What if you could wake up tomorrow morning completely free from the crushing weight of guilt? Imagine living without that nagging voice that whispers, you're not good enough, or you've blown it again. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl reveals the beautiful outcome when we stop groveling in guilt and start resting in God's magnificent grace. It's not Chuck's idea. The doctrine of grace is clearly spelled out for us in Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 5.
You see, grace doesn't merely forgive, it transforms, liberates, and charms us into righteousness. In ways legalism never could. Romans five twelve. takes us Far back in time to a place called the Garden of Eden. That's where God placed the first man He created, and shortly thereafter placed the woman alongside him.
And he made it clear to Adam and Eve that everything in the garden they were to enjoy. How gracious is that? But But the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, don't eat of it. The day you eat of it, dying, you will die, literally. Dying physically, that will kick in.
You will die instantly spiritually. There will be a gap between your relationship with me. As soon as you eat. To make matters worse, you will open a sewage pipe That will pollute the stream of humanity the rest of time. Don't eat.
Don't take of the tree. You and I know that Adam ate, and as a result, theologians tell us he acted as our federal head. And because he ate and sinned, so we. have the same pollution in our system. It's impossible to bring a child into this world free of sin.
Because there's never been a parent. Free of sin. who came from parents. who were sinful. All of this takes us to Romans 5 and verse 12.
Therefore, as through one man Sin entered into the world and death Through sin. Stop there. With the sin of Adam there was introduced into the world, and from then on, The problem of sin. Sin became king. and the queen, death, reigned alongside the king.
Where you see death, you find sin. Where you find sin, you locate death. Sin and death came. From Adam. When he sinned, we all have sinned.
Read on. And death through sin. And so death spread to all men and women, boys, and girls. Because all sinned. Until the law, sin was in the world.
But sin is not charged to our account where there is. No law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned, in the likeness of the offense of Adam. What does that mean?
Now look again at the verses. Until the law, sin was in the world. How do we know that? Because people died.
So it spread to all humanity, and guilt from sin by the law came along. When the law came, There came along guilt. I know now that this is wrong because God has written it, and I know by reading it that it's wrong. Verse 14, nevertheless. Death reigned from Adam until Moses.
Even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam. Even though we didn't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, still we sin, and therefore there is still the presence of sin.
Now we get to verse 15. Here's where it gets very interesting. We've looked at Adam. who introduced sin and death. Think of Adam on one side in the column of your mind, and think of Christ on the other.
Adam in the fall, transgression. Christ on the cross. Righteousness.
Now look at 15. But the free gift is not like The transgression. The cross and what was provided is not at all like the fall and what resulted. For if by the transgression of the one, that's Adam, The many died. Much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus, abound to many.
The results of the fall, verse 15, tells us, many died. As a matter of fact, it was the pollution that impacted all of humanity. But as a result of the cross and the gift of eternal life, there are many who live on. Because of one man.
So the contrast continues into verse 16. The gift, now we're back to Christ. The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned.
So the gift brought at the cross from Christ. You read here. Is not like the one that sinned. For on the one hand, the judgment arose from one transgression, resulting in condemnation. As a result of his fall, judgment flowed in the wake of sin and death.
Condemnation flowed along with the pollution of humanity.
Now, look at the change. But on the other hand, The free gift arose from many transgressions. resulting in justification. There's our word again. The sovereign act of God whereby he declares righteous the believing sinner while we are still in a sinning state.
That's what the gift provides. It's by grace. And what a wonderful way to live rather than under the guilt of condemnation or the condemnation of guilt. There's a third contrast. First was the contrast of results, verse 15.
Then the contrast of the cause, verse 16.
Now the contrast of choice. Seventy. By the transgression of Adam, death reigned. Through him Remember, he's our federal head. Much more those who receive the abundance of grace and That gift of righteousness, being justified, will reign in life through the one Jesus.
Christ. What a magnificent relief it is for us to see ourselves no longer in Adam and under the domination of a king and queen who ruled our lives long enough. We are now living under the authority of a new monarch. whose name is Jesus the Lord. And he provides a way of life.
called grace. The freedom of the guilt of the old life. Is now ours to enjoy.
Well, we've contrasted things. Let's compare them. Verses 18 and 19. have words of comparison. Look at 18.
So then. Again, so like Paul, connecting everything together.
So then, As the one man's disobedience As through the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners. Again, that's Adam. Even so, through the obedience of the one, Many will be made righteous. Look at that comparison. The one act of each man, Adam and Christ, determined the destiny of many.
The one act of Adam, the destiny of those who never trust in Christ, is death. condemnation and judgment. That which follows those who believe, there is, of course, the announcement of righteousness and the joy of living for Him. free of the drag of those things that once held us down. He isn't through.
One more comparison. Verse 19, as through the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners. even so through the obedience of the one. The many will be made. Righteous.
Now let me just cut it straight and just make no bones about it. Every person in this room today, every person who hears my voice, who will ever hear my voice, is in one category or the other. the condemned or the righteous. Those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus and those who have resisted the Lord Jesus. Those who know only life in Adam which is a life marked by depravity and all of the drag of a sinful life style.
And those of us who still, those sinners, can know forgiveness, acceptance, and an eternal home with God. Jesus is the difference. Not church attendance. Not some religious act or series of acts. Not inheriting a righteousness from your grandparents or your parents.
Each generation must know and come to know the Savior personally. And it's through Christ alone. Last summer, Cynthia and I on our travels found ourselves in Turkey. We were at a Rug shop where they weave the rugs, and they were showing us those rugs. I got tired of looking at them, so I walked outside and I sat down with the merchant who ran the place.
Found out soon that he was a Muslim and had very good English, and we talked. And the further we talked, the more it became obvious that he wanted to talk about religion. He had no clue who I am, and I have no clue who he was or his background, but it was obvious we have two different gods.
However, he wanted them to be the same. And he so wanted me to know how great it was that we could be sincerely followers of the same God. Even though one is of a Muslim faith and the other is a Christian faith. And I said, but. You know, there is that statement Jesus made.
Oh. He leaned forward to listen. He said, What is that? I said it is. His statement that he Said to his disciples, I am the way, the truth, the life.
No one comes to the Father but Through me. Hmm. He blinked. I gave him a moment just to think it through. He's never heard it in his life.
He said, I never heard that. I said, I know, most people haven't. And I said, we have a. A word in English is called a definite article. and it identifies the one and only.
Jesus says, I am the one and only. Way Yeah. I quoted Meryl Tinney's line. Without the way, there is no going. Without the truth, there is no knowing.
Without the life, There is no living. And I said. You could come to know. Jesus Christ. Christ.
who is not the same as Allah. Get that stray. And he said, Would you like to see more rugs? And you know what? I went and looked at more rugs.
Why? I had given him the gospel. It is now the work of the Holy Spirit. to drive it home. Should I have pushed him against the wall and tell him if he doesn't believe, I'm not buying anything?
I should have thought of that, by the way, honey. Mm. And it didn't dawn on me. I didn't do that. You know why?
people aren't drawn to Christ by a push. But by a pole. In that brief period of time on the porch. near Khushadasi, Turkey. I did everything I could to charm him into righteousness.
And I pray for him. Because I know when he goes to bed at night, he now has another message. that comes into his mind. Just as some of you do. As lost as that Muslim.
So your God isn't a... Allah, yours is money. Or yourself. or your reputation or your status. your possessions.
Your name. I mean, how dare you tell me I'm a sinner? I'm just reading from the book. And if you want to know God and spend eternity with Him when you die, you must come through Christ. It's that narrow.
Yeah, it's that narrow. We live in an age of plurality and all of this is all muddled and muddy. Don't let this get muddy. Paul will help you cut a clear swath. Be sure you know Christ.
Now he's contrasted, he's compared. He comes now to the source of grace. Look at this. This is so exciting. Verse 20.
The law came in.
So that the transgression would Increase. That always surprises people to read that. They think the law is this wonderful thing that just somehow frees me. No, the law condemns me. The law puts me under the thumb of specific don't do this and don't do that and I just do one after another.
Proving that I'm a sinner. It increases my awareness of sin, and I realize how far I am from God. without Christ. And my Lost forever? No.
Verse 20 says, for sin increased, Grace and Abounded all the more. Here we see in verse 20, Grace abounding. Grace abounds.
Some have rendered this superabounds. Where sin abounds, grace superabounds. Where sin increases, grace super increases. Where sin brings an awareness, grace. Eclipses.
and overwhelms sin. Where sin and death reigned as king and queen. Grace came as the monarch to overthrow both. Grace has come. Abounding all the more, you never.
We'll get to the end. of his grace.
So that as sin reigned in death, look at the reigning.
So as sin reigned in death, Now, with the cross, even so, grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus. Christ our Lord. How wonderful a message. No more living under the demands of the law, no more exacting requirements of perfection and holiness.
Now, God sees me as a sinner in need of hope, and I trust in His Son. And some of you think, like Mildred, you're going to go a little wild. You're going to get a little wild if you start thinking like that. I mean, after all, where sin abounds, you're liable to go to the extreme. Watch it.
Look at chapter 6, verse 1. I'm not going to go there, but I'm just going to introduce you to what's coming. Just a little preview of coming attractions.
Some of you are thinking, oh no, we're going into chapter 6. Look at verse 1, just verse 1. What shall we say then? We who are under grace. Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase?
That's the very thing some of you are afraid of. And Paul knew it back in the first century. He says, May it never be, perish the thought. I love the way J.B. Phillips was, what a ghastly thought.
No, no, no, no, no, it's not that. Grace allows me now to live under Christ for His glory. I was never able to do that before.
Now I no longer live like I want to live. That's what I did in Adam.
Now I live as Christ would have me live, and I'm empowered to do so. Through the Holy Spirit. who comes to be introduced to us in chapter 8. This is so good. I think I'm looking into faces that are still going, what?
Now, let me. Let me read you from the message again. Here it is in a nutshell. Just as one person did wrong and got us into all this trouble with sin and death. Another person did right.
And got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life. One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong. One man said yes to God and put many in the right. All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers, but sin didn't.
And doesn't Have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. But it's sin versus grace. Grace wins hands down. Isn't that correct? What you have in verse 21 is grace reigning.
Grace is abounding in verse 20, and by the time you get to verse 21, grace is reigning and calling the shots in my life. I have to tell you something. You will live For the rest of your days. Still trying to believe. the magnificent truths of grace.
They would just be constantly washing over you more and more. I'm told by those who studied toward the end of his life under Lewis Sperry Chaffer. founder and president At Dallas Theological Seminary. that he spent his last days as a teacher. in a wheelchair.
teaching from a chair. And teaching on grace. It was his Major message. I'm told that at that time, all those men sitting in the classroom, there were only men attending back in the Very early 1950s. Chaffer died in 1952 before he was able to attend the first chapel service named.
the chapel named in his honor. The fall of fifty-two. I'm told that he finished his lecture in Closed his Bible. And rolled over to the light switch, and all the men sat there, raptured. Turn the lights out.
These said Gentlemen? I spent all my life studying the grace of God, and I am just now beginning. to understand a little of it. And gentlemen. It is magnificent.
Isn't that great? You know what's interesting? Every mentor of mine who studied under Dr. Chaffer. is a model of grace.
Everyone. It's the one characteristic. When you're around the charming presence of grace, it bleeds into the life of another. Who follows? Yet another.
Tragically, the same is true of legalism.
Some of you have been in the grip of legalism so long that this message seems alien and foreign to you, please. Believe it. Please hear it. Let it wash over you and you will find it is in fact magnificent. Magnificent.
Magnificent. Let's bow our heads together. I have the distinct impression that some hear this today. In many ways, for the first time. Oh, you've heard bits and pieces here and there, but you've never really, truly.
Come by faith to Jesus Christ. You've never really said in your heart Today I fully and freely acknowledge that I've never trusted Christ for eternal life. I've never moved out of death. And out of the realm of sin into a place of. The Victory of Grace.
Others of you would have to admit you're more like Mildred than George. You've been afraid of it. You are therefore living under the. Constant guilt. and demand of your conscience.
When the Lord comes with His abounding grace to free you. You resist it. I speak to both of you. You need help. You need to find the answer.
The answer is the same for both. It's grace. For you who are without Christ, it's grace and salvation. For you who know the Lord but have never really walked in the freedom there is in Christ. It's a grace of sanctification, a grace of growth.
Grace of joy. Trust him now, won't you? If you know someone who doesn't know the Savior, this might be the week for you to be the charming presence of the gospel. Just present it. Let the Lord use it.
comes not by a push, but by a pull. And what a great thing to have it said of you that You charm them into righteousness. It is well with our souls, our Father, because we have found a peace that we could find in no other place. And we love you for Introducing yourself to us. through someone who loved us enough to tell us the truth.
Help us, our Father, somehow to find a way to overcome the. the ugliness of legalism. to reach people who have been offended by the church. that we might help them understand the beauty. the joy, the love, the forgiveness that is ours in Christ.
Help us to be Christ to them. Find in us a winsome spirit and a heart willing. to charm people to righteousness. rather than to push them and offend them.
Now, Father, we pray that those without the Savior will find no rest, and no relief, and no hope. to go on. until they find their rest and peace in Christ. We leave them with you now. In the name of Jesus himself, we pray.
Everyone said. Amen. I can almost hear the collective sigh as we begin to understand the depth of God's grace. What a relief. You're listening to Insight for Living and the Bible Teaching of Chuck Swindahl.
Our topic to day, guilt versus grace, as demonstrated in Paul's letter to the Romans. Whether you're a new student of the Bible or you've been reading God's Word all your life, it's critical to renew our minds with these liberating truths. Without constant reminders, it's easy to slip back into old patterns and before long to become enslaved to guilt and shame. Insight for Living offers a number of resources that are designed to elevate your walk with God. And today I want to tell you about Chuck's compelling biography of Abraham.
one of the Bible characters that Paul refers to in his letter to the Romans. We've selected a powerful chapter from Chuck's book to share with you. It's the chapter that describes how Abraham earned the title Friend of God and cultivated an unshakable relationship with his Creator. We'd love to send you this deeply personal chapter about cultivating friendship with God. It'll come as a downloadable PDF, so you can read it on your mobile device or print it out.
In the chapter titled, Can We Talk?, Chuck wrote these words. God, like a good friend, remains interested and available, ready to hear you express your most private thoughts and ready to offer help for today. Like Abraham, you can maintain your respect for the Almighty while turning to him as a friend. This exclusive offer is available to our current monthly companions and to anyone who joins today. Monthly Companions provide automated monthly donations at whatever amount works for your budget.
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I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck describes the revolutionary truth about grace. Tomorrow on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Guilt vs. Grace, was copyrighted in 2007, 2010, and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R.
Swindahl, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
