This morning we pick up our studies again out of the book of Romans, the fifth chapter. Romans, chapter 5. Before we consider again some of the words of the Apostle Paul in this section, let us pray together and acknowledge our great need of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray together. Our blessed Lord, we thank you for your truth and help us to remember that indeed we are handling your truth, not the words of men, but your words. And you have Ordain that these words be brought forth by your Apostle of old, that they be preserved for your people all down through the ages. And what you reveal to us, you have said, is always profitable. And so as we look at these words today that you have given to us, and in your providence you have brought us to this point, we acknowledge our great need of the help of the Holy Spirit. Lord God, that we would handle your truth properly, that we would understand it, that we would embrace it as indeed from you. And so, as you have told us, if we being evil know how to give good gifts unto our children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask? We ask for the ministry of the Holy Spirit, that the name of Jesus Christ would be honored. Amen. In the zone. In the zone. Have you ever had that experience of being in the zone? Quite often that statement is used with reference to athletes who are having an exceptional good game. I remember a few years back when Dan Marley played for the Phoenix Suns, and there was a particular game in which Marley kept making three-pointers after three-pointers. In fact, he set a team record. He may have for a while set a league record for the number of three-pointers made in one game. And I remember the radio announcer more than once saying, Marley's in the zone. He is in the zone. And just this past week, my wife and I were watching volleyball games. And in one game, there was a girl who made spike after spike, or they call it kill after kill. And the announcer, again, more than once said, boy, she's in the zone. Moreover, just recently, I was reading about a weightlifter. His last name was Hatfield. And back in 1987, when he was at the age of 47, He squatted 1,014 pounds, and he gained the nickname Dr. Squat. Well, I read an interview with him, and the thing that's brought out is the fact just before he started to squat, he forgot to cinch up that belt. And you've seen weightlifters that are going to go heavy, man, they gird that around them. Well, here's part of the interview. Is it true that you forgot to tighten your lifting belt before the iconic 1,014-pound squat? That is true. It's true. Somehow or the other, I forgot to cinch it up in the heat of the moment. All that proved was that if you really have a strong midsection, you don't need a belt. Well, what was going through your head at that point to make you forget such an important part of your preparation? Answer? Athletes are aware that there's a thing called the zone, which I think of as a distant, local, deep within your mind that you're able to go to where external stimuli are dialed way down. Your ears hear the crowd. You're aware of the heat and the chalk dust flying, but that is completely suppressed, and all you're thinking about is pure movement. You don't feel the heaviness of the weight. You go down and you come up. That's how I describe being in the zone. Yes, there's things going around us, but they don't distract you. And you are so focused upon what you are going to do, you're in the zone. Have you ever been in the zone? Well, it seems to me that in this latter part of the fifth chapter of Romans, Paul was in the zone. You say, oh, come on, he wrote under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and that is quite true. I wouldn't deny that whatsoever. But did not the Holy Spirit cause him to focus upon this important truth that he was setting forth? He would make a statement, then he would explain the statement. He would make the statement, he would explain the statement. Paul was in the zone. But if you don't like that, I'll put forth this. If you and I are going to make any sense out of this passage, we have got to be in the zone. We have got to do some real thinking because it is extremely And so listen again as I read from this fifth chapter. I'll start as last time at verse 12. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned. For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who was a type of him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from the one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one man's offense, Judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation. Even so, through one man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, Grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Now last time we looked at verse 12, not all of it, but looked at verse 12 and added to that somewhat of an introduction into this particular section. And maybe you recall that we started off by taking note of the connection. In other words, we sense, well, here's something that really appears to be different on the surface. And it's just something totally new. And people wonder, well, what's the relationship? But we think there's a connection. And we pick up on the connection because of that opening word in your English Bible, therefore. therefore makes us ask, well, why for? And so it makes us go back in the preceding context and we ask, well, what has the apostle been talking about? Well, you know very well he's been speaking about this matter of justification by faith. He's been doing so for quite a lengthy section now. He's been speaking about this matter of the fact that we have this union with Christ, and so I suggest what he's going to do. Therefore, he's going on and he's going to pick up the fact that as we were in union with Adam, so now we are in union with Christ. He's going to speak about the imputation of Adam's guilt, just like he spoke about the imputation of Christ's righteousness to all who believe. And so we believe there is this connection. But then we say there's a comparison here too also that comes out just as. Just as. And so the comparison has to do with Adam and Christ and our relationship to them. And as we study the section, something we have to keep in mind if we're going to have a right interpretation is this parallelism. You can't let go of the parallelism. What can be said about us in Adam can be said about us in Jesus Christ. And then we took a peek at the content of this verse, and we took note of this one man. And we said, well, it's very reasonable to believe that that one man has reference to Adam, to that first man. In fact, he's named a little later on in the section. And then we took note of sin, and then we took note of death. So we enter this morning, and we look again. And what I want us to chiefly focus upon is the latter part of that twelfth verse. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death slew the sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. Now, many years ago when I was in school, the teacher would give grades on papers and various assignments. And you had A's, B's, C's, D's, F's, and ever so often there would be something written across the paper that said incomplete. Incomplete. In other words, the student did not complete the assignment. He did not do what was required. Now, as I understand it, in some cases a teacher might let you make it up and bring up a grade. Others will not. It's just incomplete. Well, you've probably noticed this 12th verse. It's an incompleted sentence. My, what kind of grade will the teacher give to the Apostle Paul here? An incompleted sentence. And I know sometimes while I'm eating lunch, I'll listen to a talk radio show and my wife's working a puzzle and eating. And this particular gentleman, he'll start a sentence, a topic, and then he doesn't finish it. And my wife says, finish what you started! Finish it up! Quit chasing the rabbits! Well, I wouldn't want to accuse Paul here of chasing rabbits, you see. But Paul makes a statement, and so we'll pick it up this way, the construction of this chapter, the remaining part from verses 12 and 15, the construction of it. So you notice what he says, because all sinned, and that's the best way to translate it. I know there are, I think the King James says all have sinned, but that's not the best way to translate it. Because all sinned, and the particular grammar that is used there means kerplunk, it happens. Point in time it happened. All sinned. If you have all have sinned, you could say, well, yeah, that's certainly true, but when? Was it yesterday? Two days before? What? No, here. All sinned. Ker-plunk. It happened. In history, it happened. All sinned. And then you notice the Apostle Paul, pin that down, he's dictating to a scribe. In my mind, I picture maybe he's walking around the floor and he's thinking. And he says, because all sinned, and then he stops. You know what? I have many Jewish brethren. And they just can't imagine sin apart from the law. And I've brought up the first man and this sin has entered and all have sinned. I really need to explain that. And so, that's what he does. And so, look at your English Bible, I assume. The first thing you see in verse 13 is a parenthesis. And so there's a parenthesis. What's that mean? It means, well, you depart from your subject. You want to explain your subject. And so the Apostle Paul feels that he needs to explain this statement, all have sinned. And so you look at that parenthesis, and you follow your English Bible down, and lo and behold, you don't pick up another one until the end of verse 17. And so, see, the Apostle, there's this parenthesis. He needs to do some explaining. And so his mind, you see, he says, because all sin. Wait a minute. I need to explain that. And so you have verses 13 and 14 explaining this matter, because all sin. But then the apostle, you notice, he makes another statement toward the end of verse 14. He says, Adam, who is the type of him who was to come. And he thinks, well, you know, I really need to explain that. And so he does that, verses 15 through 17. And then when you finally get down to verse 18, what is he doing? Well, he's completing what he said in verse 12. Therefore, through one man's offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation. Even so, through one man's righteous act, a free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. And then, You go down to verses 20 and 21, and what's he doing there? Well, he's making a comment explaining the purpose of the law. And so that appears to be the construction, you see, of the remaining part of this chapter. And a lot of times, if we can pick up the construction of what the writer is doing, it helps us understand better. I know I've done a lot of reading, and I'll finish, and I'll say, well, that's dumb. But then I go back. I missed this. I missed that. I didn't pay any attention to the period. I didn't pay any attention to the comma. You see, these things make a difference. The construction makes a difference. And so here I suggest to you is how it's constructed and reading it and thinking about it that way hopefully will help us to understand what the Apostle is saying. Well, in the second place, we need to think about a clarification. A clarification. You notice the end of verse 12. because all sinned. And so the apostle, especially with reference to his Jewish friends, well, reference to the church, all the churches, I need to explain what is meant by this matter, all sinned. Because the Jews could not imagine sin apart from the law. And you remember what was said earlier when you go back to chapter 4 and you pick it up in verse 15. Because the law brings about wrath. For where there is no law, there is no transgression. And so in order to have sin, in order to have a transgression, you've got to have law. But you notice what he says. For until the law, sin was in the world. But sin is not imputed where there is no law. But yet, we know between Adam and Moses, There was sin. Sin was being committed. Acts of sin were going on. And something else that proves there was sin is the fact of death. If you don't have sin, you don't have death. But there was sin and there was death. For until the law of sin was in the world, what law is he referring to? Well, it seems very reasonable to believe that he was referring to the law of Moses. to that law that was given on Mount Sinai to Moses and in turn given to the children of Israel. And Dr. White read in that second chapter, my, how the Jews prided themselves on this law. They didn't keep it, but they prided themselves. By the law is the knowledge of sin, you see. But he says, until the law, the law didn't exist as you think of it in the Mosaic law. Sin was in the world. And we know it was in the world. We can go and read those early chapters of Genesis, and we read about the horrible acts of sin that men committed. And then you have that horrible judgment, the flood and what happened. Well, God was bringing death upon sinners, you see. And so, for until the law, sin was in the world. But, here's what we've got to grab. Sin is not imputed where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam. And so there is sin and there is death. How can it be there is no law? Well, there must have been some kind of law. There must have been some kind of law before that law given to Moses. And so people here have various answers. Death reigned. And death exists because of sin. And death is what? Well, it's a judgment from God. It's punishment from God. And you go back to Adam and that tree and the command that was given, the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. Dying you shall die. Sin brings death. You break a commandment of God and there's death. And it's a judgment. And it wasn't a natural part of man's constitution. It wasn't a natural part of the world, you see. For God looks at His creation. He says, it's good. It's good. Death isn't good. It's terrible. It's an awful thing. We think of sin and death. We think of spiritual death. But the emphasis seems to be upon that physical death, that horrible separation of body and soul. We read about giving up the ghost, giving up the spirit. It's an awful thing. If you have the sad experience of watching someone die quite often, it's a horrible sight. gasping for air, that struggle. You see, we don't want to let go of these bodies. It's an awful thing, death. And the thing about it, when you watch somebody die that way, ever so often the thought comes, I'm going to experience that. I'm going to go through that. And I've said more than once, Brother Don Cross, our elder, When death was near, he says, you know, I'm not afraid to die. I'm not afraid of death. But I sure don't look forward to that dying experience. Yes, for the believer, it's that final work of sanctification, we believe. It is that doorway into the presence of our Lord. But death overall is a punishment. Death is a judgment. And so, from Adam to Moses, men died. So, there must have been some kind of law. There had to be sin. And so, we look again, trying to understand this. It says, Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam. And so men were dying, but yet they didn't sin like Adam. You see, Adam had that distinct command from the Lord, and he willingly, willfully committed an act of sin. He disobeyed. But what are we told? That death reigned, and that word carries a thought. Death was king. Death was supreme. Couldn't get away from death. Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam. In other words, they didn't receive a specific command from the Lord like Adam, but yet they had to sin or there wouldn't be death. Well, was there a law? Well, we know apart from law, there's no sin and apart from sin, there's no death. And so some might answer it this way, it was the law upon the heart. And you know, we read about that in Romans chapter 2, as regards the Gentile world. That law of God is upon the heart, and a man knows. He knows certain things are wrong. He knows when he's sinning. At the end of chapter 1, it speaks about knowing, knowing the judgment of God. Or you could even translate, knowing the statutes of God. And so it could be here that it has reference to that Gentile world. It has reference to all those after Adam, Clarep, to Moses. They sinned. There was that law upon the heart, that law upon the conscience. And so death came. But there's another interpretation. I think both of them can be accepted. You notice what it says when we look at the text? Even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of Adam's transgression. You notice, even over those. Could he have reference to a specific group? Not all, but a specific group. They sinned and they died because they were guilty. Who might they be? The answer is infants. Infants. Why do infants die? Because they are guilty of sin. But as far as we know, the infant commits no act of sin. He doesn't violate any overt command? He's not violating that law in the heart or conscience. He may live a week or two weeks and die. He may die a few hours out of the womb. Why does He die? He can't die unless He's guilty of sin! Well, how could He be guilty of sin? Well, as we'll see because of His relationship to Adam. the guilt of Adam's sin, that first sin is upon him. Infants die because they are guilty of sin. And so, we'll go on. You notice what the Apostle says here. Now, we'll move to this comparison that goes on to the end here. You notice what is said by the Apostle in the latter part of verse 14. Of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. God ordained that Adam would be a type, a picture, a pattern of Him who was to come. In other words, certain things can be said about Adam and our relationship to him. Certain things can be said about our relationship to Christ. There are things to compare. There are things to contrast, you see. And so, with reference to this matter of Christ being a type, then he goes on and he makes forth these comparisons. He says, but the free gift, and we'll have to try and pick that up later, but the free gift is not like the offense, for if by one man's offense many die. Through the offense of Adam, the one sin of Adam, death came into this world. Death came upon the human race. But the free gift is not like the offense, for if by one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation. But the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. That one sin of Adam and the race is condemned, but we have Christ and what does He do? He handles many offenses, many sins. Justification comes through Christ. Condemnation comes through Adam. For if by the one man's offense, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. You see the comparison, the parallel. Therefore, as through one man's offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation. Even so, through one man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification. You see, you have this one, this one, this one man, this one act, and you have condemnation, and you have justification. Two men! Then you notice verse 19, For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, What do you mean made sinners? Well, it's a word that we've come across before. It has reference to this matter of being declared, of being treated as. They have had sin imputed to them. God looks upon them and He deals with them as sinners through the one man Adam. His first sin was imputed to the whole human race. The parallel, the comparison, the righteousness of Christ was imputed to all who believe. And of course, the response is, I don't like that. I don't like this deal. You know, Adam, he sinned and his guilt is imputed. I don't like that. Well, that is the way that God has done it, you see. But the other thing is, do you like the righteousness of Christ imputed to you? You didn't do anything to merit that. You couldn't do anything to merit that. And so God sovereignly imputed to you the guilt of the first man, Adam, And by the gracious work of faith, He imputes to you the righteousness of yourself. You didn't do anything to merit that. You couldn't do anything to merit. You had nothing to do with that. It was all a work of Christ, righteous in God's sight. It's judicial. By the same token, guilty Adam. I'm guilty. Oh, you say, come on, man. I didn't do that. I'm not guilty of that. I didn't have anything to do with it. Yes, you did. There's the solidarity of the race. You were in Adam. He was your representative. And when he sinned, you sinned. I don't like that. Well, I think it was a couple of weeks ago, there were thousands of people in this valley. They were cheering, jumping up and down, and they were shouting, we won, we won, we won. And if you look at them, they probably had on a red cap and a red sweatshirt or jacket, and they had a little cardinal on it. And they're just shouting, we won, we won, we beat those little cowboys. Well, the camera kind of goes over some of those people that are saying, we won, we won, we beat them, we did this, we did that. Well, one's just a kid. He probably wouldn't weigh 100 pounds sopping wet. And I thought, well, how'd he do that? He wasn't down there on that field. And then maybe the camera would span over the wheelchair section. Well, I don't think they were down there beating those cowboys. And then you have some guy that's probably got 100 pounds hanging over his belt. And you say, well, I don't think he did anything. What does it mean we won? We won because we identify ourselves with those men on the field who are doing that. What they did, we say, we did it. We did it. We won. And you've seen more often than victories, the Cardinal fans walk away with their heads down. We lost. We lost. We lost. You see that identification? That representation? And so I suggest to you, see, guilt of Adam's first sin, God sovereignly imputed to the whole human race. The righteousness of His beloved Son, He imputed to a new race of people, to those who believe. Justification of life, you see. Well, you say that's awfully hard to understand, and I certainly agree with you. I don't understand a lot of it myself. You say, well, you've got to. You're the preacher. Well, the preacher's responsibility is to explain what the text says. It doesn't mean he always comprehends it or fully understands it. And the thing is, as regards the Christian, the man, the woman who have a regenerate heart, You know, they receive what God's revealed. It's not a matter of my mind. It's a matter of what God has revealed. And though I may not be able to comprehend it, I still receive it. For you see, God has revealed it. And I accept it. And many times we have to be like our Lord and Savior. And He had been laboring and laboring in Capernaum and other cities and many miracles and a great deal of preaching. but so few believed. And what does he say? Even so, Father, it seems good in your sight. You've hidden these things from the wise and prudent. You've revealed it unto babes. Even so, Father, it seems good in your sight. And it certainly ought to seem good in our sight. that we have had the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, not by works, not because our nature has been changed, the sovereign good pleasure of God through the gift of faith. He covers us. He clothes us in the perfect obedience of His Son. Let us pray together. Our blessed Lord and Savior, we bow before you and we confess that your ways are good and right. We rejoice in your way of salvation. It is a way that brings glory to you, and it is a way as we grow in our understanding we see the great work you have done and we experience our absolute security in Jesus Christ. For those here this day who are yet living in their sins, might you be pleased to trouble their hearts and to stir them to seek you. And might you be pleased to reveal yourself. Through Jesus we pray, Amen.