Sunday, February 10, 2008 - Romans 5:12-19

During this season of Lent, we focus our attention on the sin of the world and the suffering endured by Christ to take that sin away from us. Sin entered the world through one man – Adam. Even though God told him, “You must not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die,” Adam disobeyed that one law, that one rule which he and Eve had to keep.

Everything else for Adam and Eve was permissible. Everything else was allowed in the garden of Eden. There was no other law in effect. Here again, we see the gracious character of God at work.

When God created Adam, He designed him to live forever. God first provided the promise of eternal bliss and provided the means and opportunity to live forever under God’s grace and favor. Adam, in turn, was able to express his thanks to God by yielding himself to God’s will and following God’s one simple command.

The opportunity was there for a beautiful, eternal relationship. But Adam chose to follow his own desires and was no longer content with being God’s son. He wanted to be like God and know good from evil.

So sin enters the world, and the more full revelation of the Law of God comes with it. Adam and Eve look at each other and say, “We need some fig leaves.” The Law pointed its finger of guilt and said, “You are naked. Cover yourself up.” They were naked before they ate of the tree, but they were not under the full scope of the Law.

I have used this example numerous times in Bible classes and confirmation classes, so bear with me if you have heard it before. But Adam and Eve before the Fall were sort of like driving on Interstate 94 in Montana. There is no daytime speed limit in Montana. You can drive as fast as you want so long as you are not doing something to endanger yourself or others. So if you are coming East on I-94 doing 95 MPH, you are not sinning and there is no guilt attached to what you are doing. When you reach the North Dakota border, the speed limit is, I believe, 80 MPH. If you cross that border doing 95, as soon as you cross that border, you are guilty because the Law says you are guilty.

Even though you had been doing 95 for 400 miles without any guilt or possibility of punishment, when the Law comes into place, that same activity becomes sin. We heard from St. Paul in his letter to the Romans, “Sin is not counted where there is no law.”

When there is no Law, there is no guilt. Sinful activity may be taking place, but there is no accountability for it if there is no Law to point the finger of guilt. It is not called “sin” because there is no Law to condemn it. And since “the wages of sin is death,” as Paul says, “and the power of sin is the law”, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting.”

This is why Christ said that He came to “fulfill the Law” for us – to do that which we are unable to do. If the Law has been fulfilled, we cannot be declared guilty – its like speeding in Montana.

We have been justified and declared righteous by God – even if we have a lead foot. This is God’s most gracious gift to us – freedom from the guilt and consequences of our sin. Like Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, God has first provided the promise of eternal bliss and provided the means and opportunity to live forever under His grace and favor. Like Adam, we in turn, are able to express our thanks to God by yielding ourselves to God’s will and demonstrating a willingness to follow God’s commands.

We show our love for God by being obedient to Him, even though we are no longer accountable under the Law. As James the brother of our Lord says, “Faith without works is a dead faith.” Our love for God is synonymous with our faith in God. We love God because, through one act of righteousness, He has brought justification, so that in the sight of the Law we are not guilty, and therefore we are declared righteous and we have life.

This is the focal point of our faith; this is the fundamental doctrine in which we believe. Luther said that the church rises or falls on the doctrine of justification – and he is right. Apart from Christ freeing us from the condemnation of the Law, we would have no hope. But in Christ, we not only have hope, we have the sure promise of life.

God has again provided His children with the opportunity for a beautiful, eternal relationship. Amen.

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