My greatest struggle with Chapter six of Romans has been that I looked at the word sin as my and other people’s actions. I always saw it as something I did wrong or something I did not do that I should have been doing. I never saw it in the light that I now see it which is the fact that it is not talking about my deeds and wrongdoings. It is talking about the sin of one man Adam which was the sin of unbelief. When looking at it through the proper perspective it takes on a whole new meaning and it becomes clearer as to what Paul was talking about. As you read further in these posts keep what I just said in mind and it will make it easier for you to understand as well. The issue of sin and its meaning has been on my heart for a long time now and I simply cannot lay it aside until the Lord gives me the proper understanding of it. I will continue to study it and read and re-read not only the New Testament but also the Old Testament scriptures that deal with that subject to see what it means.

I am convinced it is a topic that has baffled and confused many people over the years. I know it has for a lot of us in this area and I know that because we have had many discussions on this very subject. This subject is something I need to understand. I think it’s something that needs to be made clear in our own minds so we can better understand what the meaning of sin is.

I am not saying I have come to a full understanding of this any more than having come to a full understanding of the cross and what Jesus did there. What I am saying is that it is important to know what it means when it says sin is dead as well as saying that we are dead to sin. I have been keeping quite busy over the past several days looking at this very subject and I feel the Lord is beginning to shed some light on it for me.

Understanding correctly is part of the process of salvation of the mind will and emotions (soul). I pray the Lord would open our understanding as He continues to reveal Himself to us and we better understand this awesome redemptive plan He instituted before the foundation of the world and completed it through Jesus at the cross.

In Romans 5:20 we see that the law entered that the offense might abound. This is talking about the offense of one man (Adam) and that is made clear in verse 18 where it says that by the offense of one judgment came upon all men unto condemnation. The law entered so the entire world could be declared guilty before God. We must notice here that it is not offenses that is being talked about but the offense (singular). It is not talking about actions on our part but is talking about the one offense that Adam did which was passed on (Rom 5:12) to all men.

The law entered with Moses that the offense of one man might abound and be put to the account of the whole world. The word abound means to increase or “to do or make to be more”. The law did not enter to straighten everything out. It entered to show that by one mans transgression, it was placed upon every human being. We see throughout Romans chapter 5 that the sin talked about is the sin of one man (Adam) and it is NOT talking about any actions or deeds we ourselves may commit. So if is not our actions, where did sin abound?

Verse 20 says that the law entered that sin might abound. It’s saying the law entered so that Adams transgression would be shown as having been passed to every person in the entire human race. Note the past tense of this word…sin abounded. I am sure we have all heard at one time or another that the term there was said to be abounds which made us think that it was in the present tense instead of past tense. When you look at the word as past tense it takes on a totally different meaning of course.

When reading this verse in its proper context, is it possible that sin does not abound anymore but that it abounded in times past? I think that is exactly what Paul is saying here. I know we have all heard sermons preached that tell us that sin abounds today but that is not what it is saying. It is not talking about places like San Francisco or any other part of the world where we have been told evils lurks in every corner. This has nothing to do with that at all. Sin abounded under the law. If sin abounded under the law and where there is no law sin is not imputed (held against anyone) does sin still abound? I think it is clear that sin does not abound anymore. Again keeping in mind that sin mentioned here are not our actions and deeds.

I know there are many evil and bad things going on in every part of the world but that is not what this is talking about. To say it is talking about present day evil things is taking these verses out of context. I know this is not what the doctrines we have learned before say this is, but when you go to the Bible and search out what it is really saying, we have to leave those doctrinal traditions aside and let the Lord show us Truth. The Bible was not written to validate our doctrines but to show the lordship of Jesus Christ and His plan of redemption.

Now let’s look at the last part of verse 20, keeping in mind that it says sin abounded, and see what it is that “abounds” now. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. We see here that it does not say that grace abounds now but in this context it is saying that grace did much more abound. Grace abounded at the cross. God took one man’s sin (Adam”s), applied it to the whole world through the law, and nailed it to the cross. We see that through the cross God took the sin of one man’s disobedience and judged one Man for the sin of the entire world.

He then, through the obedience of one man (Jesus) made grace much more abound and righteousness was passed on to every man. We have seen that sin did have its reign until the death of Jesus Christ (v21) but now we see that grace has taken over. Does sin still reign? No, it only reigned until its death, which is His death and then His grace now reigns. How long will grace reign? The latter part of verse 21 says it reigns for all eternity. I realize that some of the things I am saying here are foreign to most but we cannot base our beliefs on what we have always heard in times past. Whether it sits well or not, truth is truth. We cannot and should not twist Bible verses to suit our preconceived ideas. We must take our ideas and lay them aside and when we see the Truth of the Word come forth, that is what we must believe regardless of our religious upbringings.

Sin had its reign as we have seen. It abounded to all men through the law. It was killed at the cross when Jesus was crucified. Its reign has ended because grace much more abounded when Jesus resurrected. That same grace is now reigning instead of sin and that is for all eternity. The bad things that are going on, and they are numerous, is not what these verses are talking about. Those bad things are horrible and should not be. Those issues should definitely be dealt with in people’s lives. I am just saying that these verses we have read are not dealing with the present evil in the world. They are dealing with the offense of one man (Adam) and that is only one offense and not many like we may have believed. That one offense was passed on to the human race. The abounding grace that now reigns has also been passed on to the entire human race as well.

I know a post like this may raise a lot of questions in the readers and it has in me as well. I don’t claim to have all the answers and of course I know that I don’t. I am on a journey to learn what the bible actually says and not what I may think it says. If saying that sin no longer reigns and it is not popular in the majority of people’s ears to hear such a thing, then I make no apologies for what the Bible actually says. One thing to remember is that if grace is reigning then sin cannot be reigning. It has to be one or the other.

Romans chapter six starts off with a question that asks “shall we continue in sin”. We must remember that Chapter 6 of Romans continues on with the same pattern as Chapter 5 did. In Chapter five it was dealing with the sin of one man and one man only. That was the sin of Adam and not our actions and deeds. Chapter 6 continues on addressing the same thing as Chapter 5.

Should we still continue in the sin of unbelief of one man? That is the question being asked as Adam’s sin was the sin of unbelief. It is really asking should we continue in this unbelief that grace may abound. Verse 2 answers the question quite plainly. God Forbid!!! Should we be continuing in Adam’s sin of unbelief which is living under law? How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Shall we continue in Adam’s transgression that grace may abound? How do we know Adam’s sin of unbelief is dead? Just read Romans 5 21 again and it will tell you that the reign of sin ended. It only reigned until death. Note that these two words are past tense. Hath and reigned. Both past tenses. How did we become dead to sin? We became dead to sin when Jesus died and took the sin of the whole world upon Himself which was Adam’s sin of unbelief. When did sin’s reign end? It ended with the death of Jesus Christ. When did righteousness come to you? With the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

How do you live in sin? You can only live in sin by living under the law without Christ. You cannot live in Christ and live in sin. When were we placed in Christ? At the cross when the reign of sin ended. Please remember again that the sin spoken of here is not our actions and deeds. It is talking about the sin of one man Adam. We have all been told that if we are living in sin we are not living in Christ. If you are looking at this through the law instead of through God’s righteousness than it will look like people are living in sin because then we look at their action which is what the law does? In the context of the book of Romans sin is dead so we must know it is talking about the sin of one man.

Verse 3 says we were baptized into His death. Where did the sin that Romans talks about end? It ended with His death. If we were baptized into His death then we were baptized into the end of the sin of Adam and we have been baptized into Christ. Think about this….baptized into the death of what? We were baptized into the death of Adam’s sin of unbelief. Verse 4 tells us that we were raised with Him as well. It also says we should be walking in newness of life. Does that mean we never do anything wrong? If it does than none of us are walking in newness of life.

Verse 17 in chapter 5 says we shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. This is the newness of life it is talking about. It is talking about knowing that sin is dead and we now reign in Christ. If you know you have been planted together in the likeness of His death we also have to know we also have the likeness of His resurrection. Can any of this be through our works? No of course not. It is fully through the death burial and resurrection of Jesus.

The term sin turns up in two different parts of speech. One of those places it is a verb and in other places it is a noun. Now we know that a verb is not a noun and a noun is not a verb. They mean something totally different from each other. Even though they may be the same word they can have an entirely different interpretation. A verb as we know is an action or a deed. It’s something that you do. A noun is something that you are; it’s a person place or thing.

The word sin in the Book of Romans turns up 45 times. This word shows up 44 times as a noun and only one time does it show up as a verb. The word sin is a noun and therefore it is a condition, it is a person a place or a thing. Sin is a person. Adam was the person of the man of sin. He is the one that introduced this condition. So when we begin to see that sin is not imputed where there is no law he is telling us that the actions and deeds of somebody else could not, by the law, be imputed unto you. The law was never given to point out your fault. It was given to point out the sin and transgression of one man Adam so we could understand that we do not have that condition because we are in the last Adam Jesus Christ.

We have seen in chapter 5 that sin’s reign ended in the death of Jesus Christ. One mans disobedience and its ability to separate the human race from God was ended with the death of Jesus Christ. When we look at the word sin and we look at it in the term of a verb, which are actions and /or deeds then we have a misunderstanding as to what the word means. The first part of Romans 6:1 asks “shall we continue in sin”. We could read it this way “should we continue in Adam” that grace should abound. He was the person that brought sin into the world and it was imputed to everyone through the law. It had nothing to do with our actions or deeds.

Romans 6:2 says we are dead to what was in Adam so how can you live any longer in it? We are completely dead to sin, keeping in mind that the meaning of sin is not talking about your actions but talking about the unbelief of Adam. You are dead to its condition. You are no longer therein. The incredible thing about this Gospel is that it shows that when Jesus died you died with Him. How dead to sin (Adams condition that he passed on to all) are you? How dead was Jesus to this condition? That is how dead you are to it as well. Verse 5 says we have been planted together in the likeness of His death which is what killed Adam’s condition of sin. The likeness of His death does not mean your actions and deeds died with Him. Those are more than likely very much still with you. What He took to the grave was Adam’s condition of sin because we have seen that it is a noun and not a verb that it is talking about.

I don’t know if I am explaining this well or not but I know that over the past several days I have begun to see the sin that Romans is talking about in a brand new light. Throughout Romans 5 it was talking about Adam’s transgression that was dealt with and the same continues on in Chapter 6. The chapters and verses were added there by man and when Paul wrote this he was writing a letter. We tend to stop at the end of one chapter and think that because we have moved on to another chapter the subject has changed. This is not so and it is taking things out of context. Read Romans 5 and 6 keeping in mind that the word sin is talking about Adams condition and not your actions and deeds, and you will see that book in a totally new light.

Romans 6:6 says our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed. The condition of sin was destroyed that henceforth you should not serve sin. You should never serve that condition of sin. How do you serve that condition of sin? You serve that condition by constantly trying to resolve the issue of sin between you and God. You go back into serving sin when you try to do anything to gain favor with God or to try and be acceptable in His sight. You do not become a servant to sin by doing wrong. No, you become a servant of sin by going under the law which is the strength of sin.

Verses 4 and 5 plainly say that you are dead because we have been buried with Him. We were baptized into His death. Verse 7 says that if you are dead you are freed from sin. This is again a noun and not a verb. This is not talking about being freed from actions and deeds. If being in Christ means we will never do wrong again then none of us are in Christ. We are freed from being under Adam’s condition that he passed on to all mankind. We are free from living under the unbelief that he passed to all. That condition was crucified with Christ. Our old man is crucified with Him that the body of sin might be destroyed. What is the body of sin? The body of sin is the body that was in Adam and his condition. It has been destroyed. We are now in a new body, the body of Christ.

Verse 8 says that if we be dead with Christ we shall also live with Him. How do you live with Him? You don’t live with Him through actions and deeds. You live with Him knowing that you have died with Him. If you believe that you died with Him you also have to believe the condition of sin died with Him as well and you have to believe you are living with Him. Nothing survives crucifixion. We were raised together with Him according to Ephesians 2:6. The word together there means “to rouse from death in company with”. Verse 9 says that Jesus was raised from the dead and dies no more. I am sure all of us believe that Jesus will not die anymore. Death has no more dominion over Him. When He rose again He conquered death and it has no more power over Him. Sin has no more dominion over us anymore than it has dominion over Jesus because we were raised together with Him.

I know these truths are not according to the tradition we have learned in the past and it may be foreign to some. However, when this is studied and the proper meanings are attached to it, you can then see how this was a huge part of the redemptive plan of God apart from our involvement on our part in it. Like a friend of mine said in one comment, “he didn’t even leave the born again part up to us”. He did that for the entire world as well. He left nothing up to us when it comes to being redeemed. Absolutely nothing.

Verse 10 says that in that He died He died unto sin once. How many times did He need to die for sin to be destroyed? Once. Always keep in mind what has been said that sin is. If you look at any of this through your “old eyes” that sin is your actions and deeds, then you will have a problem understanding this. If you understand this through the proper understanding of what sin is, then you will see how much clearer it gets. Paul is telling them there is an issue that we must resolve when it comes to sin. When the word sin is looked at as being actions and deeds that we do then we look at the external actions of people and conclude they are living in sin. To see this in its proper light, it is vitally important to see what sin isn’t.

Verse 11 Likewise reckon yourselves also to be dead indeed unto sin, but in that He liveth He liveth unto God.  This is quite clear we are dead to sin. The word likewise there means “so in like manner” we are to recognize that we are as dead to sin as Jesus is. Jesus died once to sin. We died once to sin as well because we were in Him. Think on the word likewise for a while. Meditate on what it says. It is saying in the same manner as Jesus is dead to sin so are we. And that in the same manner He is dead to sin, which is through crucifixion that is how we are dead to sin also, through His crucifixion (Gal 2:20). We do not die to sin by our own efforts. We do not die to sin by trying not to do this or that. The only thing you can compare now regarding your relationship to sin is to see what relationship Jesus has to sin right now. That has to be the comparison because it says likewise; you are the same as He is with respect to sin.

You cannot compare your relationship to sin through the law. You must compare your relationship to sin through the lordship of Jesus Christ. Through the law you are going to see yourself as a sinner but through grace you are going to have to see your relationship to sin through Jesus’ death burial and resurrection. We cannot view anything except through the death burial and resurrection of Jesus. This applies to sin as well as anything else. The likewise in verse 11 does not only refer to the sin question but it also refers to being alive unto God. How alive to God is Jesus Christ? In likewise manner so are you. If you look at the law and it says if you do this or that you are a sinner, then you will see yourself as a sinner. But lets remember the law is dead and the just shall live by the faith of the Son of God. It is also not our faith, but His. That is another subject I will soon write about.

Are you righteous because you follow the law? No, you are righteous because you are in Christ. No law can supersede the incredible power of the righteousness you have freely been given from God through the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He completed His plan apart from any of our works or belief. I know it is difficult to see that all this is ours without our belief. Difficult or not, it is a fact that it is apart from our belief. If it was the case, that you had to believe for it to be true, at what point would you know if you have believed enough? No, it is all about Jesus and nothing about us at all when it comes to redemption. Reckon yourself dead because He is dead. Reckon yourself alive because He is alive. Remember the words likewise and together. They really have great significance in our understanding of the cross.

Romans 6:13 says we are not to yield our members as instruments (literally weapons) of unrighteousness unto sin. How do we yield our members? That is done by falling back under the law because where there is no law there is no sin and there is no transgression. The last part of that verse says we are to yield ourselves to God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Yield yourself to faith (His faith) and not to law because the law is not of faith. Verse 14 continues on by saying that sin will not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under grace. Is it saying it is because you will never do anything wrong ever again? No, it is saying sin will not have dominion over you because you are no longer under law.

The whole concept previous to chapter 6 and all the way through chapter six has been the issue of being in sin. What puts you in sin? Actions and deeds? No, the thing that puts you in sin is being under the law and believing that you have to do something to become righteous. Look at verse 14 again….sin will NOT have dominion over you because you are not under law but under grace. Romans 5:21 tells us that sin hath reigned unto death. It is dead and it has no more reign. The last part of verse 21 says that grace now reigns for all eternity. It is not talking about any actions or deeds that are going to bring life to you. It is talking about the prescription for life itself. It is the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ that brings grace and life living in your conscious mind. Through knowing this you are able to reckon yourself indeed to be dead unto sin and alive unto God.

How dead to sin is Jesus? I think we would all agree He is totally and fully dead to sin. Likewise that is also how dead we are to sin. Stop looking at actions and deeds that you or anyone else does as sin because that is not the context of these chapters. I am not saying there are not many things in people’s lives that need to be changed. I think that goes without saying. Don’t approach your behavior from the position of sin consciousness but approach it from the position of righteousness consciousness. This is not challenging whether anyone does right or wrong. The challenge is how you view it. Are you viewing your behavior as a sinner or are you viewing it from a position of righteousness? If you view yourself as having the righteousness of God in operation in your life and that no sin will ever be held against you, you can then begin to see the grace that was so freely given to all mankind.

The problem lies with us not knowing our identity. If you do not know your identity in Christ then you will continue looking at your actions and deeds as if that is what the Bible calls sin. We have seen, and in my opinion proven that sin is not actions and deeds. If you look at yourself in your true identity, then you will see yourself as righteous and holy and perfect in God’s sight. When you see this you will begin a quality of life based on God’s righteousness and not your own self righteousness. You will see that your life is not based on the law and the sin of the first Adam. Look at Jesus’ standing on all these issues, and likewise look at yourself the same way.

Romans 6:15 says What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? God forbid. This is the one place in Romans that the word sin is a verb and is talking about going about and doing wrong. It is the only place in Romans where the word sin is a verb with all the other 44 places it is found being a noun.

Verse 16 continues on by saying and asking “don’t you know”. In this verse the word sin is no longer a verb but a noun and it is not talking about actions and deeds. It is asking if you are going to continue in Adams offense and transgression and unbelief that leads to death or are you going to follow after the second Adam and His righteousness that leads to life? Remember it is not your actions that lead to death. It is the offense of one man Adam that leads to death. Keeping this in focus now, is it your obedience that leads you to righteousness? It is saying that obedience leads to righteousness but it is not our obedience. As by one man’s disobedience (Adam) sin was passed on to all men and as with the obedience of one man (Jesus) righteousness was passed on to all men as well. Neither one is talking about your actions but the actions and obedience of the first and last Adam. Your obedience can never make you righteous. It is talking to yielding to the obedience of Jesus Christ that leads to righteousness.

Verse 17 says but God be thanked, that you were (past tense) the servants of sin, when you were under the law and at that time you were serving sin. You were serving the condition of sin by yielding yourself to the law. But God be thanked that you have obeyed or believed from the heart (not obeyed by your actions and deeds) that form of doctrine whereto you were delivered. The conclusion of what this is talking about is found in verse 18…being then made free from sin (you were made free…you did not free yourself) you became servants of righteousness.

What a huge transformation this is. Under the first Adam you were slaves to sin, even if you did everything right, but now you are slaves to righteousness. The word slave means being a prisoner to something and being into something you cannot escape from. Under the first Adam you were a slave to sin whether you were obeying the law or not obeying the law. The law was the prison guard that held you captive. You could not get out of that prison by yourself regardless of how hard you tried. It was not your actions and deeds that held you there in the sin of the first Adam, it was the law.

Romans 6:19 says as you have yielded your members to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now yield ye your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. Paul was speaking to them here after the manner of men because of the infirmity (weakness, frailty, feebleness) of their flesh. They were obviously like most of us still are and somewhat weak when it comes to understanding this awesome Gospel. The weakness that we have in our flesh becomes very apparent in most of us at times I am sure.

Verse 20 says you were, not are, the servants of sin. You were free from righteousness. There is no mixture here at all. You are either in sin (operating in under Adam’s unbelief) or you are in righteousness. You cannot be in righteousness and be in sin at the same time. What he is saying is that when you were under the law you were a servant of sin but now the law has been crucified (it became flesh) and you are no longer under the law therefore you are under righteousness. Under the law they were completely free from righteousness. There is no way they were or could become righteous under the law.

Verse 21 he asks them what fruit they had in those things. The things he is talking about the things they used to do under the law to try and become righteous. He further tells them they are now ashamed of what they did under the law to obtain favor with God. The answer of course to the question of what fruit they had in those things is none. The only thing it caused them was shame when they saw they were trying to obtain something that was impossible to obtain. Righteousness is not obtained by our works. Going back under Adams condition of sin under law is called living in sin.

This is not sex, drugs and rock and roll like some say. It is not your actions and deeds. It is actually your “good works” that you are trying to gain favor with God by doing. You mean I can be living in sin by doing good? Yes, if those good works are something you are doing to gain God’s favor and obtain righteousness. That is living in unbelief because you are trying to become something you already are which is what Adam did in the beginning. Remember the tree in the garden was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Not just the evil tree but it included knowledge of good as well.

Verse 22 that now that they have been freed from sin, keeping in mind the “noun” meaning of sin, they have become servants of God and the end of that fruit is everlasting life. This everlasting life doesn’t come through your actions and deeds. It comes through the righteousness that is in Christ Jesus that was freely given to every person on earth. You have become a slave of righteousness. You have been captured by God and made a prisoner of righteousness.

Romans 6:23 says the wages (penalty) of sin is death. Whose death is this talking about? It is talking about the death of Jesus Christ. In that He died He died unto sin once (v10). The wages have been paid for sin which was death. I know we have all been told that if we sin it will kill us. Well keep in mind that this “sin” is not our actions and deeds we have to understand who paid the price for Adam’s offense. Jesus paid the penalty totally and fully on our behalf. This is not directed to us at all. It is a revelation of how Jesus paid for the sin of the whole world.

The last part of the verse says “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. After He had paid the penalty for sin through His death He rose again so we have eternal life. When this Gospel of Grace and Peace begins to make its way into your heart and soul you will not be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine that comes around. It is something that will firmly establish you in His grace, knowing it has nothing to do with your belief or will.

It will make you free to be who you really are. Your true identity is based on what Jesus did and not on what you do or have done in the past. You will see that Jesus paid the full price (wages) for the sin (Adams’ offense) of the whole world. Why for the whole world if it was Adam’s offense? Because as by one man sin entered into the world and that sin was passed on to all. In this same manner (likewise) righteousness was passed on to the entire world through the last Adam, Jesus Christ.

Is there something for us to pay when it comes to “the wages of sin” as mentioned in this verse? No, the full price was paid by Jesus at the cross. That’s why He could say “it is finished”. His mission on earth was finished and He had fulfilled everything He had come to do. He paid the full price (wages) on our behalf. Because He paid that price we now have God’s gift, Jesus Christ our Lord.

We have heard many times I am sure that when you sin after you have become a believer in Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit will convict you of that sin. If you do something wrong then it is widely said that you will get conviction. This is taken from John Chapter 16 verses 7 to 11. As I have mentioned many times in these posts, this is just another example of scriptures being told to us they mean one thing when they actually mean another thing. It’s time to turn some of these Bible verses right side up and get their true meaning. The word sin in this case is a noun and it is not talking about actions and deeds the same as it is throughout Romans.

Jesus says after He has departed He will send the Comforter and He lists three things that the Comforter will do after Jesus is gone. He will reprove the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. Let’s look at all three of these and see what the Jesus was saying here.

Verse 9…of sin, because they believed not on me. The Holy Spirit is not here to reveal fault. So what does it mean He will reprove the world of sin? The word reprove properly translated means convince (convict). The Bible is clear that Jesus did not come to reveal anyone’s faults. We also know that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit agree as they are one. So if Jesus was not here to reveal faults and the Holy Spirit is here doing just that, they would be in disagreement. If Jesus made us righteous and the Father sees us as holy and blameless in His sight and the Holy Spirit is here pointing out faults, how can we say they agree? It looks like we would have a disagreement going on here. There is something wrong with that picture. If the Holy Spirit sees fault and Father and Jesus don’t, who is He going to report to? :--))

So what is being said in verse 9? Who does it say the Holy Spirit will convince of sin? Those who do not believe in Him whom God has sent. If you believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world and that He has brought us this incredible righteousness, then you do not qualify for convincing (conviction) of sin. The ones that qualify for this are the ones who have not believed. This has nothing to de with redemption, but salvation of the soul which is the mind, will and emotions. When you bear in mind that sin here is a noun and it is talking about unbelief being the transgression of Adam, then you can understand what He means by convincing of sin because of their unbelief. If you believe, you cannot be convinced of unbelief (sin).

In verse 10 He says “of righteousness. The reason He says of righteousness because He says He is going to His Father. Ephesians will tell you what happened when Jesus went to the Father. He raised you up and made you to sit in the Heavenlies with Christ Jesus. This is what He means by the convincing of righteousness. It is because we know what He came to do and when we know He is gone back to the Father we are convinced of His righteousness being ours.

Verse 11 says “of judgment”. The Holy Spirit is not here to tell you about a judgment to come. He is here telling you that judgment has passed. This was done at the cross of Jesus Christ.

If you are under the law you are going to hear a voice convincing you of your faults and failures.  If you are under grace you will hear the Holy Spirit pointing out to you that you are righteous and holy. God is not pointing out your faults. The Holy Spirit will continually try and convince you that you are righteous and holy and also that judgment has passed. He will try and convince you that you are living in unbelief (sin) as it is made clear in verse 9.

Now let’s look at the last part of verse 20, keeping in mind that it says sin abounded, and see what it is that “abounds” now. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. We see here that it does not say that grace abounds now but in this context it is saying that grace did much more abound. Grace abounded at the cross. God took one man’s sin, applied it to the whole world through the law, and nailed it to the cross. We see that through the cross God took the sin of one man’s disobedience and judged one Man for the sin of the entire world.

He then, through the obedience of one man (Jesus) made grace much more abound and righteousness was passed on to every man. We have seen that sin did have its reign until the death of Jesus Christ (v21) but now we see that grace has taken over. Does sin still reign? No it only reigned until its death, which is His death and then His grace now reigns. How long will grace reign? The latter part of verse 21 says it reigns for all eternity. I realize that some of the things I am saying here are foreign to most but we cannot base our beliefs on what we have always heard in times past. Whether it sits well or not, truth is truth. We cannot and should not twist Bible verses to suit our preconceived ideas. We must take our ideas and lay them aside and when we see the Truth of the Word come forth, that is what we must believe regardless of our religious upbringings.

Sin had its reign as we have seen. It abounded to all men through the law. It was killed at the cross when Jesus was crucified. Its reign has ended because grace much more abounded when Jesus resurrected. That same grace is now reigning instead of sin and that is for all eternity. The bad things that are going on, and they are numerous, is not what these verses are talking about. Those bad things are horrible and should not be. Those issues should definitely be dealt with in people’s lives. I am just saying that these verses we have read are not dealing with the present evil in the world. They are dealing with the offense of one man (Adam) and that is only one offense and not many like we may have believed. That one offense was passed on to the human race. The abounding grace that now reigns has also been passed on to the entire human race as well.

I know a post like this may raise a lot of questions in the readers and it has in me as well. I don’t claim to have all the answers and of course I know that I don’t. I am on a journey to learn what the bible actually says and not what I may think it says. If saying that sin no longer reigns and it is not popular in the majority of people’s ears to hear such a thing, then I make no apologies for what the Bible actually says. One thing to remember is that if grace is reigning then sin cannot be reigning. It has to be one or the other. Stay tuned……I may have more on this subject as the days go on.

In Romans 5:20 we see that the law entered that the offense might abound. This is talking about the offense of one man (Adam) and that is made clear in verse 18 where it says that by the offense of one judgment came upon all men unto condemnation. The law entered so the entire world could be declared guilty before God. We must notice here that it is not offenses that is being talked about but the offense (singular). It is not talking about actions on our part but is talking about the one offense that Adam did which was passed on (Rom 5:12) to all men.

The law entered with Moses that the offense of one man might abound and be put to the account of the whole world. The word abound means to increase or “to do or make to be more”. The law did not enter to straighten everything out. It entered to make one mans transgression placed upon every human being. We see throughout Romans chapter 5 that the sin talked about is the sin of one man (Adam) and it is NOT talking about any actions or deeds we ourselves may commit. So if is not our actions, where did sin abound?

Verse 20 says that the law entered that sin might abound. It’s saying the law entered so that Adams transgression would be shown as having been passed to every person in the entire human race. Note the past tense of this word…sin abounded. I am sure we have all heard at one time or another that the term there was said to be abounds which made us think that it was in the present tense instead of past tense. When you look at the word as past tense it takes on a totally different meaning of course.

When reading this verse in its proper context, is it possible that sin does not abound anymore but that it abounded in times past? I think that is exactly what Paul is saying here. I know we have all heard sermons preached that tell us that sin abounds today but that is not what it is saying. It is not talking about places like San Francisco or any other part of the world where we have been told evils lurks in every corner. This has nothing to do with that at all. Sin abounded under the law. If sin abounded under the law and where there is no law sin is not imputed (held against anyone) does sin still abound? I think it is clear that sin does not abound anymore. Again keeping in mind that sin mentioned here are not our actions and deeds.

My greatest struggle with Chapter six of Romans has been that I looked at the word sin as my and other people’s actions. I always saw it as something I did wrong or something I did not do that I should have been doing. I never saw it in the light that I now see it which is the fact that it is not talking about my deeds and wrongdoings. It is talking about the sin of one man Adam which was the sin of unbelief. When looking at it through the proper perspective it takes on a whole new meaning and it becomes clearer as to what Paul was talking about. As you read further in these posts keep what I just said in mind and it will make it easier for you to understand as well. The issue of sin and its meaning has been on my heart for a long time now and I simply cannot lay it aside until the Lord gives me the proper understanding of it. I will continue to study it and read and re-read not only the New Testament but also the Old Testament scriptures that deal with that subject to see what it means.

I am convinced it is a topic that has baffled and confused many people over the years. I know it has for a lot of us in this area and I know that because we have had many discussions on this very subject. I know Randy and I discussed it a few days ago during a time of fellowship and as I mentioned to him, this subject is something I need to understand. I think it’s something that needs to be made clear in our own minds so we can better understand what the meaning of sin is.

I am not saying I have come to a full understanding of this any more than having come to a full understanding of the cross and what Jesus did there. What I am saying is that it is important to know what it means when it says sin is dead as well as saying that we are dead to sin. I have been keeping quite busy over the past several days looking at this very subject and I feel the Lord is beginning to shed some light on it for me. As I post over the next several days I think you will find it interesting to read, especially if you have struggled with the meaning of this word like I have. Again, I am not saying I fully understand it but I intend to post on that subject and will gladly listen to any feedback whether pro or con.

Understanding correctly is part of the process of salvation of the mind will and emotions (soul). I pray the Lord would open our understanding as He continues to reveal Himself to us and we better understand this awesome redemptive plan He instituted before the foundation of the world and completed it through Jesus at the cross.

I have a feeling that yesterday I may have raised a few eyebrows by stating this: If Jesus had not risen from the dead I believe God would still be at peace with you because that peace came through the death of His Son. I know that God’s plan of course also included the resurrection for us to have grace but to have peace, there had to be a death.

I have often wondered why His last words were “it is finished” when in fact He had not yet resurrected when He uttered these words. I know a number of us in this area have discussed this a few times and we came up with several different things as to what that could mean. So what do I think He had finished when He said that?

What He had finished was the total reconciliation of all mankind by pouring out His wrath, anger judgment etc upon His Son. He took it out on Him instead of us, so to speak, because it was us that deserved the wrath. He had finished to the fullest what His Father had sent Him to do. He left nothing undone as far as reconciling the whole world back to Himself. In Isaiah 53:11 it says that God looked upon His Son and was satisfied. God was fully satisfied with the sacrifice His Son had done for us at the cross. There was nothing left undone as far as redemption was concerned.

Through His death we now have peace. God is at peace with the entire world because the penalty for all had been taken by His Son on the cross. How long will this peace last? This is eternal of course and will never need to be done again.

The Bible only mentions two things as far as the Gospel goes and that is the Gospel of Grace and the Gospel of Peace. The Gospel of peace (death of His Son), the Gospel of grace (the resurrection of His Son). We now can enter into His grace because of His resurrection. Let us grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 3:18) As the knowledge of what Jesus did at the cross for us increases in our minds, we grow in His grace and are being saved by His life. Redeemed by His death (peace)….saved by His life (grace). Sounds too good to be true but it is true none the less.

Romans 5:10 says we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. The anger was taken away by the death, the wrath was taken away by the death, peace with God was offered through the death. After the death you are offered the grace of God which saves us through His life, which is through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Two very important things happened and they happened at very specific times. If Jesus had not risen from the dead I believe God would still be at peace with you because that peace came through the death of His Son. However, if He had not risen we would not have His saving grace. When Jesus died, God’s anger was poured out and God’s wrath ended completely. He is not angry anymore because Jesus said He suffered the anger and the wrath and the judgment and the punishment for the sins of the entire world. Not just for believers, but for the whole world.

Then what does a believer get that is different than a non believer? A believer steps into and has access to the favor of God that is undeserved, unmerited and this is of course called grace. If you look at verse 11 of Romans 5 it tells you that you now can joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ because we have now received the atonement (reconciliation). A non believer is still reconciled to God and God is at peace with him the same as a believer is because it happened at the death of Jesus at the cross. Non believers continue walking in their own ways and do not experience salvation of their souls which is the mind, will and emotions.

We have to understand that the death of Jesus accomplished one thing and His resurrection accomplished another thing. Look at verse 9 again and you see that His blood (death) is what saves you from God’s wrath. Are we to look to the future for God’s wrath to be poured out? No, it is clear that His wrath was poured out upon His Son at the cross because His blood saves us from wrath. Is Jesus going to pour out His blood again so we can be saved from the wrath the church says is imminent? Of course not because then Jesus would have to die again and the Bible is quite clear He died once for all. This is an event that will not be repeated because God was satisfied that all had been accomplished as far as His wrath; anger, judgment etc were concerned.

So what is the message for unbelievers that we are to proclaim? We are to tell them that God is no longer angry with them and His judgments are past. We are to tell them they can now be saved by His life and walk in the joy and favor of God. (Remember that the term saved always refers to the soul which is your mind, will and emotions and has nothing to do with redemption) We are to tell them that God loves them with an unconditional love and He sees them as holy and pure and perfect in His sight. When they see this Truth then they can see the awesome grace of God at work in their lives. There is no more condemnation and guilt to live with. There is no longer anything to measure up to. The measure that God used for all of this was Jesus and when it was accomplished He said “it is finished”. It’s all about Him and none about us at all.

The term “much more” is used 19 times in the New Testament and five of those times it is used in Romans Chapter 5. This is a term that has great significance each time the writers used it as it indicates something much greater than whatever we were reading just before this term is used. I will not go into all the places this is found as that would take up too much time but I will look at that term in Romans 5:9 & 10.

This term is used in verse 9 so lets look at what verse 8 says that would cause the writer of Romans, which is Paul, to say that something more than what verse 8 says is going to happen. Verse 8 says that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. That is a pretty significant event I would say and yet the beginning of verse 9 says even though that was a great event, and of course it was a major event, something will happen beyond that. It says that we are now justified by His blood, and note that is past tense, it is saying the same thing as Romans 5:1 which states also that we are justified by faith (His faith).

The last part of verse 1 says what happened when we were justified. That is when peace came. When we were justified the peace of God was ours. In essence what it is saying is that it is through His death (blood) that we have peace with God. The “much more” of verse 9 is saying that we will be saved from His wrath through Him. There are a number of different meanings that can be attached to the word wrath here but one of them is punishment. It is saying that we will not have to face God’s punishment because He justified us through the shedding of His blood. I think we are beginning to see the picture of the “much more” of this verse.

In verse 10 the term is used again in much the same way and it is saying we were reconciled through the death of His Son (blood), “much more”, since we are already reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Now we can begin to see where the peace came from and where grace came from. Peace came through His shed blood when Jesus died because that is where we were justified. Grace came to us when He resurrected because it is by His life we are saved.

How can we know that God is no longer angry with us? The only proof you need is to know Jesus died. If you believe Jesus died then you can rest assured that you are at peace with Him and He is at peace with you. When you realize you have been justified by His death (blood) you can know that you have peace with God. When you were reconciled to God there is no more anger towards you by God. If God has given His Son to pour out His wrath upon, for the sins of the whole world, “much more” being reconciled through that death we shall be saved by His life. That amazing grace is what saves us. For by grace are you saved, and not of yourselves, it (grace) is the gift of God.

Romans 1:16 & 17 tells us pretty well what the Gospel is. We see in the latter part of verse 17 that it says the just shall live by faith. The question I have been asking myself over the past few months is am I living by faith. What does it mean to live by faith? What I am seeing as I read more about this is that there is an opposite of living by faith. When you can see what this is, it will make it simpler to understand what living by faith really is.

The opposite of living by faith is living under the law. I know we have all heard in times past, especially in our religious upbringings, that living by faith was determined by your level of success either in ministry, financially, health or any other external circumstance that would show whether you were living by faith or not. However, according to Paul, you are only living by faith if you are not under the law. If you are under the law you are not living by faith. Paul said in Galatians 3:12 that “the law is NOT of faith”.

I think we should ask ourselves the question if we are living by faith or under law? Do we trust in what we do or don’t do to gain God’s favor? Do we believe our works are an important part of obtaining favor with God? Do we believe we can do anything by our own works to gain or keep anything as it pertains to our redemption? If we are looking at any of these things to be blessed of God then we are under law. If you think God is going to give you any kind of blessing because of your good deeds or works, then you are still under law and are not walking by faith. If you believe you are going to be punished by God because of your deeds or works you are not walking by faith but are still under law.

If you believe that in spite of your works or deeds the Lord is not going to punish you, then you are walking by faith. If you believe that the punishment was taken for you by Jesus Christ at the cross then you are walking by faith. If you believe that all these things are yours because of the obedience of one Man Christ Jesus, then you are walking by faith. This one man’s obedience and this one man’s faith purchased your redemption. You cannot walk by faith and not see this. If you do not see this then you are still under law.

Now we must look at Whose faith it is talking about. If all the punishment due us was taken at the cross and all transgressions were taken as well. If the sin of the world was taken away at the cross and without any part played by us for this awesome thing called redemption to come into effect, then Who had the faith for this to happen? The faith we are talking about is of course the faith OF Jesus Christ. My faith had nothing to do with my redemption. It was Jesus that had faith to complete this whole plan apart from us having any involvement.

So when the verse says “the just shall live by faith” it is not talking about our faith. It is simply saying those that know they are just will walk according to what Jesus did for us and that through His faith and not mine. When you begin to see that is not your faith that determines your redemption but that it is determined because Jesus had faith to accomplish all this at the cross, it takes on a whole new meaning and you can begin to see that redemption is not by your works or deeds but by the faith OF the Son of God.

In yesterday’s blog I talked about Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus. We saw that Paul played no part whatsoever in his conversion but it was totally a work of the Lord. He did not have to seek Him or submit to Him or pray or anything else that we have been told we must do to be converted.

Let me ask a question. If Paul’s’ conversion had absolutely nothing to do with himself, should not the rest of the world be afforded the same privilege? If he received His knowledge of redemption through no part of his own to play, should not everyone else be the same? Why should we have to almost beg and plead and believe to be redeemed, or so we were told, if Paul didn’t have to? We have seen it is pretty clear in Acts that Paul’s conversion had nothing to do with Paul. So why are we told that ours has everything to do with our belief? Paul was simply told that his redemption had been purchased and guess what happened? He became a believer. Paul did not become a believer in order to be redeemed. He became a believer when Jesus told him he was already redeemed.

If God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34) then why would He require of the entire world to believe to be redeemed when it is clear it was not required of Paul? If He treated Paul in one way and treats the other people in a different manner when it comes to redemption, then God would not be a just God. Does not the organized church have this totally backwards? Believing will not get you redeemed. But know this, that knowing you are already redeemed makes a strong believer out of you. This has nothing to do with you or I but is totally a work of the Lord on the cross.

Paul’s’ conversion was not for redemption. It was a revelation of the redemption he already had. There is no doubt Paul had a major conversion. It was likely the most dramatic conversion ever recorded. Some of us have had a conversion experience that was dramatic as well but the full impact of that conversion only comes when you begin to understand your redemption. The beginning of that conversion is the light that is shed in your heart but true conversion only happens when you hear His voice of redemption of the entire world. When you can see yourself as God sees you then you can expect transformation to take place.

When Paul was touched by the Lord on the road to Damascus we know he was on the way to confront believers and have them killed. He was not on a mission to tell the Lord’s believers to stop preaching what they were preaching but was actually on his way to murder them. I am sure it was not the first time he had done this and had a lot of experience in doing this very thing.

In Acts 22:6 –10 we see here Paul is on his merry way and suddenly there shone from heaven a great light. This was so intense that Paul fell to the ground. The Lord had appeared to him and shown him Who He was. He revealed Himself in Paul. I don’t see in this passage that Paul was seeking the Lord when this happened. In fact it is just the opposite; he was on his way to kill more believers. Did Paul kneel down and invite Jesus in his heart like the evangelical church says people are to do to “receive Christ”. Is it said there that he said a prayer to be saved? Did he have to release his will to Jesus for this to happen? No of course not.

What Paul saw was the Lord Jesus Christ and at that time He began showing Himself to Paul to make him understand what He had done on the cross. Paul began on a journey that day that would take him into the knowledge of the redemption that was provided for him and the rest of the world at the cross. He did not have to say a prayer or beg Jesus to “come in”. He simply asked this question … Who art thou? Jesus answered him by very simply telling him Who He was.

Today through out the world there are people being touched by the hand of God and they are seeing Who Jesus is. He is not showing anyone the rules we are to follow or what we are to do or not do, He is simply revealing Himself in the hearts and minds of people. When we begin to see Who He is and what He has done we will stop killing others as well. Do we kill them with knives and guns? No of course not but we are quite capable of killing them with our judgments and gossips. Character assassinations through the tongue is rampant.

Note here also that in v.9 it says that those that were with Paul saw the light but they didn’t hear the voice of Him that spoke. Most of what we call evangelical Christianity have seen the light and have had some type of conversion but they have not heard the voice. They do not know Who He is and why He came. They just know what little they have learned from what comes from behind the pulpit and have no idea what Jesus came to do. I saw that light over 28 years ago but I am just now beginning to hear the voice. It is the voice of redemption. It is the voice of total reconciliation of the entire world. It is the voice of judgment past. It is the voice of Love that cannot be explained. It is the voice of many other things but that voice comes only from one place and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are listening to any other voice but His then you may see a bit of light but you will remain bound by what little light you have seen.

The voice of redemption of the entire world is speaking loudly today. A gospel revolution is at work in people’s hearts and minds. It will tip your religious world upside down as you hear the voice of the Redeemer coming from that light you have seen. As you hear His voice that light will become brighter as Paul said he could not see for the glory of that light. What could he not see? He could not see his own religious persecutions he was spreading and could only see the light and hear the voice. The voice showed him there was no longer any law. Listen to His voice today. It will set you free. It has me.