Romans 5: Two Inheritances, Two Destinies

Introduction

This is the last study of the 2026 Convention of the Église biblique franco-espagnole Le Phare. Manuel Jubete, who calls himself "Manolo", begins by thanking those who served during these days, often without being seen. He reminds us that Paul compares the Church to a body and that the members who seem the smallest are the most necessary (1 Corinthians 12:22). Even if you see yourself as very small: "Look how great you are: God sent his Son as a ransom for you."

He takes up a message he had already preached in Oviedo, one he gave a title, which is rare for him: "Two Inheritances, Two Destinies". The text is Romans 5:12-21, lit throughout by the best-known verse in the Bible, John 3:16.

His desire is simple: that this message not stay in your head. "Do you know the distance between the brain and the heart? A hand's span. It is a short distance, but it costs something to get from here to the heart."

Outline of the Message

1. An Inheritance You Did Not Choose

No one here chose their parents, their family name, the country where they were born, or their language. When you think about it, we have chosen very little in our lives.
The preacher says he chose only one thing, the woman with whom he shares his life, and he adds with humor: "I don't know if she is the one who chose me and not the other way around."
Some received a good inheritance: a house, a good name, a good position. Others received debts, wounds, difficult stories.
The Word of God speaks of an inheritance more important than any material inheritance: a spiritual inheritance, which God gives and which is received by faith. "Today, the message I have for you is that you are going to receive something good."
Romans 5 presents an inheritance and a destiny that everyone received, then an inheritance and a destiny that some received by faith: "In Adam, death. In Christ, eternal life."

2. In Adam, Death: A Door We Cannot Close

"Sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin" (Romans 5:12). We readily think that sin is in the world, in society. The reality is harder: it is also in the heart of man.
It is easy to spot the sins of others and to justify our own. If we are sincere, each of us can admit that we carry in our heart things that do not please God, whether in our character or in our actions.
Adam and Eve disobeyed, and a door opened, the door of death. "That door, we cannot close." Sin broke their relationship with God. Death is not an invention of the law: it is the consequence of sin, and it has reigned over all.
What is sin? Not only making mistakes. "It is making my life what I want, without taking God's will into account," as if we were saying to God: I am autonomous enough to decide for myself.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). That includes those who come to church and those who do not, the one who preaches and the one who listens.
Comparing yourself to others is useless: "I am not as bad as he is." "The standard is not so-and-so, it is not Manolo. The standard is what glorifies God or does not glorify him."

3. If You Change Nothing, Nothing Changes: You Must Be Born Again

The preacher had a little air freshener in his van, found at a gas station, with this phrase: "If you change nothing, nothing changes." A humanist message, he admits, but he makes it his motto.
On December 31, we promise to read the whole Bible in a year, to cut off a toxic relationship. "February arrives. And what happens? We are the same, or even a little worse." It takes more than willpower: only God has the ability to transform us.
Jesus did not tell Nicodemus, that teacher of the law: improve some areas of your life. He told him: "You must be born anew" (John 3:7). "And today I invite you to the very same thing."
The natural man does not understand the things of God, they are foolishness to him (1 Corinthians 2:14). "Me, I was not looking for God. But he was looking for me. And he came into my life."
As with medicine, you only appreciate the doctor when you are sick. "The first step toward healing, do you know what it is? It is recognizing that you are sick." Be honest with God, thinking of yourself, not of your spouse, your friends or your children.

4. The Good News Begins with God's Love

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). The verse does not begin with our efforts or our merits. It begins with love.
The Gospel begins in our heart, but it began first in the heart of God. God is love (1 John 4:8). We love out of affinity, taste, attraction. God's love is not like that.
"But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Not when you were doing everything right, not when you had sorted out your problems. God did not wait for you to be perfect: he took the initiative and gave his one and only Son.
The preacher uses an image, specifying that it is a metaphor: at the cross, with the precious blood of his Son, God wrote: "I love you."
The cross was not an accident, nor a failure of God's plan, nor an idea of the Pharisees and the Romans. It was part of the plan of redemption. What Boaz did for Ruth, covering her and protecting her, God did for us.
God loved the world, without borders, without skin color, without language or nationality: "And in that whole, you find yourself." That is why the Church must carry the Gospel to the unconverted family, to friends, to neighbors, to the workplace.
A Spanish saying goes: "I love you very much, little dog, but bread, little." We say we love people, but at the hour of truth, do we help them or do we criticize them? "Do not despise your imperfect brothers and sisters, because God loves them." If God looked at our sins, who could stand before him (Psalm 130:3)?
"God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:5). Not a few drops from a barely open tap: a love poured out. It is not only a doctrine, it is an experience we live.

5. Much More: The Grace That Forgives and Teaches

In Romans 5:15-17, Paul compares Adam and Christ, and one expression keeps coming back: "much more". What Adam destroyed, Christ restored, and abundantly. The fall was great, but the grace of God is greater still.
Grace is the favor of God, the gift we receive without deserving it. You cannot buy it, because it is a gift. You cannot earn it, because you were in your sins.
Good works are not the price we pay for God to accept us. They are the consequence of a transformed life. Your spouse or your children may say: he has changed, he does things he did not do before. These are the works that God prepared beforehand (Ephesians 2:10). "We do not do good works to be saved. We do these good works because we are saved."
Grace does not only forgive: it transforms. Titus 2:11-12 says that it teaches us to renounce worldly desires and to live in the present age with wisdom, righteousness and godliness. It is like a teacher at school.
So there is a voluntary and necessary action on your part. Some say: "If God wanted me to change, he would change me," especially when bad moods and fits of anger come out. Grace teaches you to renounce.
Renouncing sometimes means moving away from what makes us fall every time. His mother always accused his friends of being the cause of his missteps. "Sometimes it is the friends. But normally it is us, because we enjoy that kind of friendship." There are also pages on our phones that we should not visit, habits that are not the best.

6. The Holy Spirit, Not Willpower

"All this is very beautiful on paper, on the screen. But how do I put it into practice?" The same Spirit who convicts of sin and who poured God's love into our hearts begins to guide us and teach us.
You discover things that do not please God, you want to overcome them and you cannot. "If you could, it would not be God's work, it would be your work." We cannot overcome temptations with willpower alone.
That is why we need gatherings where the Word is shared, we need to pray for one another, to pray to God, to obey his Word and to be willing to give up what does not please him.
"What you see in us is not the fruit of an organization, of a Church, of our willpower. It is the work of God through the Holy Spirit." "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16).
"Do not resign yourself, ask the Holy Spirit to change you. Do not get used to living defeated." Repent, ask forgiveness, ask for help. It is not about publishing your struggles, but among the people of God there are those you can go to and listen to their counsel.

7. A Garden for the Fall, a Garden for Obedience

"For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:19). In a garden, in Eden, Adam disobeyed. In a garden, at Gethsemane, Christ obeyed: "Nevertheless not my will, but yours, be done" (Luke 22:42).
"That door Adam opened, Jesus closed, and he opened it so that through him we can have life, forgiveness, and live the life that pleases him."
John 3:16 says "whoever believes". That has nothing to do with a perfect or imperfect past, nor with having sorted out your life. "None of us who are here in Christ arrived clean before him. We arrived dirty." Do you feel dirty, unworthy? That "whoever" includes you.
Believing is not only believing that Jesus existed and that he was crucified: the demons believe it too, and they tremble (James 2:19). Believing is repenting, turning, trusting God, receiving by faith the salvation he has prepared, entrusting your life to him.
"From that moment on, I never felt alone again." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:16): "You are my son, you are my daughter. You belong to me, you are not alone." Perhaps not all your problems will be solved, but God will give you the ability to face them.
"But where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly" (Romans 5:20). This is not permission to sin, and Paul answers that in chapter 6. It is the promise of forgiveness in Christ for the one who comes with a repentant heart.
Paul persecuted the Church and approved of Stephen's death, then he was seized on the road to Damascus. Peter denied Jesus three times, then he was restored and received this charge: "Feed my sheep." "Your failure today does not mean the end of everything."
"That, as sin reigned in death, so grace might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 5:21). The question remains: "Who reigns in your life? In Adam, sin, or in Christ, the grace of God?"

Key Takeaways

All have sinned and need God.
God showed his love by giving Jesus Christ.
The grace of God is greater than your fall.
Through faith in Christ, we receive forgiveness and eternal life.
The Holy Spirit helps us live a transformed life.

Personal Application

When you think about sin, do you think first of others or of your own heart? What in you does not please God?
What resolution have you made several times without keeping it? What does that tell you about your need for the Holy Spirit?
What is grace teaching you to give up today: a friendship that makes you fall, a page on your phone, a habit?
Is there an imperfect brother or sister whom you despise or criticize? How can you love them through your actions?
Who reigns in your life right now: sin or the grace of God?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "two inheritances, two destinies" mean in Romans 5?

According to Manuel Jubete, Romans 5 presents two men and two destinies. Through Adam, sin entered the world and, with it, death: that is the inheritance everyone received. Through Jesus Christ, those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life. In Adam, death; in Christ, eternal life, an inheritance received by faith.

Do you have to do good works to be saved?

No. The preacher insists: good works are not the price we pay for God to accept us. Grace is a gift we receive without deserving it. Works are the consequence of a transformed life: "We do not do good works to be saved. We do these good works because we are saved."

Why is willpower not enough to change?

Because sin touches the heart. New Year's resolutions run out of steam by February. Jesus did not ask Nicodemus to improve a few things, he told him he had to be born again. After that, grace teaches us to renounce, and it is the Holy Spirit who gives the strength to overcome: "Walk by the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16).