Romans 5:20. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
You are a sinner. Sorry, it’s true.
And why do we sin? We sin because we are born sinners. We were born into Adam and into his sin nature. But by faith, our old sin nature can be put to death and we can be re-born into Christ.
Adam or Christ. Sin nature or new nature. Dead or alive. Original sin or justification. There is no third option.
But wait! What about obeying God’s law? Isn’t that option #3? Can’t we just be nice and let our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds? No. Why not? Because the truth is that the law is not actually offering us this third option. The law was never given to make us righteous. It was given to increases the trespass. The law defines sin, displays sin, reveals sin, provokes sin, and increases sin. But it can never overpower our sin.
Law is all around us. Law rules our lives. At work, at play, at school, at the dinner table, at the book club, at church, in break ups and hookups, at holidays and dinner parties. I can’t think of a place where some overarching standard doesn’t rule what we do and how we feel when we either fail or succeed at it. Can you?
And make no mistake, all this law produces all kinds of sinning. Unrighteous sinning. Righteous sinning. Striving and fleeing. Trying and quitting. No, the law doesn’t make you a sinner. You are a sinner by nature. But the law does turn the invisible sin inside you into the visible sins outside of you. We are left drowning in law and thus drowning in sin. And if this were the end of the verse, we would all be condemned to death. But praise God there’s more!
Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.
Grace super-abounded! God’s answer to our abundant sin problem is the super-abundance of grace. You can never out-sin God’s grace. Sin will end, but grace never will. Evil is finite, God’s grace is infinite. It is super-abounding!
But let’s be honest, grace is an extremely hard concept for us. Not to mention super abounding grace. We all default toward thinking that we are beyond grace or even that we should and can pay God back for his grace. “How can God forgive terrible me?” Or, “God has done so much to rescue terrible me, I must live for him now.” The truth is yes we are terrible. And this is the necessary realization for the reception of grace.
This is crucial – Grace cannot abound where sin does not already abound.
No, this doesn’t mean sin more. It means that if you can’t admit the abounding sin in your life, you will never be open to receiving the super abounding grace of God through Christ in your life. The truth of Christian transformation is not one of growing less and less sinful, as much as it is one of growing more and more aware of your abounding sinfulness and need for super abounding grace. And then letting that grace reign in righteousness (5:21).
To live is Christ is to continue to allow the law to reveal your abounding sin, and then to turn to the super abounding grace of God in Christ. A grace that can never be stopped as it leads us through righteousness and into eternal life.
You: Are you aware of the abundance of sin and the superabundance of grace in your life?
You in Christ: How does knowing that you can’t out sin God’s grace encourage you today?
Christ in you: Has grace been reigning in your life? What might need to change today in order for grace to rule your life?
To Live is Christ 