Romans 5 part 2

Basis for this assurance in the work of Christ

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Death through Adam, life through Christ
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned – To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law.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 is a pattern of the one to come.
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! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: the judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 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!
Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 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.
The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:12-21)

This complicated passage contrasts the effect on all humans of two significant men – Adam and Jesus. Paul has an interesting aside on this in Corinthians:
So, it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’, the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45)

last Adam

Humanity’s existence is bracketed between two Adams. The first created man, Adam, experienced human life as a living soul in the image of God (which set him apart from the animal creation). The last Adam, Jesus Christ, brought a new dimension of life – spiritual life in which we can experience and know God in a spiritually intimate way. The coming of the last Adam, Jesus, marked the end of the age in which human life was the ultimate experience: there is now a greater experience available – eternal spiritual life. Instead of ‘the last Adam’, hymn writers sometimes used the term ‘the second Adam’ to describe Jesus. By this they meant he brought in a new type of human life: a second chance wherein we can be born again into the Kingdom of God.

The first part of the passage explains why humans experience death. This was not God’s original plan:
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned – (Romans 5:12)
In the garden of Eden, of which we read in Genesis 1, there was both a forbidden fruit and a fruit which gave life. Adam and his wife chose the wrong fruit because they were deceived, after being lied to by the devil; also for sensual reasons, but mainly because they did not believe the command which God had clearly given them. Eating the fruit produced catastrophic consequences in them both – their natures changed from innocence to sinful awareness. Before that moment they walked with the Lord God in the garden; after it they were thrown out of the garden, and did not walk with him again. Seemingly one of their first acts after being expelled was sexual union, and their children inherited the same sinful nature leading to death.

original sin

When we read that ‘all died because all sinned’ it is good to remember that Paul was dictating this letter to a secretary to express what he was thinking. He never imagined that he was producing a document which would be scrutinised in minute detail by theologians for thousands of years. Based on this passage, and others in scripture, Christians have come to believe in the doctrine of ‘original sin’. Stated simply, everyone is born with a nature which inclines to sin – even the sweetest baby. A lot of people don’t like this idea; but wherever you go in the world you will never find a single person who has not sinned in some way (I always smiled if one of my grandchildren became angry and bit me because they hadn’t learned to do this by copying their parents). However, Jesus who was fully human, did not sin. What made the difference was that although He was tempted to sin, he walked in the Spirit and remained free from sin. However, when our sin was placed upon Him on the cross, then death took him too.

Paul then digresses to deal with his point in more detail beginning with this important note:
To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. (Romans 5:13)
This sounds complicated but it is dealing with human awareness. As soon as a new rule is made, we become aware of breaking it. When I grew up there was no national maximum speed limit. People would drive on motorways at 100-mph and felt quite happy. As soon as the 70-mph limit was introduced, people began to be prosecuted for speeding, and it introduced conflict and guilt. Basically, law makes us sin in two ways: firstly, it makes things we previously did illegal even though we were always happy doing them before; and, secondly, it arouses something rebellious in us which wants to sin (think of the saying “rules were made to be broken”) – more about that in Chapter 7. But sin was in the world before laws were made, because we were doing wrong in God’s sight when measured against the standard of his own holy nature; but, of course, we didn’t know it. God gave the law in an attempt to show this to us: to show us how far we were ignorantly falling short of his standards.

type

Paul continues:
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 is a pattern of the one to come. (Romans 5:14)
In other words, life was pretty lawless before God revealed his Law to Moses. The Law of Moses had the effect of keeping the worst of human behaviour under control. Clearly, people could not sin exactly like Adam did (eating the forbidden fruit), but their sinful nature meant they died because sin produced death. Paul introduces the word ‘pattern’ here. This is a word which refers to things (or people) that point our understanding in the direction of something greater. So, Jesus is the last Adam who is greater than the first Adam; the Temple was a pattern of the greater worship in heaven; the sacrificial Passover lamb was a pattern leading us to Jesus, the Lamb of God. (In some versions the word pattern is translated as ‘type’).

Now Paul contrasts the different effects on us of Adam and Jesus:
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! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: the judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 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! (Romans 5:15-17)
The gift is the sacrificial death of Jesus for our sin. The sin of Adam affected us all: the gift of Jesus affects many too – by offering eternal life instead of death. Also, Adam brought humans condemnation for their sin, whereas Jesus brought justification through faith. Finally, Jesus brought abundant grace and the gift of righteousness, so that we can live lives free from the sins which previously controlled us; (more of that in Chapter 6).

free gift

Paul now returns to his original train of thought and summarises what was on his mind:
Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 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. (Romans 5:18-19)
This gift is available to all of us. However, not everyone chooses to accept this wonderful free gift. It is very special to read here the contrast between Adam’s disobedience and Christ’s obedience. In Philippians Paul expressed it in this moving way:
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:8)

Paul now concludes leading on to his arguments in the next chapter:
The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21)
He is preparing us for what is now to come: how we deal with law, how we deal with sin, and the important role that grace plays in the Christian life. No matter how great our sin, grace is given in sufficient amount (it increased) to deal with it. Sin had assigned us to eternal death but the new reign of free grace promises eternal life rather than death. However, although grace is free, it has conditions: it reigns through righteousness. Righteousness is the state of doing the right things in God’s sight. Grace works when we live according to the righteous expectations of God. Paul now moves on to show how this happens in the life of the Christian.