Romans 5:20,21

Moreover the law that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.


Wow. I get it now. I just had a conversation with my good friend Bill Bartz, and this passage, (which I studied this morning and didn't see this part) came to light for me. This morning I did a quick survey of Romans 1-5 in preparation for a more exhaustive study of Romans 6. I wanted to have a foundation, i.e. what Paul said in the first 5 chapters of Romans, to better understand the 6th chapter. This passage at the end of chapter 5 jumped out at me a few moments ago, and I get it now. I love it when God lets me get it.

For a while, I struggled with this, why does Paul say in the first verse of chapter 6, "shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound?" I didn't understand it. To me it was obvious that a Christian should hate sin and seek after holy living, but why would Paul even talk about this? Well, looking at the pattern of my own life, I figured it out. I can tell you, with all certainty, that at this moment, I have never felt more depraved, more sinful, and more unrighteous than I do right now. One year ago, I knew I was depraved, but as I studied, I continued to discover it's far worse than I originally thought. I always thought to myself, "well, yeah, when we sin, it does glorify God in that we get to appreciate His mercy on the cross." But I see now how natural sin is for me. I don't even have to think about it, and even when I do all I can to resist it, it's so natural for me, that it just happens, every day, in thought, word, and deed.

So here's the key to understanding that passage... what "makes the offense abound" or in the Greek word "pleonozo" which means "to exist in abundance" is the law. In other words, we don't need to try and sin to magnify God's glory, we just need to understand God's law, which magnifies our sin already for His glory.

God is a master, because I know for a fact, I am living a more holy life than I was a year ago, and yet I see my depravity more clearly now, and so have been prevented from being proud of this growth, and that is how God is glorified in my life. It's like this, even though some could boast about taking a step forward, God's law enabled me to see I'm much further from where I need to be than I thought, and see I have so much more to work on than I thought I did before. Let me put it to you in this way...

In studying God's law, I can more clearly see, not just how far I am from where I need to be, but be made aware of the fact that my sin is still pushing me in the wrong direction, do you understand? Apart from Christ, I cannot repent. It's as if I'm in a car, and I'm driving the wrong way, and apart from Christ, I can perhaps clearly see I'm going the wrong way, but the only thing I am able to do on my own is try to slow down a bit... but I'm still moving in the wrong direction!

This is how God is glorified, this is how grace abounds, and this is why we see in Christ the infinite value of His imputation of Perfect Righteousness. God is glorified, not so much by our sin, but when we understand the law, and our sin is exposed, and in our brokenness we cry out to a merciful and gracious God to have pity on us, and then we see, or for us Saints, we remember the cross, and we can't help but worship Him for what He had accomplished on that day, and so, through our sin in that respect, God is glorified.

Paul then continues in the next chapter, should we continue in sin that grace may abound? This clearly demonstrates a common person who understands the concepts, but doesn't understand grace. And I believe a person with that attitude isn't glorifying God, because that person hasn't seen his sin. I could be wrong, but I don't believe God is glorified when a person sins, I believe what Paul is saying here, is that God is glorified when a person sees how great a sinner they truly are. You'll have to forgive me, this may be a bit of isogesis, but I think, and if I'm wrong, (unless you're a hyper-Calvinist) please correct me... that scripture would support this. I don't know too many theologians that would put "when people sin" on a list of things that brings glory to God, but I do think it would be accurate to put on there "when people see they're sinners." That's why the Bible says "The sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite heart." (Psalms 51:17)

To sum up this long-winded post, God's grace is magnified when the law exposes our sin, not when we continue in sin. And this truth should throw every Christian into the law. Don't just spend time studying the grace, but study His law, and in that you'll more clearly see your depravity, and it will make the cross that much sweeter!