In today’s Bible Journaling we look at Romans 5:20-21, “The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (CSB) The Living Bible, which is a paraphrase and not a translation, puts it this way, “The Ten Commandments were given so that all could see the extent of their failure to obey God’s laws. But the more we see our sinfulness, the more we see God’s abounding grace forgiving us. Before, sin ruled over all men and brought them to death, but now God’s kindness rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
I must admit, I have had a hard time with this passage. Not in understanding, but in trying to put down what it was that God wanted me to share. I began my Bible Journaling page yesterday and then when it came time to write, I hit a roadblock. But I think God is beginning to show me what I need to share.
When we look at following Jesus, one of the things I see is that part of following Jesus involves sharing what He has done for us with others. When we talk to unbelievers, a lot of times we’ll hear the phrase, “I’m no worse than anyone else,” and that may be true. But we must remember that all of us were born in sin because of Adam’s original sin of rebellion and disobedience against God. (Romans 5:12) Because of this, we are all sinners, not that we are sinners because of inheritance, but because Adam passed the sin nature to humanity by his actions and attitude (his defiance, if you will). So, Salvation also is not inherited from God, even though we are considered children of God when we accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, but because we receive the righteous nature of God when we ask Jesus to forgive us of our sins and live in us.
Our Scripture talks about the law, the Ten Commandments. Even before the Ten Commandments were given there were unrighteous and righteous people on earth. Those who remained in the unrighteous nature of Adam faced death. They faced physical death, yes, but they also faced spiritual death, just as we do today. Those who were righteous people, who followed God, were given grace from God, even though people didn’t know it as grace at that time. The law was given to show us our failings, our sin. God knew that man would never be able to keep the entire law, for if even one commandment was broken, the whole law was broken. But Jesus’ sacrifice brought grace to those who believed in Him and His death, burial, and resurrection, and His mercifulness became greater than the sin we were in and His blood covered our sin nature.
This is what we are to share with others, that God’s grace is granted when we become Believers. We are to tell them that because of Jesus’ sacrifice we can have eternal life. Now, that may seem like a frightening prospect to some. But I believe that God does not call us to remain in our comfort zone but to step out and deliver the message of His love and forgiveness to those around us. It is when we delve into areas that we are not comfortable in, that we see growth in our own lives and our relationship with Jesus becomes stronger. His grace also extends to us as we step out in faith to do what He calls us to do. Not only do we see His grace being greater than our sin, but it also grants us His favor when we, in obedience, do what He calls us into, whether it is the ministry, or just befriending someone and leading them to Jesus. His grace abounds! It is greater than our sin, greater than our insecurities, greater than anything!
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