WHEN GRACE REIGNS -- Poul Madsen

WHEN GRACE REIGNSPoul MadsenReading: Romans 5:12-21THE prophet's reminder that God's thoughts are as high as the heavens above ours applies not least to His thoughts over the matter of salvation. This short passage from Romans 5 gives us the impression of something quite overwhelming. There are three matters which come to us with heavenly illumination: they are the mixture of comparison and contrast (the 'as ... so' and 'not as ... so'), the consideration of what reigns over us and the stress on abundance.The Reign of DeathThe passage speaks first of the reign of sin and death. What does it mean when it tells us that the death reigned? It certainly does not mean that men have life for seventy or eighty years and then death takes it from them. No, it means that even while they seem to live, men are dead -- in other words, have never lived.Adam's fall was a deliberate transgression against the will of God. He did what God told him not to do. So it was that sin came into the world and, as a consequence, sin began to reign. The generations which followed Adam were not guilty of definite transgression, for they had no commandments or prohibitions (v.13); nevertheless sin reigned over them. When God gave His law through Moses that might have been thought to help them but no, it only revealed clearly that they were dead, for the good and perfect law of God caused their sin to become definite rejection of the revealed will of God. Dead people are not raised up by appeals of any kind -- not even when those appeals contain definite information about the will of God. The more that sin was emphasised, the more violent sin became, so that sin reigned through death. That is the situation, apart from Christ.(to be continued)

What is born of the flesh is flesh. Even things that are done under the name of Christian, when they come from man's ideas and suggestions, are and remain dead. They may be friendly, well-intentioned, cozy and cheerful; they can contain every form of presentation, drama, music, etc., and use the name of Jesus, but they belong to death for, outside of Christ, the reign of sin and death is complete. Persons may be young and hopeful, but that does not mean that they are more alive or exempt from the reign of death than others. Death reigns over all. Its reign is not only total, but also cunning, for it allows people to imagine that they are very much alive, especially if they have good intentions.Christians are quick to repeat the words, "Our sufficiency is of God", but that is a postulate without any connection with reality if it is not based on the conviction, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to account anything as from ourselves" (2 Corinthians 3:5). The kingdom of self is the kingdom of sin and death.This reign of sin and death, from the cradle to the grave and on into eternity means that man is a slave as to his will and a slave to his thoughts; a slave who has grown used to his bondage to such an extent that he imagines it is freedom. It is a tragi-comic situation when the man who is bound tries to show how free he is. There is modern talk about liberated youth whereas the truth is that the youth of our day is more bound than ever. There is talk about liberation as to sex, but the fact is that it is in this realm that the reign of sin and death shows itself in all its hideousness. There is talk about the younger generation having freed themselves from all authority, whereas the truth is that they are more under the domination of sin and death than ever before. So deep is man's wretchedness that what men call 'freedom' is really the reign of sin and death.This reign means that all are under condemnation. They are not only on their way to it, any more than they are on their way to death. No, just as they are dead already, they are also under condemnation, so that when eternal condemnation comes on the day of judgment, it will be the consequence of the reign they served under all the time, that is, the reign of sin, death and condemnation (v.16).Paul knew what he was writing. He did not exaggerate. He had once thought, as Saul of Tarsus, that he was alive and serving God. If anyone had told him he was under condemnation, he would have angrily rejected such a charge. When, however, he met the Lord and fell to the ground before Him, the truth penetrated to his very marrow and he rea1ised his condemnation as a slave of sin and death. Saul of Tarsus had never been alive; all his attempts at service had been out of death and leading to death.The tragedy is that while men fear physical death as the only kind of death they recognise, few fear the idea that they are dead while they live. Most would shrug off the very idea of being in bondage to sin and death, an action which in fact proves how dead they are. It is also sad to see the attitude of Christians who fail to see this basic truth and do not learn to say 'No' to the flesh so that they can say 'Yes' to Him who alone is life.(to be continued)

COMPARISON AND CONTRASTThe passage begins with the comparison "as ... and so ..." but then changes to "Not as ... so" in verse 15. The comparison is broken off and gives place to a contrast. The thread which runs through it all is "one man". The first "one man" is Adam and we begin with a reference to him: "As through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men". There is, however, another "one man" and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. If it were only a matter of comparison, the verse would state that "As by one man sin entered into the world so by this second Man, sin was taken out of the world". This might be logical and consistent, but it would leave the human race with what it was before the Fall. Christ has done much more than that.The apostle, however, had hardly begun to compare the two racial heads when he had to break off since the person and work of Adam cannot bear comparison with the person and work of Christ. So instead of continuing with a comparison, Paul had to make a striking contrast. The difference is enormous, for Christ had accomplished a work by which mankind may receive much more than had been lost by Adam's sin. Therefore Paul wrote, "Not as the trespass, so also is the free gift" (v.15) and again, "Not as through one that sinned, so is the gift" (v.16). There can be no comparison between the result of the trespass of the one man, Adam, and the act of righteousness of the "one Man" of whom, in a sense, Adam was a figure (v.14).Adam sinned when, humanly speaking, there was no reason for him to do so. He was in an atmosphere of purity and beauty, in the paradise of Eden, and we may well wonder how he could transgress as he did. Jesus came into a world permeated and governed by sin; He not only met sinners but had to endure an atmosphere of envy, discontent, hate and treachery. Humanly speaking, He had every reason to succumb to irritation and bad temper, but even when He was dying on the cross, betrayed, forsaken and rejected, "He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth". He who is God's free gift to us is entirely different from our sinning ancestor. It is certainly true that " not as the trespass, so also is the free gift".We are reminded that the consequences of Adam's one act of sin are not only cancelled by Christ's one act of righteousness, but are wonderfully exceeded. The first led to condemnation; the second offers much more than exemption from condemnation for Christ gives justification, that is, tried and confirmed righteousness, a righteousness which is perfect and abiding, through time and into eternity.In verse 18 Paul returned to comparison, for he wrote: "As through one trespass came ... condemnation; even so through one act of righteousness ... came justification of life". By virtue of the Lord Jesus, Who is God's free gift to us, we stand not with Adam, at the beginning of the way to perfection, with the risk of everything breaking down because it is untested, but in Christ, possessing a righteousness which has already been perfected (Hebrews 10:14). The phrase "not as" and "much more", are simple, but the truth expressed is superb. Faith does not need and is not strengthened by big words or dramatic gestures, but by the simple assertions of truth made living by the Holy Spirit.(continued....)

EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVEThe repetition of the phrase "much more" emphasises that the free gift of God exceeds all our ideas of what salvation really is. "Much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound unto the many" (v.15). From God's side, salvation is not a stingy thing but generous and profuse. Moreover this theme is pursued by the assertion: "much more shall they that receive the abundance of grace ... reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ" (v.17). What a glorious truth is this, that men who were slaves under the tyranny of death are now princes in an entirely new world which is even better than Eden!Paul returns to this incomprehensible salvation in the closing words of our passage: "Where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly: that as sin reigned in death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (vv.20-21). If you stand on the shore of the Atlantic, look out over its mighty expanse and listen to its steady swell, you are struck dumb, feeling that any attempt to describe it would be meaningless and only detract from its majesty. So it is with these verses. They are too vast for us; they are divine.We note Paul's strong expression, "grace reigned ...". This plays havoc with our ideas of grace, for we think of it as something which we receive. But according to the apostle, it is a power which exercises sovereign dominion. It is not so much that we lay hold of grace but that grace lays hold of us. It has taken us from the reign of sin and insisted, "Now they belong not to you but to me!" It has taken us from the realm of death and said, "You have nothing to do with them now; I am the one who governs here!"So it was not that we asked for grace, but that grace not only asked for us but took us and made itself Lord over us. We belong to grace, and grace will never let us go from under its reign. Grace has begun to reign over us through righteousness unto eternal life. Need I say that the righteousness is supplied not by us who are forgiven but by the Saviour Christ Himself? The eternal life also comes direct from Him. It follows then that the grace and the righteousness and the eternal life are unshakable and unconquerable, for what can sin and death do against Him who has completely defeated them and rendered them powerless? It is Himself who is the free gift, or the grace-gift of the Father to us. He has been made Lord over us for life, that is, for all eternity, since His life never dies. (continued....)

GOD’S FREE GIFTThis word rendered, "free gift" is the well-known Greek word, Charisma. In Danish the word is translated "grace-gift" in verses 15 and 16, where it is in the singular, and then "grace-gifts" (in 1 Corinthians 12:4, 9, etc.) where the plural form is used. There is no difference in the actual word used other than in this matter of singular or plural.May I close with some comments on this matter of God's charismatic "free gift"? We have noticed that the gospel provides an all-embracing 'No' to everything which does not come from the free gift of life which is in Christ. This means that if we are to live at all we must live in Him and by Him. This again means that all true life and service are charismatic, always and only coming from Jesus Christ who is the free gift of God. It is quite contradictory when Christians ignore this, seeking to administer spiritual things on the basis of natural considerations without proper concern to hear the voice of the Spirit which, like the wind, "blows wherever it pleases", irrespective of and often contradictory to human ideas. It is sad when no-one trembles as to whether he is living or acting charismatically, that is, under the government of the Holy Spirit.The grace of God is not given to us to use as we like but rather it is that which assumes reign over us so that we dare not act of our own accord. This is charismatic life for it is life in Christ under the reign of grace. All true Christian life is charismatic life. It is common enough now, though quite erroneous, to think that the real eternal life which Christ has given us in His salvation is not yet charismatic, though it can become so. No, what Jesus has given us in His salvation is in its very nature charismatic, His grace-gift. It is the eternal wonder of life which leads from glory to glory, even in the humdrum experiences of daily life with its many repetitions which is the lot of most of the lowly friends of God.Never will the charismatic life have any other interest than to know the Lord Jesus Christ better. Nor will it have any other message than that of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. How can it speak of anything or anyone else, since all the fulness is in Christ alone and everything outside of Him is hollow and empty? The true charismatic life is day and night concentrated on God's all-embracing Grace-gift, our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom all the lesser gifts are present. Obviously God does not give us anything which is not found in Him, as though there were something extra to Jesus or in addition to Him. As if there could be an 'extra' to Jesus!If, in order to honour the Lord and to help His Church, we seek more gifts, that should be because our God-given charismatic life is in constant growth. The Lord said that "to him that hath, shall be given", but we must be careful that we are under the reign of grace and governed by God's Word of grace in all our seeking for gifts. There is instruction in these matters in Chapters 12 and 14 of 1 Corinthians but in between these two chapters we have Chapter 13 which deals with the most charismatic gift of all. Love is God's grace-gift on the highest, most beautiful and also humblest plane. Only in the charismatic spirit of love can we use all our gifts to the glory of the Lord and so avoid the tragi-comical situation of men using spiritual gifts to draw attention to themselves.END.