Romans 5:15-17 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… It is evident that all are condemned, because death reigns; and it is proved that the condemnation of all is through the sin of one, because even where no express law is, there is death. But we have hope in Christ. Is our hope valid? Does the justification through Christ reach over as wide a range as the condemnation through Adam? And is the consequent life to prevail coextensively with the death? The argument here is to prove the certainty of each coextension. I. AN ABOUNDING GRACE. 1. The originating cause of the condemnation was the (1) severity of God; (2) working because of trespass - a trespass which was (literally) a fall through weakness; (3) and working, for one trespass, death to all. 2. The originating cause of the justification is the (1) grace of God; (2) working by a gift of grace - viz. Christ; and by the grace of this Christ - a love unto death; (3) and working because many trespasses call forth compassion. Surely, "not as the trespass, so also is the free gift." II. AN INDIVIDUAL APPROPRIATION OF THE ABOUNDING GRACE, 1. The participation in the sentence of condemnation was passive on the part of the many, for the sin of one - the unchoosing heirs of a sad inheritance. 2. The participation in the decree of life is active on the part of many, for the sacrifice of the One - they "receive" the grace of righteousness, laying hold of it by the voluntary activity of faith. Infinite love is the fount of our life; and Jesus Christ, a Man, is he in whom all fulness dwells. The certainty is irrefragable. Do we make it ours? "As many as received him" (John 1:12). - T.F.L. Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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