¹² When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. ¹³ Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. ¹⁴ Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. ¹⁵ But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. ¹⁶ And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. ¹⁷ For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. ¹⁹ Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

²⁰ God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. ²¹ So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 5:12-21

Dear God, would I be willing to give up sin for Lent? Not would I be able to, but would I be willing to even if I could?

My wife and I were talking yesterday about the idea of giving up lying for Lent. It was kind of a joke, but I started to think about whether or not I’d be willing to tell zero lies for the next six weeks. As I sit here right now, would I be willing to commit to total and complete honesty? No little white lies about how great of a job someone did when maybe they didn’t, or how much I enjoyed something that I thougth was meh. No selective truth about what I want someone to know and obscuring what I don’t want them to know. No lies of omission? And that’s just lying. Coveting. Hate. Lust. Not only can I give up every sin in my life, but am I willing to try?

Then there’s Jesus. Jesus denied himself and the temptations Satan threw at him, but he was also more about being one with you and he let that be the driver of who he was and the actions he took and how he thought about people than he was about disciplining himself to not sin. Going back to the quote I mentioned a few days ago, “The pure in heart should be known more for their God-attentiveness than their sin-avoidance.”

Father, Jesus was not only redemption for us and a contrast with Adam, but he was also an example for us of what it looks like to be yours. So help me to be yours today. Help me to love others well and love them through the things that frustrate me. Even the things that have hurt me. Even now as I type these things I find myself thinking about ways I’ve been hurt and getting angry. Help me to deal with this anger in a healthy way and love through it. Love beyond it. There’s an appropriateness to anger. We can use it to help us know where to build boundaries and inform our decisions for the future, but there’s no room for bitterness in it. Help me to let go of my bitterness and simply worship you through it, remembering there are plenty of things I’ve done to anger others. Going to the verses for today from Psalm 51, “Have mercy on me, O God, in your good ness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.”

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen