Lawrence Taylor Ministry

Guest (Male): Hello and welcome to Teaching the Word with Dr. Lawrence Taylor. Each and every week, Dr. Taylor will be sharing a relevant message from the Scriptures designed to inform and instruct us in the ways of our God. Dr. Taylor has been the pastor of Kenilworth Baptist Church in the Midwood section of Brooklyn for the past 22 years. He brings a wealth of experience to each broadcast, having been a New York City public schools teacher and a theology professor. Stay tuned to the end of the broadcast to find out how to stream today's message. Now, here's Dr.

Taylor.

Dr. Lawrence Taylor: Welcome everyone to Teaching the Word with Dr. Lawrence Taylor. My name is Lawrence Taylor, and I have the privilege of coming into your homes each week by radio and teaching the Bible. I pray that this program has been a blessing to you. I like to thank all of you who took the time out to contact us and to let us know how much this program means to you. It would be wonderful to hear from the rest of you who listen. With God's help, we will be on the air for a long time. So, please go to my website, lawrencetaylorministry.com or .org.

Go to contact and let us know what you think of the program. Today, we will examine Romans chapter 5 verses 12 through 21. This is one of the most difficult passages in the book of Romans to decipher. Verse 12 reads, therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all have sin. By the way, that's the New American Standard Translation. The particle therefore in verse 12 shows a connection between what Paul wrote earlier in verses 1 through 11 and what we have in verses 12 through 21.

In the earlier verses 1 through 11, Paul expounded on the absolute security that a believer obtained when he or she put his faith in Christ. A question which naturally arises from the exposition in verses 1 through 11, how is it possible for one man to have such a beneficial impact on the world? The interlocutor resumes his skepticism by challenging the plausibility of Paul's claims. How can one man do all of this? Paul in essence answers the interlocutor with this response. If you doubt would one man can do, just look at Adam. And throughout this passage, Paul will make a contrast between Adam, the first man, and Christ.

Note the emphasis on the word one. You see it in verse 12, verse 15, verse 16, verse 17, verse 18, and verse 19. The apostle's theme in this portion of Scripture really is not sin, but death that was introduced into the world by the sin of Adam. Death is personified as a king over the human race. You can see that in verses 14, 17, and 21. Paul describes the regency of death by using the Greek word You see that word used in verses 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19. Literally, the verb means that death is kinging it or he is reigning over the human race.

Death is the sovereign who reigns, strikes terror in the hearts of all of us. It is the common enemy of humankind. Death does not discriminate based on race, nationality, language, or even age. Young as well as old die. Sick as well as healthy die. Death does not care about your religion or party affiliation. His political platform is singular. You shall die. Death is a non-negotiable. Let's know health food is good for us. Eating right is important, and it may even delay the experience. But understand this, you shall die. Exercise is beneficial. The Bible tells us so.

But it will not exempt you from the experience of death. You shall die. These things may add more years to our experience, but remember, you shall die. There is no escaping this death spot. You shall die. The entire earth is tyrannized by his reign of pain, devastation, sickness, and woe. There is no vaccine that can give us immunity against this poisonous sting. There is no antidote that will cure us from his infection. Odious tyrant that he is, he holds the whole human race in the clutches of his hands. One man's disobedience condemned us to this tyrant.

That is King Death. But let's know one man's righteous act of obedience can extricate us from the captivity of King Death. The menace has been dethroned. The captives have been set free. The writer of Hebrews said he tasted death for everyone. Verses 13 and 14 tell us that death began its reign before the Mosaic law. Note for until the law sin was in the world. But sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sin in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of him who is who was to come.

The law did not prevent or create sin. It just intensified our knowledge of the particular transgression that was committed. The biblical revelation tells us that people die because of the sin of Adam. That is when death was introduced in the world because of the sin of Adam. In verse 12, Paul wrote death came upon all who sinned. In other words, we sinned in Adam. In other words, when Adam sinned, it was as if we all sinned. Paul describes death like a poison that infused every life. And so death spread like a virus over the human race.

That's why he says to all men. In verse 15, the writer contrasts the offense or the transgression with grace. Note but the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the one transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abound to the many. The word transgression is the Greek word and I'll spell that for you. That's p a r a p t o m a Now, that word means a fall. It is really used to describe original sin.

It describes what Adam did. Adam's sin infected his entire progeny. We were all born wrong because we are all born to die. And we are born to die because we are related to Adam. You know, in the long run, when we divide the world up into the various ethnic groups, we should know this that ultimately we all come from Adam. The evidence, the proof that we are all the progeny, the descendants of Adam is that we die. That's the evidence. So, this concept is known as original sin. We do not die because of our sins, but because of the sin of Adam.

Well, Paul makes a contrast between the that is the transgression and the gift. The word gift is charisma. c h a r i s m a This word is used interchangeably with the word grace, which in Greek is c h a r i s. You see that they are related linguistically. The provision of divine grace is not like the sin of Adam. Adam's sin was an act of rebellion against the will of God. Jesus on the other hand gave himself over to the will of God and died in our place. Let us note the contrast.

Adam sinned when he had everything he needed. While Jesus was in a state of abject poverty, the son of man have nowhere to lay his head. Adam sinned in the garden. Jesus was crucified on Golgotha's hill. God called Adam by name when he sinned. Jesus cried out on the cross, the name of God, in the lowly despair of abandonment. My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Adam had his wife by his side when they both rebelled against God while those closest to Jesus forsook him. Adam, after he sinned, hid himself while Jesus was naked on a torturous instrument of death exposed to the whole world.

And he was innocent. Adam sinned in the coolness of the day while Jesus was suspended in midair with a blazing sun beating down on his precious brow. Adam sinned while it was daylight, but Jesus hung on the cross and it became dark for 3 hours. In the darkness of the blackness of the night, the sun refused to shine. Adam had every fruit in the world in paradise to quench his thirst while the beloved son of God was in agony with a parched throat that he would not quench. Adam disobeyed God for his own selfish gratification while Jesus obeyed God even until death.

The contrast is astounding between the first Adam and the last Adam. This is why Paul wrote in verse 16, the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For on the one hand, the judgment arose from the transgression resulting in condemnation. But on the other hand, the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. In verse 15, Paul contrasts the sin of Adam itself with grace. However, in verse 16, the contrast is between the personalities of Adam and Christ, not just sin and grace. Adam committed one act of rebellion and damned the whole human race.

On the other hand, Christ's sacrifice was activated by many sins. It took many sins for God to send his only begotten son. We pile innumerable sins on top of the sin of Adam. Our condemnation was not just double. It was incalculable. It guaranteed our condemnation. Jesus bore every last one of those sins. In 6 hours on the cross, the righteous son of God bore in his body the weight of every sin that had ever been committed and every sin that will be committed. He endured the wrath of God for you and me. How much wrath did he endure?

He shouldered the weight of my burden and pain that would have inflicted me and countless of billions to an eternal damnation. Such a sacrifice is impossible to imagine. But he did it for you and me. He didn't have to do it, but he did it for you and me. The divine transaction between God the Father and God the Son supersedes our limited comprehension. But he did it for you and me. Such a sacrifice is unfathomable to the human psyche. It is incomparable grace. And he did it for you and me. God in his infinite mercy was willing to give up his son for sinners like you and me.

God exercised the last extreme impulse of his compassion motivated by a loving heart for wretched, rebellious sinners like you and me. That God deserves our worship and our praise. Paul in verse 17 paints a picture of triumph. For if by the one 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. How sure we that we will live forever in the eternal bliss of the glory of God? The apostle tells us that we can be even sure of life than of death.

If the weak act of a disobedient man in rebellion to the will of God can condemn the whole human race, how much more can the human race benefit from the gracious act of the righteous son of God for all those who accept his loving mercy? The contrast in verse 17, I want you to know, does lack symmetry. Let me tell you what I mean. One would expect that the contrast would be be would be would be between the reign of death and the reign of life. However, Paul contrasts the reign of death with that of the believers.

Note what he writes. Those who receive the abundance of grace will reign. The reason why Paul makes such a contrast is to ensure the believer that he or she will reign for all eternity. We will not only live, but we will reign in the splendor of royalty because of Jesus. So, Paul sums up his argument in verse 18. So then, as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification for all men. The apostle is not arguing for universal salvation, but the availability of justification for every person.

If you believe that the death of Jesus was sufficient to pay the price for all your sins, God will justify you. But you must accept it. In verse 20, Paul wrote the law came in so that transgression would increase. But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. Paul's commentary on the giving of the Torah might be offensive to a Torah observing Jew. He wrote the Torah caused us to sin. That's what it says. It caused sin to increase. Well, the apostle actually is identifying the law as a agent in provoking us to sin. And he will elaborate on that in chapter 7.

But Paul's final discussion on justification in verse 21 is this, quote, so that as sin reigned in death even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. No one can challenge the notion that sin reigns like a sovereign on his throne. There are all kinds of ways that death can claim us through sickness, accidents, murder, war, suicide, and the list go on. But regardless of his tyranny, another sovereign has appeared mightier than old death. This king of kings has dethroned, defanged, and disposed this despotic ruler forever. Paul writes that a coup d'etat has taken place.

The oppressor that instilled fear upon the entire human race has been removed and replaced with the sovereign king of the universe. He has crowned his subjects with an unending reign of glorious splendor. What a contrast between Adam and Christ. What a contrast between the reign of death and the reign of the believer in righteousness through Jesus Christ. The love of Christ has caused us to be triumphant. You know, back in 2004 2004 I went to the continent of Africa for the very first time. I met a a man from Africa. He was from a country called Burkina Faso.

I happened to be preaching in the Bronx one day and he was sitting in the back. And he was listening. And then he came up after the message and told me that he was blessed. And then he told me that he was not a member of the particular church I was preaching in. But he also said he just happened he just happened to walk in. And you know, I thought that was interesting because he says it was the spirit of God who led him into the church. But then he said to me, would I be willing to go to his country and preach that message?

I said sure, I'll go anywhere. And so um I didn't think I would ever see him again, but he called me the next day and said arrangements have been made for you to come to my country. So, I went to the continent of of Africa for the very first time to a country Burkina Faso, beautiful country, one of the poorest on the continent. But what what's also interesting about this experience is that I learned that the majority of people in the country were Islamic. Uh in fact, it is over 65% Islamic. The number of Bible believing Christians is about 10%.

And so I I went with the prayers of my brothers and sisters, my church. And when I when I got there, it was a glorious experience. I remember one night we had to go to a church and I got on a motor cycle. It was really a scooter, but they called the motorcycles with a man who didn't speak any English because English is not widely spoken in Burkina Faso. The language is not even French, even though that's identified as the national language. The language is More. And so we were going to the church and I had to preach at this church and I got on this motor scooter with a man who did not speak a word of English.

He only spoke More, and I spoke More. And the pastor got on another motor scooter with another man and we drove off. But we went in different directions. And remember, this is a poor country. There are no paved roads. You don't have lights. So, we were in the pitch blackness. And we were driving and I didn't see anyone or anybody and this motorcycle, this motor scooter was going over rough terrain and we kept falling on the ground. It was a good thing I was a lot younger then. And so however, we we got up and we were going and I said to myself, I cannot communicate with this man.

I do not know where he's taking me. And then I have to admit the spirit of fear began to grip me. I'm in a country no one speaks English in the areas that I've been except for the pastor who interprets all my messages. And there I am with this man I never saw before. And I said, could he be taking me somewhere? And so the spirit of fear did grip me. But as we were going in the pitchness of black and we kept falling, we got up and we kept going, all of a sudden I heard some amazing hymns.

It wasn't in English, it was in More. But I recognized the melody. And from a distance, I began to see the light from the church that illuminated. And God was telling me, child of God, you should not fear. I am with you no matter where you go. And I realized my sovereign king is Jesus. He died for me. He lives for me and he will take care of me.

Guest (Male): Thank you for listening to today's program. This broadcast is an extension of the ministry of Dr. Lawrence Taylor and the Kenilworth Baptist Church. To stream today's message, please go to lawrencetaylorministry.com and click on Lawrence Taylor Ministry / message. Please join us again next week at the same time for Teaching the Word with Dr. Lawrence Taylor.