The Gift of Righteousness
A Sermon on Romans 5:16-17
Scripture
16The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one offense, resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the gracious gift arose from many offenses, resulting in justification. 17For if by the offense of …
16And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of …
Sermon Description
In his previous sermon, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones pointed out the similarities of humanity’s relationship to Adam and its relationship to Christ. In this sermon on Romans 5:16–17 titled “The Gift of Righteousness,” he shows that while there are several similarities, the most striking thing are the differences between these two relationships. He begins by pointing out that Adam’s sin and disobedience led to judgment and condemnation. These both came through the act of one sin. In contrast, Jesus’s one act of obedience led to the covering of all sins. This is the beauty of the gospel. How then should humanity react to this free gift of Jesus Christ? Despite the many sins, the Christian has now been justified, which means He blots out all sins and calls the Christian righteous. He goes on to point out that it was by one man’s offense that death came and reigned in the world. But it was the one act of Jesus that defeated death and brought life. The Christian is given the righteousness of Christ when they believe in Him. No longer does death reign over them, but those who believe shall now find life in Christ. They have lost the fear of death and will reign with Christ for eternity.
The Book of Romans
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.