Grace Truimphs Over Every Sin, Every Time

Point three: the brilliance of the gift. It’s my final point and a great one to end with. Look with me at versus 20 and 21.

“The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ.”

If you are like me, then you have had times in your life, you might still be there, where I look at myself and the state I am in and wonder how on earth can God love a sinner like me.

Or you might have friends who do not know Jesus and their lives seem so far from the gospel that you think they might be impenetrable to God’s mercy. I know people who almost pride themselves on how sinful they think they are.

Grace triumphs over every sin, every time.

There is no sin beyond the mercy of God.

Christ trumps death every time. Whatever card sin and death can play against us Christ trumps it. No matter what blackness we see in our own heart, Christ trumps it. In Christ there is forgiveness and justification that can beat it. Whenever you are worried about death coming in this world, know that Christ brings eternal life.

That's God's grace… it is abounding. Not reluctant of begrudging. Everything goes wrong because of the debt Adam has created. God is like the billionaire father, he can meet any debt we create.

What does this mean for us today, about 30 men and women sitting in the stuffiness of a non-aircon Presbyterian church hall? A small sample of the community we call church. Different background, different worries, differing stages of faith.

As we journey together, know for sure, 100% that salvation relies on Christ alone.

When you are in Christ that is it, nothing more is required.

Sin and death came into the world through Adam he is the pattern. But the gift of righteousness comes through Jesus Christ who is fully human and God, Jesus brings God’s grace to those who believe and trust in Him.

Paul writes this passage to the Romans so that they are left without a doubt that they are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. And nothing else.

I wonder what you might have thought to be the most awkward thing to talk about for a first sermon… but hopefully you will have seen this morning that original sin is not an idea which needs to be repugnant, leaving a bad taste in your mouth. But rather, through these two men, we see God’s rescue plan for the whole of humanity, which brings us great certainty, hope and a closer relationship with our creator.

Point one: Adam is the pattern. Paul is making a comparison so that we know how much better the gift of grace is which is given to those in Jesus.

Point two: the gift of righteousness is a transfer from being in Adam whose destination is death to being in Jesus and the destination eternal life.

And lastly point three: the brilliance of the gift. Know that no matter how you view your own personal sin, the struggles you face, the powers of darkness that prevail. God’s grace will overpower. Nothing contributes to salvation other than Christ.

God’s grace triumphs over every sin, every time.