March 27, 2025
SUPERABUNDANT GRACE!! In a nutshell, that’s Paul’s message to us today. Paul can be rather didactic and hard to follow. Professional theologians spend decades nuancing his words and shades of meaning. But in this passage, at least, Paul’s message is clear. God’s SUPERABUNDANT GRACE is greater than all our sins.
Sin is all around us. Only the willfully blind can’t see it. War and famine are in the news every day. Food insecurity is real. Innocent people are hounded because of their race, sexual orientation, age and citizenship status. At least a few times a week, most of us hear hurtful words and observe cruel actions. From time-to-time we all run into someone with a mean spirit. Sometimes, that person is us!
Into our world of sin the good news of grace, of the undeserved gift of abundant life, bursts again and again in the message of Jesus. At every point where the seeds of wickedness have been planted, bearing deadly fruits of all kinds, there the grace of God has been planted, a vibrant plant that will take over the soil and produce a life-giving harvest.
We can debate the logic of Paul’s argument. We can debate the historicity of Adam and the doctrine of Original Sin. What we can’t debate is that sin is real and pervasive. What we can’t debate is that God’s grace is greater than all our sin. In Paul’s language, Jesus’ gift of salvation is eternally greater than Adam’s sin.
We may disagree with Paul’s logic. We may find his reliance on Adam and Original Sin simplistic.
Nevertheless, his conclusion is at the heart of our faith. In the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God’s grace is superabundant. In fact, it erases all our sins.
Thanks be to God for the early saints who took the time to share their thoughts with us. And thanks be to God for abundant grace.
May God’s grace be with us all,
Pastor Ken.