The Corruption of Man and His Conversion to God, part 1

Throughout the first two and a half chapters of Romans, the Apostle Paul indicted all of mankind (both Jew and Gentile) and pronounced that all are dead in sins and inclined to all kinds of sin and evil apart from the grace of God, and will willingly spiral downward in increasing darkness and sin; receiving what is just by the decree of the Just Judge of All. But in the latter half of chapter three through chapter four, we begin to see that a right standing with our Creator is possible and that Abraham was justified (reckoned righteous), not by his works, but by faith. By the time we arrive at the latter half of chapter 5 (our text this Lord's Day and next), the apostle opens to the church a deep mystery and reveals the tragic roots of sin and the sin nature we all have. This grim revelation is but a prelude to another glorious revelation: that the gracious gift of God is given in Jesus Christ and your defiled and deadly inheritance from your father Adam is superseded by the gift of God through the Savior. Your Adamic inheritance is grim, but the divine inheritance through Christ is glorious. – Pastor Schlegel