Email from Abiding Place Daily Bread – December 17, 2024 (The Third Day – Genesis 1:9-13) Romans 5:13 – For sin was in the world before the law, but there was no accounting of it without the Law. Recently, I have heard more abuse of this Scripture from so many different places with more radical conclusions than ever. To say that because the Law of Moses has been abolished that sin is no longer accounted against us defies the corpus of Scripture. Men were unaware of the reign of sin and death prior to the Law of Moses, which Paul describes in Romans 5, but it was most definitely judged. To begin with, there was no Law of Moses in the days of Adam, but sin was most certainly judged. There was no law in the days of Noah, but sin was certainly judged. There was no law in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, but sin was most certainly judged. There is one other related verse “For the Law brings about wrath, for where there is no Law, there is no transgression.” (Romans 4:15). Once again, to conclude that Paul is saying God’s wrath against sin was not displayed against sin prior to the Law of Moses is incorrect. To say His wrath does not still abide on sin even until this day is equally wrong and contrary to what Paul says in other places like Romans 1:18, Ephesians 5:6, and Colossians 3:6 – as well as many other verses of Scripture. While one can conclude that sin was not specifically contrasted to the righteousness and holiness of God, it was most certainly judged. The Law of Moses was definitely given so that sin may be observed as exceedingly sinful – which is part of the reasoning. Sin did not come by the Law of Moses, rather it can by Adam’s transgression (Romans 5:12). Yet, as John said even until now, “Whoever commits sin also transgresses the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). The bigger issue is that the inheritance promised to Abraham could not come by the Law. Blessings, Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
Daily Bread 12/17/2024
