ROMANS 5: 12-21
RUIN or RESCUE
Thus far the book of Romans has surveyed the extent of human sin and guilt and the glorious adequacy of God's justifying grace in and through Jesus Christ. Paul has led us down into the depths of human depravity and up into the heights of divine mercy. He has established that there are two communities. One is characterized by sin and rebellion and the other by grace and faith. One is headed by Adam and the other is headed by Christ. Each individual has been given the choice to change his family lineage by coming under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. This choice is a life or death matter.
Adam is the head of all the human race and the result of his sin is transmitted to all his descendants. Likewise, Jesus Christ is the head of all born again believers and His righteousness is transmitted to all the faithful. Just as man is condemned by being in (or born of) Adam, so is man justified by being in (or born of) Christ (CIT).
I. Sin Reigned Through One Man, 12-14.
II. Grace Reigns Through One Man, 15-17.
III. The Results of One Man's Act, 18-19.
IV. The Results of Grace, 20-21.
1st, SIN REIGNED THROUGH ONE MAN, 12-14.
The focus now shifts from our redemption to the two representative heads or lines of humanity. Verse 12 summarizes the story of the fall of man in Genesis 3 emphasizing that Adam's disobedience brought sin, death and separation into the world. "For this reason, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.
"For this reason" (or therefore) indicates a continuation of the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ. Man's right standing with God comes only through Jesus Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection life. Acceptance of Christ brings righteousness, reconciliation (peace), and life.
The "one man through" whom "sin entered the world" is obviously Adam (Adam in Hebrew even means man). Here begins a comparison between the effects of the redemptive work of Christ and the condemning action of Adam. Though it was Eve who first sinned, her head was Adam. Adam thus carries the responsibility for sin and sin's entrance into the perfect world created by God. [The doctrine of original sin is thus taught here]. Those who are born of flesh inherit their sinful nature from Adam. Man is now predisposed to sin and therefore commits sin. The wages of sin is death or separation from God. Thus, "death spread to all men." The death intended here is spiritual death (Gen. 2:16-17, 3:1-6) which is the cause of physical death and eternal death (1 Cor. 15:22). Sin and death cannot be separated.
The plain obvious point is that the effects of Adam's sin are transmitted to his descendants. The whole of mankind is viewed as having fallen with Adam. But it is not simply because Adam sinned but because every human being after Adam sinned. "All sinned" is each and every person born into the world has sinned.
[Physically speaking, DNA is the stuff of life. Genetic research revolutionizes our world in hundreds of ways. DNA from a lifeless body can be compared with the living to demonstrate family connections. Small traces can convict criminals or set the accused free. DNA also confirms at a scientific level what Paul had asserted to the Athenian philosophers in Acts 17 when he said that God had "made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." We are all connected, and the common link for the human race, both physically and spiritually is Adam. We all carry Adam's DNA.]
Death is an undeniable empirical reality. This grim stalker of life is the result of the horrid disobedience toward God by the rebellious human will when Adam, wanting to be his own god, chose his way over God's Word to him. And all of us, like him, unconsciously or consciously do the same. For "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).
Verse 13 explains why death reign even before there was a full consciousness of man's sinfulness brought about by the written law. "for until the Law sin was in the world; but sin was not imputed when there is no law." The statement all sinned includes those who lived on earth during the period from Adam to Moses before the giving of the written law. Without definite commandments there are no specific sins, but man is still a sinner because of his rebellion against God's will, way, and Word which is revealed in his general manner of life. Early man, or those who lived before the law, knew the difference between right and wrong because they had the declaration of their Creator in nature and in their own nature (1:18-23) and the inner law of reason and conscience (2:16-16). Man did not live right in the light of these powerful witnesses.
The word "imputed" ( from + ) means "to put down in the ledger to one's account." Some see the age of accountability taught here. When one can comprehend the teaching of the law they become accountable before God for their sin.
Paul has already proven that the law does not bring salvation. In verse 14 he states that it is not simply breaking the law that brings death, but it is because we are sinners that we die. "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type (fore shadowing) of Him was to come."
Adam violated an expressed command of God. Although Adam preceded Moses, the law giver, the effects of his sin are clearly seen in the terrible consequences upon his descendants.
Since all men from Adam to Moses died even without the law, it must a repercussion from Adam's direct disobedience to God. For man's sin was not in direct rebellion to God's specific commands because they did not have them. Adam is the head of fallen man and Christ is the head of redeemed man. Adam is a type in that his headship affects those that follow after him. Adam imparts his fallen nature to those that follow after him and Christ imparts his righteous nature to those that follow after Him.
Adam is "a type" (Gk. typos) or pattern for those who follow him. As Adam was the first of created humanity, so is Christ the first of a new recreated order or a new spiritual humanity.
II. GRACE REIGNS THROUGH ONE MAN (15-17).
In verses 15-17 the analogy between Adam and Christ is completed. Verse 15 begins the comparison of difference by distinguishing what each did along with the effect of their actions. "But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to many. Verse 16 repeats that the actions of Adam and Christ are not equal. The gift is not like that which came though the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgement arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. Verse 17 continues proclaiming the superiority of the effects of Christ over those of Adam. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
One man performed one act that resulted in great consequences for those connected with him. We were all born into Adam's physically family - the family line that leads to certain death. All of us have reaped the results of Adam's sin. We have inherited a sinful nature (the tendency to sin), and deserve God's punishment. Because of Jesus, however, we can trade condemnation for forgiveness. We can trade our sin for Jesus' righteousness. We can trade our way of sin for Jesus' way of righteousness. Christ offers us the opportunity to be born into his spiritual family - the family line that begins with forgiveness and leads to eternal life. If we do nothing, we have death through Adam; but if we come to God by faith, we have life through Christ. [Application Bible. Zondervan. p 2036]. Have you changed sides?
Through birth all are related to Adam; through faith "the many" are related to Christ. Adam's people suffer death, but Christ's enjoy the all-pervading reign of grace, "eternal life," This means that those who receive the gift of righteousness in Jesus Christ also receive the gift of eternal life in Him. So great is the reign of grace it reaches into eternity and opens it for all people who will come to Christ in faith. [Briscoe, Stuart. The Preacher's Commentary, Vol 29: Romans. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1982, S. 124]
Verse 17 ends with what those who follow Christ receive. "Those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life. Through the One Jesus Christ." How much more those born-again by Christ have gained than was lost in Adam. In Adam death and the way of death reigns. By being born again into God's forever family we "reign in life." We reign over sin's power, over Satan's attacks and over death's corruption. We reign in life now through living in Jesus Christ, the Lord of Life. No wonder he repeatedly speaks of the abundant (perisseia) provisions of grace for all those who leave Adam's road to ruin to follow Christ.
There is the first Adam, and there is the last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. One or the other is ruling your life. One leads to disobedience the other to obedience, one to sin the other to righteousness, one brings death the other life. It is not a question of whether we will submit to such masters, only to which one we will submit. Either death reigns or life reigns in your life, but not both
To be human is to stand at a crossroads of choice: there is the way of the past, the way of death, or the way of the future, the way of life in Christ. Will you follow Christ and allow the effect of Christ's work to defeat the tragic effects of Adam's trespass? The sin of one is canceled by the righteousness of the other; the curse of one is overcome by the grace of the other. The one causes death, the other swallows up death in life. [James Edwards. International Biblical Com. Romans. Hendrickson, 1992. p 151]
III. THE RESULTS OF ONE MAN'S DEED, 18-19.
Notice the abundant provision offered to all those who will come to Christ Jesus to be made righteous in verse 18. "So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men." The use of disobedience in verse 19 portrays the voluntary nature of Adam's sin. "For 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.
The "one transgression" that brought "condemnation" was Adam's act of choosing his way over obedience to God's word in the Garden of Eden. The "one act of righteousness" was Christ's sacrificial death on the cross for sinners. The parallel though is that one transgression and one righteous act effect each of those who are born after them. The result of Adam's sin (condemnation) is contrasted with the result of Christ's work (justification offered to all). One brought death, the other brings life. Disobedience brought death and obedience to God brings righteousness. The obedient in Christ "will be made righteous."
IV. THE RESULTS OF GRACE, 20-21
Verse 20 reminds us that knowing the law results in an increased realization of our sin. "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.
The Law's purpose was to make sin obvious. Through the giving of "the Law," God laid down a standard of that which was pleasing and displeasing in His sight. This standard made actions definable as right or wrong. It removed the generalness of sin and made it specific. The other reason "sin increased" when the law was given is because satan then had definite commandments to tempt man to rebel against God and break.
As a sinner separated from God you see His law from below, LIKE A LADDER TO BE CLIMBED to get to God. Perhaps you have repeatedly tried to climb it, only every time you try to advanced you to fall to the ground by a single misstep. Or perhaps the sheer height of the ladder seems so overwhelming that you have never even started up. In either case, what relief you should feel to see Jesus offering with open arms to lift you above the ladder of the law, to take you directly to God! Once Jesus lifts you into God's presence, you are free to obey - out of love, not necessity, and through God's power, not your own. You know that if you stumble, you will not fall back to the ground. Instead, you will be caught and held in Christ's loving arms. [Application Bible, p 2036].
However prevalent, however rampant sin may be, grace can overcome it. Grace prevails over sin, indeed grace miraculously overwhelms it.
[IS THE SKY BIG ENOUGH?] Do you ever wonder if we can exhaust God's grace? We make foolish choices and get into trouble. We put ourselves into the place of temptation again and again. We condone things we should condemn. We trust ourselves rather than God. Can we go too far? Can we push God beyond His limits?
Yes and no. We can presume upon God so that He will have to chasten us. He wants us to gain the victory over sinful habits, not just confess them. But even in our chastening, He imparts to us His grace. Martin Luther is credited with saying that doubting the supply of God's grace is like a sparrow wondering if the sky is big enough for it to fly in, or a fish wondering if the ocean is big enough for it to swim in.
How full and wonderful is the gift of God's grace! We are saved by grace (Eph. 2:8), and we daily enjoy the benefits of His grace. As His children, we learn that God's grace is more than sufficient for our every spiritual need. If are faced with a tough situation, He gives strength to endure it. If we have an opportunity to witness, His grace empowers us to speak out for Him. If we have an opportunity to serve, He helps us. If we are tempted, He strengthens us to resist.
God's purpose in giving grace is so man might triumph over the reign of sin or death by following Christ. The demand for God's grace will never be greater than His supply!
CONCLUSION
[The power of redemption in Christ that outstrips the power of destruction in sin -no small hope in a world such as ours where the specter of nuclear holocaust can reduce the earth to vapor and ash, or where injustice and social decay threaten the world with a dark age of moral and political anarchy. God, however, has not consigned the world to its madness. Edwards, p 154]
Before Christ, mankind was trapped in a predicament from which there was no escape. Sin had man in its power and there was no hope. Into this situation came Jesus Christ. By who He is, by what He did, by what He gives, He can enable man to escape from being hopelessly dominated by sin. Man is ruined in sin and is rescued in Christ.
[Cave of Corruption] Near Paris is a place known as THE CATACOMBS. Within these catacombs are the bones of thirty million bodies which have been removed from the cemeteries and carried there. Certain days of the week one is permitted to visit this sepulcher. Each visitor is given a lighted candle and follows the guide down many steps into the catacombs of the dead. The Word of God is vividly true when it says, ‘Therefore as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men" (Romans 5:12).
While sitting in the room of a well-known Paris hotel near the Catacombs, a physician from Syracuse, New York said,: "What a stir there will be in the catacombs when the resurrection trumpet sounds!" The physician was right. There will be TWO times the stir in the catacombs. There will be a stir when the dead in Christ are recovered and raised from prison house of mortals. There will be ANOTHER stir when, at the close of the thousand years, the wicked dead will be raised to stand before God. The Bible teaches that there will be a resurrection both of the just and the unjust. These will be one thousand years apart, but time will not alter the fact.
Indeed there will be a great stir among those bones and this dust, Christ will raise the dead. The resurrection of Christ is the guarantee of the resurrection of the Christian. Wherever the head is, there also members must be. Christ will quicken the believer's mortal body. Resurrection from the dead is in prospect. It will be a wonderful stir!
The dead in Christ shall be raised first. This mortal shall put on immortality. This corruption shall put on incorruption! (1 Cor. 15:53). It will be a wonderful stir! The trumpet of God shall sound! And the dead shall be raised!
