Today’s readings: Romans 4-6, Psalm 145
Romans 5:18-6:4
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
The end of Romans 5 and the beginning of chapter 6 is one of my favorite passages in the Bible—if it’s safe to single out any one passage. It’s the same kind of favorite as the question in Acts 1:11. That’s a favorite and an easy question to answer. Look it up and see why I say that.
This passage is a favorite because there are two very significant truths that play off one another.
First of all, Paul says that where sin increases, grace increases all the more. I love to illustrate this by using my arms and hands to show an imaginary mountain of sin, then an even larger covering of grace. Then I make the mountain of sin bigger, and the covering of grace bigger still. Take it as far as you want, and there will always be more grace than sin.
This is remarkable in and of itself. God’s grace is inexhaustible. And that’s saying a lot. We cannot exhaust his mercy through our need for it, nor can we diminish its abundance by receiving it. Ephesians 2:7 speaks of “the immeasurable riches of his grace.” And Paul says here that grace always wins—even over sin.
But grace is not an end in itself—even though I believe it is the key to the meaning of the universe. That’s a phrase I like to use, pointing to Ephesians 1:6. And I believe it far better than I can explain it.
Even though grace is such a rich gift, and in the end our endless song will be in praise of God’s glorious grace, that grace also does something in the here and now.
Paul makes this clear when he asks the question: “Should we sin more so that grace may increase?”
His answer is an emphatic, “No! Never!”
But the reason isn’t that grace might run out. It is because God’s grace changes our lives.
By God’s grace we have a new heart, a new identity, a new hope, and a new way of seeing things. That’s the here and now of God’s grace. God’s grace is at the center of all that is truly good in our lives. From it flow goodness, beauty, kindness, and love.
But there’s something even more profound here. Paul reminds us that we have been baptized into Christ’s death and raised with him to walk in newness of life. Jesus has not only forgiven our sins. He has claimed us as his own and given us a whole new life.
To sin more will never prove God’s grace. That has already been demonstrated beyond measure when God sent his Son to redeem us. Jesus is the embodiment of grace and truth. He is the source of life.
Sin may build its mountains as high as it can. God’s grace will always be greater. And in Jesus Christ, that grace not only covers our sins. It raises us to new life.
Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.
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