Gift of Grace #12 - The Two Ways
Description
In Romans 5:12–21, Kurt explores the two ways every person is born into — the way of Adam, marked by sin and death, and the way of Christ, offering grace and eternal life. If you've ever wondered why the world feels so broken, or what it looks like to truly receive God's gift of righteousness, this message is for you.
Message Summary
The Two Ways: Understanding Sin, Grace, and the Gift That Changes Everything
What team are you on?
It might seem like an odd question for a Sunday morning — but it's exactly the one Kurt raised as he concluded Orchard Hill's Gift of Grace series in Romans 5:12–21. The passage is dense, he admitted, but the core message is surprisingly simple: every human being is born into one of two ways, under one of two heads. And the difference between them is nothing less than death and life.
The Way of Adam: Born Into a Broken World
Kurt opened with an honest assessment of the human condition. We don't have to look far to see that something is deeply wrong with the world — and Romans 5 gives us the theological framework to understand why.
Paul writes in verse 12: "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." This is what theologians call original sin — the idea that Adam's rebellion in the Garden didn't just affect him. It affected all of us. Sin has been, as Kurt put it, "credited to our account."
The consequences aren't abstract. Author Paul David Tripp captures the scope of it well: sin is "humanity's ultimate disease, its dark dilemma, and its woeful curse" — something that "produces self-interested anger, corrupts institutions, creates social unrest, prompts nations to war, and divides families and churches." We see it in headlines about governments killing their own people. We see it in the quiet epidemic of loneliness among people who seem to have everything. We see it every time we look honestly at ourselves.
Sin doesn't just exist — it reigns. Romans 5:17 makes this plain: "By the trespass of one man, death reigned through that one man." The reign of sin preceded the law, Kurt noted, much like reckless driving is still reckless before you've seen a speed limit sign. The law convicts what was already true.
The destination of the way of Adam, Romans 5:18 tells us, is condemnation. It's not a cheerful picture. But Paul doesn't stop there — and neither did Kurt.
The Way of Christ: A Different Head, A Different Reign
The same verse that describes death reigning turns and announces something else entirely. Romans 5:17: "How much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ?"
There is another way. And the logic of the passage is deliberate: just as one man's sin brought condemnation to all who belong to him, one man's righteous act brings justification and life to all who belong to him. The mechanism is the same — a head and those who are joined to him. The difference is everything.
Kurt used the image of King David to explain what it means to live under Christ's reign right now. David was anointed king while Saul still held the throne — he was the rightful king, but not yet the reigning one. In the same way, we live in an in-between moment. Sin's effects are still real and present around us, but the reign of grace has already begun. "That doesn't diminish the beauty of grace right now," Kurt said.
The theological debate about what justification actually means came up here too, as Kurt briefly engaged the views of scholars N.T. Wright and John Piper. Wright has written that justification is "based on a whole life lived" — still ahead of us, not yet fully settled. Kurt aligned with Piper's reading: "The moment you believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior according to scripture, you are justified. It is not something determined by your future life or your inclusion in a community. It is something God has done." Romans 5:21 frames the destination clearly: "So that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
The Gospel vs. Every Alternative
So what does it look like to actually live in this? Kurt drew on Tim Keller's framework from Romans for You, contrasting the Gospel with two common distortions: legalism and liberalism.
The legalist tries to earn standing before God — doing the right things, hoping God rewards on the back end. It's a path that leads either to crushing self-condemnation or quiet self-deception, and eventually to drifting away. The theological liberal dismisses the need for righteousness altogether, treating God as all love with no standards, and grows naive about the depth of human sin. The Gospel cuts a different path entirely: we receive what God gives. We don't earn it, and we don't minimize it.
As Kurt summarized: "When you understand that everyone — because of Adam's sin — is corporately and individually guilty of sin, it makes the beauty and the necessity of the Gospel clear." That message, he said, frees us from both rigid rule-keeping and rootless drift. Anyone can come under Christ as their head, have his righteousness credited to them, simply by trusting Jesus as Savior.
A Closing Thought
Ray Ortlund Jr.'s prayer, which Kurt used to close the message, puts it as well as anything: "O divine Physician, your diagnosis of my condition is so much more profound than my own analysis of myself... My real problem underlies all the surface manifestations of my sin, and it is the guilt and corruption of my very nature as a child of Adam. O God, your Gospel takes me deep — down, down, all the way to the very root of my condemnation, all the way back to Adam. Now, O Lord, lift me up very, very high — into the riches of your grace in Christ my Lord and head."
The Gospel goes all the way down. And it lifts all the way up.
For Reflection
When you encounter suffering, injustice, or personal failure, do you have a theological framework that makes sense of it — or do you find yourself disillusioned and asking why God hasn't fixed it? How might a deeper understanding of the "way of Adam" change how you process those moments?
Kurt described two ways people resist the Gospel: earning it through legalism, or dismissing the need for it through liberalism. Which of these tendencies do you find more natural to drift toward, and what would it look like to more fully receive grace rather than earn or ignore it?
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Paul David Tripp
"Sin is everywhere you look, twisting and distorting the good things that God created... It produces self-interested anger, corrupts institutions, creates social unrest, prompts nations to war, divides families and churches. Sin is humanity's ultimate disease, its dark dilemma, and its woeful curse."
N.T. Wright
"Justification denotes the verdict of God himself about who really is a member of his people."
"The Gospel is not an account of how people get saved. It's a proclamation of the lordship of Christ."
Justification is "based on a whole life lived."
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Opening & Campus Announcements
Good morning. Welcome. It’s great to be together. You may have noticed it’s a little lighter in here today. This weekend we have people meeting for the first time at our new location in Beaver Valley, where we bought a building, and in Mars/Gibsonia at the Keene Theater. Several hundred people have gone to those locations to help launch new campuses.
For perspective: over the last couple of years, we’ve had ten worship gatherings on a typical weekend — four here in Wexford (three in this room, one in the chapel), three in our Strip District campus, two in Butler, and one in Bridgeville. We’re now adding two more, bringing us to twelve: one in Beaver Valley and one in Mars/Gibsonia. Several hundred people have stepped out to be part of those launches.
I want to thank all of you who are here. Many of you have stepped up to fill roles left by those who have gone, so that the church here can continue to thrive — praying for God’s work, giving to the mission. Our hope is that God will use all of it to help more people find and follow Jesus Christ.
The first real public gathering at the new campuses will be on Easter. This weekend is a soft launch so that any challenges — sound equipment and the like — can be worked out before Easter Sunday, when we hope to welcome many new folks.
Opening Prayer
God, we thank you for allowing us to be part of a church that is helping people find and follow Jesus. We pray that you would continue to draw people to new locations and existing locations, and that in your work, lives would be changed and people would be turned towards you. We believe that is what our world needs, and we’re thankful to be a small part of this mission. Today, as we are gathered, we ask that you would speak to each of us and that my words reflect your Word in content, tone, and emphasis. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Series Introduction
Today we’re finishing our series called “The Gift of Grace,” in which we’ve been working through the first five chapters of Romans. You heard Romans 5:12–21 read. My guess is that, even if you wanted to pay close attention, you glossed over it a little — and that’s understandable, because that passage is dense and complex. About halfway through, you start thinking about lunch.
Romans 5 has been full of soaring ideas — that we have peace with God, that God’s love has been made evident through Jesus’ death. Then you get to verse 12 and you start hearing about Adam and Christ, and how Adam is a “type” of Christ, and you wonder what is going on. My first impulse was to go deep and tell you to put on your thinking caps. I still hope there will be significant depth here, but I’m going to aim for simplicity instead.
Here is the simple message: all of us are born into the way of Adam because of sin. That way leads to death — we know we’re part of that community because we all die. But Jesus is another way. Those who receive Jesus can live in eternal life in God’s reign. That is the message of Romans 5.
Illustration: The Football Coach
When I was in high school, I played football. Our coach had tremendous success — the school had won state championships — and he was the kind of coach who commanded enormous authority. He was also the PE teacher, so all the football players lifted weights during that period. He was incredibly meticulous about everything, because his message was: if you do things sloppily in practice, you’ll play sloppily in the game, and we’ll lose.
One area he was especially concerned about was the locker room. He didn’t want any mess left for the custodial staff. Towels always had to go in the right bin — never on the floor. One day we came into practice and someone had left towels in the wrong place. He asked who did it. No one spoke up. So he made us run — pit drills: running the entire football field, up-downs, burpees. Then he’d say, “Go again.” This went on for what felt like an hour. If you’ve seen the movie Miracle, it felt like that moment on the ice when the coach kept saying, “Hit it!” People were ready to quit.
Finally, someone said, “It was me.” His message was: when some of us don’t follow through, it affects all of us — we rise or fall together. I remember thinking, “This is so unfair. I didn’t leave those towels.” But his point was that what one person does impacts everyone.
In a way, this illustrates part of the message of Romans — though with a crucial difference. We’re not simply teammates. There is a head — Adam — and there is another head — Christ. We all share in what each one brings. Adam brings sin. And what some have called “original sin” means the way of Adam is filled with the brokenness of our world.
The Way of Adam: Sin, Its Reign, and Its Consequences
Paul David Tripp writes about sin this way: sin is everywhere you look, twisting and distorting the good things that God created. You don’t have to do a deep analysis to see its trouble in you and all around you. It produces self-interested anger, corrupts institutions, creates social unrest, prompts nations to war, divides families and churches. Sin is, as Tripp writes, “humanity’s ultimate disease, its dark dilemma, and its woeful curse.”
Being on “Team Adam” means we are guilty of sin. Paul writes in verse 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.” Everybody is guilty. Some call this “original sin,” others “imputed sin.” The concept of imputation — sin being charged to our account — comes from verse 13, using the same word translated “credited” throughout chapter four. We are guilty because of what Adam did; it has been credited to our account.
You might say that’s unfair. But Paul’s point is that death came through sin, and because of inherited corruption — not just inherited guilt — we actually commit sin. The evidence is that death has come to all. This goes back to Genesis 3 and what theologians call the Fall, where God created Adam and Eve without death, without sin, placed them in the garden, and gave them one boundary: not to eat from a particular tree. Adam was almost certainly present when Eve encountered the serpent. They ate, and in that act they wanted to be like God — to be their own boss, their own God. That is, in many ways, the essence of sin.
Not only does sin exist, but sin reigns. Verse 17 says: “For if, by the trespass of one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ?” Verse 14 adds that death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a specific command — meaning the reign of sin preceded the law. An analogy: if you’re driving recklessly fast and haven’t seen a speed limit sign yet, you still know you’re going too fast. The law convicts, but the reality exists before the law.
Paul also speaks of death — both physical and spiritual — and of condemnation (verse 18): “Just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people…” So the picture is sin, the reign of sin, death, and condemnation. It’s not a pretty picture. But Paul’s point is that this is what all of us are born into.
Evidence of Sin in Our World
We don’t have to look hard to see this. Last week, the man who wrote a book called The Population Bomb — a Stanford professor who wrote it in 1968 — died. He argued that the world could not support all of its human life and predicted widespread starvation in the 1970s unless population was curtailed. The New York Times noted that his predictions proved premature, but did not fully discredit them. In reality, the world population has grown enormously since 1968, and percentage-wise there is actually less starvation today than there was in the 1960s.
The concern is that many governments curtailed population — some arguing for abortion as birth control — in part because of this book’s influence, even as God’s command was to be fruitful and multiply. The driving impulse of that book was, at its core, an embrace of destruction and death.
Or consider war. The Iranian government reportedly killed some 30,000 of its own people last year for protesting. Whatever one’s view of just versus unjust war, the images of bombs, the death, the destruction — these show us the reality of the broken world we inhabit. And on a more personal level, we constantly read about individuals — even those who seem to have everything — experiencing pervasive loneliness and desperation. That, too, is the effect of sin still in us and around us.
The Way of Christ: Grace, Righteousness, and Eternal Life
But the message of Romans 5 is also that there is another way. You don’t have to stay on Team Adam — you can be on Team Jesus. This is clearest in verse 17: “For if, by the trespass of one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ?”
While sin reigns, grace also reigns. Adam is the head of all humans; Christ is the head of all who believe. The act of sin brought condemnation; the righteous act of Christ brings justification and life. You might ask: if I believe, but I still see the effects of sin, how does grace reign? Consider King David in the Old Testament. He had been anointed king even while Saul still reigned. David was the anointed king, but not yet the reigning king. We live in that in-between place: sin’s reign is still in force around us, but the reign of grace has begun. It will be fully manifest when Jesus reigns as King. That doesn’t diminish the beauty of grace right now.
Instead of condemnation, there is justification (verse 18): “Just as the one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.” Some read this and ask whether it teaches universalism — that all people are saved. But the “all” for those in Team Adam refers to all who are part of that community, and the “all” for those in Team Christ refers to all who believe. Verse 17 clarifies: “those who receive” — the offer of being declared righteous by Jesus Christ is for all who believe.
A Theological Note: Piper and N.T. Wright on Justification
Throughout this series I’ve alluded to a debate about how to read Romans, represented by two well-known authors: John Piper and N.T. Wright. Someone asked why I was pitting them against each other — to be clear, Piper’s book is literally titled The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright. They engaged each other, and this passage is at the heart of their debate.
Wright writes: “Justification denotes the verdict of God himself about who really is a member of his people.” For Wright, justification is primarily about inclusion in the covenant community, not about God declaring an individual righteous in the past. He also writes: “The Gospel is not an account of how people get saved. It’s a proclamation of the lordship of Christ.”
You’ll hear people echo this: the Gospel is about the reign of Christ, the rule of God, not about “getting saved.” Wright has also written that justification is “based on a whole life lived” — meaning it’s not yet fully settled, still ahead of you. I’m aware Wright has subsequently written to balance some of these statements. But these formulations represent real tendencies that affect how people read Romans.
I align more with Piper here. When you read Romans 5:12–21, it is absolutely about the act of Jesus Christ in the past that declares people right with God for all time. The moment you believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior according to scripture, you are justified. It is not something determined by your future life or your inclusion in a community. It is something God has done. You have been under the reign of Adam, but now you are under the reign of Christ — it is no longer in question. And verse 21 says this leads to eternal life: “So that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Application
First: if you don’t have a theology that explains the brokenness of this world, you will always be disillusioned. When someone gets sick and dies, you’ll cry out, “God, that’s unfair!” rather than saying, “I live in a fallen, broken world, and this is the result of Adam’s sin.” When someone mistreats you, you’ll ask, “God, why haven’t you fixed this?” instead of recognizing that this is the world we live in.
Second: some people avoid church — especially a church that works through scripture and talks about original sin — because they prefer to think of themselves as neutral. They don’t like the idea of starting as part of the reign of Adam. Others avoid the message of the Gospel because they want to feel they’ve participated in earning their standing before God. That path leads to legalism: you do, and God rewards on the back end. On that path, you either start feeling bad about yourself because you can’t live up to it, or you lie to yourself about how well you’re doing — and either way you eventually drift away.
The message we need to live in is what has often been called the Gospel — receiving what God gives. Verse 17 makes it clear: “How much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”
The Gospel vs. Legalism and Liberalism (Tim Keller)
Tim Keller, in his book Romans for You — which we’ve recommended throughout this series — offers a helpful chart contrasting the Gospel with legalism on one side and liberalism on the other.
View of God: Gospel — God is both holy and loving. Legalism — God is only holy standards and rules. Liberalism — God is only love, no standards.
Righteousness: Gospel — we receive God’s perfect righteousness. Legalism — we earn our own. Liberalism — we don’t need righteousness.
Sin: Gospel — sin affects both individuals and social systems; do both evangelism and social action. Legalism — sin only affects individuals, focus only on evangelism. Liberalism — naive about human sin, focus only on social action.
Change: Gospel — people can change, but there are no quick fixes. Legalism — people can’t change, or change is easy. Liberalism — people don’t need to change.
Guilt: Gospel — we go through guilt and rest in Jesus. Legalism — we work off guilt on our own. Liberalism — we convince ourselves we’re okay.
Repentance: Gospel — repent of both sins and self-righteousness. Legalism — repent only of sins. Liberalism — no need to repent of either.
Here is the key point: when you understand that everyone — because of Adam’s sin — is corporately and individually guilty of sin, it makes the beauty and the necessity of the Gospel clear. Anyone can be part of Christ being their head, have his righteousness imputed to them, by trusting Jesus as Savior. That message frees us from both rigid rule-keeping and from a rootless progressivism. It is the invitation and the gift of grace.
Invitation
Maybe some of us here today are part of Team Adam, so to speak — and maybe today is your day to say, “God, I know I have been under sin. I know I’m going to die. I see it. And I want the reign of Jesus, the reign of grace, to be my reign.” If you’ve already believed this, the opportunity before you — before all of us — is to live in the reality of this great gift. Even though it won’t be fully realized until Jesus comes and reigns, it is something you can embrace at every turn. The gift of grace does change how we live.
Closing Prayer (Ray Ortlund Jr.)
O divine Physician, your diagnosis of my condition is so much more profound than my own analysis of myself. I would see myself as a wilted rose only in need of a generous watering. You explain to me that in fact I am hemlock growing vigorously in a world infested with hemlock — all from one common root. My problem is not superficial. My problem is not even a little lie here, a lustful thought there — nor even a huge, shocking lie or actual adultery. My real problem underlies all the surface manifestations of my sin, and it is the guilt and corruption of my very nature as a child of Adam. O God, your Gospel takes me deep — down, down, all the way to the very root of my condemnation, all the way back to Adam. Now, O Lord, lift me up very, very high — into the riches of your grace in Christ my Lord and head. In his holy name. Amen.
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AI-Generated Transcript Disclaimer
This transcript was generated and cleaned with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) from an audio/video recording of the sermon. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, AI transcription and editing may contain errors, omissions, or imprecise representations of the speaker’s original words. This document is intended for personal study and reference purposes only. For the authoritative version of this message, please refer to the original audio or video recording available through Orchard Hill Church. Scripture quotations are from the NIV unless otherwise noted.
