Romans 5:12-16

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— 13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 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 is a pattern of the one to come.

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 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

New International Version (NIV)

A baker in London accidentally left the oven on one night in 1666. That one little spark started a fire that burned down his home, spread to his neighbors, and ended up destroying almost the entirety of the great city of London. So much destruction from such a small thing! In a very similar way, sin has made a massive mess of things. The sin that plagues us all as descendants of Adam has poisoned the entire Earth with corruption, destruction, and death. How do you put out a fire so widespread? We need an impossibly massive solution to the impossibly massive problem of death.

 

As hard as we might try—and we’ve been trying for a long time—no human solution will ever suffice. Our one hope is the grace of God. But the grace we have through the work of Christ Jesus is a truly powerful solution indeed! In fact, one of the best things about God’s grace is the fact that it’s a free gift. Funny thing about gifts: they’re never earned. God does not wash away our sin and rescue us from death because we deserve it—he does it just because it makes him happy to love us. And that means there’s not a thing in the world we could ever do to un-deserve the gift!

 

But is this gift of grace enough to fix the sin and death problem? After all, one man’s single sin cascaded into death in the DNA of billions of people. Paul’s emphatic answer is that it is infinitely more than enough. Consider how much humility, kindness, love, and sheer power was in the Almighty, immortal Creator taking on flesh to die for the underserving whom he loved! Such an infinitely powerful act superabounds to right every wrong. Were the whole universe packed full with infinite human beings under the curse of death, the grace of God would be still more than enough to redeem every single one.

 

God’s grace has no limits. It is not a wage to earn but a gift that he has given and refuses to take back. And that means there is no sin we can commit—no fall so far and no trespass so great—that is too much for God’s grace to cover. No matter how much our sin burns and destroys, God’s grace remains enough to bring new life from the ashes. No matter how deep our failure goes, his mercy is always deeper. And I think that should make us overwhelmingly joyful, thankful, and worshipful for the free gift God has given us.

Pray with me: 

Gracious God, we can never be thankful enough for the superabundant gift of grace that you have given. Though our situation is fatal and miserable, help us to recognize from that just how wonderful your grace really is. For redeeming so lost and broken a world, you deserve all the glory and honor and praise. In the name of our Savior and friend Christ Jesus, Amen.

Our Saturday and Sunday devotionals are in the book of Romans. Join us for these devotionals as we learn together about our God and his Kingdom in the world.  

We also invite you to join us as we read through the Bible. Copies of the reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download your copy here:

 

2026 Bible Reading Plan

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