²⁰ The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Grace abounding, a most magnificent truth: “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” Usually religious people think this completely untrue. There are some sins and sinful lifestyles which no amount of grace can ever overcome. At times this can reflect in a vitriolic reaction bordering on derision, which completely excludes forgiveness as a possibility. What immediately comes to mind are people like Hitler, Idi Amin, Islamic terrorists, child rapers, wife abusers, swindlers, and the work associate who incessantly demeans us. How can any of these possibly be found a platform for God’s grace? Incredible as that seems, that is exactly what it says.

The problem, however, is not in how bad those illustrations of sin are, but rather in the self-righteousness of the rest of us who think we are not as bad! Remember, “There is none righteous, not even one … all have turned aside…there is none who does good, there is not even one…” (Rom 3:10-12). Also, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23)! The fact that some people commit unthinkable crimes against humanity does not in any way abrogate our own sinfulness. We err by classifying some sins as worse than others. In saying this, we are not minimizing the nature of horrendous crimes, but rather maximizing our own sinfulness. Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jer 17:9). James tells us, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all” (James 2:10). Most people would consider murder far worse than adultery, but James goes on to say, “For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not commit murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law” (James 2:11).

It doesn’t matter how great or how small the sin; sin is sin. After all, what was so bad about Adam taking the fruit of the forbidden tree? How does taking a piece of fruit compare with genocide? Yet eating that fruit has proven far more devastating for humanity than the Holocaust, the slaughter of the Kurds, the Ugandan tribes and Islamic terrorists combined. So Paul says, “Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more.” Grace reigns and is more powerful than anything any man can do against God or against humanity.

Lord, help me through Your grace to overcome the effect of sin of others.