Romans 5:12-21 Part 1

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OK, so we’re going to continue on in Romans 5 tonight, and see how far we get. We’ll read the next section together and just go as far as we can.

Romans 5:12–21 ESV

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. 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. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For 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. 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 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. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

There are really three sections to this passage, and in the ESV at least, they are split into three paragraphs.

The first section is verses 12-14, where Paul deals with sin and death.

The second section is verses 15-17, where he talks about the free gift of righteousness.

The final section is verses 18-21, where Paul contrasts the trespass with the act of righteousness.

My goal is to look at these sections in turn to hopefully better digest the chunks of scripture we have.

So, let’s look at the first section:

Sin and Death (Romans 5:12-14)

Romans 5:12–14 ESV

I think it is pretty obvious, and I don’t think that it is an oversimplification to say that in Romans, Paul seeks to deal with the issue of sin. Now, clearly, that is not all that he is trying to accomplish, but this is the big deal. How do we relate to God when we are sinful creatures?

He starts this section by looking at the root cause of it all. Sin. Sin entered the world through Adam. Verse 12 shows that Paul, much to the chagrin of feminists who want to hang Paul for his “treatment of women” in Scripture, believes not in a misogynistic view, but a biblical view of gender roles. If Paul was a woman hater, or a misogynist, or any of that, why would he not put the blame for sin on Eve here? She sinned first. That is clear in the text of Genesis. But just as God doesn’t punish the sin until Adam sins (their eyes were not opened until Adam ate), Paul holds Adam responsible.

Make no mistake, Paul would not be a fan of the “kill the patriarchy” movement, because he clearly sees that men are to be the leaders in their homes. But he believes that in the biblical sense, so that men and women are fully operating as God intends in their creation-driven purposes.

So, we see that Paul lays the blame on Adam for sin. This is not just the fact that he ate the fruit though. I think we sometimes simplify this too much. It isn’t just a single act of sin that caused the fall. It is more than that. It is the thought process of finding joy in our own desires, our own will, over and above God’s will that is the marker of our sin natures.

R. C. Sproul explains it beautifully:

The Gospel of God: Romans Original Sin (5:12)

A widespread and common misconception about original sin is that it refers to the original transgression committed by Adam and Eve, namely the first sin. But, in fact, original sin refers to the result of the first sin, not the first sin itself. Original sin is not a specific sin, a particular act of disobedience; it has to do with the nature of mankind. The Bible tells us that our nature is fallen, that not only do we sin, but we are pervaded by sin, that is, our natures are corrupt. Jesus put it this way: a bad tree brings forth corrupt fruit. It is not that we are sinful because we sin, but rather that we sin because we are sinful. The activity of sin flows out of a sinful nature, a fallen nature, a heart that is out of sync with God. Man is fallen in the depths of his being, and he has a basic disposition towards sin rather than towards righteousness

And so, death spread to all of us because of the original sin of Adam, and our subsequent sin.

Now, those of you who are particularly astute, or particularly invested in this may say something like this:

“Wait. Why am I being held responsible for something Adam did? I wasn’t even born yet, how can I be held responsible?”

There are a couple of problems with this line of thinking.

First of all, we understand that this sort of “representative responsibility” is indeed something that we regularly deal with. If you are married, and your spouse accrues debt (even if you don’t know about it), you can be held legally responsible because of your association.

We are associated with Adam. Whether we like it or not, we are all children of, offspring of Adam. And because of this, we are irrevocably linked to him.

Secondly, we have to get a grasp on the concept of our responsibility from a theological standpoint. There are two prevailing views on this, with one being “Seminalism” and the other being “Federalism.”

Let’s tackle Seminalism first (and succinctly).

“Seminalism sees Adam’s sin as something that corrupted the human nature he passed on to his posterity, as the entire human race was genetically present in Adam. Adam’s guilt is not passed on to his children, but his sinful tendencies are. His children, with their corrupted nature, readily join in Adam’s rebellion at the first available opportunity and are therefore guilty of their own sin.”

This is typically contrasted with Federalism. Now, I don’t need you to go back to high school civics, because Federalism doesn’t have anything to do with George Washington or Alexander Hamilton.

Rather, from a theological standpoint, federalism is the understanding that Adam was our “federal head,” our representative. When I say “our representative” I mean all of mankind’s representative. He was made first. God set him over creation. He was made perfect. Adam was the picture of what we were meant to be. When he sinned, “he sinned not only for himself but as the representative (federal head) of all humanity. His decision was binding upon all people of all time. In the same way, leaders of a government may enter into agreements with other nations, and those agreements are binding upon all the citizens, even though they had no direct input regarding the agreement and may even be unaware of it. Adam sinned, making himself and everyone he represented a sinner. Adam’s guilt (not just his sinful nature) is imputed to every human being.”

(Note, there are other orthodox views on this, as well as areas of nuance inside these views, and I am not well-enough versed in all of them to do them justice, but this argument for federalism is one that seems to be a very good way to understand this concept. If you see it a little differently, that’s ok.)

When we argue that God is not fair because he holds us accountable for what Adam did, we show how ignorant we truly are.

Yes, sin has gotten more pervasive. Yes, we have a harder time living a holy life than our grandparents and great grandparents because we are met with temptation faster and more vulgar. We understand that since that moment when Adam sinned, sin has continually corrupted the world to such a degree that our very own government chooses to celebrate death at the expense of life.

But to insinuate that God is unfair in this is to hold ourselves more highly than we ought and to judge God as if He were a man.

Sproul:

The Gospel of God: Romans Original Sin (5:12)

There is only one time in all of human history when we have been perfectly, accurately represented, and we did not choose our own representative. God chose our representative for us. Adam was the perfect choice for you and for me. God holds me accountable for what Adam did, because Adam did in fact truly, perfectly and infallibly represent me. He was my candidate. I did not choose him; God did. But again, if we suppose that when God chose Adam to represent us, that his choice was malicious or foolish, fallible or inaccurate, what are we saying about God? When we make those kinds of complaints and register those kinds of protests, we are proving how accurate the choice was, because when we assail the integrity of God in making the selection for us, we are revealing our own fallenness.

God is the only one who can rightfully choose our representative. That Adam sinned is not God’s fault, nor is it ours. However, just as our elected officials do not always represent us as we wish, we are still responsible for their choices. In the same way, I am still responsible for the sin that Adam commited because he was my federal head. And because of that, I have inherited death. Scripture says:

Hebrews 9:27 ESV

27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

I have to die, because I am a child of Adam. But that is not where that passage in Hebrews stops. Look at 9:28:

Hebrews 9:28 ESV

28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

The writer of Hebrews looks to Christ as the one who saves. Just as Adam sinned, and all of us are implicated in his sin, Christ has given His life as the payment for our sin. Now, not all are saved. This isn’t because Christ’s sacrifice isn’t strong enough, but because not all will choose to believe (as we have already covered in earlier chapters).

See, death spread to all men. And all humankind sins because of it.

We have talked about imputation in the past, but the idea is that because Adam sinned, his penalty, his debt, his guilt are imputed on us. In the same way, when we are justified before God through Christ Jesus, His righteousness is imputed on us. This cancels the debt.

The only way to have access to life is by Christ. And that is where Paul is (ultimately) going with his argument here.

But Paul wants to make the connection here that he started in chapter 2. Verses 13-14 sort of reiterate that thought. Sin can’t be counted where there is no law, because the law is what convicts us, or points to sin. You cannot break a rule if there is no rule to break. So, even before the law was given to Moses, death reigned on earth, even on those who didn’t break the commands as Adam did.

Job, in one of the oldest books of the Bible, still made sacrifices to God (just as Cain and Abel did), to appease God for their sins. Sacrifices were not spelled out in the law, because it hadn’t been given yet. Why did they do it? How can there be sin without law?

Romans 2:14–15 ESV

14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them

Paul explained it in chapter 2. The law is written on our hearts. We know what we are supposed to do, but we don’t do it.

So how to we deal with sin? How do we deal with death?

That’s the next point.

Free Gift of Righteousness (Romans 5:15-17)

Romans 5:15–17 ESV

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. 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. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For 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.

Back in verse 14, Paul called Adam a “type of the one who is to come.” We talked about Adam being our federal head. Now we will see the turn in Paul’s argument.

Because the outlook was bleak, right? Death spread to everyone.

I love that big word that starts verse 15: But.

Paul is saying, that wasn’t the end of the story, although we deserved it. See, now we begin to look at the free gift of righteousness.

He starts by saying that the free gift is not like the trespass. What does that mean? He explains in the following verses.

I think the most helpful way to understand these verses is to understand the difference in Adam and Christ. Because, in Adam’s sin we are dead - doomed to die, slaves to sin, dead. He was our representative. His guilt is imputed to me and to you. It is destructive. It is total. It is, despite our protestations, earned. While I have inherited the sin nature of my great-great-great-granddaddy Adam, I have also been a party to and a participant in sin.

Yet, Christ as the true and better Adam, was not part of that sin-nature. Joseph was not involved. God was the one who, through the Holy Spirit, conceived Jesus. That sin nature of Adam is not present.

And as our true representative, Christ represented us on the cross. When Jesus paid the penalty for my sin, my sin was imputed to Him and His righteousness was imputed to me.

There is a song by Matt Papa and Matt Boswell called “Christ the True and Better.” It is a phenomenal song, and perhaps we will learn it as a congregation one day. It traces the greatness of Christ throughout scripture with allusions to the types that came before Him. For example, it talks about “Christ the true and better Isaac, Moses, David, etc.” But here are the lyrics to the first verse, and I think you can see why I would read these:

Christ the true and better Adam Son of God and Son of man Who, when tempted in the garden Never yielded, never sinned He who makes the many righteous Brings us back to life again Dying, He reversed the curse Then rising, crushed the serpent's head

The parallels are there.

Moving on, if you look at verse 16, you kinda see how one sin condemns the whole, yet many sins (many trespasses) are covered by the blood of Christ.

Christ’s work was redemptive. And, as I said earlier, it is not just for a few. Christ’s death on the cross was sufficient for all, but only efficacious for the elect. Now, I am not going to get into the doctrine of election, but I want you to know that not everyone goes to heaven. This isn’t God being mean or spiteful. This is God being sovereign. Not all will receive the gift. It is not my job to decide who that is, so I must share the good news with everyone. God will determine who is and is not elect in His time and His way. I am called to spread the news, to shine the light. So are you.

I’ll end this point with another Sproul quote:

The Gospel of God: Romans Victory over Death (5:12–21)

Paul is saying that the power and impact of the Second Adam is much greater than the impact of the first Adam. The impact of Adam has been awful, it has put men in misery, in ruin. But the solution is infinitely greater, because Christ has abounded in winning eternal life for men. We have to go through a travail of tears for our threescore and ten years on this planet and still have to go through the valley of the shadow of death. But what is that compared to the eternity of felicity and joy and happiness without pain, without sorrow, without tears, which Christ has won for us in his role as the Second Adam?

Trespass Vs. Righteousness (Romans 5:18-21)

Romans 5:18–21 ESV

18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 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. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul is summing up here. He reminds us that we are all guilty because of Adam, but we all have the offer of justification and life because of Christ.

Do not mistake the words “for all men” in verse 18 to assume that all receive this gift. Paul has been (and will be) very clear on that point. Not everyone will be saved. Christ’s death is sufficient for all mankind. But only a few will ultimately receive salvation, because the gate is narrow.

Then Paul returns to the law. We saw him break down the law in earlier chapters, and we see him continue to reference it, because that is the framework for religious understanding by the Jews in particular. And don’t misunderstand what he is saying, again, because he isn’t insinuating that God gave the law to Moses so that sin would get worse.

Rather, as he has said in other places, including chapters 2 and 4, that the presence of the law illustrates the depth of sin.

The Gospel of God: Romans Victory over Death (5:12–21)

Law doesn’t, in and of itself, create sin; it is the evil disposition of our hearts that creates sin, not the law. What the law does is define and condemn it and reveal it for what it is—sin.

And we’ll end on some words of hope:

We see in verses 20-21 that while sin reigned in death, grace will (and does) reign all the more through Christ.

God gives more grace than there is evil in this world.

Even while we are still sinners, God has given more grace so that we might be able to respond to Him. Think about how good God is to do this! We don’t deserve it. Even as saints, redeemed, followers of Christ, we can and often do have black thoughts. Christians commit murder. Christians steal. They commit adultery. They start wars. They lie. They commit every atrocity known to mankind. Christians. Imagine if the grace of God was lifted off of this world, how much worse it would be?

But that is not the case. God has shown His love for us in that He has allowed His grace to abound all the more, so that it might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.