Romans 5:12-17 (KJV) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

Last week we looked at the Doctrine of Imputation. This is the Biblical teaching that shows us how Christ switched places with us by willingly going to the Cross of Calvary. The Apostle summarized this in:

2 Corinthians 5:20-21 (NKJV) … we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The Father allowed His Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, a Person Perfect and Holy, only one of two people who have been without sin (Hebrews 4:15; 9:28), to BECOME SIN so that He could be punished in our place.

When we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, resting fully on Him, God imputes righteousness, HIS righteousness, to our spiritual account. Abraham – the Father of Faith – met the pre-incarnate Jesus in Ur of the Chaldees (John 8:58), and the Bible tells us:

Romans 4:20-25 (NKJV) {Abraham} did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted {imputed} to him for righteousness.” 23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

When we believe the Father sent the Son to die to pay the penalty for our sins, and raised Jesus from the dead to lead and justify us, then God IMPUTES righteousness to us. This is fully a work of God. God looks at you differently once you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior because of Imputation.

• Because of Imputation, the Holy Spirit can come to us and make us born again (John 3:3).
• Because of Imputation, the Holy Spirit can indwell us permanently (John 14:17; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
• Because of Imputation, we are changed in the Father’s eyes from sinners to Saints (1 Corinthians 6:11)
• Because of Imputation, our destination in this life is changed from glory of self to glory to God (1 Corinthians 10:31)
• Because of Imputation, our eternal destination is changed from eternal condemnation and hell fire to eternal glory with God in a Heavenly Mansion (John 14:3).

The Evangelist Billy Graham wrote:

“The moment we receive Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit and are given a new nature that contends with our old nature. By the old birth we are children of the flesh; by the new birth we are children of God.”

Today we’re going to look at the Doctrine that makes the Doctrine of Imputation necessary,

The Doctrine of Original Sin

Romans 5:12 (KJV) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin

Only two people in all of human history were born perfect – and no, you’re not one of them! Jesus Christ was born into this world perfect. The Angel told Mary:

Luke 1:35 (ESV) The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

And the Angels told the Shepherds who watched their sheep in the field the night that Christ was born of the virgin:

Luke 2:11 (ESV) … unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Jesus was born of a virgin in fulfillment of prophecy (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). He was born perfect, without sin, as to be the Savior He must be without sin. The other perfect man was born not of a virgin, but of the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). He was made perfect by God. We know this, because …

Our God Who is “holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8) looked at creation, complete with Man and Woman, and said “All that I have made is VERY GOOD” (Genesis 1:31).

God made man perfect, just as He made angels perfect and without sin. But God gave both angels and mankind the ability to choose. We were created with a freedom of will. When God made Adam and Eve, He gave mankind stewardship of the earth. God told the first couple:

Genesis 1:28 (ESV) … Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over {creation} …

Adam was given direction from God’s Word. God told him what He expected. God also told Adam:

Genesis 2:16-17 (ESV) … You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 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 …

Adam and Eve were created “VERY GOOD”, without sin, holy. Adam was given a specific, clear set of commands – and one negative command. What does the Bible tell us that Adam did?

Genesis 3:6 (NKJV) … {Eve} took of {the forbidden} fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

This is the “Original Sin” that brought sin and death into the world. Though Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, the Bible tells us that:

Romans 5:12 … by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin …

God did not create sin. Man created sin. God did not create darkness. The Bible says, “God is LIGHT, and IN HIM is NO DARKNESS AT ALL” (1 John 1:5). When God came to the malformed mess that was to become our world, the very first command God gave was “LET THERE BE LIGHT” (Genesis 1:3) “AND THERE WAS LIGHT”. God made Light before He ever made the Sun or moon or the stars. God is the Source of Light. Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, is the Source of Light. Jesus said:

John 8:12 (KJV) … I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life …

Man is the Source of darkness, of sin, of separation from God. The Bible says:

1 Corinthians 15:45 (ESV) …it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

The first Perfect Man sinned against God. He didn’t commit murder. He didn’t commit adultery. Adam didn’t lie, or steal. But Adam disobeyed the clearly presented Word of God. God told Adam “in the day you eat of it, YOU SHALL SURELY DIE”. This is what happened:

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

The First Adam brought spiritual death on himself and on his wife and children. But not only this, Adam brought physical death on all of creation.

Because Adam transgressed the Word of God (do not eat the forbidden), he brought sin and death on the world. Next we are told:

Romans 5:13-14 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses …

The Bible tells us that “The wages of SIN is DEATH” (Romans 6:23). The God Who created all things did not “IMPUTE SIN” to people prior to the giving of the Law. Our God is fair. The people who died from “ADAM TO MOSES” died physical deaths because Adam brought physical death on all of his progeny. But where there is no Law, God does not take life. Sin created a ticking time bomb in everyone, but God allowed man freedom of choice. Humanity became worse and worse until God established Law through Noah, and later through Moses. Where God’s Word is spoken, this becomes Law by which sin is imputed. The Matthew Henry commentary notes:

“In proof of our union with Adam, and our part in his first transgression, observe, that sin prevailed in the world, for many ages before the giving of the law by Moses. And death reigned in that long time, not only over adults who wilfully sinned, but also over multitudes of infants, which shows that they had fallen in Adam under condemnation, and that the sin of Adam extended to all his posterity.”

Because Adam sinned, physical death comes to all. Because of Adam’s original sin, we are all born in trespasses and sin. As I have repeatedly told you for years now:

“all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

We all need a Savior. We all need a Savior to save us from what Adam did, and to save us from ourselves! The First Adam in selfishness killed us all. But God sent a second Adam, without sin as Adam was once without sin, to be our Savior.

The Second Adam – Jesus Christ – Saves Us From Original Sin

Romans 5:15 But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

The “OFFENSE” brought universal sin and death to everyone. But the “FREE GIFT” that the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, brings is different. “through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God”. Adam’s sin brings automatic, involuntary, universal spiritual and physical death to all.

Word Study: On the other hand, the Second Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, brings not death but “abound(ing) unto many”. The word translated “ABOUNDED” is the Greek perisseuō which means “to exceed in abundance, to overflow a measure, to excel above all else”. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you as Christians understand the application of this word. Jesus told us on the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:20 (KJV) I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall EXCEED (perisseuō) the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The Pharisees followed the Law of God perfectly. But Jesus said “You need a righteousness MUCH GREATER than that which the Pharisees have. As pure and perfect as they appear, their righteousness just doesn’t cut it with God”. What do you need to enter God’s Heaven, to be a part of God’s family?

You need the imputation of Christ’s righteousness. You need to believe in Jesus as both Lord and Savior. There is no “man made” righteousness that will get you to God. You need Jesus!

Romans 5:16-17 (KJV) And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. 17 For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

What God offers us through Jesus is called a “Gift” because it is something you cannot earn, something you cannot deserve, something you are not worthy to receive. The First Adam brought sin into the world, and DEATH REIGNED because of him. But Jesus, the second Adam, came into the world to free us from sin. We who have received Jesus have been given “abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness”. God sees you differently. You are no longer bound to Original Sin, but you are bound to God.

The lost are carbon based life forms bound to the flesh. They one day will be placed in a Lake of Fire that will trap them in their selfishness forever. The saved are Eternal Souls bound to God by Christ. We one day will leave our bodies to the earth, and soar in eternity with our Heavenly Father. We who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are Children of Light, not darkness. We are Ambassadors of Christ’s Kingdom, telling others to repent and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Romans 5:18-21 Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

The First Adam’s sin made people slaves to sin and death. The work of the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, freed us from sin and death so that we might follow God in this life, and in the life to come.

Dear friend, if you claim to be saved by Grace, but are not following the Light of God and doing His Word, then you are deceiving yourself. Your righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees.

Word Study: We are told that “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound”. This is a fantastic statement. Whereas sin abounded, overflowed unto sin and death, the Grace of God “did much more abound”. This is the Greek hyperperisseuō, which means “to ABOUND BEYOND MEASURE” or “superabound”. The Apostle uses this word in only one other place in the Scripture, when he tells the Corinthian Church:

2 Corinthians 7:4 … I am EXCEEDINGLY {hyperperisseuō} joyful in ALL our TRIBULATION …

Knowing that trials and tribulation only prepared him for his future appointment with God in glory, the Apostle did not despair. His joy RAN OVER, was IMMEASURABLE, because he understood his place in the plan of God.

Do you? Is your hope in Jesus? Is your life in Christ? Do you live your life following the Master? In His is light, not darkness. My prayer is that every person, every professor of religion, everyone under the sound of my voice repent, turn from your dark way of life. Commit your life to Jesus, calling on Him to save you. Then live your life daily, reliant on Him. May God lead you to do so without delay.

Amen.