Grace Unveiled, “The Spirit Is Greater Than Flesh” #20 | Jim Hammond
Recap
Pastor Jim gave the 20th installment of his series on the book of Romans entitled, “Grace Unveiled.” His subtitle was “The Spirit Is Greater Than Flesh.” He finished up his examination of Galatians 5, where it listed the works of the flesh. This examination revealed that a lot of us have been sinning and we didn’t even realize it! Nonetheless, because of our New Testament Covenant, through grace, our sins are forgiven and we are made righteous before our God!
Dive Deeper
Pastor Jim reiterated the principle in Romans 5:20 that says, “Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
When the law came, sin abounded. But grace abounded much more. God’s grace will increase and super abound over sin.
We’ve been examining the works of the flesh that is listed in Galatians 5:19–21:
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like….”
Upon examination of these sins, it’s been found that a lot of the time believers don’t even know they’re committing a sin. So how can a person receive an abundance of grace in the gift of New Testament righteousness for something he didn’t even know he was doing.
Unfortunately, some Christians live their lives according to the Old Covenant. If that’s the case, they’re not going to make it to victory. They will end up losing the fight just in having to deal with the condemnation alone.
About Old Testament law, Second Corinthians 3:9 says, “For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.” The “ministry of condemnation” is a reference to Old Covenant law. It’s not a bad thing, but it’s not the covenant you want to live by.
Notice the phrase in 2 Corinthians 3:9 that says, “the ministry of condemnation had glory.” Had glory! That is referring to when Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments. He literally glowed from the glory of God resting upon him! But then it says, “much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.” The New Covenant exceeds that glory!
The 10 Commandments and 613 laws listed in the Old Testament is being called the “Ministry of Condemnation.” However, Romans 8:1 says there’s no condemnation in Jesus.
Paul is telling us that if a believer is going to attempt to tackle these sins listed in Galatians operating under the Old Covenant law, he will wind up very disappointed.
Receiving an abundance of grace and the gift of New Testament righteousness is on a “consistent basis.” It not only delivers you from sin, but it delivers you from things that you’ve spent a lot of time building up walls—from thought patterns to words you repeatedly say over and over.
Grace, however, is not a license to sin.
Continuing a word study on the listed sins of Galatians 5:19–21: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like” (KJV)
The sin of lasciviousness:
Greek scholar and author, Rick Renner, says about lasciviousness in his book “Sparkling Gems, Vol. 1”: “There are two components in the Greek word for lasciviousness.” One part of it means “unbridled sex.” But the other component of lasciviousness is described as the “excessive consumption of food.”
Quoting Rick Renner, “This means that in God’s mind, it is just as perverted to indulge in food as it is to engage in sinful sexual activities.” Rick Renner asked the question, “How does this make you feel about overeating?”
Sin of witchcraft:
Witchcraft doesn’t just mean sorcery. It means mind-altering drugs, hatred, variance, emulation, wrath, strife, sedition, heresy.
Sin of revelries:
Reveling is not what you think it means. “Sparkling Gems” has this to say about the word reveling: “The Greek word describes a person that can’t bear the thought of boredom and therefore constantly seeks forms of amusement and entertainment. This person is actually afraid of being bored, so he constantly contemplates what he can do next to have fun or to be entertained. Although there’s nothing wrong with laughter, a person is consumed with the need for comedy, light moments, fun, pleasure, entertainment, constant eating. He lives for the next meal, the next restaurant, the next movie, and the next vacation.”
Galatians 5:21, ends up with the phrase, “and such like.” That means “and a bunch of others.”
Then the Apostle Paul said, “of which I tell you as I’ve told you in the times past, that those which do…” The word “do” means “practice” in the Greek. Those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
The phrase “kingdom of God” in this verse is not referring to heaven. It’s referring to Romans 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” The kingdom of God is not a matter of food and drink; rather, it’s about righteousness. New Testament righteousness is referring to a state of being acceptable to God. It is a gift that He gave to us.
Read About It
Rom. 5:20–21, “Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
2 Cor. 3:9, “For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.”
Rom. 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
Gal. 5:19–21, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Rom. 5:17, “For if because of one man’s trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive [God’s] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself] reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).” Amp.
Discussion Questions
Can you explain why when the law came, sin abounded?
What does a person experience when they try to deal with their sin problem living under the Old Covenant law?
Why did the Apostle Paul call the Old Testament covenant the “Ministry of Condemnation”?