Only God's Grace can Erase

Romans 5:8 ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

We were all born with a sin nature. That was tough for me to wrap my brain around the first time I heard it because my thought was “I was just born, how could I have possibly sinned already?” 

Have you ever thought about looking back in the Bible to see where our sin nature began? In Romans 5, Paul compares the acts of Adam and the acts of Christ. One man, Adam, brought the entire world into sin and ultimately death (Genesis 3:19). Have you ever stopped to think about that? I had never considered comparing the two until I read this chapter in Romans.

When seriously looking at this point, some may wonder why we would be considered guilty for something Adam did thousands of years ago. After all, we didn’t sin in the Garden of Eden that day, right? Why would we have to pay for what Adam did? That just doesn’t seem fair does it? To answer this question it may help to consider it this way. Adam was the first man to ever walk the earth, and it’s through his lineage we all came into existence. We are all part of his physical family. Because of this, we’ve all been born with a bit of a “rebellion” in us. Oh sure, we may not have been with him when he bit into the apple, but we have all inherited his guilt; his sinful nature. Because of this sin we are all are separated from God.

When God created us, He wanted us to be in relationship with Him. When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden, He showed His love for them by giving them the freedom to choose. But with the power to choose comes the consequences of the choice we make. Because they chose poorly that day, God had to punish them by banishing them from the garden. That didn’t mean He stopped loving them. He loved them so much He began to lay the foundation to bring them back to Him. Adam, who introduced the sin nature by his disobedience, points to the One who ultimately paid the price once and for all for our sin. God loved us so much that while we were deeply rooted in all our sin, Christ died for us. Because of our own sin, it’s not fairness we need, its mercy and grace.

“There's no comparison between that death-dealing sin and this generous, life-giving gift. The verdict on that one sin was the death sentence; the verdict on the many sins that followed was this wonderful life sentence. If death got the upper hand through one man's wrongdoing, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand setting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides?” Romans 5:15-15 (MSG)

Thank you Lord for not giving up on us when we are deeply rooted in sin. Thank you for your mercy and the grace you give freely to erase the sin in my life. Above all, thank you for sending Jesus to earth so that He could pay the ultimate sacrifice for our sin and provide a way back to you. Amen.

Related scripture:

John 8:31-36; Galatians 5:19-26