 Today we're in Romans chapter 5. We're going to be looking at, and this is going to be tough. I have to be honest with you, verses 6 through 21. That's a lot of verses to handle in the book of Romans. This could actually be three weeks, but I just got caught up with the study, and so we'll be looking at verses 6 through 21. At least that's my plan. Let's see what happens. We'll begin at verse 6. I'll read to verse 11. We'll get into our study. Romans chapter 5, beginning at verse 6, reading to verse 11. We're looking at an abundance of grace, beginning at verse 6, Romans chapter 5, for when we were still without strength and due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die. Yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through whom our Lord Jesus Christ, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Now Paul has been writing concerning the love of God, and he had stated to us in the previous verse in verse 5 that the love of God had been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. So Paul is writing concerning the love of God, and how that this love of God has been poured into our hearts. So the question would be, since Paul writes of the love of God, how can we know this love of God? How has the love of God been demonstrated, which would convince us of the reality of the love of God? And so the answer to that kind of question is actually found in the following verses. You see in reminding us of our spiritual condition prior to salvation, Paul reveals to us something, he reveals to us the depth of the love of God. When our ungodliness is contrasted with His grace and mercy, that helps us not to take His love for granted. And what makes God's love so incredible is that He has chosen to love, and we're going to see this in just a moment, those who do not deserve it, He has chosen to love the ungodly. God actually practices what He teaches us. In Matthew 5, 46, and 47, Jesus said, if you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you're kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. And so when Jesus was teaching us to love those who didn't love us, He's simply teaching us what His Father has already done on our behalf. God has loved us, and He's loved us before we loved Him. Now what was our condition before God prior to salvation? And how does He describe us? I want you to notice this, because this is what we are like before we get saved. He speaks of us as being without strength, He speaks of humanity as being ungodly, He speaks of us as being sinners, and He speaks of us as being enemies. That's what God says we are. Contrary to what a lot of people say when they say that a lot of people are actually God seekers. The Bible has already stated to us in Romans chapter 3, there is none who seeks after God. There are those who say, well, you know, I actually have a love for God. The Bible would say, no, you're an enemy of God. Prior to having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, the Bible is very, very clear that our condition is that of a lost individual. And there are words that He uses to describe our condition. We'll look at those very briefly. First, notice verse 6. He says, we were without strength. Without strength speaks of that which is weak or feeble. The point He's making is, before God saved you, you are unable to save yourself. He's saying in our sinful condition, we are helpless. You're unable to please Him, and we are unable to even obey Him. Ephesians 2 1 says it even more clearly. Paul there says, you, he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins. So we are unable to save ourselves. We are without strength incapable of doing that. Like my granddaughter Stella, who's only eight months old, is helpless before, you know, an adult human being, even big kids. She's helpless before them. She's unable to protect herself. She needs someone to save her. She needs someone to protect her because that baby cannot protect herself. She's unable to do that. Well, infinitely more God would say, you are unable to save yourself. You're weaker than a newborn infant in the face of an elephant charging. There's nothing you can do. You are incapable of saving yourself. You need help. That's the point He's making. I needed help. I need help to be saved because I cannot save myself. I am, He says in verse 6, I am without strength. Secondly, He says, I am ungodly. That word ungodly simply means that without God. It's one who has no desire for or a fear of God. Someone writes in the Bible to be ungodly speaks of an active opposition to God. It is a deliberate withholding from God of His dues of prayer and service. A standing, so to speak, in battle array against God in His claims to respect, reverence and obedience. Those whose sins are particularly aggravating and deserving of God's wrath are the ungodly. And so one, I am without strength. And two, He says, I was ungodly, ungodliness. That is the condition of an individual without relationship to Jesus Christ. And yet there are so many of us who take our cues from the ungodly. If you have a problem, you go to a friend. The friend doesn't have to be a Christian. You're asking for advice. You're a Christian. You have a marital problem. You go to a non-Christian and ask them for wisdom. How am I going to solve this problem? What should I do? We have young girls going to school, Christian girls who talk to their unsaved girlfriends and they say, well, my boyfriend is pressuring me to have have sexual relations. What should I do? And they ask the ungodly. But the Bible says in Psalm 1 verse 1, blessed is a man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly. And yet we have people who are seeking advice from those who are actively in opposition to God. We were in active opposition. And so notice, He says, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. In due time, in the right moment, in the appropriate time, while we were still sinners, in a time that fitted God's purpose, salvation was won. And salvation was won at the moment God desired it to be won. And God saved the ungodly. He says in verse 7, for scarcely for a righteous man, one will die. Yet perhaps for a good man, someone would dare to die. Well, a righteous man is an openly religious person, what would be considered to be a good person. But this is the kind of person the world needs more of. And he's saying, so perhaps you'd die for somebody like that. He said, maybe you'd die for somebody who is pretty good, but in verse 8, but God demonstrates His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. I might take, and I wouldn't. I mean, this is hypothetical, but I can't imagine ever just contemplating and saying within myself, well, you know, that's a good person. I ought to die on their behalf. I couldn't say I would do that. That's hypothetical. I don't know that I'd die for any good person. Maybe I would lay my life down for my wife. I mean, I can say I would right up here right now, right? I don't know what, I'll be honest with you, I don't know what I'd do. I'd like to believe that I would. I'm pretty sure I would, maybe. I would like to believe that I would die for my grandchildren, my kids, but my grandchildren, I would like to believe that I would lay my life down for my babies, pretty sure I would, but how about for that person who beat that baby to death? How about that guy who raped that grandmother or that man who beat his two and a half year old child to death just two weeks ago? Would I die for him? Would I die for him? No, but Jesus did. Isn't that amazing? Think about it. Isn't that amazing? That's amazing. Amazing love. God demonstrates his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Not while we're trying hard or trying to be good or doing our best, but when we were in constant hostile opposition to him, hating him and rejecting everything he stood for, Christ still died for us. Isn't that amazing? I mean, think about it. Let it sink in for a minute. A lot of people run for the idea, but that's what Christ did for you. That's what he did for me. Yeah, I would put my life down. I'm sure I would really for my wife, my children, my grandchildren, and those who were dearest friends to me. If it was an instantaneous kind of thing, if he gave me weeks to think about it, that'd be more difficult, but Christ died for us. And what I want to point out very quickly here in verse eight is notice how it says, but God demonstrates his own love toward us, but God, there's so many times in scripture that those two words are coupled together to emphasize something about the Lord, but God Psalm 4915, but God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave for he shall receive me. Psalm 7326, my flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Ephesians two, four and five, but God who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved, but God, but God, but God, but God demonstrates his love towards us. Love is something that is not philosophic. It's not hypothetical. Love is something that is acted out as an activity of the heart. It's something that you do. It's a decision of the will. It's something you act on and it's something that you see. Love is demonstrated. There are those who say, I love you, but never demonstrate love. It's just a word. I love you. I love you. And many times it's just a bargaining chip. Many times it's just a word that's being used because you've done something wrong and you're trying to find some way into their grace once again. But I love you. We use the word as something that can be a power tool, something that we can use to get our way or to change things to go in the direction that we desire. Love is that way. We say it, but we don't mean it. But when Paul's speaking here concerning love he says, God demonstrates his love toward us. God revealed it. He manifested it. He showed it openly. God demonstrates his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. What a powerful statement. God's love exists even when man is active and in wicked rebellion against him. Jude 15, speaking of Jesus' return, it says Jesus will return to execute judgment on all to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds, which they have committed in an ungodly way. And all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him, God's love exists and sinners are in active rebellion against him and the Lord Jesus will return. And when he brings his judgment it'll be on those who have failed to receive the love that he has. At the cross God openly showed his love for the wicked and for rebellious mankind. In 1 John 4 9 and 10 it says this is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him. This is love. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. God demonstrates his love towards us. How? He sent his son Jesus to die on the cross while we were still in hostile opposition to him and God sends his son to do that. God demonstrated his own love toward us. We're still sinners yet Christ died for us. Much more verse 9. Much more than having now been justified by his grace, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, much more having been reconciled we shall be saved by his life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received the reconciliation. So he says having been justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath. We have been saved from wrath and this wrath is revealed in final judgment. In 1 Thessalonians 5 9 it says God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. We've been saved from the wrath that is coming at judgment when the sinner stands before God and hasn't been redeemed. That's when he's going to receive the wrath of God. But notice again he speaks of us in this way. He says we were enemies. If when we were enemies we're reconciled. Enemies is a word that speaks of being filled with hate, being hostile, and being opposed. When we were filled with hate and that's real difficult for us to understand because we may say I never really felt that I hated God at all. God would say when you don't love me in reality you're rejecting me. When you reject me you're really saying you hate me. So it's not necessarily that emotion that we feel when we say somebody has harmed us deeply and therefore we have this great emotion towards them. In God's way of speaking he's saying to fail to love me is to really to hate me. And so when we were enemies of God rejecting everything of the Lord, when we were opposing him God still sent his son to rescue us. That we might be reconciled through Jesus Christ. In John 12 32 and 33 it says but I when I am lifted up from the earth will draw all men to myself. He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. So when we were still in hostile opposition to God enemies without strength we were still sinners and ungodly. God sent his son Jesus is what Paul is saying. So how does love demonstrate it? How did God pour out his love upon us? How does he demonstrate his love by sending Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ comes and dies on the cross even though we're enemies ungodly rejecting him and he dies in such a fashion that he can join us to have a relationship with him. It's been said the cross is the only ladder high enough to touch the threshold of heaven and that's what Jesus did on our behalf. Now he goes on and he says in 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 sin for until the law sin was in the world but sin is not imputed when there's 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 is a type of him who was to come. So seeing that Jesus was sent to save sinners just how did sin originally enter into the world? Need to remember that sin did not originate with man yet originated really with Satan. In first John 3.8 John says the devil has sinned from the beginning. From the point of his rebellion Satan has been the originator and initiator of sin. The Bible says by the sin of pride Satan fell from his position of covering cherub and after his fall he influenced his fellow angels to follow his lead and rebel against God. Revelation 12.9 says the great dragon was cast out that serpent of old called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world he was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him. So after his fall he entered into the Garden of Eden and there that's where he tempted Eve and that's where he tempted Adam. Even as he had fallen by pride he did tempt Eve through pride to disobey God. In the book of Genesis chapter 3 verses 4 through 6 it says the serpent said to the woman you will not surely die for God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you'll be like God knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food that it was pleasant to the eyes a tree desirable to make one wise she took of its fruit in eight she also gave to her husband with her and he ate. So Eve took of the forbidden fruit and though she took of it the sin was directly charged against Adam and that's because he had been given the command directly by God not to do so. In Genesis 2 16 and 17 it says the Lord commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden you may freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. So through his disobedience sin enters into the world. Now I want you to notice he said sin entered into the world not sins but sin that speaks of his sin nature it's an inherent propensity to unrighteousness. Adam now has a sin nature and it's his nature that he passes on to his children. Adam has been referred to as the federal head of the human race because in Adam because like begets like in Adam all have received Adam's what's called an Adamic nature Adam's nature and so we are all born with a sin nature somebody asks the question do I become a sinner when I sin and the answer is no you sin because you're a sinner by nature you do that which is natural for you that comes because of Adam's sin and Adam's fall and he's saying in verse 12 in this way in this manner death spread to all men why because all sin even as his children receive their physical properties from him they also receive his nature and that's what the bible says Psalm 51 5 says behold I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me Ephesians 2 3 says we were by nature children of wrath now God had told him in the day that you eat you will surely die so spiritually he was immediately cut off from God ultimately he physically dies and so the bible tells us and it's one of the saddest scriptures you'll find in the bible in Genesis chapter 5 verse 5 one of the saddest scriptures in the bible all the days of Adam lived that Adam lived were 930 years and he died died because of the sin sin the wages of sin is death so that answers the question about why evil exists there are so many people who will ask that question it seems like a simplistic answer but it is the truth why does evil exist evil exists because sin exists why does sin exist because satan fell satan influenced adam and eve satan specifically tempts eve eve gives to her husband of this forbidden fruit he doesn't partake of it and he spiritually dies his nature is passed on to humanity and we all sin because it is our nature to do so some sin worse than others yes some are a lot worse than others absolutely but all have sin and fall short of the glory of God so all of us have received adam's nature and so evil exists because choices were made to disobey God evil is the result evil is the consequence of man's decisions not the design of God so many times people will say how come God allowed this to take place the fact of the matter is is that's that's that's what happens with free will that's what happens when you have the ability to make choices that are contrary to God's design and we just don't realize that when you take a trip if if if the pilot navigator if they do not set that compass will say that it's going to take them that nav system to take them directly to the place that they're going to if it's even a degree off and they're going to go 5000 plus miles within 5000 miles you're a great distance off course just one degree you have to remain on course and unfortunately sadly tragically but realistically man is by nature evil some are not as bad as others yes but all of us have sin all of us fall short of perfection and all of us need a savior that's the argument and that's the teaching paul is giving to us evil is a consequence of man's decision not the design of god years ago i was teaching a bible study and so it's a young man at the time and one of my bible study attendees was a neighbor lady who lived down the street and she had a son at that time who was a little boy and he was very ill and she was really concerned and she had come for prayer and we were talking and and she asked me a question she said she said where's god where is god with my my son is so sick and that's her question where's god where's god can't he see where is god my son is so sick i don't blame her for having such pain her son was her heart but i remember my answer i looked at her i said he's in the same place he was when he watched his son dying across he hasn't moved he knows your pain and he's aware of what's going on he hasn't moved we ask where's god god hasn't moved god watches us god loves us god cares god reaches down god intervenes we simply have to trust him so to say where's god is if he doesn't care is the worst thing that you can say because god does care god demonstrated his care for us he gave his son for us what more can he do the sin and its repercussions are real and there's pain that people go through but it wasn't his design he says in verse 13 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 those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of adam who is the type of him who was to come so the question might be asked but what about those who were born before moses received the law and the answer is death existed before the law because sin existed before the giving of the law the law of conscience existed this alone made man accountable for their actions he says in verse 14 nevertheless death reigned from adam to moses so adam and eve took of the forbidden fruit and they were evicted from the garden access to the tree is blocked it's impossible to sin exactly as they had but due to sinful human nature all are still doomed to die now notice in verse 14 adam is a type of him who was to come adam is called a type of christ and that his life and his death affected all humanity the bible in first Corinthians 15 21 and 22 says since death came through man the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man for as in adam all died so in christ all will be made alive so in adam we're all sinners by natural birth but in christ all are made righteous by faith in him he says in verse 15 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 gift by the grace of the one man jesus christ abounded to many the free gift is not like the offense because adam sin ruined mankind and he's an enemy sin is an enemy sin destroys and every evil we see today entered into this world because of sin every evil we see is because of sin but he says the grace of god and the gift by the grace of the one man is a bounding to us god's grace abounds through jesus who overcame death and provides life for us it is god who gives us the gift of eternal life so his grace abounds in verse 16 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 so paul contrasts jesus and adam the gift of life and the offense that resulted in death judgment came through adam the result was condemnation but notice the free gift came from many offenses but it resulted in justification through christ atoning death people were justified by faith in him and notice it's a free gift because god's grace is free and we receive life in him verse 17 for if by one man's offense death rain 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 death has rained from the time of adam it's a sure thing for all who are born and that's something that i said as a kid before i was saved i still remembered this time when i i've mentioned this to you before i was in a back seat i was sitting in the back seat two my friends were driving and when i was in the world as a young man i i enjoyed smoking marijuana and um that's what we're doing and whenever i got loaded i i got philosophical i thought i was very deep and a lot of you have been around people who are dopers and think they're very deep when they're high that was me and so i was in the back seat just philosophizing within and i i still remember saying and i was 17 i remember saying you know guys we're not living we're all dying from the moment you were born you have slowly but surely proceeded towards death's door we're all dying and my friends turn said shut up man why are you bumming us out i said well you need to think about it because that's the kind of things i thought about at 17 salvation wasn't so far away at that time no matter what i was doing i was still beginning to contemplate if i continue this way of life if i continue doing these kinds of things my lifespan is going to be very short i began thinking about that i began thinking about that when i was 18 years old i was at a friend's house where we were sniffing a substance i don't want to even mention it it resulted in the death of a number of people but they had gotten hold of some of the substance and we putting in at a bag and all of that and i was about about 18 or so at that time and i remember taking a hit off this bag and i remember suddenly being transported and i was in this like a forest with a bunch of sequoias they were so tall you couldn't really see the top of them and there was a path that i was walking on that was a straight path and it had gold dust and as i walked on it the dust was heavy i could it didn't move with my feet but i knew it was dust and it was leading in one direction and as i was walking i got to the end of this pathway and there was a huge throne and on the throne was a man and this man was looking at me and i still remember with his hands resting on the throne but behind him was a light so bright i couldn't see his face all i could see was the outline and he spoke to me and he said to me david see your life and from the time i was about five years old when i stole some bird seed from some supermarket until that moment i was taken a hit just before i went into that trip i saw every sin that i had ever committed i saw it all it was like one of those books where you kind of spin the book and you see one thing after another it was in an instant heartbeat i remember that i saw all of these sins and as i saw all of those sins i saw myself guilty and this voice spoke to me and said to me you are guilty of sin and i was looking at him i was not a religious person i didn't have a clue what was going on and he said i could take you and you would go to hell but i'm giving you a chance and i'm sending you back and i remember waking up in the room and one of my friends nikki morales had gotten up and run out and my friends who are there with me i said where did nikki go and they said you were saying god god god and nikki got so freaked out he ran out of the room so i'm not saying that was from god by the way it sounds like am all i know is that that awoke me to something that eventually took place and that was my salvation i didn't know anything about judgment i never thought about a great white throne i never thought that jesus was one who was in a light that is unapproachable i didn't know any of those images that wasn't something i knew i didn't know about a straight path i didn't know of streets of gold i didn't know any of that i didn't know any of that but that's what i saw and when i saw it awoke me and i thought there's something greater than myself and it was not that long afterwards that god through the gospel awakened me to the path i needed to take and the life i was living and the sinfulness of my behavior and the things that i was doing and it was later that i heard that i was without strength it was later that i heard that i was ungodly it was later that i heard that i'm a sinner it was later that i heard that i was an enemy hostile to god rejecting him and then i heard that god so loved me that he sent his son to take my place that adam fell and through adam's fall i was condemned by his nature but that jesus didn't fail and he succeeded and gave me his nature there was the first adam but then there's the second adam the first adam brings sin and destruction the second adam brings justification i didn't know that at first i found that in scripture that's what paul's talking about that we can have justification through jesus christ and we can reign in life he says in Ephesians rather in verses 18 and 19 and you can see why i wanted to go longer and here i am i'm going longer but verse 18 therefore is as through one man's offense judgment came to all men resulting in condemnation even so through one man's righteousness or 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 lie 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 the free gift of eternal life is available to all who receive jesus and matthew 11 28 he said come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden i will give you rest grace overwhelmingly abounds and it abounds through jesus christ Ephesians 2 8 9 says for by grace you've been saved through faith that not of yourselves it is the gift of god not of works lest anyone should boast where sin abounded grace much more abounds may we walk and rest in his grace