Nouns Are Not Verbs.

Divine Exchange
Romans 5:17-19
“17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one {Adam}, MUCH MORE those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”

Humans are sinful creatures by nature.  But are we sinful because we commit sins?  No.  In fact, it is just the opposite.  We sin because we are sinners ever since Adam fell and sin passed to all mankind.

Dogs bark, cats meow, donkeys bray, lions roar.  This is not shocking or surprising to us. We fully expect those animals to do so.  In the same way, sinners sin because it’s in our nature to sin.  That may seem obvious but it is true, nonetheless.

Adam’s one rebellious act was so powerful that no amount of righteous deeds on our part could ever overcome it.  

English Lesson.

Let’s have a little English grammar refresher to better understand the subject.

Ok, class; What is a noun? A noun is a person, place or thing.

What is a verb?  A verb denotes action or a state of being, such as is, am, or are.

Excellent!  Nouns do not denote action just as verbs do not describe people, places, or things.  The difference is obvious, I hope.  So let’s apply our lesson to the passage below.

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Application.

The verses below from Romans 5 & 6 are two of the most misused, misinterpreted, and misapplied scriptures in the entire Bible.  They have inadvertently been used to bring Christians back under bondage; back to that tired, old, “Righteousness by works” model.  Let’s see if our little English lesson can clarify the passage below that has often caused great confusion in the Church.

Romans 5:17-19
“For if by the one man’s offense {verb} death reigned through the one {Adam}, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift {NOT a reward for your performance} of righteousness {noun} will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense {verb} judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification {noun} of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners {noun}, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous {noun}.

You can plainly see that we are NOT sinners–>NOUN…because we are committing  sins–>VERB. We are sinners because of Adam’s sin—>VERB.   

Likewise, we are not righteous–>NOUN…because we do right—>VERB. We are righteous—>NOUN…because of Jesus’ gift of righteousness—>NOUN.

What Is A Gift?

A gift by definition:
A. Must be offered. B. Must be accepted or rejected. C. Is NOT a reward you can earn. D.  There are no strings attached.

Romans 6:14-18
“14 For sin {noun} shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin {verb} because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin {noun} leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness.” {noun}?

…And what is the obedience that leads to righteousness? BELIEVING AND ACCEPTING the free gift!  “17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin {noun}, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of DOCTRINE to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, {noun} you became slaves of righteousness.” {noun}

 yet you obeyed from the heart that form of DOCTRINE to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, {noun} you became slaves of righteousness.” {noun}

Prisoner Relocation.

This is a prisoner transfer!  You have simply been moved from one prison (the devil’s) to another’s……Jesus.  You have been transferred FROM the prison of sin {noun} TO the prison of righteousness. {noun}

Slaves at each respective “Prison” behave accordingly without conscious thought, whether sinful or righteous. Their deeds, good or bad, do not determine in which camp they are imprisoned. By default {birth} we are born into the prison of sin and delivered to the new facility by accepting {new birth} Jesus’ gift.

And just in case you wondered, there is no such thing as a reverse transfer. Once you are in Jesus’ you can NEVER be transferred back!  (See John 10.)

So…..we are sinners…NOUN…because of Adam.  Sin…NOUN…passed to all of us.  Our sinning…VERB…does not make us sinners.  We commit sins…VERB…because we are sinners…NOUN. We are righteous..…NOUN..…because of accepting Jesus’ gift..…NOUN.

If you thought that Jesus came to set us free from sinning…VERB…then I respectfully have to say that He failed…MISERABLY!  

But that is not what He did. The condemnation and judgment for our on-going sinning…VERB….He bore in His body at Calvary, and though there may be human consequences, there is no more judgement from God toward us. Why? Because it would be UNjust to Jesus to punish us for something He already paid for when He died, that’s why!  And believe me:  His death was far and above an OVERPAYMENT!!!  We stand in the righteousness of our Father’s Beloved Son.

Anyone out there still unsure? The lesson of Yom Kippur should help clear any doubts.

The Lesson Of Yom Kippur.

Perhaps this Holy Spirit’s visual aide from the Old Testament will help illustrate this point.

In the Old Testament, you brought your lamb to the priest.  The priest didn’t look at you.  He knew why you were there.  He examined your lamb for any defects.  Then, when he was satisfied that your sacrifice was without blemish, you laid your hands on it’s head, and a transfer took place:  Your sinfulness passed to the representative innocent lamb and the lamb’s representative righteousness passed to you.  The innocent was sacrificed for the guilty party, YOU.

That day you walked away with something you didn’t have before:  RIGHT STANDING BEFORE GOD.  The difference was that your sins were merely covered not cleansed as under the New Covenant.  This they did on an annual basis every Yom Kippur.

Once For All Time.

We do the same thing today only we do it once for all time.  The Father still judges you and I based on our Lamb, Jesus. We “place our hands,” as it were, on our Perfect Lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ…..ONCE…..and receive His righteousness in place of our sin. The difference is our sins for our entire life are totally cleansed, not just covered!  Even though we still sin, guilt is never imputed to us because it was imputed to Jesus 2,000 years ago!  Jesus is our once-for-all Yom Kippur!

Now, when we confess our sins to God, we don’t do so in order to be forgiven; we confess them because we already are.  Confessing our righteousness in Christ breaks the power sin has over us, setting us free of it’s power, and giving us victory over those things that so easily beset us.

So, thank you, Jesus, for your priceless gift!  And thank you, Daddy, that nouns are not verbs!