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Scripture: Rom. 5:15-19
I. There are only two men in the universe:
А. According to God, there are only two men in the universe: Adam and Christ. All men are in one of these two persons; either they are in Adam or in Christ.
B. Whoever is born of Adam is considered by God to be in Adam and to be Adam, because he is born of Adam. For example, if a watermelon is cut into twenty slices, every slice is watermelon. And if a bottle of wine is poured into twenty cups, every cup is a cup of wine.
II. Adam was condemned to die because he sinned:
А. Adam sinned, and so all his descendants sinned. Because he sinned, we in Adam have also sinned. For example, if the forefathers are captives, when the grandsons are born, they are automatically captives.
B. The condemnation of Adam is the condemnation of his descendants.
C. Because Adam should die, his descendants also should die.
D. Because of the one man Adam, we all became sinners condemned to die.
III. Through Christ’s righteous act we are justified to receive life:
А. When Christ died on the cross, we also died with Him; because of this righteous act, we were delivered from God’s condemnation.
B. The death of Christ not only delivered us from God’s condemnation but also, on the positive side, justified us before God. This is proved by the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Christ proves that God accepted Him and His works. God’s acceptance of Him is His acceptance of us, because we are all in Christ.
C. Through the resurrection of Christ we receive His life. Through His resurrection from the dead He was accepted by God; we, in the same manner, are accepted by God and justified to receive the life of God.
IV. How to be transferred from being in Adam to being in Christ:
А. Confess that you are born in Adam.
B. Confess that you deserve death and are condemned to die.
C. Receive Christ as the life-giving Savior.
D. Believe the fact that you are in Christ the moment you receive Him.
Scripture: Rom. 5:20
I. Sin abounded:
А. Man is sinful and commits sins.
B. Man’s sin is abounding.
C. Give a real example to prove how man’s sin has abounded. The older a man is, the easier it is for him to sin.
II. Grace superabounded:
А. God not only has grace, but He has abundant grace.
B. The more our sin abounds, the more God’s grace superabounds.
C. All of man’s abundant sin needs to be resolved by God’s abundant grace.
III. How to receive grace and escape sin:
А. Although sin caused grace to superabound, we should not continue to be in sin that grace may superabound.
B. We have to confess that we have sinned and should be punished for our sin and that we need grace to save us. We should confess that we are bound by the power of sin and need grace to deliver us.
C. We need to receive Jesus Christ and His salvation.
Scripture: Rom. 5:21
I. The meaning of sin:
А. Sin is not only a behavior but also a life. Sin is not a dead thing but a living being with a personality.
B. Sin itself is the life of the devil, Satan. The behavior of sin is the multitude of wicked things.
II. The power of sin:
А. The behavior of sin causes man to suffer punishment of sin, and sin itself is a kind of power dwelling in man.
B. The power of sin dominates man and puts man under the slavery of sin; thus, sin can reign in man.
III. The result of the reigning of sin:
А. It causes man to sin and do evil against his will.
B. It causes man to die. Once man sins and does evil, he has to die.
IV. How to escape sin:
Develop this point.
I. The meaning of grace:
А. Grace is not only the way that God treats man or something that God gives man, but grace is a living person with a personality.
B. Apparently, grace is God’s doing and something given by God; in reality, grace is just God Himself and God’s life.
II. The power of grace:
А. Grace not only causes man to receive God’s forgiveness, justification, and acceptance, but grace is also a source of power in man.
B. Because grace is God and the life of God, the power of grace is the power of God.
III. Grace reigns through righteousness:
А. Although God wants to give grace to man, because there is sin in man, the righteousness of God has to come and judge man’s sins. Consequently, the grace of God cannot be bestowed upon him. On the other hand, God according to His righteousness, sent the Lord Jesus to accomplish redemption for man and so fulfilled the requirements of His righteousness. Hence, God is able to bestow His grace upon man because of His righteousness, according to His righteousness, and through His righteousness.
B. Today God gives grace to men. In doing so, not only is God not involved in unrighteousness but, even the more, in this is His righteousness manifested. So today, through this righteousness of God, His grace can exert its power upon man. This is grace reigning through righteousness.
IV. The result of the reigning of grace:
А. Grace not only enables man to be forgiven and delivered from sin but also gives man eternal life.
B. Grace not only gives life to man but also causes man to reign in life. Here there are two reignings. On the one hand, grace reigns that we might receive life; on the other hand, having received life, we can reign in this life.
V. How to get grace:
Develop this point.
Scripture: Rom. 6:23
I. The wages of sin:
А. To sin is an occupation; man’s entire life is given to the occupation of sin.
B. All occupations demand wages; not a single job is done without earnings. Since wages are rightfully due, a man who works sin should also receive the wages of sin.
C. The wages of sin is death.
D. Illustrate how man sins and thus obtains death. For example, some people gamble daily; consequently, this daily toll of sin causes them to die earlier. There are even those who have died on the gambling table.
E. This kind of death that is the wages of sin means not only the death of this life, the physical body, but even more an eternal death, the death of the soul.
II. The gift of God:
А. A gift is a present; God’s gift is God’s present.
B. A present is freely given and freely received. Since the gift of God is a present, it requires no work in return; it is not wages but a present.
C. The free gift of God is His very life. So, in Romans 6:23 it says that the “gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
D. This gift of eternal life from God was given to us in Christ Jesus. God put His life in Christ Jesus to be given to us. So, our receiving the Lord Jesus is to receive the gift that is in Him.
E. Not only does this gift of life enable us today to live before God and to please Him; it also enables us in the future to be in God’s presence, enjoying the eternal and heavenly blessings.
III. How to be delivered from the wages of sin and obtain the gift of God:
А. Confess that you are sinful and therefore destined to receive sin’s wages, death.
B. Believe into Jesus Christ to be your living Savior. God’s life is within Him; if you want to receive the life of God, you must receive Him. To illustrate, just as tea is contained within a tea cup, if you want to receive the tea, you must receive the tea cup.
Scripture: Rom. 8:35-39
I. Love is essential to human living:
А. Man, as an emotional being, needs love and depends upon love.
B. Without love, human living is desolate; with love, life is wonderful.
II. Love meets man’s need for warmth:
А. Human emotion needs warmth; only love has this warmth.
B. With love, life is warm; without love, life is forlorn.
C. Love generates the warmest feelings in man.
III. The love of man:
А. Man’s love is limited and lacking; therefore, it cannot satisfy the need of his emotion. Give some practical illustrations.
B. Man’s love will change and cease; therefore, it is not dependable. Illustrate this point also.
IV. The love of God:
А. Because God’s love is unlimited and complete, it can satisfy man’s emotions.
B. God’s love is unchanging, unceasing, and dependable. Describe this through illustrations.
C. Since God’s love is unchanging and unceasing, it is an inseparable love. No tribulation will cause His love to change or cease.
V. How to partake of God’s love:
А. God’s love is given to us in Christ Jesus.
B. God’s love is manifested through the death of Christ.
C. We must believe in Christ and His redemption in order to partake of God’s love.
Scripture: Rom. 10:6-10
I. Christ has died and resurrected:
А. Christ is the very Savior whom God prepared for man.
B. Since He has descended from heaven, there is no need for us to ascend to bring Him down. Romans 10:6 says, “‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ that is, to bring Christ down.”
C. Since Christ has already died and resurrected, there is no need for man to cause Him to die again.
D. Thus, because Christ has already come to accomplish redemption for us, there is no need for us to ask Him to work redemption again.
II. The Holy Spirit has come and is inspiring you now:
А. Christ died and resurrected, accomplished redemption, and ascended into heaven. Now the Holy Spirit is sent to inspire man so that he can believe in Christ and His resurrection.
B. The Holy Spirit is inspiring you right now; He is putting the word of Christ’s redemption into you.
C. This word of salvation is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart. Once you open your mouth and exercise your heart, you will receive it.
III. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth:
А. Christ’s redemption has been accomplished, and the Holy Spirit has sent this redemption into your heart and your mouth.
B. Now, if you open your heart and your mouth just a little, you will be saved.
C. The heart is for believing, and the mouth is for confessing. Believe that Christ died and was resurrected, and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus.
D. Once you believe, you are justified; once you confess, you are saved. Justification means to be accepted before God, and salvation means to be separated before man. Before God we are accepted by God, and before man we have separation.
Scripture: Rom. 10:13-14
I. The Lord is the Savior:
А. The Lord is Jesus, the very Son of God who came as a man to redeem us.
B. By His death and resurrection He accomplished this redemption and became our Savior.
II. Call upon the name of the Lord:
А. According to our thought, because we have neither seen Him nor touched Him it is difficult to call on the Lord’s name.
B. In reality it is easy. We do not need to see or touch Him; once we have heard of His name, we can just call.
C. To call upon the name of the Lord is just to call upon the Lord Himself.
D. To call upon the name of the Lord is also to believe in the Lord. Romans 10:14 says, “How then shall they call upon Him into whom they have not believed?” Therefore, calling includes believing.
E. Believing includes repentance. Repentance means to turn our minds to God, confessing our sins.
III. Whoever calls shall be saved:
А. To call is to believe; therefore, calling results in immediate salvation.
B. When we call upon the Lord, the Holy Spirit brings God and His salvation to us. This proves that once we call, we are saved.
C. The fact of our receiving this salvation is not based upon our feeling. If it seems that you have not received after calling, this is simply your feeling. In reality you have received, because the Word says, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (v. 13).
IV. The meaning of being saved:
А. To be saved means to receive forgiveness of sins.
B. To be saved also means to receive the life of God.
Scripture: 1 Cor. 1:18-21
I. The meaning of the cross:
А. The cross is both the instrument by which the Lord Jesus died and the place where He died.
B. By His death on the cross the Lord Jesus bore the sins of mankind and saved man from destruction.
C. Therefore, the cross is able to deliver man from sin and destruction.
II. The word of the cross:
А. The word of the cross includes the meaning of the cross and the teaching of the cross.
B. Those who regard the meaning and the teaching of the cross as foolishness will perish. Those who receive the word of the cross, recognizing that it is the power of God, will be saved.
C. The reason that the meaning and the teaching of the cross can cause man to be saved is that the cross is God’s wisdom and power. Wisdom is God’s means; power is God’s ability. God’s means and ability to save man depend upon the cross.
III. How to apply the word of the cross:
А. Confess that we have sinned and deserve to perish.
B. Acknowledge that the cross is God’s way of salvation.
C. Accept Jesus Christ as the Savior who died on the cross to bear our sins.
Scripture: 1 Cor. 1:23
I. Who is Christ?
А. He is the Son of God and also God Himself.
B. He came to be a man whose name is Jesus.
C. He came as a man in order to be our Savior.
II. Why was Christ crucified?
А. He was crucified in order to accomplish God’s way of salvation.
B. He was crucified to remove the sins of man.
C. He was crucified in order to release His life.
III. Christ crucified:
А. Christ is the Savior; the cross is the means of salvation. Therefore, Christ crucified is the Savior who accomplished the way of salvation.
B. Although He was Christ crucified, today He is Christ resurrected. He is no longer on the cross. He is not only the Savior who accomplished the way of salvation, but He is also living to impart His saving life into man.
IV. How to receive Christ:
Develop this point.
