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-In the remainder of chapter five here in Romans, the Apostle Paul is going to round a corner here in verses twelve through to verse twenty-one. -He will now go from talking about salvation to talking about eternal life, because what good is salvation if it doesn’t deal with the reality of death. -If you really think about it, we need a salvation that not only conquers death, but also provides eternal life. If it didn’t then what is this salvation.

-If the truth be known, this is the litmus test as to why all the other religions are false. Not one of them resolves the matter of death reigning. -The fact that death reigns, is an indication that death is supreme, in that death would have to have supreme power in order to reign supreme. -At the risk of sounding a little raw and even rude, we are going to have to deal with the issue of death as uncomfortable and awful as it may be.

-If I choose to refuse the acceptance of the issue of death in all its ugliness, then I’ll struggle in my acceptance of the gift of life in all its beauty. -This is the paradox of our Christian faith. Sadly, many won’t accept this truth and realize how death in this life, is the evidence of eternal life. -By virtue of the fact that sin and death’s origin are conspicuously absent from the narrative of all other religious writings exposes them as false.

-I realize that this is a strong claim, however, the Apostle Paul is going to prove this forensically, if you will, and demonstrate this truth in Christ. -He will accomplish this by contrasting Adam, with Jesus, Who is referred to as the second Adam with the first Adam being a type of the Christ. -Perhaps it would be better said that Adam was a type of Jesus in that they were both created sinless, and they both entered the world sinless.

1 Corinthians 15:45 NIV (45) So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.

-It’s for this reason that I’ve chosen to title this new series; “Only Christianity Is True.” Today’s teaching will be part one in this new series. -I think it ‘s incumbent upon me to give you, by way of introduction, a sampling of the riches that are in store for us in the verses that lie ahead. -First, Paul will answer the question of how it’s possible that we can receive condemnation through Adam, yet receive justification through Christ.

-Second, Paul will then prove that death is the evidence of sin from the time of Adam to the time when the law was given to and through Moses. -Third, Paul will prove how if one man, Adam, can bring sin into the world, then one man, Jesus, could pay for that sin brought into the world. -Now, with that opening argument, let’s allow the Holy Spirit to submit further evidence into the court of eternity before the judge of the universe.

-Let me hasten to say, before I jump into this sermon, that Satan is already at work in the spiritual realm to keep you distracted so you miss this. -This will manifest itself in a variety of ways one of which is to plant the thought this sermon on proof Christianity is true has no application to you. -The way Satan does this is by attacking my preaching under the banner of it not being what’s called a “man centered sermon,” or sermonette.

-Another way he does this is by attacking your intellect and suggesting that this is too difficult to understand under the banner of deep doctrine. -I want to encourage you to resist the Devil so that he will flee, and the way you can do that vis-à-vis the Holy Spirit giving you the power to do it. -God has given you the sound mind of understanding, and if you lose the battle in your mind, for your mind, you’ll be lost in misunderstanding.

1. It proves why I’m a sinner (Verses 12-13) (12) Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— (13) for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. -v12 Paul says that just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way, death came to all men, because all sinned. -v13 Paul goes on to say that before the law was given, sin was already in the world. However, sin is not taken into account when there is no law. -I am a sinner because, through Adam, sin entered the world, and it came packaged with death, which is the evidence that we are all sinners.

-Lest you think this is unfair, perhaps you would do well to consider that if you were Adam, you would have sinned like him, or worse than him. -I am keenly aware how one may argue, it is possible that they may not have disobeyed God like Adam, however the fact is that you would have. -How can I be so sure, because Adam was pre-law. In other words, the law was too late to prevent sin, and incapable of saving us from sin.

-By way of illustration, I can’t transgress the law if there’s no law to transgress. I can’t exceed the speed limit if there’s no law limiting the speed. -When I was in Germany back in 1989, I never broke any of their laws however, when I got back home I got two speeding tickets in three days. -The bottom line is that I was born a sinner because of Adam, which is why I need to be born again because of the second Adam, Jesus Christ.

-For anyone who would question whether or not we are born sinners, all you have to do is look at your children who you never taught to disobey. -The reason children don’t need to be taught to sin is because both sin and death were already in the world, prior to them entering into the world. -This is why Paul is saying this, in this way. We aren’t sinners because we’ve broken the law, we’re sinners because sin came before the law.

2. It proves why I need the Savior (Verse 14) (14) Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. -v14 He says how death reigned from the time of Adam to Moses even over those who didn’t sin as Adam who was a pattern of the one to come. -The one that did come is the Savior, Jesus Christ. Now that Paul has established that, how, and why I’m a sinner, I’m in the market for a Savior. -This explains why sharing the gospel is met with failure. The good news isn’t that good, because they haven’t realized the bad news is that bad.

-Having just celebrated Thanksgiving this past Thursday we once again find ourselves ever so quickly thrown into yet another Christmas season. -It’s always this in time of year I’m reminded of how the meaning of Christmas has actually become the antithesis of the meaning of the Gospel. -At Christmas, we’re told that we’ll get more gifts based on whether we’ve been naughty or nice because Santa Claus is checking his list twice.

-This is diametrically opposed to the Gospel, which says we can receive the gift of eternal life regardless of whether we’ve been naughty or nice. -If you were to ask me what I thought was the number one reason people don’t come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ was-it would be this. -They think that they are good enough people, and nice enough people, and that a loving God most certainly won’t send them to an eternal hell.

3. It proves why salvation is a gift (Verses 15-16) (15) But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! (16) Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. -v15 Paul says the gift isn’t like the trespass. If many died by the one, how much more did God’s grace overflow to the many by one Jesus Christ. -v16 He says the gift isn’t like the result of Adam’s sin. The judgment followed bringing condemnation, but the gift followed bringing justification. -This is interesting for a number of reasons not the least of which is that Paul sort of ties the bow of salvation around the gift of our eternal life. -What I mean by that is, Paul ever so brilliantly contrasts the first and second Adam, and in so doing shows us our need for the gift of salvation.

-In other words, if I’m a sinner only because I broke the law, I wouldn’t need a Savior because in effect, that would mean I could keep the law. -Furthermore, If I could keep the law, then that would mean that I could earn my way to heaven and thus I would not need to receive it as a gift. -If salvation is not a gift, then it would in turn not be salvation. This isn’t a play on words, rather, it speaks to the gift not being like the trespass.

-It’s important to understand that there’s a difference between sin and a trespass. To not make this distinction will make everything else unclear. -One commentator said it this way; to sin is to forfeit the glory of God by worshipping another, and to trespass is to break the commands of God. -Adam did both-he sinned by desiring the fruit and not desiring to please God he trespassed by breaking the command of God not to eat the fruit.

-By the way, Paul is actually giving us, in and through this epistle, what has often been referred to as “The Romans Road” in sharing the Gospel.

The Roman Road: 1. There is none righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10) 2. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) 3. Through one man, (Adam), sin entered the world separating us from God (Romans 5:12) 4. The judgment and wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23) 5. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8) 6. If man will seek God, confess his sins, and believe in his heart, he will be saved (Romans 10:9-10) 7. All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13)

-By way of illustration, there’s a simple way to communicate a simple message called; “the Gospel,” which means “Good News.” -In the beginning, God and man were together, but through Adam sin entered the world and separated man from God. (That’s the bad news!) -Because sin entered the world through Adam, Jesus entered into the world as the second Adam to die for and pay for our sin. (That’s the good news!) -The finished work of the cross, and the resurrection of the Christ, bridged the gap, and thus reunited man to God. -It’s for this reason the Christian faith is the truth, and all other religions are false. It’s a relationship as opposed to a religion.