Grace 101, week 4, the power of the gospel by Tricia Gunn

Grace 101: Week 4, “The Power of the Gospel”

Week 4, The Power of the Gospel Romans 5:1 - 6:2 Romans 5 is a crucial doctrinal chapter of the Bible in the revelation of grace. In this chapter Paul explains clearly what the Good News is. In this Gospel is the power of God to your salvation: your healing, mental soundness, and prosperity in every area of your life.

5:1-5 Romans 5:1-5 - Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. We have been justified - made righteous - by faith. Righteousness is not achieved; it’s received by faith! There are 5 results that we can expect after having been justified by faith: 1. Romans 5:1 - we have PEACE with God through our Lord Jesus Christ... We have peace with the only One who really matters. And the greatest peace we can have is peace in our conscience knowing that we are not in our sins, but in Christ who has justified the ungodly. We rest in His love. 2. Romans 5:2 - ...through whom also we have ACCESS by faith into this grace in which we stand... You have “access” into grace ground, unearned favor ground! “Access” denotes a secret, private, personal entrance hidden from others. God gives us “access” to His favor. 3. Romans 5:2, cont. - ...and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. We rejoice because of GOD’S GOOD OPINION OF US. Through Jesus, we are crowned with glory and honor. All that was lost has been restored! When God looks at us, He sees Jesus and His perfection, and now we can have hope! Hope is “elpis” in the Greek and means “a certain, confident, joyful expectation of good in your future.” When you stand on grace ground, you can be confident that God’s goodness will manifest in your life! 4. Romans 5:3 - And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations... That doesn’t sound like Good News! How can Paul say that we glory in trouble? Since God has a good opinion of us as His sons and daughters, we can keep a good opinion of Him no matter what happens!! Not everything that happens to us is good, but God has promised that all things work together for good (Romans 8:28). And this is not referring to His good - it’s for OUR good! Romans 5:3-4 - ...knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, CHARACTER... Character only comes through time and hardship. Hardship produces perseverance. This perseverance is the life of Christ Himself in us. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us! (Philippians 4:13)

Grace 101: Week 4, “The Power of the Gospel”

God’s grace works! There are times that you look back on when you know you didn’t do the work because it was simply impossible for you to handle. God carried you through. He “keeps on keeping on” in you, and this produces character. Soldiers aren’t made in times of pleasure and ease. They are made in the furnace of affliction. That’s why they have the strength within to fight. A proven soldier with character doesn’t lay down and play dead. He rises up like David who said, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you...for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.” (1 Samuel 17:45-47) We come out of the furnace of affliction as gold, tried by the fire, people of Godly character who know that Jesus is our strength and only hope. 5. Romans 5:4-5 - ...and character, HOPE. 5 Now hope DOES NOT DISAPPOINT... Proven character produces a positive, certain, joyful, confident expectation of good! God has been so faithful to us even in the most difficult times, and He will continue to be faithful. This word “disappoint” literally means, “blush with shame.” When you have Biblical hope, you will not blush with shame. The world says, “Don’t raise your hopes.” But that’s human hopes! God wants you to RAISE YOUR HOPES!! Biblical hope will never put you to shame!! It’s a hope for a better life and a bright future. You can forget the past because it is gone! God says, “I will remember their sins no more!” (Hebrews 8:12) When does hope NOT disappoint? Romans 5:5, cont. - because the LOVE of God has been POURED OUT in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Hope does not disappoint because God’s love is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Whenever you feel that God loves you, the hope you have will not disappoint you. Each day you can say, “Father, I know that You will be with me today. Your love will surround me. Your favor is all over me. It’s going to be a great day.” All of the examples of healing in the BIble involve hope. For instance, the woman with the issue of blood. She said this about Jesus: “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” (Mark 5:28) That’s hope, not faith. Faith says, “I am healed.” Present tense. Faith has to do with now. Hebrews 11:1 - Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. If you don’t hope for anything in the future, there’s nothing for faith to give substance to! The woman said, “I shall be made well.” She was in hope. Had she touched His clothes yet? No. If she had already touched His clothes, she would have been saying, “I am healed. I am whole.” But she said, “if I touch, I SHALL BE...” So she had a future hope. She was certain. Hebrews 10:23 - Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Grace 101: Week 4, “The Power of the Gospel”

He is faithful! The world says not to raise hopes. Why? Because people get into human hope and end up disappointed, but Biblical hope never disappoints. In the next passage we go back to the source of our hope:

5:6-11 Romans 5:6-9 - For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Verse 9 has one of five “much more’s” in Romans 5. Much more is “polys mallon” in the Greek which means, “much, much more, by far more...” This first “much more” says that now that we have been made right with God, we are much, much more, by far more safe from God’s wrath. There is no possible way that we will experience God’s wrath because the blood of Jesus has cleansed us from all sin. God’s holy wrath and indignation were poured out on the spotless Lamb of God. As a son or daughter of God, your Father will never, ever be angry with you! Here’s how the Message translation describes this truth: Romans 5:9-11, the Message - Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we're at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of His resurrection life! Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah! Today Jesus Christ is seated at the Father’s right hand, having cleansed our sins completely. Hebrews 1:3 - When He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Not one sin was left unpunished. Not one single sin remains in you! Now we look to Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, with unveiled, unashamed faces, and we are transformed into His image from glory to glory. Some people believe that we are supposed to follow Jesus and mimic the way that He lived in the Gospels, but by His sheer existence, His example condemns all of us. No one can be like Him. Thank God He didn’t save us by His life on earth. He saved us by His DEATH and resurrection life. When He died for our sins, His perfect life on earth qualified Him for His sacrificial death death on our behalf. Romans 5:10-11 - 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. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Now He lives His life - “zoe,” the supernatural, resurrection life of God - through us.

Grace 101: Week 4, “The Power of the Gospel”

Galatians 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

5:12 Romans 5:12 - Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— In the NKJV and other translations, you will notice parentheses beginning after verse 12. Without the parentheses, it would read like this: Romans 5:12, 18 - Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world [Adam], and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— ...18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act [Jesus] the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. Parentheses are added because the passage from verse 13 through verse 17 goes into detail about a very important truth: GOVERNMENTAL FEDERAL HEADSHIP. There have been two federal heads of the human race: first Adam and last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45). First Adam was the first human being created and he was given dominion over the entire earth. He gave that authority away to satan when he fell. Now every single human being since Adam was born in Adam’s sin and spiritually dead. Last Adam, Jesus Christ, came to restore what was lost through the fall of first Adam. The secret that releases the power of the Gospel in a supernatural way is what has been called the “splitting of the Adams.” (Rob Rufus) This is a play on words taken from a scientific fact: when an atom is split, power is released. The truth of the New Covenant is not made complete until we understand the splitting of the federal headship of first Adam from the federal headship of last Adam, Jesus Christ. It is in the revelation of the absolute, black and white change in federal headship for the human race that all of the supernatural, miraculous power of God is released and manifested in the earth. When we understand this truth, we will truly believe the Gospel, and signs and wonders will follow! This revelation only comes by the Spirit of God. The cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but in it is the power of God! (1 Corinthians 1:18) Paul prayed: Ephesians 1:17-21 - may [He] give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. Believe that as you study Romans 5 and the background of this central passage in understanding the Gospel of grace that God will give you revelatory knowledge and understanding of this power available to you!

Grace 101: Week 4, “The Power of the Gospel”

Never study theology for the sake of gaining knowledge. The study of the Bible - the revelation of the Good News of Jesus Christ - is about walking in power, releasing love, and keeping a sound mind. Romans 5 is about walking in the power of the Gospel. For background, we’ll start with the two trees in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 2:7-9 - And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. 8 The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:16-17 - And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 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.” The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was not bad because everything that God made was good (Genesis 1:31), but it just wasn’t good for man. It is in the choice that God gave Adam that we see the amazing love of God. He did not create robots. Love is a choice. God risked that man would make the wrong choice by creating us after His own kind. God chose to love us. We choose to receive that love. The forbidden fruit of that tree was “good and evil” - not just good, not just evil - and it brought spiritual death and ultimately physical death. So the first man, Adam, was the first man to be born again. He was born again from spiritual life to spiritual death. Contrast with Jesus who was called “Firstborn from the dead.” (Colossians 1:18) He died our death and rose again so that we could be born again and live His life. Unlike the fruit of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the Gospel does not compare good to evil. It doesn’t compare unrighteous behavior with righteous behavior. The Gospel compares self-righteousness with the gift of righteousness. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is self-righteousness. The Tree of Life is the gift of righteousness. Jesus Christ is the Tree of Life and Jesus Christ is our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). Genesis 3:1-4 - Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Eve’s motive for eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil was to be like God. Eve bought into the lie that we have to do something to be like something that we already are! She was already made in God’s image. Many have been taught that the sin in the garden was when Eve wanted to be like God. That’s not where the sin was. The sin was in TRYING TO BE LIKE GOD APART FROM GOD! How does this work in the life of a believer today? We buy into the lie that in our nature we are sinful so that when we sin, we lose fellowship with God and then we must “get right” first before we resume our fellowship with God. We attempt to extract the good from the evil and shun the evil. Then we think we’re back on track. We’ve cleansed ourselves and made ourselves righteous again. 45

Grace 101: Week 4, “The Power of the Gospel”

Trying to discern good from bad and doing more good than bad so that you will be more like God, RIGHTEOUS, will result in death!! Why? Because that tree represents the law and brings condemnation. The law is the ministry of death (2 Corinthians 3:7) and condemns the best of us. No one can be justified by the law. No one can be made righteous by doing more good than bad. Condemnation kills. The accuser of the brethren comes to kill, steal, and destroy. How? Reminding you that you have fallen short and deserve whatever you have coming your way. Genesis 3:6-11 - So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” God said, “Who told you that you were naked?” because that line of thinking was completely off track! It’s the wrong tree and the wrong track to focus on your nakedness so you can modify your behavior so you can somehow walk with God again in the cool of the garden. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil will never give you the peace that God desires for you. The Tree of Life, on the other hand, reveals Jesus and His work in you. The work of the Holy Spirit is not about showing us sin in the flesh. That was the work of the law. Through the law is the knowledge of sin. We’re not changed by looking at our sin in the flesh. We’re changed by looking at our righteousness in the Spirit. We know no man after the flesh anymore. We know men after the Spirit. We don’t even know ourselves anymore after the flesh, but we see ourselves as a new man, a new creation in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:16-17 ) We dwell on those thoughts. We seek Him. Colossians 3:1-3 - If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Rest there in heaven where you are. Watch what the Spirit will do as we behold the new reality of who we are in Him. This is the truth that sets us free. It’s not like religion and man’s way. It’s not like in the garden of Eden when they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and they saw their nakedness. Think on things above: 1 Timothy 3:16 - Great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. Thinking on these things is the mind that is set on the Spirit, and it is peace! The mind set on the flesh is death!

Grace 101: Week 4, “The Power of the Gospel”

We do not have two natures. We are either in Adam with a sin nature, or we are in Christ and partakers of the divine nature. Think about what the word “nature” means. It has to do with origin and where you came from. Your nature speaks of who you are, and you will act according to your nature. To say that a believer has two natures is to say that he has two origins, or two fathers. We once were of Adam and our father was the devil, as Jesus said, under the power of evil from the race of Adam. (John 8:44) Now because of the new birth and the new creation, Jesus clearly says that we are no longer of Adam’s race, but of a new race of Christ who was raised from the dead - the last Adam, the new creation. By creating us new in Him, He has given us His own nature. We are now partakers of that divine nature (1 Peter 1:4). Two heads makes a freak. We don’t have two daddies. We don’t have two natures battling within us. It’s crucial that we understand this because if we don’t, then we will not get rooted and grounded in our true identity as a son or daughter of God. You’re not from two worlds! You have been born again from heaven, but you walk in this world. You are in it, but not of it. The blood of everyone born since Adam has carried “the mystery of iniquity” (2 Thessalonians 2:7). Flesh and blood in and of itself is not evil. Hebrews 10:5 says of Jesus, “Thou has prepared a body for Me...” The reason that Jesus had to be born of a virgin was because the father is the one who determines the blood of the baby. Jesus was not of Adam’s race because Jesus’s father had no contaminated blood. What God made in the Garden with Adam and Eve was not evil. The problem is not with the body, but with the power of sin or the “mystery of iniquity” that is in the human DNA from the eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve ate of it, took it in, it went into their system, and it was passed down to every generation of humans that has ever lived. We received it in our natural birth. We were all born with the power of sin in the flesh and under the law of sin and death. The more we believe the reality that we are no longer “sons of disobedience” in Adam with satan as our father, but “sons of obedience” in Christ with God as our Father, the more the truth will be manifested in our lives. We will bear the fruit of righteousness, the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of healing and the miraculous! The problem resurfaces when we focus on the manifestation - we start looking at the fruit instead of the Source. We start looking at patience or kindness or goodness, and then we try our hardest to get it. We start looking at healing and we try to earn it. We start looking at signs and wonders, and we analyze why we aren’t seeing them. So we go back to self-effort - self-righteousness - and we pray harder, fast more, make resolutions to change, and declare the word with zeal attempting to MAKE it happen. We go back to he mindset of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It’s a dead end road. What’s the answer? Refocus by beholding Jesus, His marvelous work, who He has made us to be in Him, and cease from our works. Every part of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was part of the fall and therefore NO part of that fruit could be part of the restoration. There are only two races of human beings that God recognizes: those who are in first Adam and those who are in last Adam. It’s one or the other. No one is in “no man’s land.” You did not become a sinner because you sinned. You sin because you were born a sinner. We were all born in Adam’s sin. All of the offense toward God and disobedience of humanity came through the disobedience of one man. Why? Because GOVERNMENTAL FEDERAL HEADSHIP. Romans 5:12, again - Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 47

Grace 101: Week 4, “The Power of the Gospel”

Death was not created by God and is the last enemy to be put under the feet of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:26). He hates death and never intended for man to die. Death came because of Adam’s sin and ever since then man has lived in corruptible bodies. Jesus conquered death - both physical and spiritual - when He rose from the dead. For those who in Him, we are spiritually alive, and these corruptible bodies will one day be exchanged for incorruptible bodies when we “fall asleep.” (1 Corinthians 51-54) Jesus conquered death on our behalf. As far as God is concerned, our appointment with death was put behind us when we were crucified with Christ. We died with Him and are raised with Him. (Roman 6:5-9; Ephesians 2:5-6) Every born again believer is spiritually alive with the very life and power of God dwelling in us. This power of the resurrection inside of us even gives life to our mortal bodies! (Romans 8:11) In verse 12 we see the phrase “through the ONE MAN,” speaking of Adam. In a while we will see what was restored through the ONE MAN Jesus Christ, and we will see that this restoration was MUCH MORE than was lost.

5:13-14 In verse 13 we see that sin is not taken into account by God when there is no law. From the time of Adam to the time of Moses, there was no law given to the human race except the one rule: “Don't eat of that tree.” 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, 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. From Adam to Moses, death reigned. Death is the unavoidable consequence of sin for all people. (Romans 6:23) This death, however, is not the consequence of personal transgressions of the law. It’s the consequence of the failure of one man: Adam, from whom we all inherit a fallen, sinful nature. Sin has always been evil in itself and in the eyes of God, but it became INDIVIDUAL DISOBEDIENCE after the law was given to Moses and the people boasted, “All that the Lord has commanded us we will do.” (Exodus 19:8 and 24:3) The problem of the sin nature could not be changed by the law. What was changed by the law was that each person was now liable for THEIR OWN sin. Sin which was not counted against the individual changed to personal rebellion against God - a rebellion which must reap all the individual punishment that comes from breaking the law. What the people agreed to has brought untold misery to the human race. As we have said before, by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20) The strength of sin is the law. (1 Corinthians 15:56) If sin is accounted against you, what you will experience is the ministry of death and condemnation, not the ministry of the Spirit of life. (2 Corinthians 3:7) God’s desire was that Israel continue in the covenant He had made with Abraham - this covenant He referred to when He said, Exodus 19:4-6 - “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant [the Abrahamic covenant - the covenant which said, “Abraham believed and it was accounted to him for righteousness], then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” In this Abrahamic covenant of grace, He brought them out of Egypt by the blood of the Passover lamb. They were passed over by the angel of death, not because of their own goodness, but because of the

Grace 101: Week 4, “The Power of the Gospel”

innocence of the blood painted over the doorpost. God said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” (Exodus 12:13) In pride man agreed to the system of self-righteous obedience to the law of Moses as the answer to fixing the problem of sin. But in the fullness of time, God would reveal His answer to the problem of sin and death: the gift of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It was not our sinning that caused spiritual death in us, but it was the condition we were born with in first Adam. Verse 14 says that Adam was “a type of Him who was to come.” Paul compared Adam to Jesus. How? Through Adam ALL were given the free gift of a sin nature and the condition of death. Through Christ ALL are given the free gift of righteousness and supernatural eternal life. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 - For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. One disobedient man was a pattern of the One who is perfectly obedient because God set up this system of federal headship. It might seem unfair that you were born in someone else’s sin. But God set it up that way so that something infinitely stronger than the power of Adam’s sin could take place: He would righteously make you righteous by counting all of your sin and all of the sin of first Adam against His only begotten Son. If you’re tempted to think it’s unfair that you were born in sin, please see the wisdom of our God and the extravagant love of our God for us that He would plan before time began to put in place a system to save us to the uttermost through our perfect representative now seated in heaven on our behalf.

5:15-17 Romans 5:15-16 - 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 the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. Even though Adam was a type of the One to come through federal headship, there are significant, farreaching differences! God’s grace abounds much more than Adam’s sin. Our justification through Christ far exceeds the bounds of the judgment resulting from Adam’s offense! We have been set free from death and sin through this free gift! vs. 15 The gift is not like the offense because of THE offense, many died but the grace of God and the gift by the grace of ONE MAN abounded to many vs. 16 The gift is not like THAT which came through the ONE who sinned because judgment which came from that ONE offense resulted in condemnation but the free gift which came from MANY OFFENSES resulted in justification The third “much more” says that God’s grace abounds much more than Adam’s sin. Our justification through Christ far exceeds the bounds of the judgment resulting from Adam’s offense! We have been set free from death and sin through this free gift! Anyone who identifies himself in Christ and acknowledges Him as their Lord and Savior will be cut off from the old lineage, and ALL authority is restored.

Grace 101: Week 4, “The Power of the Gospel”

In one fell swoop, one man sinned and death entered the entire human race. In one fell swoop, one Man who never sinned was crucified to bring life back to the human race by removing sin once for all. Now THAT’S unfair! Romans 5:17 - For if by the one man’s offense death reigned 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.) Romans 5:17 tells us that we can reign in life through Jesus Christ. However, the experience of most Christians does not line up with this truth. Instead many Christians have lives that are reigning OVER THEM! If you ask them how they are doing, they will say something like, “Well, under the circumstances, I’m alright...” Let that not be said of us! Let us be people who are not under our circumstances, but reigning in life! If you are not reigning, you need to ask yourself why. Know the truth and the truth will set you free. Here are some of the phrases and their meanings from Romans 5:17: • those who receive: Receive is the Greek word “lambano” and it means take hold of, seize upon. It’s an aggressive, active verb. It’s not just waiting on God to zap you. And it’s in the Greek present continual tense. Keep on keeping on receiving. Receiving what? • the abundance of grace: Not just undeserved, unmerited, unearned favor of God, but the abundance of it! It’s the word “perisseia” in the Greek and it means superabundantly, superfluously, gain, profit. • the gift of righteousness: Gift is the word “charisma” in the Greek and means favor which one receives without any merit of his own. The word righteousness literally means the “clearance of all your guilt.” • reign in life: Through receiving the free gift of righteousness, we reign in life. And this isn’t talking about heaven one day. It’s talking about now! The Amplified Bible says, “reign as kings in life.” To reign in life means that you have authority and your word has power. Here’s Romans 5:17 expanded with the definitions above: Romans 5:17, expanded - For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much, much more, by far those who take hold of and seize upon and keep on keeping on receiving the superabundant unearned, undeserved, unmerited favor of God and of the free gift of the clearance of all their guilt will reign as kings in this life through the One, Jesus Christ. First of all, our God is a God of much more! Through the cross, God didn’t just set the record straight, He declared us not guilty by forgiving us of our sin and then much more! We reign in Christ who has received an inheritance through redemption that is MUCH MORE than was lost in creation through Adam’s fall. Our minds cannot conceived of what God has prepared for us, but the Spirit reveals the things freely given to us by God through Jesus. (1 Corinthians 2:9-12) What God has for us must be received. There are two things that Romans 5:17 tells us that God has given to us: the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. These two things must be actively, aggressively, continually taken hold of to reign in this life. Living in this fallen world, we are constantly in a tension with the accusation of the ruler of this world who tells us we are not righteous when we fail. Sadly, even those we go to for encouragement and 50

Grace 101: Week 4, “The Power of the Gospel”

counsel will give us bad doctrine that will cause us to doubt our righteousness in Christ and put us on a path of self-righteousness and defeat. But the truth is that we are under grace and perfectly righteous because of the blood of Jesus. We never lose the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness once we are born again, but we can live a life this side of heaven that doesn’t line up with reality if our minds are not renewed to it. When we believe the truth, it will set us free to receive the benefits of it. The Bible says to keep on keeping on receiving the gift of the clearance of all your guilt. Why? Because every day you will miss the mark in your behavior. Even as you grow in the Lord and His holiness is manifested in your life, you will still sin. Believing this truth will transform your character and put in you the desire to live a holy life. Sound doctrine results in holiness. Sometimes we have a hard time just receiving a gift. We say things like, “No, I don’t deserve it. You shouldn’t have. Let me pay for it....” If you deserve it, then it’s a reward. If you pay for it, then it’s no longer a gift. All of these responses insult the Giver: GOD. The gift of the clearance of all our guilt was free to us, but to God it cost Him His Son! The most pleasing response to the Giver is to reach out your hands, take the gift as your own possession, and say thank you. If you don’t receive the ABUNDANCE OF GRACE, you receive the rewards and punishments of the world’s performance system. Do good, get good. Do bad, get bad. If you don’t receive the free GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, you receive the condemnation, the shame, and the guilt of your sin. You identify yourself as a sinner instead of the righteousness of God through Christ. And guess what?! You will live out what you believe! Acknowledge that you are righteous by faith, especially when you fail. Say, “Father, I thank You that I am still the righteousness of God in Christ.” When you say that, you are saying, “Father, I continue to receive the gift of clearance of all my guilt.” When you do that, it’s called repentance. Repent is the Greek word “metanoia” which means change the way you think, change your mind. When you change your mind from focusing on your failure to acknowledgement of Jesus’ perfect work on your behalf, you will be so grateful, and peace will spring forth in your heart. When you live in thanksgiving for the free gift of righteousness, you will be in forward motion, reigning in life. If God is for you, who can be against you? (Romans 8:31) No one. Not even yourself. If you are experiencing symptoms of the curse listed in Deuteronomy 28: discouragement, depression, sickness, lack of provision, bondages, or wayward children, don’t try to overcome these symptoms of the curse with your efforts. Start declaring, “I am under abundant grace and I am the righteousness of God in Christ,” and you will rise like an eagle above your circumstances. That’s reigning in life!

5:18-19 Romans 5:18-19 - Therefore, as through one man’s offense [Adam] judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act [Jesus] the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Again, people are not sinners because they sin. They sin because they are sinners. As believers in Jesus Christ, we are made righteous, not because of our obedience, but because of His. 51

Grace 101: Week 4, “The Power of the Gospel”

Our battlefield is the mind where we take hold of the truth and take captive anything that comes against it. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 - For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Anything that comes against the obedience of Christ can form a stronghold in your mind - a fortress that can keep you from receiving. We bring down the strongholds to the OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST - His obedience, not the obedience of our flesh! “By one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous” (put in right standing with God), and many will be able to enjoy the presence of God unhindered by guilt and shame and condemnation. This is not because we are perfect in the performance of our sinful flesh, but because He was perfect in the performance of His SINLESS flesh! Galatians 3:2-3 - This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? If you are born again into Christ, you have a failure-proof, devil-proof righteousness. Don’t be afraid to remind the devil of that! He was disarmed when the hand-writing written against you was nailed to the cross! (Colossians 2:15)

5:20-21 In verses 20-21, we see the reason that the law of God was given. Romans 5:20 - Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound Romans 5:20, NIV 1984 - The law WAS ADDED so that the trespass might increase. First of all, the law “was added.” The NKJV states it like this: “the law ENTERED that the offense might abound.” The word translated “added” or “entered” is the word “pareiserchomai” in the Greek. It means “to come in secretly or by stealth, creep or steal in, to enter in addition, to come in besides (Thayer’s lexicon).” To come in or creep in besides what? Besides the unconditional covenant of grace that God gave to Abraham! From the giving of the law to Moses until the time of the coming of Jesus Christ in grace and truth, the law “was added.” The law came 430 years after Abraham, and it came in by stealth! It came in along side. It was not God’s heart and it never annulled the covenant of grace that God had given Abraham. (Galatians 3:17) This word “pareiserchomai” is used only twice in the New Testament. See how it is used in the other verse and you will get an idea of the meaning: Galatians 2:4 - But it was because of the false brethren SECRETLY BROUGHT IN [pareiserchomai], who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage. Back to Romans 5:20. Why was the law added? “The law was added so that the trespass might increase.” The law was not added to make us better people, and it was not added as a moral compass. Our Holy God introduced the law for one reason and one reason only: to make us sin more! The law of

Grace 101: Week 4, “The Power of the Gospel”

God, the Ten Commandments, “the ministry of death” as 2 Corinthians 3:7 describes it, was given to increase trespasses. Why would a holy God who hates sin put something on us that would cause us to sin more? He wanted to expose through the law that our self-righteousness could do nothing to close the gap in our separation from God. His desire was always that we would receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness and be reconciled to Him. The law was the instructor to bring us to the end of ourselves and into the arms of our loving Father. The law did not make a man a sinner, and the law did not produce the condition of death. The law is like a dye put in a person’s body to reveal a disease. It doesn’t cure the disease; it only shows that it’s there. THE LAW WAS GIVEN TO REVEAL A DEATH CONDITION THAT ALREADY EXISTED IN US THROUGH FIRST ADAM'S FALL. The preaching of grace is not meant to motivate people to try and become “more” righteous. THE GOSPEL OF GRACE IS MEANT TO REVEAL A RIGHTEOUS CONDITION THAT YOU ALREADY HAVE IN CHRIST JESUS IF YOU ARE BORN AGAIN! OR IT’S A RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT WE CAN RECEIVE IF WE ARE NOT BORN AGAIN. But we hear, “We need more righteousness in the church! We need to set the standards higher! We need a moral revolution!” Again: the law was added so that trespass might increase. The solution that religious people come up with to fix the problem of sin is like throwing gas on fire. Jesus did not come to straighten out our morals. If we preach that, then we fall into the devil’s trap of preaching the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They try to extract the good and leave out the evil, but they are one inseparable fruit. The second half of Romans 5:20 is news to shout from the roof tops! Romans 5:20, cont. - But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. Romans 5:20, Amplified - Where sin increased and abounded, grace (God's unmerited favor) has surpassed it and increased the more and superabounded. Verse 20 has the fifth “much more.” Five - the number of grace! How appropriate for this fifth “much more”: when sin increased, grace abounded much more! The word “abounded” is “pleonazo” and means increased or abounded. “Where sin ‘pleonazo’ (increased), grace abounded much more.” But here is something very interesting: the second time we see the word “abounded” in that verse, it is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT GREEK WORD! “Abounded much more” is “hyperperisseuo,” and it means superabounded, abounded beyond measure to overflow. Grace abounded “with much more added to that.” (Kenneth Wuest) There is a genuine Gospel reformation going on across the world. All over the place we’re hearing of nationally known ministries teaching the radical simplicity of the Gospel. But now that grace is getting “popular” there are new voices who are trying to redefine grace. They preach “grace, grace, your sins are forgiven, past, present, and future...” However, they will change the definition of grace to say something like, “Grace is the divine enablement to do what the law commands.” Or “Grace is the power to obey God.” And then we’ll say things like, “God gave me the grace to DO that.” Or “I don’t have the grace to DO that.” In other words, we are saying that grace is empowerment to DO something.

Grace 101: Week 4, “The Power of the Gospel”

That’s redefining grace and we’re back to works again. Grace is simply the unearned, undeserved, unmerited favor of God. Grace is not the ability, but grace does produce ability. If you say that grace is the ability, then you’ll fall under condemnation and say to yourself, “What’s wrong with me? I don’t have grace, so I must be lazy...or rebellious...or not praying enough...” That’s just another form of law - another form of demand. Let the Bible define grace for you: Romans 11:6 - And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work. Grace and work are the antithesis of each other. It’s either works: you merit it, you labor for it. Or it’s grace: unmerited. If you look in the New Testament, you will see that the word grace is used 158 times. Do you know where Paul used “grace” the most often? To the Corinthians, who were grossly immoral. To the Philippians he only used the word “grace” 3 times. In Colossians he used it 5 times. But to the church that WE would think need a tongue-lashing about obedience instead of more grace, what does Paul do? He gives them more grace! That goes against our reasoning.

5:21-6:2 Every time you preach the Gospel of Grace, one of the biggest accusations is Romans 6:1. This is the question that was brought up to Paul and is brought up with everyone who preaches grace: Romans 5:21-6:1 - ...so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Paul is quoting what people are saying about his message of grace. If you preach the Gospel that Paul preached, you will be misunderstood. Where will this misunderstanding come from? Not the world. They won’t be the ones concerned about a license to sin. It will be the religious who will cry, “They are saying it’s ok to sin!!” - forgetting that we ALREADY have a license to sin! What’s stopping us from shooting someone or robbing a bank, much less having a lustful, fearful, angry, hateful thought? Nothing! But Paul never said, “Let us sin that grace may abound.” What he said was, “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” Paul had more confidence in God’s grace than in people’s sin. Most people have more confidence in sin than they do in God’s grace. But grace is greater than all our sins. For us to say that we should sin so that grace would abound would be like saying, “Let’s get sick so we can enjoy the pleasures of healing. Let’s get a disease so we can see how wonderful it is to get healed.” That’s just stupid. All Paul’s critics understood was this: “Shall we continue in sin that grace can keep up with it?” They didn’t understand that God’s grace totally outruns our sin. In fact, His grace is attracted to our weakness. His grace operates on our disqualifications. Why would we need grace at all if we were deserving? Here’s Paul’s answer to the question. “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound”: Romans 6:2 - Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

Grace 101: Week 4, “The Power of the Gospel”

So Paul’s answer was that it was an impossibility. He didn’t say, “You should not..” or “You must not...” His answer was, “How shall we?... How shall we who have died to sin live any longer in it?” It’s an impossibility. In Romans 6 we will talk more about what it means to be dead to sin, but for now, Paul is saying it’s not possible to be born again and to live in sin. John 8:12 - “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not [“ou me” - never, ever by any means] walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Colossians 1:12-14 - ...giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. What does it mean to live in sin? Once in a while you might fall into a sin or yield to a temptation, as a born again believer you cannot live in sin. You are IN CHRIST! 1 John 1:7 - If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. This scripture says, “IF we walk in the light...” The Holy Spirit through John did not say, “If we walk ACCORDING TO the light.” That would be like saying, “If we behave ourselves like God behaves Himself, we are cleansed from our sin.” If behavior is the focus, then you would interpret this verse to say, “As long as you don’t sin - ‘as He is’ the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses you from all sin.” But that doesn’t make sense! If we don’t sin, why would we need the blood of Jesus to cleanse us?! That would mean as long as you don’t sin, you are walking in the light. The moment you sin, you are walking in darkness - UNTIL you confess. And then you go back into the light. Then if you sin, you go back into darkness. Then you confess and you’re back in light..... Back and forth and back and forth... And this can happen in one day! With this way of believing, you bounce in and out of fellowship with God. So the only way to be in the light would be to never sin. But the Bible says that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from ALL sin. 1 John 2:1-2 - My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And IF ANYONE SINS, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. 1 John 1:7 is not talking about your walk in terms of your behavior or your understanding of how to walk. It’s talking about your walk in terms of the realm, the kingdom, you are in. “If we walk IN THE LIGHT...” It’s not about HOW you are walking. It’s about WHERE you are walking. Are you walking IN the light or IN the darkness? Every believer is walking IN the light, and every unbeliever is walking IN darkness. If you are a believer, you walk WHERE GOD IS. We are IN CHRIST. He is IN US. When you sin, it is not according to who you are or where you are! The word “cleanses” in 1 John 1:7 is in the present active indicative verb tense in the original Greek. PRESENT tense means that the blood is cleansing us right now! And this verb tense tells us that the blood is perpetually cleansing and cleansing and cleansing. The blood keeps on cleansing us all the time!!

Grace 101: Week 4, “The Power of the Gospel”

God put us in a “fountain filled with blood drawn from Emanuel’s veins. And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.” You are in the flood of God’s love! This is the scandalous Gospel of grace! Martin Lloyd Jones, deceased pastor of Westminster Abbey and respected theologian, wrote this: The true preaching of the gospel of salvation by grace alone always leads to the possibility of this charge being brought against it. There is no better test as to whether a man is really preaching the New Testament gospel than this, that some people might misunderstand it and mis-interpret it that it really amounts to this: that because you are saved by grace alone, it does not really matter at all what you do, you can go on sinning all you like because it will redound all the more to the glory of grace. That is a very good test of gospel preaching. If my preaching of the gospel does not expose it to that misunderstanding, then it is not the gospel. Let me show you what I mean. If a man preaches justification by works, no one would ever raise the question. If he says, “If you want to go to heaven, you must stop committing sins, live a life filled with good works, and keep this up regularly and constantly until the end, then you will be a Christian and go to heaven when you die.” Obviously, no one will accuse a man who preached like this of saying, “Let us continue in sin that grace may abound.” But every preacher who preached the gospel has been accused of this! They have all been accused of ‘antinomianism.’ I would say to all preachers: If your preaching of salvation has not been misunderstood in that way, then you had better examine your sermons again, and you had better make sure that you really are preaching the salvation that is proclaimed in the New Testament to the ungodly, the sinner, to those who are dead in trespasses and sins, to those who are the enemies of God. There is a kind of dangerous element about the true presentation of the doctrine of salvation. (Martin Lloyd-Jones commentary on Romans 6, p 8-9) We must preach the Gospel in such a way that people might misunderstand us. What’s the alternative? A life without the power from the splitting of the Adams!