, and after 6 o'clock, your car will be towed away. And they parked and they come out and after six o'clock and guess what? There was no car van there. It was gone. He said I didn't see the car. He blamed it on his wife because she was driving evidently, but she didn't see it. He didn't see it and they towed his car away. In other words, it was gone and they had to walk down the street and try to find the police station and, and tried to find his car. But did he have any bother in, inside about the, the law that you're not supposed to park here? No, he put his money in the meter and he thought he was safe, came back and his car was gone. Where no law is, there's no knowledge of sin. And he said the law was not given until Moses' day, but yet there was still sin in the world, but it was not known. Romans 6, 7, Paul said this, I had not known sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except the law, and said, Thou shalt not covet. And that's talking about the moral law or the Ten Commandments given to Moses. So if sin was not known, what happened during the time from Adam until Moses? What happened? Well, Acts 17.30 said, and the times of this ignorance God winked at. In other words, the word winked means He did not come forth to punish. Now that does not mean that God approved of man's sin. Sin was in the world, but He did not come forth to punish. You know Romans 2, 4 said His goodness leads a man to repentance. And He was good to them and forbade, helped back the judgment upon them during that time. In other words, therefore sin could not and was not imputed to man because there was no law. And that word imputed means to charge to their account. In other words, but he said nevertheless. Look what he said in verse number 13 and 14. Even though there was law and sin in the world, nevertheless death reigned. Even though God had not imputed sin to man's account, death reigned as king from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression. In other words, they had no law that said thou shalt not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for in the day you do, you'll die. They didn't have that. Adam had that. But still, they died during that period of time. Therefore, we have to conclude that their death came by reason of Adam's transgression, overstepping of God's boundary in the forbidden territory and they died because they were in Adam and their sins were, was the corrupt and fallen nature that they received during that period of time. Now, they were sinners by nature, and they died because of the principle of death came upon Adam and his transgression. Now, the Bible said Adam is a figure there in verse number 14, who is a figure of him that was to come. The word figure means a type. It means a person or thing prefiguring a future person or thing. Therefore, Adam is a type of Jesus Christ who is called the last Adam in 1 Corinthians 15, 45. And so it was written, the first man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. You see, Adam was a type of Jesus Christ in that each exercised a great influence upon the human race. Adam exercised a great influence upon the race. What did he do? Well, he had a destructive influence in that the sin nature was passed upon all men. But Jesus Christ, who's called the last Adam, had a saving influence in that he died for sin. for whosoever, for all, in other words the Bible said, and will save all from sin who come to him and apply faith in his blood. Now you can't do that within yourself. You can't muster up that faith. That takes the work of the Holy Spirit of God. Salvation is of the Lord. You see some people said all you got to do is believe. I won't tell you what you can't believe anything unless God enables you to believe it. Amen. He's got to grant you the faith faith is a gift and it takes a work of full Holy Ghost conviction in the area of sin righteousness and judgment godly sorrow work and repentance that brings you to the place where you can repent and obey the gospel by repenting and believing. They're coupled together. Repentance and faith. God grants you the faith to believe unto salvation. But you see, the first Adam had a destructive influence that all men had a sin nature and died. The last Adam, who's Jesus, had a saving influence because of the fact he died for all men and will save all who come to him and apply faith in his blood. Now the rest of the chapter, which is verse 15 through verse number 20, Paul presents several contrasts between the first Adam and the last Adam. In other words, there are several contrasts here that he talks about here in this. But in other words, or really I could say contrasts between sin and salvation, which is identified with the two Adams. In other words, the first Adam identifies with sin, the last Adam identifies with salvation. So verse number 15, he said this, But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. Now the offense is the falling what means the falling where one should have stood upright. It means to trip over something. In other words, it's a willful sin that he's talking about here. See, the law was given to Adam, not to Eve. And what happened? Eve was deceived and sin entered in her before it entered into Adam. You know something? Adam knew that God said, don't eat of that tree. God talked to Adam, the head of the family. men, we're responsible. Do you realize that? But the woman was deceived, but Adam wasn't deceived, but she had, Adam also knew what God said, but he knew that Eve had ate the fruit, and because she had eaten the fruit, she was separated from God and she knew, he knew that he loved, I believe he loved Eve enough that he was willing to eat the fruit and die in a sense that they might come together, have children, that she might be saved. In other words, there might be a deliverer. Therefore he ate the fruit, knowing full well the penalty of the law. And he was not deceived. He went into it with his eyes open. How do I know that? The Bible says so. Bible will answer a lot of questions for us if we look at it, I Timothy chapter 2 verse 14 and 15 and the Bible says this, And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding, she shall be saved and childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. Now what it means that they'll have children and as a result of having that the Redeemer would come, and of course she had to have more than one, because the first one wasn't the Redeemer. The devil thought so, and came to kill him, but it came through the third child, Seth there, that he came through. So see, we see that through the offense of one, many be dead, literally dead, both physical and spiritual, passed upon all men. In other words, because of the offense of one. Now verse 16, still connected with this contrast here, he said, And not as it was by one, that sin, so is the gift, for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. In other words, he's saying, out of the source of one, out of the source of Adam, that God's judgment fell, resulting in condemnation upon all men. Romans 6, 23 said the wages of sin is death, and that brings condemnation. In other words, death and condemnation. In other words, eternal separation in hell. What does a man have to do to go to hell? If you reach a knowledge of accountability, what have you got to do to go to hell? Absolutely nothing. because you're guilty before God. You're separated from God because of Adam's sin. And so therefore, he said in John 3, 18, he said, He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. So he's talking here about the, through the offense of one, that's through Adam. But now he also mentions in verse 16, the free gift, the grace, that's what he's talking about, the unmerited favor, a favor which one receives without merit of his own. We didn't deserve the grace of God, this free gift, and that's referring to eternal life that's opposed eternal death that he's talking about in other words that also came by one man not the Adam the first Adam who was mere man but he came from the God man who is Jesus the Christ who is God's own son you see if through the offense there came much more if he said if through one the offense came then much more the grace of God will abound on the many Now the word abound or abounded there means more than enough. It's like a Pepsi-Cola on a hot day. You shake it up and open it up and I'll tell you what, it'll overflow the bottle. Amen. It comes out. In other words, it said it'll abound the many. Now the many here refers to those who believe is what it's talking about. Romans chapter 3 verse number 22, it makes this statement. He said, in other words in Romans 3, 22, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all. In other words, the righteousness who is Jesus is revealed unto all. Every man has life. Jesus is life. And if man will respond to that life, he can come to the place he'll be saved. But that is to all. Somebody said, well, God just deals with the elect. I won't tell you what. God said in His Word that every man who's in sin because of the sin nature that Adam passed upon us, has life, and if man will respond to that light, the Lord will reveal himself to him. He said it's actually light revealed to all. Righteousness is revealed to all. But Romans 3.22 says this, And upon all them that believe, for there is no difference. Now that's not talking about a head believe. That's not talking about intellectual faith. That's not talking about believing a set of facts. It's talking about saving faith that comes as a gift of God. That's who righteousness is upon. It's revealed to all. but it's only upon all of them that believe, those who've been saved, in other words. And so therefore when he said that that grace will abound unto many because of what? By one sin entered into the world, and death was passed upon all men, and by one came the grace of God, the gift of eternal life that will be upon all those who believe. verse 16 there he said, the last part of it he said, but the, the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. That means out of the source of many transgressions, transgressions as an occasion there, for the display of God's grace. The free gift of salvation came and resulted in justification to those who who believe, those who exercise faith. Now remember, justification is being saved from the penalty of sin. It means to be placed in a just position before a holy God. And that's, I'll tell you what that is, that's just grace, grace, grace, as the songwriter said. Amazing grace, how sweet to sound. That's undeserving favor. We didn't deserve that because we were in Adam and we had death passed upon us. But thank God when man will respond to light, he'll come to the place that he believes and find that he has the grace of God showered upon him. Amazing grace that will cause us to enjoy the undeserved, unmerited favor of eternal life. justification now to summarize verse 15 and 16 of this contrast Adams offense brought condemnation to all mankind while the free gift of God's grace brings justification and life to who to all it's available to all but it's only upon all them that believe all those who trust in in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ for their sin. Now verse number, verse number 17 there's another contrast here of death versing life as he says, For if by one man's offense death reign by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace of the gift and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Now you see this verse is reinforcing what the previous verses had said. It's a sort of, I guess reiterating, it's a repetition in a sense. But since death reigned as king because of Adam's offense, much more will they who have received the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness, they'll reign in life. It's not talking about out yonder, it's talking about even now. It means God's righteousness is imputed upon them, placed on their account, our account we could say, and we shall reign in life right now. Not in the future, but now by one. What? By one man, the last Adam, who is Jesus Christ. Verse number 18, here's a contrast between condemnation and justification. As he said, Therefore by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. So this verse reinforces verses 14-16 where he says, By the offense of one, the first Adam, judgment came upon all men that resulted in condemnation. And that's a court term. That means the verdict being passed upon all men of guilty. The judge comes down with a gavel, in essence, in the courtroom and said, guilty, guilty. And that's where we've got to come to. Now, in contrast, by the righteousness of one that he meant there, or that he said there, it means a righteous act ordered and refers to the righteous act of our Lord in satisfying the demands of the law which man broke. Satisfied a holy God free gift and it came upon all men in other words It's made available to all men and when received by faith that individual has justification of life again justification means the act of God declaring man from free from guilt and an Acceptable to him talking about God the Father therefore he set free he has eternal life Now that's also a court term, a justification. In other words, it's in the first Adam, I was condemned, I was guilty, I was sentenced before God, guilty. Have you ever been guilty before God? I mean, has God ever brought the gavel down on you? Or you say, many times you say, I'm lost, but has God ever brought the guilty verdict upon you? We sometimes say we're sinners, but we don't think we're as bad as we really are. We sometimes deal with lying, stealing, adultery, and murder. What about the other 700? 21 mentioned in the Bible. See, it's the root problem as our, as it's called. We've got a sin nature and really it's a, it's a, it's a unbelief that causes us to commit all these other sins in our life out there, you see. And so as a result, we're, we're, we're guilty before God. And in the first Adam, that's where I was. That's where you are if you're not saved. You're in Adam. And you're guilty, you're condemned, and you're sentenced guilty before a holy God. But the last Adam stepped up to the God of judgment, in other words, and said, I paid his condemnation. I paid it for him. I did it in his place. I did it on the cross of Calvary for him. And what we got to need to do is, in essence, through the work of the Holy Spirit, is turn to Him and say, I believe. And it's not a saying, and it is when you trust, when you rely upon because He's produced faith in you. And then you can say, thank you. I thank you for freeing me, giving me the free gift. And the judge will drop his gavel and say, justify. No longer guilty. We're not in the first Adam, but in the last Adam in Christ. Now I live because the life I have is the life of God in me. Do I deserve it? No. Do you deserve it? No. But that's the free gift. That's the grace, more grace, more grace. Well, verse number 19, we see disobedience contrasted to obedience here when he says, For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, So by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. The word disobedience here, the Greek word for that is one of nine words in the Greek which means, it stands for sin. And here it involves failing to hear. Failing to hear. We're disobedient because we fail to hear. It carries the idea of active and willful disobedience which follows careless and inattentive hearing. Well, we're so careless sometimes about what God says. The sin being regarded as already committed and failing to listen when God is speaking, failing to hear Him. Adam heard God in the garden when He said, Don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Did he not? He heard Him and He said, For the day you eat of that tree, you'll die. And yet he willingly or disobeyed. And I understand there's some ramifications of the fact, possibly. of his wife involved in that but you realize something like the Lord many times says in his word let him that hath an ear let him hear and we sometimes think we hear and yet we're still disobedient Adam heard what God said but willfully disobeyed as if he didn't hear God that resulted in that many were made sinners that means all mankind the word many there means all mankind the word made means to set the place to constitute, to put. So by one act of disobeying God, the human race was constituted sinners. And sinners here involves the, meaning the corrupt, depraved nature of fallen man that came upon all men. By the disobedience of one, it came upon all men. the corrupt depraved nature, but the contrast is by the obedience of one. What happened there? In other words, one shall many be made righteous. Now the word obedience means to hear. Remember I was saying the disobedience was a word which in, in, in the Greek means not to hear, but the idea of disobedience is that of a willingness to listen to authority. listening? Not to me. And yet God has replaced us as a pastor. But oh, listen, you know why we don't want to listen to authority? Because we're failing in our homes. Kids grow up today and don't want to hear mom and daddy tell them what to do. Amen? They go to school and they don't want the teacher to tell them what to do. And if a teacher don't tell them, if a teacher tells them what to do and tries to correct them, they'll come home and tell mom and daddy, and mom and daddy sometimes go up there and try to straighten out the teacher. Amen, oh me, that's happening all across the country today. And there's no authority, they don't want to hear authority. We've already lost some generations because we don't want authority. No respect for authority, no respect for mom and dad, no respect for the elders, no respect for others. In other words, no yes sir, no no sir, no yes ma'am, no ma'am being said. You see, if you fail to teach that, there's a good possibility when God speaks to their heart, they'll tell you, him, we're to buzz off. I mean, how many times do you see children, mom and daddy tell them what to do, they'll tell them where to go. And you know what, mom and daddy goes. They go there. And it's not just those out yonder, it's those in here a lot of times. Well, I'm afraid I'll lose their friendship. I want to tell you what, you better, they'll respect you much more for teaching them to obey and to respect you, amen. In the long run, they'll respect, oh, they may have some choice words sometimes. I hate you and all those things, but I'll tell you what, you let a little time pass and they grow up and they learn a whole lot, amen. Mom and Dad does, you know, that expression we use about parents, you know, but we are failing to listen to authority. And you see, and that's what's happening to us today. You see, obedience means to hear the idea of willingness to listen to authority. God is the authority and when it comes to Jesus who is the last Adam, Hebrews 10, 7 speaks of the obedience on the part of the Lord Jesus when He said, Then said I, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, To do thy will, O God. Do you want to, do you want a Lord? That's why people want to do away with the Lordship of Jesus in our churches today. Take Jesus as your Savior and just maybe He'll become your Lord down the road. That's not so, amen. They don't want somebody to tell them what to do and that's nature to kick up against that. Yeah, you kids you tell them to do something. Yeah, I know we sometimes try to use psychology on them And and and I don't know whether that's good or bad, but we say we tell them not to do something So so they'll do it, you know, we use it and because their natures to go again in other words the willingness in the but we need that obedience the willingness to listen to authority and And the Father's will was the cross for the Son, and that's what the Son came for. In other words, He said in the volume of the book, it is written to me to do thy will. And even in the garden when He prayed, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. That was the sinless Son of God who had no sin, saw my sin, and your sin, and the grace of the cup that He was going to have to drink on the cross of Calvary. And he, he wasn't wanting to do it, he came for that purpose, but I believe as he looked at it, he's saying if it be possible for Edgar Lee Paschal to be saved any other way, let it be. But he knew it wasn't in the next breath, he said, not my will, but thine be done. Obedience, obedience, submission to authority, a willingness to listen to authority. and the Father's will for Jesus was the cross. Philippians 2, 8 said, And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Through this obedience of one, talking about Jesus Christ, many shall be made righteous, he said. In other words, many means all that apply faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not any many, mine or more, some to hell and some to heaven. That's not what He's talking about. Remember, God looks at the world, you're either in Christ or you're in Adam. And that's where the chosen's at, in Christ, amen. That'll help us to understand that and see that He didn't say you to hell and you to heaven, but He gave every man light unto all, but it's only upon all them that believe and it takes the work of the Holy Ghost to bring you to that place for you to obey the Gospel. But those are the many that He talked about there that will be made righteous. those that are in a right standing before God, because His righteousness has been put on our account, all because faith has been applied. That the one righteous act of Jesus that did, that's what He went to the cross of Calvary and paid our sin debt, and that perfects more than the one sinful act that man destroyed. It overcomes all of it, if you please. I'm talking about what happened in Adam. And there's the disobedience contrasted with obedience. Now verse number 20, there's another contrast. Here's law and grace. When he said, Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Now we see this contrast between the first Adam and the last Adam, in, in, in other words it's really, it's really closed in a sense, but there's a question arises here about the, the law. What is, this is what Paul deals with here, in other words, about, even though it's not in question form, there's still a question. The law entered, came alongside is what the word means, the law came in alongside of the inherited sin. The law poked up its head and the law, and how does that apply? You see before the law of Moses, man died because all sinned in Adam. The law came to bring knowledge of sin, to bring added guilt through transgression and to reveal the penalty of sin. And the law placed sin in its proper place. It revealed the sinfulness of sin and caused sin to abound. It magnified it and said, Oh, look at that sin. It didn't seem to increase, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. And that word means to super abound and then some on top of that, if you please. verse 21 he says, that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I believe this verse is kind of a summary of this section, in other words that were as sin reigned in the sphere of death, now grace is supplied in superabundance in order that it might reign as king. through righteousness, resulting in eternal life, which is made possible in a believing sinner through the Lord Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross of Calvary. So we see in the first Adam, what do you see in the first Adam? Sin. You see offense. You see death. You see disobedience. You see law. You see condemnation. But in the last Adam, or on the other side, the contrast there, we see in him, the last Adam Christ, the free gift, grace, obedience, righteousness, justification, and life. The list of the last Adam is able to perfect more than the first Adam and all that is associated with him destroyed. Thank God for that. Amen. Now the important question is this, am I in Christ or in Adam? Am I in Adam or in Christ? The Bible says examine. You say, well, I'm a member of the church. I've been baptized. That doesn't already add. That's not what I'm asking you. Are you really in Christ? Are you in Christ or are you in Adam? Bible said in 2nd Corinthians 13 5 examine yourselves whether you be in the faith prove your own selves No, you're not your own self how that Jesus Christ is in you except you be reprobate. Don't be afraid to examine yourself And yet, I remember my own self. I got tired of doubting, and I didn't want to be bothered. You ever get there? I said, one time going to Myrtle, Mississippi, I said, Lord, I wish you'd just let me enjoy this camp and not be bothered at all. And he did. Well, that's dangerous. Amen. That's dangerous. You sometimes don't want that bother to come. You say, I'm getting tired of that doubt. Listen, you ought to thank God for that little nagging doubt that God stays with you. But you've got to examine. You've got to compare it with the real. And the reason the nagging doubt's there, it's not the devil trying to make you doubt. That's God's Holy Spirit trying to tell you you don't have anything. and you've got to get honest about that. Am I in Adam or in Christ? In Adam, there's sin, there's disobedience, there's condemnation, there's death. In the last Adam, in Christ, there's life, there's obedience, there's the gift of life, there's grace, if you please, that's there. So he said, examine yourself. Don't be afraid. Failure to examine yourself is serious. Get honest, in other words. If you're in Adam, then sin and death reigns over your life, and you're under condemnation. If you're in Christ, then grace reigns, and you reign through Christ, and sin no longer has us in slavery if you're in Christ. Romans 5, 6 through 11 we dealt with already, but Paul teaches substitution. Christ died for me on the cross, but in the last part, in Romans 5, 12 through 21, the verses we deal with today, he teaches identification. who you identify with. Am I in Christ? If you are, you're free from sin and death. And then you can say, Hallelujah, what a Savior. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Are you in Christ this morning? If you're not, if you're not in Christ this morning, listen, He will invite you to come to Him if you'll in His Word. If you'll do what you know to do at the time. Well, some people say you need to do it today. I'm not telling you you need to do anything today. You can't do anything, but oh, if God speaks to your heart, you can do whatever He tells you. You can believe whatever He says, whatever He promises to you. But He'll give you a promise that He'll finish what He started. He, wherever, I mean somewhere along the way, it might be today, it might be tonight. It's just the place you've got to come to where you totally identify with this last Adam who is Jesus Christ, where there's obedience. for there's grace, for there's life. But if you identify in Adam, if you identify with him, the first Adam, there's death, there's condemnation, there's offense, there's disobedience. Amen. Not unwillingness to hear authority. May God help us to hear authority and respond to His tug in our heart. and obey the light we have and listen for that voice when he says, come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Because you see, if you come to the last Adam, there's justification, that's salvation, that's life. No more condemnation. That's obedience, that's what it takes for us to get to that place. If you, you see, if you're in Christ, if you're not in Christ, He will invite you to come. to Him, if you'll continue in His Word. And it could be today. Father, I pray that you'd help us to realize we're either in Christ or we're in Adam. And that's the way you look at the whole world. But thank God in Christ we're chosen through the sanctification work of the Spirit and brought to obedience to where we can repent and believe because of your Word. And we can't say, look what I've done, it'll be what He's done. To God be the glory. Thank you for the because the law is good, the law is righteous, the law is holy. It backs us in a corner to help us to realize we need a way out and a way in, and the way out and the way in is the door of the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us today to be sensitive to you, and we'll thank you for what you do. Move on hearts, let no one quench your spirit, and we'll praise you.