The first point that I will declare about the text this week is that it is a difficult text. There is much in this section of Romans that has been debated and argued and thought through for years and even centuries. In many ways, this text places us squarely in the deep end of the theological pool. That said, the truths found in the text this week are crucial for Christianity as a whole. This passage is central to the very foundations of Christianity.
As we have gone through Romans, we have seen Paul place much emphasis on individuals. We, as individuals, are sinners who stand under the wrath of God. We, as individuals, are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We, as individuals, have a hope that does not put us to shame because of the work of Jesus Christ. But, in the text this week, Romans 5:12-21, Paul gives us a bird’s-eye view of human history. Ultimately, though we do deal with God on a personal level, we do not exist on a merely personal level. There are forces at work outside of us and beyond us as individuals. These forces affect humanity as a whole and even the very direction of history itself. Paul’s goal, in this text, is to look at history from the viewpoint of its competing forces: the reign of sin and death in Adam vs. the reign of life and righteousness in Christ. It is these “reigns” that dominate all of history. They are powerful, but as we will see from Paul, they are not equally powerful. They are, in many ways, alike, but they are, in greater ways, very different. So let’s look at Paul’s words on these realities.
Paul begins the text this morning with a general statement about Adam’s sin and the results it brought about. He writes, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin…” (5:12a). This initial statement deals strictly with Adam. Paul’s point is that when Adam sinned in Genesis 3 (by disobeying a direct command of God as he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) there were large-scale ramifications of that sin. It was not just that Adam sinned and was punished. Rather, in that moment when he sinned, Adam unleashed powers greater than himself into the world. And according to Paul, the powers that Adam unleashed were sin and death. Paul examines these powers more in depth as he goes through the text, but the point here is simply that these powers entered the world when Adam sinned. Paul’s next statement makes clear that those powers not only affected Adam but all who came after him as well. He continues, “…and death spread to all men because all sinned…” (5:12b). So, just like Adam sinned and – as a result – died, all those who come after him sin and – as a result – they die. They follow the same pattern that Adam laid down in Genesis 3. We will see in a moment that the connection of Adam’s descendants to their first Father is not just one of mere imitation; there is a deeper connecting reality that is present. But, at this point in his argument, Paul is simply making clear that everyone who has come after Adam – which is every human being in the world – has sinned like Adam did and everyone who has come after Adam has died like Adam did.
Paul drives this point home by pointing to the people who lived on the earth from Adam to Moses. Why does Paul single out these people? The reason he does so is because of the concept of the law, which we have seen before. It is easy to look at Adam and see that he sinned by breaking a direct, verbal command of God. It is also easy to look at us all who have lived since Moses’ time and see that we have all sinned by breaking a direct, written command of God. But what about the people from Adam to Moses? They did not break a revealed law of God. And, as Paul writes, “sin is not counted where there is no law” (5:13b). At first glance, this phrase seems difficult because it seems to say that it is impossible to sin if the law does not exist. And that is true from a human perspective. Unlike today, we cannot look at Cain or Lamech or any individual from that era and pronounce judgment based on the law because Cain and Lamech existed before the Law. So the judgments of the written law do not apply to them. But Paul’s point is that they did not escape judgment. Though their sin was not counted in relation to the written law, they still sinned. Paul says, “…for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given…” (5:13a). And, more than that, their sin was judged, “Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam (5:14). So, Paul makes clear that – even though there was no law to point out their sin – those who lived from Adam to Moses still sinned and they were still judged. They are not exempt from Paul’s initial point that all people have followed the pattern that Adam set by sinning and, as a result, dying.
But, this reality begs the question, why does everyone after Adam follow the pattern that he set? Is it merely that Adam set an example that everyone follows? The short answer is no. In fact, there was a heresy in the early church in which a man began teaching that all people are basically good but that all people, at some point, follow Adam’s example and sin. The church condemned that teaching (Pelagianism) as heretical. But why? If we are not merely following Adam’s example, why do we imitate him? The answer is given in the middle section of our text this morning. And the answer is that something bigger and deeper happened when Adam sinned that directly affected us as individuals, and Paul examines this “something” piece-by-piece. The reality of Genesis 3 is that Adam functioned as the representative for all of humanity. There are various names given to this reality (“covenant head,” “corporate head,” etc.) but the essential reality is the same: as our representative, whatever Adam did we did and whatever results come to Adam come to us as well. What is true of Adam is true of every person who has come from Adam. Let’s look at each part of this in turn.
First, Paul declares that when Adam died we all died. He writes, “…many died through one man’s trespass…” (5:15b). When Adam sinned, he did not physically die immediately. However, he did spiritually “die” in that he was immediately separated from God. The result of this spiritual death is eventual physical death. But Paul’s point is that when Adam sinned, we all died with him. Humanity, which was even at that point in Adam’s “loins,” died just like he did. At that point death began to reign. Paul says later in the text, “…because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man…” (5:17a). Death not only reigned over Adam but over every one of his descendants. As a result, there is not a moment of existence in the life of any human being (apart from Christ) at which they are not dead and under the reigning power of death.
Second, Paul addresses the issue of condemnation. He writes, “For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation…” (5:16b). When Adam sinned, it was not just that God left him to the consequences of his sin. Rather, God actively condemned him; he experienced the fierce wrath of God. And Paul goes even further by saying “…one trespass led to condemnation for all men…” (5:18a). Here we see that Adam’s sin resulted not only in his own condemnation but in the condemnation of all people because Adam was our representative. So, as a result, there is not a moment of existence in the life of any human being (apart from Christ) at which they do not stand condemned by God.
The final thing Paul addresses in regard to Adam is the issue of sinfulness. He writes, “…by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners…” (5:19a). So, on top of causing the death of us all and bringing condemnation upon us all, a major result of Adam’s sin is that we were all made sinners. Paul does address, at this point, when we actually committed sin or how all of that works. He simply says that through Adam’s sin, we all were made sinners.
So here we have the graphic picture of the havoc that Adam’s sin brought about. Here is the fundamental reason for all of the wickedness and rebellion that Paul talked about in 1:18-3:20. Paul wants to highlight the horrible reign of sin and death that was introduced through Adam’s transgression. It is horrible not only in the effects that it brought but in the scope of those effects: Adam not only died but all died in Adam; Adam not only was condemned but all were condemned in Adam; and Adam not only sinned but all were made sinners in Adam. The reign of sin and death is horrible and powerful because there is not a single individual (apart from Christ) over whom that reign is not exerted in its totality. This is why “none is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Rom. 3:10-12). This is why we are “by nature children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3). We are connected with one who was overpowered by sin and death and so we are overpowered by sin and death.
Before moving to Paul’s answer to this, we need to address a major question that might very well arise in the mind of any rational human being at this point in our text. Having heard that all human beings are affected by the sin of Adam and the results that it brought about, no doubt it causes us to think, “How is that fair? It’s not fair that the actions of an individual thousands of years before I was even born affect me all these years later?” To this argument that the idea of Adam’s actions affecting all human being is unfair, I would offer three responses. First, we need merely to look at our own lives and see that we are no better than Adam. Examine your heart and answer this question: “By nature, without Christ, did you hate sinning or did you enjoy it?” The fact that we willfully sin and delight in it and do not desire God at all is proof that our hearts are exactly what Paul declares: wicked and sinful. And the horrible results of Adam’s sin that we receive by nature of being connected to him are absolutely just. There is no debate about that. Our own weaknesses and failings make clear to us that, were we in Adam’s position, we would be no better.
Second, the fact that the world works this way is the way God made the world to work. He designated Adam as the representative for all of humanity. So claiming that it is not fair for things to work this way is no different than the pot telling the potter who made it that the potter had no right to make the pot as he did. God has made this world and we are in no position, as the creature, to stand in judgment of God.
Third, if this entire concept of our connection to Adam is thrown out, the concept of our connection to Christ is thrown out as well. If Adam’s sin and its results are not imputed to us, then Christ’s work and its results are not imputed to us either. And the result is that we are still dead in our sins.
It is this last point that leads into the other half of our text this week. Why does Paul spend so much time hammering Adam’s sin and the effects that it brought about? Why does he want his readers to understand this concept that seems so difficult to understand? The reason, in Paul’s words, is that Adam “was a type of the one who was to come” (5:14b) – that is, Jesus Christ. In the same way that Adam was the representative of all those who are “in him” (connected to him) so that his actions affect those who come after him as well, so Jesus Christ is the representative of all those who are “in him” so that his actions affect them as well. The reason this issue is so important to Paul is because the way that we are connected to Adam is the way that we are connected to Christ.
But even though the means of connection is the same, the results are radically different and in no way equal in power. This is what consumes the rest of Paul’s thought in this text. He wants his readers to understand that the blessings of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection are imputed (counted apart from the merits of the one to whom they are counted) just like the horrible results of Adam’s sin are imputed. But he also wants them to understand that the results brought about by Christ’s work are better and more powerful than the results of Adam’s sin. So, having seen what was gained by Adam, let us look at what was gained by Christ.
As we come to that which was accomplished by Christ, we see clearly that Paul wants his readers to understand that this work of Christ is far superior, in every way, to that which came about through Adam. Even as we just saw that Adam was a type of Christ – so they are alike in ways – Paul makes clear that Christ’s work was much different from Adam’s, particularly in its results. Paul writes, “But the free gift is not like the trespass” (5:15a), and he also writes, “And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin.” Christ brings about something much different than what Adam brought about.
First, the work of Christ brings about grace. Paul writes, “For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many” (5:15). So whereas Adam’s trespass brought death, Christ’s work brings grace. Rather than that which destroys, he brings that which gives life and saves and redeems. Rather than God’s wrath, those in Christ experience God’s favor. And this grace that comes through Christ is “much more” than the death that comes through Adam. It overcomes that death. The crediting of death through the sin of Adam is overcome by the grace that comes through Christ.
Second, the work of Christ brings justification. Paul says, “For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification” (5:16). So whereas Adam’s trespass caused all people to be condemned, Christ’s work causes people to be justified. If you remember, when we looked at Romans 3:21-31, a person is justified by being declared “not guilty.” All those in Adam are condemned and declared guilty. All those in Christ are justified and declared “not guilty.” Paul reiterates this point in 5:18: “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.” So even though they come about in the same manner, the results of Adam’s work and the results of Christ’s work are polar opposites of each other.
Third, a result of Christ’s work is that those who receive it reign in life through Christ. Paul writes, “If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” (5:17) Whereas those in Adam are reigned over by sin and death, those who are in Christ will themselves reign in life. Rather than being reigned over, those in Christ will reign with him. And this reign that comes through Christ is “much more” than that reign of sin and death. That is, it is powerful enough to break the reign of those enemies and set up a new reign. Again, Christ’s work is far superior to that of Adam.
Finally, by Christ’s obedience, people are made righteous. Paul writes, “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” Whereas Adam’s sin actually caused us as human beings to become sinners, the work of Christ actually causes people to become righteous. We must not miss this point: Adam’s sin actually made people sinners (that is, people who sin) whereas Christ’s obedience, even unto death on the cross actually makes people righteous (that is, people who live righteous lives). Again the difference is highlighted and the superiority of Christ’s work shines because the people he makes righteous were once sinners. But they have now been changed.
So here we have seen Paul highlight the difference between Adam and Christ. And, by necessity of the fact that they are both “corporate heads,” we have seen the difference between those who are in Adam and those who are in Christ. The crucial issue is which corporate head every individual falls under. Because the reality of the situation is that everyone is under one, and only one, of these heads. By nature, we all fall under the headship of Adam. So by nature, we are all dead, condemned and sinful because Adam sinned. But it is possible for that to change. And the way it changes is by faith in Jesus Christ. Paul points this out in verse 17 when he points out that those who reign in life through Christ are “those who receive the abundance of grace the free gift of righteousness.” An individual is not automatically transferred from being in Adam to being in Christ. It comes about only through faith. This is why Paul is so fond of the phrase “in Christ” – those who believe are “in Christ” and thus, as Paul makes clear in this passage, they have life and are justified and are made righteous.
But before Paul finishes this section, he returns to the issue of the law. This return might seem odd to us but we have to understand the situation of Paul’s readers. This idea that the problem of sin ultimately comes down to Adam vs. Christ would have caused Paul’s readers to say, “What about the Law? You are saying that Christ is the one who deals with the sin introduced by Adam, but wasn’t the Law given in order to restrain sin? What about its place?” It is that sort of thought that drives Paul to move to this theme. If Christ is the one who deals with sin, what was the role of the Law? Paul writes, “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (5:20-21). Paul highlights the fact that the law was given to “increase the trespass.” This does not mean that the giving of the Law caused there to be a greater number of sins. Rather, the giving of the Law made absolutely clear – without a shadow of a doubt – the horrible and heinous nature of sin. With the giving of the Law, the sick and rebellious aspects of sin were clearly revealed. And so the trespass increased. But the increasing of trespasses was not the ultimate goal. God allowed the trespasses to increase so that “as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness.” God’s ultimate goal was that sin would be raised to its highest level of power and might – that it might reach its apex so that its fall might be all the greater. Much like a boxer who wants his opponent to have plenty of time to get rested and ready so that his victory is all the more legitimate, sin was raised to its full height so that the overwhelming “greaterness” of grace might be clear. And this is the goal of Paul’s thought in this section. To those who do not believe, Paul wants to hold up that there is something greater than all the sin and death in the world. And the victory over those things comes only through Christ. And for those who have believed, Paul wants us to glory in the greatness of Christ. It is true that we were once dead in our trespasses and sins and death reigned over us and we were condemned by God. But now we have been made alive with Christ. The power of grace has overpowered that death that reigned over us and we are free. We are now justified and we reign in life through Christ. And we are made righteous. Not only are we declared righteous, but we actually become righteous as God sanctifies us by rooting out the remains of sin in our lives through the Holy Spirit that lives within us. As we come to the table, we remember the greatness of Christ. We remember that his act of obedience through death on the cross is “much more” in every way – power, might, etc. – than the one sin of Adam in Genesis 3. May we remember and rejoice this morning.