23. ROMANS CHAPTER 5 VERSES 6-9 - MESSAGES IN ROMANS – RECONCILIATION AND WHO IS ACCOUNTABLE FOR SIN? - MESSAGE 23
Last time we studied this passage we left off at this most important verse - {{Romans 5:9 “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be SAVED FROM THE WRATH OF GOD through Him.”}}
Chapter 5 is the great chapter of Justification and it began with being justified by faith in the finished sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, and in verse 9 we have the primary fact of justification by His blood, because if we did not have the latter justification, there is no way we could have the former one.
At the right time Christ died for us, and He gave His live for all sinful human beings, dying for them in the very fallen state they were/we are in. We could do not a thing to redeem ourselves. It is all of Jesus Christ, calling us while we were yet sinners to become the recipients of grace.
Verses 6 to 11 are a very important division in chapter 5 focussing on the benefits that have been derived from what the Lord did for us who could do nothing for ourselves. I constantly delight in the account of Mephibosheth, a castoff, fallen, in a place of no pasture, with no prospects, but the grace flowing from King David extended to him, and he was raised from the place of hopelessness and helplessness and brought into the palace of the king to eat at his table. That is exactly what the Lord did for us.
We now move to the next verse in this division, verse 10.
[D]. THERE IS NOW THE GREAT TRUTH OF RECONCILIATION
{{Romans 5:10 “If while 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.”}}
We here encounter the first use of the great truth of reconciliation in Romans. The book is a wonderful study of great words of doctrine. When studying doctrinal aspects it is fundamental to appreciate the application to us correctly. To deal with these great words is one thing in disassociation, but it is not encouraging for listeners or readers. We must make the blessings of these words apply to believers, and then derive the joy that flows from them
The first use of this concept (reconciliation) in the New Testament is found here – {{Matthew 5:23-24 “If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother HAS SOMETHING AGAINST YOU, leave your offering there before the altar and go your way. FIRST BE RECONCILED to your brother and then come and present your offering.”}}
What the Lord taught here sets the simplicity of reconciliation in place. One has something against another that has to be set right. The second thing is that reconciliation must be attended to before any fellowship with God can happen. In this account, there could be no interaction with God before reconciliation of a brother.
Verse 10 begins with, “If while we were enemies,” and that is the bottom line. It means warring parties, and even if weapons are not taken up, it means hostilities existed. War of words and attitudes and behaviour, and even condition – all that we as human beings stood for was at variance with God. We were hostile to Him, having no intention whatever of closing the gap, not even wanting to make anything right.
To be openly honest here, there was nothing we were able to do to make it right with God even if we wanted to do it. We were utterly incapable of any move, and Paul had brought that out with the previous verses about the helpless state we were all in. A helpless man can not rise up and put everything right. It has to be done for him. It takes the intervention of another for that to happen.
That is exactly what reconciliation is all about. It is the intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf to bring about peace between two warring parties. We have been brought from the gutter into blessing; brought from the place of no pasture to the King’s table; reconciled from the enemy camp to the halls of peace. All that is the work of the Lord, and not one thing could we do about it.
There was only one way reconciliation could happen and it was through the death of the Son of God. There are some who would love to bypass that, and make it by works or good intentions but everything is sealed by the blood of Christ; His reconciling work of the cross. The New Covenant was enacted at Calvary, and a covenant was confirmed in blood.
This is the verse linking covenant and blood – {{Hebrews 10:29 “How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?”}}
The first covenant – the Old Covenant – was also confirmed in blood. Reconciliation has to be through the blood of the offering(s) – {{Hebrews 9:18-20 “Therefore EVEN THE FIRST COVENANT WAS NOT INAUGURATED WITHOUT BLOOD, for when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “THIS IS THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT WHICH GOD COMMANDED YOU.”}}
At the end of World War 1, the Treaty of Versailles was supposed to be the reconciliation of enemies. That “covenant” was said to be the war that ended all wars, but that was man’s false understanding of the fallen human nature. Even though all parties signed the agreement, hate remained and festered until the Second World War.
Not so with the covenant made by God. Jesus made peace through the cross by breaking down the diving wall between us and God. That resulted in perfect peace and trust; full reconciliation. Now we are saved through His life, that is, through the new nature within us, sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. We are living eternally through the eternal God who dwells within.
[E]. CONTINUING THE THEME FROM THE GUTTER TO THE UTTERMOST
{{Romans 5:11 “Not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”}}
Yes, the reconciliation is complete. It is present tense; we have it right now. The “registration of reconciliation” happened the moment we gave our lives to the Lord; born again and justified by faith.
I have just been through a terrible experience. I own a copy of an older version of Adobe Photoshop able to be used on three computers. When it was/is installed it needs to be authenticated or registered by Adobe (which it was), but there has been trouble with computers and I have had to reinstall and copy over the applications. Adobe refuses now to authenticate my program as it is an older one. Now I have no workable Photoshop.
I see that as a greedy betrayal of the agreement that I owned the version I purchased. Thank God He will NEVER be like that. He will not walk away from an agreement. Calvary will never be denied. The promises of God are eternal. We have received the reconciliation and it remains with us, sealed in the blood of the Lamb for all eternity.
As a result of all that, Paul says we exult in God. The AV says, “we also joy in God,” while other versions translate, “boast” or “rejoice” in God. It is interesting that Strong’s says it has a basis of “to vaunt” so we understand Paul saying we are lifted up in rejoicing, exalting in praise, boasting (correctly) in our Saviour. That is what reconciliation has done on our behalf.
Romans is full of wonderful words that I have attempted to break down to describe, and then what blessings they have brought to us. We have had faith, hope, glory, justification, redemption, blood, reconciliation, and probably a few more I don’t recall.
We now move to a section of about 11 verses that is full of contrasts. We will not complete all this today but we will do what we can, probably one of them. Some find this a difficult section, so we will proceed slowly.
NOW THE GREAT CONTRASTS – ONE BY ONE – BUT FIRST THE FACTS
FACT ONE – THE PROGRESSION TO DEATH
{{Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man SIN entered into the world, and DEATH through sin, so death spread to all men, because ALL SINNED –“}}
Death is so sad because we lose loved ones and good friends, and not all are going to be with the Lord. Right now, as I write this, I just lost my close cousin and a good friend. As we get older the physical permanency of death starts to affect us. We are so thankful for our Lord Jesus Christ who overcame death through His resurrection.
For a Christian though, death is just the doorway, the pathway, the flight of stairs going upwards. Here are three stanzas from a longer poem on mine that deals with this subject –
Why is death a terrible scourge
Upon the human race?
Christian doctrine answers this
While setting out the case.
Death arose from one’s self will;
From disobedience.
Man’s rebellion, which was sin,
Is in continuance.
Death has passed to every man
For everyone has sinned.
God decreed these principles
His word has underpinned.
===========================
He’s the resurrection life
For those His blood has saved.
He has left the signal posts
Along the path He paved.
Death, where is your sting today?
Where is your victory?
Gone forever, death’s barbed sting,
Confined to history!
Christ, the first fruits of the grave,
Proclaimed to death, defeat.
Aspirations for the saints,
In heaven, find their seat.
===========================
Death’s the shutting of the book
Upon this earthly life.
Final chapter of our race
In this world with its strife.
Death’s the concrete stairs of faith
That rise to realms above;
Stepping stone on glory’s path
That enters to His love.
It’s a gateway op’ning wide
Upon the heav’nly scene.
It’s a call from our dear Lord
To follow where He’s been.
===========================
In verse 12 there is the progression leading to death. One man – sin – death – death to all. Through Adam’s disobedience, sin entered and it is passed on in the fallen human nature. Sin brought about a double death; physical death that is not apparent immediately, and spiritual death that does happen immediately. Adam was told, “for in the DAY that you eat from it you shall surely die.” Death has passed to all people, not because they were born, but because they sinned.
FACT TWO – ACCOUNTABILITY COMES THROUGH A DECLARED STANDARD
{{Romans 5:13 “for until the Law SIN WAS IN THE WORLD BUT SIN IS NOT IMPUTED when there is no law.”}}
Now what do we say? Is the verse saying that sin is not held to account before the Law came in in about 1450 BC? Terrible sins were committed before the Law – murder, homosexuality, incest, idolatry, rebellion, and so many more we could list. Sin was definitely in the world and it was ugly. What does God mean by sin is not imputed (or reckoned – AV) when there is no law?
Part of the problem here is law and the Law. For the Jews it was different after God gave Moses the Law. Those under the Law are held responsible for their sins but those before the Law, and outside the Law – the outside world, are they accountable? Is sin imputed to them as it is under the Law? Did they know right from wrong?
The ending of that verse is, “sin is not imputed when there is no law.” When the law of the jungle operates, which really is no law at all, you have chaos and bedlam. Those who tried breaking down Lot’s door were held accountable and Sodom was destroyed. Those whose thoughts were wicked before the Lord continually with not one good thought, were destroyed in the flood. They were held responsible.
Sin then began with Adam and reigned as a king in the period from Adam to Moses and thence to the present but the period up to Moses must be carefully understood. With Moses came the Law and then from Moses to Jesus Christ the Law operated and man had penalty placed on his account because of the transgression of the Law. But what happened before the Law operated? Was man guilty for sin committed? Sin certainly was in full operation in every human being but the penalty was not being put on to the account of those sinners when there was no defined law with standards and punishments.
[[ The pre-Mosaic man sinned indeed, but could not rightly be condemned for his sin until there was a law to tell him plainly the distinction between right and wrong. ]] (Ellicott).
The Greek expositors go to great lengths to explain this verse and some expositions are quite lengthy and complex. It does have some hiccups at first glance as if God is excusing without penalty, all those before the Law came in. However I think what Barnes wrote sums it up quite well and here it is –
[[ Sin was in the world - People sinned. They did what was evil.
But sin is not imputed - is not charged against people, or they are not held guilty of it where there is no law. This is a self-evident proposition, for sin is a violation of law; and if there is no law, there can be no wrong. Assuming this as a self-evident proposition, the connection is, that there must have been a law of some kind; a "law written on their hearts," since sin was in the world, and people could not be charged with sin, or treated as sinners, unless there was some law.
The passage here states a great and important principle, that people will not be held to be guilty unless there is a law which binds them of which they are apprized (judged), and which they voluntarily transgress; see the note at Romans 4:15. This verse, therefore, meets an objection that might be started from what had been said in Romans 4:15. The apostle had affirmed "where no law is there is no transgression." He here stated that all were sinners. It might be objected, that as during this long period of time they had no law, they could not be stoners. To meet this, he says that people were then in fact sinners, and were treated as such, which showed that there must have been a law. ]]
That will be enough for that verse now.
CONTRAST ONE – ADAM AND THE ONE TO COME
{{Romans 5:14 “Nevertheless DEATH REIGNED FROM ADAM UNTIL MOSES, even over those who had not sinned IN THE LIKENESS OF THE OFFENCE OF ADAM who is a type of Him who was to come.”}}
The “nevertheless” is the linking word for the previous verse. Up until Moses there had been no defined law of God to set the standard of what sin is; right from wrong. Even though there was no Law operating, people still died and that lined up with the promise God gave at the very beginning that disobedience (eating the fruit) would result in death.
There was no imputation of sin but people died because they were sinners. In what way were they sinners? Well it was not in the likeness of Adam’s sin, but a follow on from that sin. The sin nature is inherited from Adam and consequentially, all sin in their own ways, but are still responsible for their sin according to law, but not according to Law. The law of right and wrong, of conscience, of the sense God has given, or however it will be measured, those who sin are guilty. There is no excuse.
We covered this when we were in chapter 2 and the following verses hint at the operation without the Law – {{Romans 2:14-16 “When Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately ACCUSING OR ELSE DEFENDING them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.”}}
Those who sin under the Law perish under the Law and those who sin without the Law may be judged differently, but likewise perish.
The FIRST CONTRAST here is being developed. Adam was a type of Him who was to come. This is the first suggestion of another Adam, and we call that one “the second Adam” or in the following passage also of contrast, “the last Adam” – {{1Corinthians 15:45-47 Also it is written so, “THE FIRST MAN, ADAM, became a living soul.” THE LAST ADAM became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual. THE FIRST MAN IS FROM THE EARTH, earthy. THE SECOND MAN IS FROM HEAVEN.”}} It is the Lord, of course.
Earlier on I mentioned I had summarised these verses, but did so with the Greek and I used Kenneth Wuest. I will add what I then did for Verse 14.
Verse 14
As just stated, death reigned from Adam to Moses. This was proving the promise given to Adam that the soul that sinned would die physically and spiritually. These sinners between Adam and Moses did not have sin reckoned to them, but nevertheless, they did die, every one of them. These had not sinned in the manner Adam did, having been the originator of sin in the human race.
Their sin was not in the likeness of Adam’s offence - they are sinners in a different sense, even though they are sinners through Adam their federal head. Adam is a type of the One who was to come. This foreshadows Christ as the second man Adam. Adam headed up the human race as the first created man, and Christ as the Second Adam, was the Head of the new creation through His death and resurrection.
Time is up and we will continue the next contrast next time.
