CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE DAILY DEVOTIONAL ON YOUTUBE
Romans 5:15-17
Paul also teaches us in Romans 5:15a, “the free gift is not like the offense.” When Adam sinned, Satan did a hostile takeover of all humanity through the disobedience of Adam; the door was opened to the knowledge of disobedience, and this knowledge was inherited throughout all of humanity. In Genesis 2:15-17 the one command was given to man (Adam) from God, and Adam disobeyed this command. It does not matter that Satan, in the serpent, tempted the woman who directly took the forbidden fruit and gave it to Adam for he and her to eat (Genesis 3:1-7). The command was given to Adam from God before He created the woman (Eve)(Genesis 2:17-18), but this does not yet set the woman free from blame as she was directly involved in the disobedient act to God that allowed sin into this world. As sin entered the world, Adam made a choice; and the choice was to disobey God. As sin entered the world by the choice of at the time, a sinless man; the free gift must also be a choice by each individual to receive it and begin the new life in Christ Jesus, the sinless one that overcame sin, that is in the offer of the free gift. The offense was not forced upon us all as our eyes were opened to disobedience and being aware of it – it was a choice. Likewise, the free gift is given to all who will have faith in God; it is not forced upon us no more than the offense as the free gift is from the love of God for us and love cannot be forced – it must be accepted by the receiver in love and respect for the giver – love requires sincerity from both the giver and the receiver to be authentic.
It only took one act of disobedience to unlock the door to sin which infested all of humanity. Also, it only took one act of righteousness in the eyes of God (the death/sacrifice of one who lived a sinless life) to override what has become not the act of one act of disobedience, but the effect of all disobedience caused by the one act which was imputed to all humanity. Once the door to sin was opened, Satan does not give us the option to choose if we want to be sinful or not – he is more powerful than we are and holds us to live sinful lives. But as we are held to live in sin it takes a more powerful force than that which we are held in to break free from it. God allows this to show us that He is more powerful than Satan, and in defeating Satan once for all through the death of the one (Jesus)(Romans 6:10), He does not force us to leave the life of sin that we are being held in by Satan in disobedience but offers freedom to us for all who will believe in Him. The act of us being allowed to choose love – to choose God over Satan further exemplifies the power of God in crushing Satan as God does not force us to be saved from Satan, but God shows His power in love as we learn in 1 Corinthians 13:8a (NIV), “Love never fails.” But we must also realize that for love to truly be complete, it takes two (a giver and a receiver) to be sincere in the giving and receiving of love as we refer to the “circle” of love. Paul declares in Romans 3:26 (ESV), “It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
This is the difference between the offense of sin and the gift of love.
There is a lot of confusion in how sin entered the world and if Jesus died for our sins, why are we all not automatically saved (as some believe). But the truth is that sin was allowed to enter into this world by the choice of man…and sin has been paid for by Jesus but it is up to us to make the choice to accept the forgiveness of Jesus and begin a new life free of sin – in Christ.
Dear LORD,
Please help us to understand that sin entered this world by the choice of man to disobey God. Please help us to also understand that the only way to rid ourselves of sin is through putting our faith in our Savior Christ Jesus. In Jesus name I pray, amen.