 Good morning everyone. Welcome to class. Thank you for joining class today. We'll begin now. Can one of you please lead us in prayer please? Anyone can lead us in prayer. Subhijit can you please lead us in prayer? Yes ma'am. Sure. Subhijit. Father God we thank you for this moment Father God for this class Father God. We pray that Father God give us wisdom, knowledge and understanding Father. Whatever we learn we'll be able to grasp and apply in our day to day life Father God. And Father God I pray pray for a lecture Father God so that Father God give us wisdom so that we can get revelation out of her from you Father God. Thank you Lord. I place this time, this moment and this class into your hand Father God. In Jesus mighty name we pray. Amen. Thank you. Today we're looking at Romans chapter 5 where Paul is talking about grace and righteousness. And in the previous chapter he's been explaining to us or explaining to the Jews that it's not by keeping the law which he starts back in chapter 3. It's not by keeping the law or the circumcision which is the sign of the covenant that is going to justify them or is going to make them righteous in God's sight. Because in spite of the law in spite of the circumcision ritual that is a sign of covenant which is given to them and the Gentiles their conscience in spite of God giving them conscience and everything. You know he says that you know all have sinned Romans street when it we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and then he says you know it's not you cannot be made righteous in God's sight. You cannot be standing blameless or fortless before God by just keeping the law or circumcision but it is by righteousness by faith. And how does he reason out what he's saying or how is he substantiating the truth that he's presenting that it's righteousness by faith and it's through grace by faith and how do we receive it is because he gives an example of Abraham in chapter 4. You know and he says you know Abraham even before God gave him you know the circumcision ritual as a sign of the covenant or even before the law was given Abraham was justified by faith. Okay and hence we also will be justified by faith faith in whom and then he goes on you know he in the last few verses in verses 22 to 25 he talks of righteousness by faith. Okay so we say by grace through faith you know and it's a gift of God that we receive it okay and then he goes on and in chapter 5 to talk about you know how we receive this righteousness by faith is because Christ was delivered for our offenses and raised for our justification. Okay and then he says in verses 1 to verse 4 he talks about having been justified what do we have. Now he's so far talking about how we've been made righteous, how we've been justified and now since we've come to that position where he's saying that we've been made righteous we've been justified by faith because of what Christ did on the cross because he was delivered for our offenses and raised for our justification. Now that we have been justified what do we have so verses 1 to verse 4 can somebody read that phrase verses 1 to verse 4 of Romans chapter 5. Therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoicing hope of the glory of God and not only that but we also glory in tribulations knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance, character and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has given to us. Okay, thank you. That was Asha, right? Thank you Asha. So the words justified, justified, justified, justification, righteousness all means the same thing because they all have the same root word and it simply means that we have been made faultless or blameless. We have, you know, been made just as if we have never sinned before God. So what does it mean to be justified by faith or what are the outcomes of being justified by faith? And Paul says that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, which means we have become one with God. We are no longer enemies of God. We are friends with God. We are in a good relationship with God. We are not in a fighting mode with God, but we are friends with Him because we are justified with God. So, you know, sometimes we think that, you know, God is angry with us or God is upset with us, you know, but that's wrong thinking. Okay, we don't think like that as children of God, as sons and daughters of God. We don't think like that because the word of God says here that God has peace with us. Okay, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. So never think that, you know, God is angry with you or he's upset with you because his word says that God has peace with us. And in verse two it says, through whom also we have access by faith into the grace which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Okay, so the outcomes of being justified are mentioned here in verses one and verse two. It says, we have peace with God, which means we are one with God. We are reconciled to God. We are no longer enemies of God. We are not fighting with God. And also it can mean that we have peace with God and we can have peace of God. Okay, we have peace with God. We are no longer enemies with God. We are friends with God. And we also have the peace of God that is there in our hearts. That's a characteristic of the sons and daughters of the kingdom of God that we have God's peace. So in midst of the tribulations, turmoil, challenges, problems that we face, you know, we have this amazing sense of the peace of God that we can experience. I don't know if you have experienced the peace of God in difficult situations. You know, the situation is so overwhelming, so challenging, so difficult, but then you can just, you know, experience an amazing peace of God. And it's just such a powerful, it's such a wonderful experience to have, you know. And to know that in that situation, you just have that calmness, that peace of God. And it just so wonderful. It actually takes you to a different level in your experience with God. Okay, and the second thing is, you know, we look at four outcomes of being justified of the, sorry, we look at four outcomes of being justified. First one is peace with God. The second one is we have an access of by fate into a standing in grace. Okay, verse two says we also have, we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand. So we have access by fate into a standing in grace. That means we are in a position that we are highly favored by God. Okay, we've entered into this standing in grace simply because of our faith in Jesus Christ and what he has done. Because what he has done on the cross, he has imputed his righteousness or put his righteousness into our account, so to say. And hence we stand righteous before God. So to be standing in grace to God, you know, we are loved as Christ is love. That means, you know, God the Father loves us just the way he loves his son. I don't know if that blows your mind, but it does mine. You know, just know that, you know, this God loves me just the way as he loves his son. And even when we are being justified, when we are being righteous in God's side, we are standing in the same level as the son. God the Father has made us stand in the same level as his son. And I think this is not just something that we stand in awe of and we just give glory to God. But it's something that, you know, it's not just a position that we can enjoy, but it's also a responsibility. Saying, God, you know, you've brought me to this place. Help me to honor and respect this standing, this love and help me, God, to live like a kingdom citizen, to live kingdom culture, kingdom lifestyle, kingdom values. Kingdom behavior. Let it be shown in and through my life. Okay. And to be standing in grace also means that to God, we are well pleasing before him. Now there are many scripture references that you can, there in your notes, you can read. It's like the Father speaking over us, what he spoke over Jesus. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. So when we have the right standing in grace means to God, we are well pleasing. We are fully accepted by him. You know, we are blessed beyond measure. He has blessed us not only spiritually, but even physically, materially. He blessed us without measure. We are holy and without blame. You know, when we are justified, made righteous before God, you know, we are presented faultless and blameless. They're presented holy. Okay. And we are faultless, unaccused, and there is no condemnation. You know, and it says in Colossians chapter one, you who were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked words, works yet now he is reconciled you with the body in his flesh to death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight. So it's because of Jesus Christ that we are being presented faultless, unaccused, and without any condemnation before God. And that is our standing in grace. So, you know, all of us are standing in grace, but we don't know the reality or we don't know the truth of our standing in grace. You know, what have we received, who we are to God, and how God sees us. He sees us as, you know, he loves us just the way he loves his son. We are well pleasing to him. We're fully accepted. We are blessed beyond measure. We are faultless, blameless. We stand unaccused and no condemnation. Can we say an amen to that? Okay, amen. And let's realize our standing. Let's realize our position. Let's realize where God has placed us where we stand in his grace so that, you know, we can glorify him by the life that we live and the things that we do for his kingdom. Okay, and we're also qualified. You know, we, he has qualified us to be his with Jesus Christ. We're qualified to be, sorry, we have qualified to be his with God and co has with Jesus Christ. He has given us the keys of the kingdom, which means he has given us the authority of the kingdom. And he's qualified us to take dominion and to subdue the world and to initiate to bring his kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. So it says in Colossians chapter one was 12, giving thanks to the father who's qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. Okay. There is nothing more that we can add to this, to our own efforts. But all we need to do is just embrace everything that, you know, God has given to us and walk worthy of this. And, you know, therefore he says therefore all we do in was, you know, in, he says that therefore in everything that we do, you know, we need to be mindful of how we relate to God. You know, how we face the devil, or we do in Christian ministry, everything that we do in life is flows out of us standing in grace. Therefore, all that we do, you know, how we relate to God, how we face the devil, how what we do in ministry or whether we're working the secular world, everything flows out to us standing in grace. And we stand without any sense of guilt and shame. Okay. And so the reason we live holy lives, we renounce sin and ungodliness, we work hard, we pursue excellence, we make sacrifices, we take risks. It's not to, you know, earn anything from God, but because we desire to honor him, we want to give him the best we can. All out of, you know, love for him. And we already know where we are standing in grace and we know that whatever we do, you know, we won't earn that it won't earn us his grace because we're already standing in his grace, but it will actually empower us. Okay. His grace will empower us. Remember, I mentioned the three contexts that grace is used in the New Testament. We saw divine favor, you know, it's the character of God and divine empowerment. Okay. So nothing that we do for God is going to actually earn us grace. We've already received his grace. It's his gift. His goodness is mercy upon our lives. But actually, you know, when we renounce sin, we live holy lives, we pursue excellence, we make sacrifices. You know, we do it because we want to honor him for what he has done in our lives, for his grace, for the right standing for us being made righteous and being justified. And we do it all out of love and we do it so that, you know, we can be empowered by grace. And all this we do is also because, you know, we are actually empowered by the grace of God. And we're doing it as an expression of our honor and love, and it's all for his glory. Okay. So even the lives that we live, whether it's living a holy life, a blameless life, whether you're making sacrifices, whatever you're doing for the kingdom of God, it's actually even not in your own strength, it's actually empowered by the grace of God. And we're doing it, you know, out of love for him, out of our honor for him, and also for his glory. Okay. Now, the third thing that, you know, the outcome of being justified, mentioned here in this verse, the third thing is we are in a place of rejoicing. Okay. We are rejoicing for the good things that God has planned for us. And he's going to release upon us the glory that he has kept for us. That's why Paul says the hope of the glory of God. Okay. We have this hope that we will share in God's glory. And part of this includes, you know, being in his presence in heaven. So there's already, you know, some things that we enjoy, like we have said that, you know, meaning of standing in grace, what are the things that, you know, how God sees us. And we already enjoy some of those things, you know, we have peace with God, we have the grace of God. But there is more that God has kept for us. And so, you know, we need to rejoice in the hope that we will also receive more of what he has kept for us. And that we will receive that as well. So the third thing is, we are in a place of rejoicing for the things that we already have, for the standing in grace, for the peace of God. And more that God has kept for us that, and we rejoice in the hope that, you know, we'll receive that as well. The fourth thing is rejoice in tribulation, which means, you know, knowing that, you know, all of this results will result in developing endurance, endurance character in character, hope. So why do we need to rejoice when we go through tribulations, when we go through hardships, when we go through difficulties, because we look at the end result. What is the end result? It develops in us endurance, and endurance develops character and character, hope in us. Okay. It was three, he says, and not only that, but we also glory in tribulation, knowing that the tribulation produces perseverance. Okay, so when we go through hard times, we can still be happy when things are difficult and hard. We are not down, dejected or depressed. We glory in tribulations knowing, what do we know? You know, we know that tribulation develops perseverance or endurance, and it gives us the ability to stay the course to run the race. And it was four, it says it produces character and character increases hope. So even as we go through tribulations, it develops endurance, it develops our ability to stay on course. And we need to stay on this course so that our character is developed, who we are as people is being developed even as we go through trials and tribulations. And when our character is developed, we become people of hope, which means we can look at the positive side of things, even though we are going through tribulations. So hope is the expression of us being a strong character. Okay, it means that we are people who have been tried, who have been tested, who have been proved. So even in difficult situations, we still can have hope. Hope will not disappoint us and we will not be disappointed because the hope will become a reality one day. That means what we are hoping that God will do will become a reality and hence, we will not be disappointed. And, you know, even though we are tried, we are tested, we are proved, we come out as gold. Okay, and then Paul goes on to say that the love of God has been poured in our hearts. Right now, the love of God has been poured into our hearts. That means we are experiencing the love of God being poured out into our hearts. And that's what he, you know, says in verses five to eight. He says, now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given to us. Okay, so in tribulation, you know, how should I be? I should be a person full of hope. Why should I be a person full of hope? Or how can I be a person full of hope? Because God's love is in my heart, I experience the love of God. You know, when we go through tribulations and difficulties, we experience the manifest glory of God. That means who God is and what he does. And you know, I'm not sure, you know, or if you've gone through experiences, tribulations in life, but you can say in those situations, in those difficult circumstances, you've actually experienced God's love, his peace, his overwhelming peace. It just floods your heart, your soul, your mind. You've experienced his love, you've experienced who he is and what he does because he desires to manifest all of himself, his glory. You know, when we go through hardships, when we go through difficulties, and it's a wonderful, you know, experience just to taste of his peace, to taste his goodness and taste his love at that time, to experience his love at that time. So the love of God has been poured out in our hearts. Right now, the love of God has been poured out in our hearts. We've been experiencing the love of God that he's poured out in our hearts here and now. And it's the Holy Spirit who enables us to personally experience the love of God and walk in the love of God. It is also so that, you know, God's love is poured in our hearts. It's also so that we are able to love others. So God's love being poured into our hearts is not only do I experience that love, but I'm able, not only able to experience God's love, but also able to turn around and say, God, if you love me, you know, such a sinner, such a fallen person, such, you know, such a worthless person as me, then, you know, you can turn around and say, God, you know, I can even love others. Others who've wronged me, people who've hurt me, people who I feel, you know, are not worth giving the love, the respect, the regard, but God, it's because of your love that I'm able to love them. So to the measure that we experience the love of God, that measure that we can extend the love of God to others. So, you know, when we've experienced God's love in spite of our faults, in spite of our weaknesses, then we can say, you know, we can also love others in spite of their weaknesses, in spite of their faults. So the same love that is poured into our hearts, which we experience personally, which makes us more than conquerors is difficult, which makes us more than conquerors in difficult situations, which gives us conviction that nothing can separate us from God's love. The same love we extend to other people hoping that they too will feel or experience the same thing that we are feeling, that they too can be more than conquerors in difficult situations and nothing can separate them from God's love. Okay, Prabhakar, you have your hand up. Do you want to have anything to say? Hello, Prabhakar, you have your hand up. Sorry, Prasad, it's both actually technical. Okay, anyone has any questions? So verse 5, you know, can be understood both as the love of God being poured into our hearts, creating in us an experience, an intimate person, knowing, understanding, experience, feelings, sensing the love God has for us. And the love of God being poured into our hearts gives us the capacity or empowers us to love others as he has loved us. Okay, later on in chapter 8, Paul describes to us how powerful this love is, which God has for us, but I just mentioned some of them here, you know, that he mentions that we will be made more than conquerors, that nothing can separate us from God's love, something that he writes in verse chapter 8, which we will look at in chapter 8. But first here, he points to cross as the place where God demonstrated his great love for us. And he says, all this is possible because of the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. Okay, he says, while we were still without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Okay, and verse 8, he says, chapter 5, verse 8, but God demonstrates his own love towards us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Okay, so Paul is pointing us back to the cross where he's saying, God demonstrated his great love for us and all this is possible. You know, having peace with God, a standing in grace, you know, the love of God been poured into our hearts all because of the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. It's all because that he redeemed us from sin, the price that he made on the cross. Now, verse 6 to 11, Paul is focusing on Christ's death for us. He's focusing on the cross. Okay, so can somebody read verses 6 to verse 11, please? Or you can just read from verses 6 to 8. I'll read. Thank you. When you are still helpless, Christ died for the wicked at the time that God chose. It is a difficult thing for someone to die for a righteous person. It may even be that someone might dare to die for a good person. But God has shown us how much he loves us. It was while you are still sinners that Christ died for us. Thank you, Kennedy. So in verse 6, I'd like to emphasize three things here that, you know, Paul mentions, we were without strength. So he says, when we were without strength, and later on in this chapter, he will talk about how we come to a place of strength where we are reigning in life. So here he's actually building up a contrast. Okay, he says, first mentioning, you know, that we are without strength. And then later on in this chapter, he talks about how we are brought to a place of strength where we are reigning in life. So when we are without strength, you know, we were weak, we were powerless, we were enslaved, or we were slavery to many things, to sin, to Satan, to death. And this was our condition. In this stage, we were without strength. And the second thing I like to bring to or emphasize in verse 6 is, you know, at the right time Christ died for us. Okay, at the right time Christ died for us. Now, just like a side note, I'd like to just mention this. Okay, when Adam and Eve sinned, it was after they sinned, 4,000 years had passed. After 4,000 years, you know, Christ came and he died on the cross. Now, why did it take so long if God already knew that Adam and Eve were going to sin? He already had the plan of salvation, the plan of redemption. He had already a solution for it, even though it began, he had this, he was in his mind even before the foundations of the world. Then why couldn't he have executed his plan of salvation? You know, the very next day after Adam and Eve sinned, so Christ could have just come and then he could have died. And there are only two people to save them and redeem them. But, you know, the third thing, you know, why did God wait for 4,000 years? You know, in that 4,000 years, people suffered and faced the consequences for sin for 4,000 years. But we see that scripture tells us at the right time Christ died for us, at the right time, at the appointed time, in due time. At the right time Christ died for us. So 4,000 years in our mind is such a long time, but for God it's the right time. We cannot understand everything about how God works and his timing. We cannot understand God's timing as well. But we can say, you know, in that 4,000 years, he revealed himself. He brought about the nation of Israel. He brought him into existence. He gave them the laws. He gave them the covenants. But if you look at the main thing to happen, that is Christ to come and die for our sins, it took 4,000 years. But we don't understand everything about God's timing. But we trust that he does everything beautifully in his own time, the right time, the kairos time. That he does the thing that he has planned and what he wants to execute. He does that at the right time, the kairos time. So the same thing if we look at Christ died and he ascended back to the Father. Now it's been 2,000 years since Christ died and we're saying Christ is coming soon. He's coming soon. So when is he going to come? We can only say one thing that at the right time Jesus will come and we just rest in that truth. We do not know when the right time is. When is the kairos moment? He knows it. But we just rest in that truth. Now this is a side note. We'll continue with what we are looking at in Romans chapter 5. It says, you know, Christ died for the... While we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. So Christ died for people who really did not deserve it. And he contrasts this with what he says in verse 7. It says, no one will give their life for another good person. Even if it's a good person, no one will be willing to give their life. Very rarely will somebody give up their life for a good person. But he says in verse 8 that this is what God did for us. That while we were still sinners, while we were still ungodly, while we were still without strength, God demonstrates his own love towards us. Paul is saying, this is not about us, you know, whether we are good or blameless, whether we are noble or whether we are worthy. God is saying, I know that you are ungodly. I know that you are without strength. I know that you are sinners. I know that you are slaves to sin, slave to Satan. But I love you so much that I'm going to show you that I love you. So this is how God says, I'm going to do it. This is how I'm going to show my love. He says, God demonstrates his own love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And this is the love that he poured out in our lives, which we read in verse 5. We know it. And here is the evidence, the proof that God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Sometimes, you know, we really feel that God really does not love me. We try to determine, or God does not love us, or God does not love me. We try to determine or judge God's love by the nice things that happen to us. Or, you know, if it's the wrong things that happens to us, then we think God does not love us. But every time we come to a place where we question God's love, we must, you know, we must always look at the cross. You know, we should never question God's love because he says here that God loves us, that he demonstrated his love. But we are still sinners. Christ died for us. But, you know, we need to look at the cross. Every time we want to know God's love for us, you know, we must look at the cross. And we must say, God, this is how much you love me. You gave Jesus for me while I was still ungodly, while I was still without strength, a sinner. You know, you sent your son and Jesus, you died for me. This is God's demonstration of his love for us, okay? And this should bring us that place to the truth that, you know, God loves us. In spite of whether things are happening good in our life or bad in our life, you know, we need to have the truth engraved in our hearts that, you know, God loves us and he is good all the time. And we are the right standing in grace with him. Okay. Then Paul goes on to talk about, if Christ died for me, then what is the result? He talks about this in verses 9 to 11. Okay. So if Christ died for us, then what is the result? So can somebody read verses 9 to 11, please? By his sacrificial death, we are now put right with God. How much more then will we be saved by him from God's anger? You are God's enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his son. Now that you are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Jesus Christ's life? But that is not all. Yeah, we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ who has now made us God's friends. Thank you. Thank you, Kennedy. So it says, because Christ died for us, we have been justified by his blood. We have been saved from the wrath, the judgment through him, and we are saved from eternal judgment. Okay, so because Christ died for us, we justified, we made righteous, we saved from the wrath, that means the judgment that is going to come, the eternal judgment through him, and we're also saved from the eternal judgment. And worse than he says, if when we were enemies, so looking at the past, we were ungodly, we were without strength, we were sinners. Now we are adding to the list. He's adding to the list and says, we are enemies, but we are reconciled to God. So he's already said that we're ungodly without strength, we're sinners. And now he says we were enemies with God. He's adding to the list, but he says now we are reconciled to God. Okay, just like to give you a small illustration here. Just imagine two friends, James and John. Imagine James has borrowed huge amounts of money from John. And then John just turns against James bringing all kinds of false allegations against him, doing him much damage. But John has a choice. He can choose to retaliate. He can choose to ignore or choose to reach out to restore his relationship with James. Okay, now imagine John goes to James. He forgives his debt completely, forgets all the wrong things James has done to him and only asks for friendship to be restored with him. How amazing that would be. In a similar, but in a far greater way, we were enemies with God. We were the ones who owed a great debt to him because of our sin. We were the people who were so hostile, we were so indifferent towards God and it was God himself who paid our debt in full by giving Jesus and God himself made a way for us to be brought into friendship with him and reconciling us to himself. So because we are reconciled, but also being saved from eternal judgment because of what Christ did for us. Okay, verse 11. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ to whom we have now received reconciliation. So in verse 6 to 11 Paul is saying Christ died for us for us who are ungodly, without strength, were sinners, enemies with God but we are saved and we are brought into the right standing of grace. We are brought into peace with God and also we are saved from eternal judgment. In verse 12, he tells us more of what has happened because of the cross. Now verses 12 to 21 is a very unique passage of scripture. We don't find it anywhere else other than in 1 Corinthians 15 where Paul writes about it. He refers to this as identification. So every person is affected by one man Adam. What happened to that one man Adam affected the entire human race. Similarly, what happened to the other man that he's referring to Jesus Christ is also available to the rest of the human race. So he talks about the first Adam, the last Adam. He talks about the first man that is Adam and he talks about the other man that is Jesus Christ. So it's a very interesting thought that Paul presents in these verses in 12 to 21. This passage is very unique because Paul does not write or mention anywhere else in scripture about this. A little bit is mentioned as I said in 1 Corinthians 15 but what Paul mentions here is it builds on this in Romans chapter 6 on how it affects the believers today. So let's look at verses Romans chapter 5 verses 12 to 19. Can somebody read that please? Verses 12 to 19. Ma'am shall I read? Can you just read verse 12 and we'll take it verse by verse then. Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin. Death passed upon all men but that all have sinned. Thank you Rupa. Sin came through Adam and death came through sin because we know that the wages of sin is death. So between sin and death that means we begin to sin and we live our life, the whole life to be dead, we die. We face all kinds of problems. We face sickness, disease, demonic afflictions, tribulations, difficulties. And he says that because of sin, death spread to all men because all have sinned. And the sin came through one man has affected everyone. Sin came through Adam, it affected everyone. So the consequence of Adam's sin has spread to everyone. So that's what he says in verse 12. Can somebody read that please? For until the law of sin was in the world but sin is not what you did when there is no law. Thank you Asha. So sin was in the world. Paul is saying sin was in the world but people did not realize it. When did they realize that what they're doing is sin that they're missing God's mark that they're stepping out of their boundaries. It's when the law was given. When the law was given it made sin visible because law showed them what is right and wrong and law showed them when they have broken the law, when they have sinned, when they've gone away and when they are doing the right thing. So sin could not be held against people until the law came. But sin was there even before the law was given and after law sin could be accounted for. It could in one sense be held against the people. That means we can say, hey man, you've sinned. This is what's in the law but you've done exactly the opposite. You've broken your sin. You've done something that's wrong. So sin was there even before the law was given but after the law was given sin could be accounted for or it could be held against people. Was 14, can somebody read that please? I'll read. But from the time of Adam, the time of Moses, that ruled over all mankind, even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam did when he disobeyed God's command. Adam was a figure of the one who was to come. Thank you Kennedy. So Paul is saying death reigned from Adam to Moses. Law came through Moses. Then the people realized that sin is held against them. Sin is accounted for because of the law. So even though they did not sin like Adam sin, which means Adam was given an explicit or a specific command that he disobeyed. And sin came because of that disobedience and as a result of that came death. So sin and death passed on to everyone even before the law. So even though we don't have any specific command like Adam, God gave Adam, yet we have all sinned and death has reigned over all of us because Adam sinned, we're all born in sin. And the law is there to show us that we have sin, that we have missed God's mark, that we've gone against what he's asking us to do. And he says here that Adam who is a type or a shadow or an example of him who was to come. So someone who is going to come in reality, someone who is much bigger and greater, that is Jesus who's going to come as a real man, and there is some resemblance here. What came through one man affected many and what comes through the second man also affects many. So what's the resemblance here is sin came and death came through Adam, because Adam sinned and as a result of that the death came and it affected all of us in the same way. The second man as Jesus Christ, what he did on the cross, what he brought came to bring us and it affects everyone who believes in him. So this is a resemblance is going to point out in the rest of this chapter. So can somebody read verse 15 please? I'll read, but the two are not the same because God's free gift is not like Adam's sin. It is true that many people died because of the sin of the one man, but God's grace is much greater. So is the free gift to so many people through the grace of the one man Jesus Christ. Thank you. So the first man, which is Adam, he brought trespass, he brought offence, he brought sin into this world. And the second man or the last Adam, which is referring to Jesus Christ brings the free gift. So the offense of the first man, that is the offense of Adam brought death, but the gift of the last Adam, that is Jesus Christ brings the grace of God, which is abounding to many. So he's actually being a contrast, a difference between the first man and the first Adam and the last Adam. First Adam is talking about Adam, last Adam is referring to Jesus Christ. And verse 16 says, and the gift is not like that which came through the one who sin for the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. So Paul is saying here, the free gift came, though there was much sin, the free gift came, it brought about, what is the result of that? It brought about justification, but through Adam, what was the result of Adam's sin, it brought about condemnation, but through Jesus Christ, we are justified by fate. We have made righteous in God's sight. Verse 17, for if by one man's offense death reigned through the one, how much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. So he's saying here that through one man's offense, it brought death to everyone. Adam's sin brought death to everyone. It brought condemnation to everyone. Rain means death ruled over everyone. Because of Adam, we were made slaves to everything that came as a result to sin, but through Jesus, we receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness. So what will happen as a result of this? He says we reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. So the grace of God and the righteousness of God puts us in a position to reign, to rule in life. We are in a position to rule over everything that Adam has made us a slave to. Can we say an amen to that? God has put us in a position, in a powerful position that we can reign and rule, have dominion over everything that Adam has made us a slave to. So in this life, the life that we're living, you and I have mastery, we have authority, we have dominion over everything that Adam has made us a slave to because we have received the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. Amen. So I just want to leave us with this note. Let's continue with verses 18 at the end of the chapter on Friday. But just see how beautifully Paul just brings about. He says, you know, you were enemies with God. You know, you were weak. You had no strength. You were sinful. You were powerless. But see what the grace of God has brought us. The grace of God has the righteousness of God has put us in a position, you know, where we have peace with God. We have standing in grace. And as a result of that, we saw all the benefits of how God sees us because of our standing in grace. And we also have a position to rule, not to rule just in his kingdom, but to rule over everything that Adam has made us a slave to. So we have mastery, we have dominion, we have authority over everything that Adam has made us a slave to of the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousnesses we have received because of what Jesus has done on the cross for us. Okay. Any questions anyone has? Any questions? Just a few more verses and then we'll end this chapter. No questions? Okay. So we finished chapters one to four so we can have our first assessment test. Is that okay? All of you are okay with that? Okay. So can we have it on a Monday? Is that fine? Next Monday, ma'am? Is next Monday okay with all of you? Or you want some more time? I have an assessment schedule for second years on the second Monday that is I think 12th of September. So which day it would be fine for all of you? This Monday coming Monday would be 5th, 12th then this 19th. Is 19th okay with all of you? Not all of you? Yes. What is the format of this assessment test faster? Yeah, sorry Christopher can you please say that again? What is the format of this test? How is it going to be administered? Like a written test? Multiple choice? How is it going to be done? Yeah, so basically it will be multiple choice and I'll put it on the Google classroom and so you can just stick the right options. I can even give you fill in the blanks or true and false but it will basically be multiple options to choose the right options or choose the wrong options anyone and it's an open book so is that okay? Yes ma'am. Not much of true and false and fill in the blanks but I usually give multiple choice so that and the whole purpose of having this assessment is so that you know to just gather information so perceived Romans also for you all of you to go through the notes and also listen to the lecture notes because if you're following me you would have noticed that saying a lot of things that is not there in the notes I'm not just following the notes per se but you know including a lot of things which I will also be putting part but you know I will also including that in the multiple options so you'll have to go through your notes your own notes lecture notes so that it will be also part of what I have taught in class and also the notes not going to be too different but a couple of things that I said which I give you extra information which I will also include so is that okay then we go with September 19th is that fine with everyone Monday yes okay okay most of them in favor thank you all for responding thank you ma'am thank you Rupa okay thank you all sorry for taking extra 6 minutes have a wonderful day and God bless all of you thank you