Increased

Romans 5:20-21 Increased

Inability of the law

The law is no given to justify us and the law doesn’t condemn us ( Lloyd Jones)

So the Law is unable to do two things:

· Condemn us Rom 5:16

· Convert us Rom 3:20, Gal 2:16, 3;21

Increase of Sin by the Law

The law came into The Same word is used in 5:12 came into the word is eiserchomai two words: -esi among, erchomai –to come into being thus come into existence, come to be; the entrance of any condition or state of things to arise. In 5:20 the prefix para – beside- is added thus the word is pareiserchomia –to come in beside to enter in addition to. By the side of what? By the side of sin that had already entered. There was a state of affairs already existing; but now into that situation something else comes. It is not so much that it creates a new situation; it comes in alongside of the other situation. Paul is saying . . . that the Law. In and of itself, is not something that is of fundamental importance to us. It is something additional, for a particular function. It was brought alongside that in order that actual sins and offenses might abound. (Lloyd Jones) . . .one crucial function of the law is to turn our original sin into actual transgressions of specific commandments. First, we are guilty in Adam and sinful by nature, and then the Law confronts us with the specific will of God: "Don't steal. Don't lie. Don't covet." And the effect is that it turns sinful nature into specific sinful acts of transgression. (Piper) The law was brought alongside to increase sin in four ways: 1) The conscientiousness or knowledge of sin, 2) the contrition for sins, 3) the cause of sin and 4) the cure for sin.

The Consciousness of Sin Rom 3:20, 7:7

1 Definition of sin- Rom 4:15 Where there is no law there is no transgression; Rom 5:13 sin who we are (our inherited sin nature) sin in the world; transgression- what we do (actual sin as defined by the law) not counted where there is no law. Rom 7:7 if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin

2 Depth of Sin Rom 7:13 sin might be shown to be sin The law teaches us the depth of sin, the foulness of sin, the real nature of sin, the exceeding sinfulness of sin. We know that we do wrong, but we merely pass it off as regrettable and some negative defect. But when the Law has taught us and enlightened us, we are amazed at how horrible a thing, this terrible power that has entered our lives. It is the law that opens our eyes to this tragedy. (Lloyd Jones)

3 Distortion of Sin Rom 7:24 Jones the law teaches us that sin is not simply a matter of doing things that are wrong, but that it has twisted our entire nature. . . Every man born is morally diseased, his whole nature being marred and warped.

4 Deceitfulness of Sin Rom 7:11 sin deceived me- Only the law can teach that sin has so adversely affected him that the very law which was meant to help him makes sin all the more.

The Conviction of Sin John 16:7-10

When the law comes we not only do wrong, be we know that what we are doing is wrong 2 Chron 34:14-21.. . with this knowledge we realize that when we do wrong we are not only committing a wrong action, be we are also defying the majesty of God. Ps 51:3-4

The Cause of Sin the law came to increase Rom 7:8-11 through the commandment produced, . . . the law actually makes us sin it incites sin. Rom 7:5, 8, 11 The very law that tell us not to do things creates within us a desire to do them all the more. .

The reason the knowledge of law is so important is that every mouth will be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable in his sight. Rom 3:20. There are many “moral people in the world who resent the suggestion that they are and have been sinners. They have never been involved in the vices of the world. I would say that the greatest sinners in the world are the self-satisfied, self-centered, good moral people, who believe that, as they are they are fit to stand in the presence of God. Moreover they are in reality telling God that He need never have sent his Son into the world as far as they are concerned, and that the Son need never die on the cross. There is no greater insult to God than that. (Lloyd Jones). One reason that God added the law was that sin might abound you would think that he would want it to abate. It comes to reveal to us our helpless condition. Where there is no law there is no sin, because by definition where there is no law there is no sin. It not only reveals or sin and defines our sin, but it also incites us to sin. (Sproul)

Institution of Grace

The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ . . . That is what the Law was meant to do. Far from being designed to save us, it was given in order to show us that nothing and nobody could save us but Jesus Christ “in order that” we might so see ourselves as we are in sin as to know and feel our utter and complete hopelessness. (Lloyd Jones) Grace abounded so that grace might reign through the righteousness of Christ . . . The result of this reign of the righteousness of Christ will be eternal life for all those who believe. (Ligon Duncan) Where sin abounded grace much more abounds

Reason for the law

The point of increased sin was "super-abounding" grace. So the increase of sins – the multiplication of specific transgressions – was not the ultimate point of the Law. It was not an end in itself. It was the occasion for something God wanted to do that was more important and far greater, namely, to show his grace "super-abounding." "Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more." (Piper)

Reigning Grace

It's not just that grace super-abounds, but that this super-abounding grace be seen and known as reigning triumphantly over death and sin and hell. Verse 21: "So that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign." God's purpose for the Law, and of all history, is the triumphant reign of grace.

Relentless reign

But that is not specific enough either: his purpose is the triumphant reign of grace "unto eternal life." "As sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign . . . to eternal life." And this "eternal life," remember, is the endless duration that it will take for us to see and know and taste and admire and enjoy the glory of God –

Raise up Christ

All of history aims at purposes that magnify Jesus Christ Rom 5: 1-11. That is why God created the universe. That's why he spent thousands of years preparing for Christ. That's why there was an incarnation and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. "All things are through him and for him" Col 1:16. The triumphant reign of grace unto eternal life is "through” Jesus Christ our Lord

Romans 5 begins and ends with two infinite realities that . . . help us sense the magnitude of God's way of salvation. Rom 5:21 ends with the infinite reality of eternal life: "So that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." God's aim in the work of redemption is the triumph of grace over sin and death unto eternal life through Jesus Christ. The "eternal" refers to life that never ends. It is infinite life. Life of infinite duration. Romans 5 begins, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God." Here, instead of saying that our hope is eternal life, Paul says that our hope is "the glory of God." "We exult in the hope of the glory of God." . . . The reason that our future life must be eternal and why it cannot be boring. Any amount of time short of eternity would be inadequate for a finite creature to experience the glory of God. It will take forever for us to see all there is to see and admire all there is to admire and enjoy all there is to enjoy of the glory of God. Therefore God ordains that there be eternal life for us. We need to feel the force of this. The glory of God is all that God is for us in his greatness and his excellence. And God is infinite. So his glory is infinite. It has no boundaries, no limits, no end. The point of this phrase is that his glory is a God-sized treasure. It is not small and exhaustible. It will not and cannot run out. You can't spend it down. It is God-sized wealth. It is infinite. Therefore it will take us finite creatures an eternity to see it all and taste it all and admire it all and enjoy it all. A finite creature cannot take in all at once infinite glory any more than a thimble can take in the Pacific Ocean all at once. And even if you enlarged the thimble to the size of the Pacific Ocean you would need endless days to dip out the glory of God from the ocean of God's glory, which has no bottom and no shores. (Piper)

O for a thousand tongues to sing My great Redeemer's praise, The glories of my God and King, The triumphs of his grace. When we've been there ten thousand years Bright shining as the sun We've no less days to sing God's praise, Than when we first begun.

We can’t realize the nature and the power of grace fully apart from the ministry of the law. (Lloyd Jones)

God doesn’t forgive us and then leave us in bondage to our sin. He breaks the power of reigning sin. He sets the prisoner free, so that we are forgiven. And the process of transformation is begun. It’s not perfect and never will be in this life. It begins, and incessant war with sin in our lives. In fact, it’s so incessant, and it’s so universal that you can say Christian, if you’re not fighting against sin somewhere, you’re not a Christian; but it breaks us free from the dominion of that sin, so that it has mastery over us no more. So this is the first thing the reign of grace is a reign over sin. Grace reigns on account of the one righteousness of Christ, righteousness is imputed to us, and has been imparted to us. We are forgiven based on His righteousness, we are credited as righteous on His behalf, and then God begins this glorious work of transformation. Grace reigns over sin. Secondly, grace reigns through righteousness. Notice its Gods righteousness that is being spoken of here, not our righteousness. Paul’s made it clear. Grace can’t reign through our righteousness. Our righteousness is the problem. Grace reigns through righteousness. The reign of grace over sin is made possible by, it’s made actual by, the righteousness of God.