Greetings and welcome to all present and online, in America and abroad. Today, as we continue our study in Paul’s letter to the Romans, in the fifth chapter, we shall continue our examination of the great doctrine of justification and consider this masterful presentation of how we are all associated in the human family by two individuals who set the standards for the entire human family. Last Lord’s Day, we learned about how God was unveiling the greatest news on earth and today, our teacher, Pastor Landis Fisher shall take us deeper down the path of peace with a message he calls: “In Adam or In Christ”
Old Testament Scripture Reading: Psalms 49:1 – 15 (NASB)
Psa 49:1 (For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.) Hear this, all peoples; Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
Psa 49:2 Both low and high, Rich and poor together.
Psa 49:3 My mouth will speak wisdom; And the meditation of my heart will be understanding.
Psa 49:4 I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle on the harp.
Psa 49:5 Why should I fear in days of adversity, When the iniquity of my foes surrounds me,
Psa 49:6 Even those who trust in their wealth, And boast in the abundance of their riches?
Psa 49:7 No man can by any means redeem his brother, Or give to God a ransom for him–
Psa 49:8 For the redemption of his soul is costly, And he should cease trying forever–
Psa 49:9 That he should live on eternally; That he should not undergo decay.
Psa 49:10 For he sees that even wise men die; The stupid and the senseless alike perish, And leave their wealth to others.
Psa 49:11 Their inner thought is, that their houses are forever, And their dwelling places to all generations; They have called their lands after their own names.
Psa 49:12 But man in his pomp will not endure; He is like the beasts that perish.
Psa 49:13 This is the way of those who are foolish, And of those after them who approve their words. Selah.
Psa 49:14 As sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; And the upright shall rule over them in the morning; And their form shall be for Sheol to consume, So that they have no habitation.
Psa 49:15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; For He will receive me. Selah.
New Testament Scripture Reading: Romans 5:8 – 19 (NASB)
Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
Rom 5:10 For if while 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.
Rom 5:11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned–
Rom 5:13 for until the Law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
Rom 5:15 But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
Rom 5:16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.
Rom 5:17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
Rom 5:18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.
Rom 5:19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
Transforming Power Statements: #1) The confusion of the devil always manifests itself in the world of unbelievers who toss about the multitude of either atheist or religious ideas that compete for the hearts and minds of people seeking to understand the truth concerning God, Who obviously exists as known through the complexity of all that is known to exist; as people seek somehow to reconcile all this confusion; many times by blending them all, rather than accepting that they all by that standard must be unjust for that makes no logical sense. (Challenge: Listen carefully to the claims of Jesus Christ, and His Apostles, {the primary writers of the New Testament}, and the orthodox teaching of fundamental Christianity from exegesis of the Holy Bible and pray for understanding about the gospel.) #2) The Psalmist understood that there is no way that one man can pay the ransom for another and not even for himself, because the debt of sin is an infinite one that could only be paid by God Himself. #3) The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only sensible possibility for providing sinners in debt to a Holy God, a way of escape without defiling the righteousness of the Most High God, and therefore, we must endeavor to preach it in all the earth as our reasonable service to God and to all humankind.
