Romans 5:12-19—In our Epistle lesson, sin’s solution is the one man
Jesus Christ. Through one man came sin; through another man came righteousness.
The solution to sin is death. The solution is Jesus, the one man who lived perfectly, who died receptively.
Through this
one man, grace came to humanity, and with grace came life. Through Jesus,
humanity has the restoration of its original state; righteousness and innocence
in the perfect accord with God.
We might
ask, why can’t I stop sinning even though I want to stop? Does this question
sound familiar? In these words, Paul calls for us to turn from the old
inheritance to the merits of Jesus and the more powerful abounding grace of the
Gospel. Here we see both the totality of sin and the triumph of the Gospel by
the grace of God.
As we begin
the discipline of the Lenten journey, we go forth with more than mere sorrow
over our sinful lives. God in His Son Jesus has proclaimed His love and
forgiveness of sin to all. While in the church militant, the problem of Adam
and his inheritance still clings to us, yet we may rejoice in the more powerful
grace of God which not only brings forgiveness, but the power to change hearts
and lives. Thus the grace of God proclaimed and lived is much more powerful
that sin. And sounds in our Lenten journey not of victorious triumph
through Jesus Christ.
[1]Woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, a
nineteenth-century German artist known especially for
his book ‘The Book of Books in Pictures’ ©WELS permission granted for personal and congregational use.
[2]
Collect for Thursday after Ash
Wednesday, For All the Saints, A Prayer Book For and By the Church, Col. III ©
1995 The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delhi, NY
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