Romans 5:12-14:Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-- 13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
I empathize with Tertius (see Romans 16:22) as he tried to jot down Paul's words as he dictated them and keep it all organized!
Chapter 5 is perhaps the most difficult chapter of Romans to read (though it is not so difficult to grasp), and vv. 12-21 are the most difficult verses of the chapter.
V. 12, Adam introduced two things into the world: Sin and Death. He didn't transfer either of these to his posterity; he merely brought them into the world. But because all of his offspring sinned, they all died.
VV. 13-14, Historically, more has been read into this verse than is actually there. Sin was still in the world before the law was given. But it wasn’t taken into account, because there was no law.Paul is simply illustrating his previous point that "where there is no law there is no transgression" (Romans 4:15).
- Here he illustrates the same point by pointing to the time period between Adam to Moses. Since sin means breaking the law, it was impossible for people to sin before The Law was given.
- There he discussed how Christians are freed from bondage to sin since the law no longer has dominion over them.
The message is the same: Without a law, no one is guilty. That is true whether law is absent because it hadn't been given or because it has been abolished. Either way, no one can be found guilty.He will spend a great deal of time in the next chapters fleshing (no pun intended) this out.
But notice that in our current passage, sin is an entity unto itself – it exists on its own, even when people do not commit sin by breaking a command. Death reigned even when there was no law (i.e., even before Moses and even before sin was taken into account).
Paul is stating a relatively complex concept here. I'm going to try to make plain, but doing so is challenging.
- He says sin isn't taken into account where there is no law.
- Yet he says everyone died - even those who had no law and thus whose sins weren't take into account
- Doesn't that sound contradictory? It sounds like people before the Law were being punished even though their sins weren't taken into account, doesn't it?
But Paul is assuming a concept here that is difficult for our Western minds to grasp, though his original readers would have understood it. It was part of their culture. When he says “because all sinned” in v.12, he means that Adam’s sin was a sin for everyone. “All sinned” because Adam sinned. All died because Adam sinned - even those whose personal sins were "not taken into account."
Paul will say more about this in v.19, and I'll explain a bit more in my comments on that verse, below. But here I want to at least say that everyone’s condition because of Adam is death, not guilt. Make sure that is clear in your mind or else the rest will be hard to follow.
Death affects everyone — even Jesus! — regardless of their guilt.
- A careful reading of these verses shows that we all die because of Adam.
- Nowhere does it say that because of Adam we are all guilty.
This section once again reinforces the very important truth that people without law (both people without law in Abraham's time and people today who are under grace) cannot sin since there is nothing by which to to judge them. Thus when Christians (who are free from law) do bad things, they are not sinning from God's perspective. They are, rather, disengaging participation in what in Christianese is often called "sanctification," i.e., set apart and made holy.
If, from God's perspective, we were still sinning then we would be condemned by law and would have no fellowship with Him.
Stated more contextually, Christians do commit acts that are sinful, but our sin "is not taken into account" by God.
REVERSE THE CURSE EMBRACE HIS GRACE!
Romans 5:15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Vv. 15-17, Paul points out here both the similarities and the differences between how one man’s (Adam's) sin and one man’s (Jesus') grace each affected God’s creation.He highlights the SIMILARITIES in vv.15-16:
- One man sinned, and everyone died. One man didn’t sin, and everyone received the offer of grace.
- One man’s sin resulted in condemnation; one Man’s righteousness resulted in justification.
He highlights the DIFFERENCES in v.17:
- Adam’s sin affected everyone. Jesus’ righteousness affects “those who receive God's abundant provision."
- Adam’s sin resulted in DEATH reigning. God’s abundant grace and His gift of righteousness results in US reigning.
- He draws out (especially in v. 17) the observation that if there were a direct parallel, all we'd have through Christ is life just as all we have through Adam is death.
- But Christ didn't just give us life. He gave us a “reign.” He made us royalty. He did more than counteract the curse of Adam!
In Gen. 1:28-29, when God originally made Adam and Eve, His plan was for man and woman to “rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
Man and woman originally “reigned” over God’s creation.But at the fall, part of the curse Eve received was that her husband would “rule over her” (Gen 3:16). They no longer reigned over all living things – it was narrowed considerably to Adam ruling over Eve. In their place, death began to reign over the world through Adam’s sin.
But now Christ gives us righteousness to change all that! For those who are in Him there is no more sin. Death no longer reigns. His people reign again in life!Eternal life will affect only the righteous. Because we now have “a righteousness that is from God,” we have life. The rest will not.
So, to bring it back for the next verses, the primary difference Paul is emphasizing is this: Death was unconditional, but life is conditional.
V. 18, the word-for-word Greek text here literally reads, “so also through one righteous act to all men to justification of life.” That doesn’t sound so good in English, so the translators needed to smooth it out. Thus the NIV reads “so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.” The problem is, the NI'Vs translation here seems to suggest that EVERYONE has the benefit of life through Christ’s righteousness, not just those who believe. But Paul just spent four difficult chapters showing in complex detail that the righteousness that brings life can only be had through faith.
The word "to" in this verse is significant. I can give a coat to someone as a gift, but they may not choose to put it on.
Similarly, God’s righteousness (and the life available through it) has in fact been given to everyone. But only those who believe actually put it on – they alone are clothed with that righteousness and life.
V. 19, Although we didn’t inherit Adam’s guilt, this verse does say we “
became sinners” through Adam’s disobedience.
It was not unusual for the Eastern mind then, or even today, to consider something done by one part of a family to affect the whole family. We’ve even seen in movies where shame is brought upon a family rather than just the individual who committed a horrendous act.
An interesting illustration of this is Hebrews 7:9-10: "One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor."
We were “made sinners” by Adam because he introduced something into the world that wasn’t there when he was created – sin. And sin has been allowed to reign ever since.
But people do not carry Adam’s guilt; People (before Christ) carry their own.
We were able to sin because God gave us commandments as He did Adam, and we broke them like Adam did. Adam introduced the reign of sin, and we die because Adam’s sin introduced death.
1 Cor 15:22 says this: “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”
We now have gained far more than we lost in Adam, and even more than Adam ever had.
What do we have? ”Righteousness” (v.17) and “Eternal Life” (v. 18 and v. 21) - and both of those were given to us by God Himself.
In summary, some of the differences Paul confusingly emphasizes between the reign of sin and death through Adam and the reign of righteousness through Christ are:
- V. 15-16:Adam’s effect was unintentional (a “consequence” or result”), but Christ’s effect was intentional (a “gift”).
- V. 16: Death came after just one sin. Righteousness comes after many sins.
- V. 17: Adam's actions allowed sin and death to reign. Christ's actions allowed us to reign.
ADAM CAUSED US TO DIE. CHRIST CAUSES US TO LIVE. DEATH NO LONGER REIGNS OVER US. NOW WE REIGN WITH CHRIST!
