Sinners in Adam
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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— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 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. 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. 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. 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. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 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.
Welcome - continuing to preach through the statement of faith - what the Bible says about sin
Now, we use the word “sin” a lot in Christian circles. In most cases, we refer to something someone does that goes against God’s will: “that’s a sin.” Or, maybe we talk about how Jesus died for our sins - how He paid the penalty for the things we’ve done wrong.
But the reality of sin goes far beyond just acts of rebellion against God - it’s more than just not doing something God said we should or doing something God said we shouldn’t. That is part of what the Bible says about sin, for sure, but that is not really what I am going to talk about today when I talk about sin.
Because the sinful things we do - or fail to do - or the sinful things we say, or think, or any of that - those are symptoms of sin. Sins are a result of sin.
Because, just as we know everyone has sinned, we need to know the reason we have, is that we are all sinners.
To put this another way, in our natural state, we are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners.
What we do is a result of who we are.
And we need to understand sin, so we can understand that our faith is not first about what we do, but who we are in Christ.
So we are going to tackle sin today. And in doing so, we are going to have to address some theological terms that are very often misunderstood.
Terms like “original sin.” This term seems to throw people.
Because, some hear “original sin” and think of the act of Adam and Eve that was the first sin committed. They think of their disobedience in eating of the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and think “that was the original sin.”
But original sin doesn’t refer to the act. It refers to the state that Adam and Eve fell into that affected all their descendants - which is everyone. It’s us. Original sin talks about our origin from sinful humanity.
Original sin is what we are conceived into. We are - from the moment we are - sinners. We are in a state of sin. That is what “original sin” refers to. Before we even have the chance to sin, we are sinners because we are born of a sinful race.
And while that sounds - I don’t know - unfair to some, or it just doesn’t sit right with some - this is what the Bible teaches, because the Bible teaches that Adam was responsible for representing the entire human race before God.
This is what is called the “Federal Headship” of Adam. That means that Adam represented the entirety of humanity before God.
And again, many say this is not fair, or even that this is not just of God to do - to base our state or standing before Him on what someone else did.
But this is precisely what He had to do if He was going to be able to base our state or our standing before Him on what Jesus Christ did.
And especially considering the fact that since we are sinners we have all objectively sinned before God - we have, in fact, all committed acts of sin - well, the fact that He can count us righteous - that He changes our state - literally changes who we are - on the basis of Christ and His work - if anything should seem unfair, it’s what Christ suffered for us.
That's why we really need to understand sin - original sin and why that is our natural state - if we are to understand fully what Christ did and how amazing God’s grace really is.
But there’s even more to consider. What is the result of the original sin we inherit? What about the fact that we are counted as sinners and actually are sinners? What does that mean for us?
Well, that requires me throwing out another theological term - don’t worry, there isn’t going to be a test.
That term is “Total Depravity.”
Total Depravity is one of the Doctrines of Grace, or what is otherwise called - usually by opponents of the view - “the five points of Calvinism” - even though Calvin didn’t come up with them. You may know that the acronym “TULIP” is used to remember them.
The “T” stands for Total Depravity. All humans in their natural state are totally depraved.
And this is often misunderstood and probably even a little misleading. Because it doesn’t mean that humans are as bad as we can be. Even those who are unsaved - most of them can be worse than they are, and many can even do what is objectively good.
What it means is that the effects of original sin affect the totality of our humanness.
The framers of the Doctrines of Grace explained that our sinful nature means that our minds, hearts, spirit, desires, emotions, mental state and abilities, our bodies, our judgments, our ability to understand truth, our motivations - every single part of who we are has been affected negatively by the sin we inherit as humans.
And because of this, we are unable to please God or even want to please God in our natural state. That will be addressed next week, specifically.
Now, the good thing is that you don’t really need to remember the details of what I’ve said so far, even though the elders believe all of this. Because all of this has been compacted into two short statements in the statement of faith we have adopted.
This morning, we will consider statements three and four:
3. We believe that God made our first father, Adam, sinless, holy, and upright. He was appointed representative and head of the human race, thereby exposing all his offspring to the effects of his obedience or disobedience to God’s commands.
4. We believe that Adam fell from his original righteousness into sin and brought upon himself and all his offspring death, condemnation, and slavery to sin.
Sin corrupted the creation. It corrupted everything. It corrupted everybody. Including us.
Let’s look at the first part of this:
We believe that God made our first father, Adam, sinless, holy, and upright.
We probably all know the record of Genesis 1 and 2. In the beginning God… and God speaks the whole creation into existence.
With everything He creates, God pronounces it good, until He created mankind, male and female, and pronounces the completed creation very good.
And remember that He said “very good,” not perfect.
Adam and Eve were created sinless, but not perfect (people mistakenly say that, but it isn’t Biblical). Only God is perfect.
They were holy and upright (or righteous), and they had not ever committed a sin as created, but the potential for sin existed and always would have until sin entered the world, which is why the creation could not be made perfect until sin existed and was overcome and destroyed.
And it has been overcome. By Christ, on the cross. And it will be fully destroyed at Christ’s return.
But that sin was possible from the beginning is clear.
This is why God makes a covenant with Adam. And it was a conditional covenant. It was conditional, because it was a covenant of works. This covenant of works, like the Law of Moses, shows us God’s holiness and how we fall short of God’s holy requirements.
And while it isn’t called a covenant in Genesis, God later calls it a covenant when He tells Israel and Judah that they have failed to uphold the covenant He made with them:
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.
So Adam and Eve - as created - were not sinful. They were sinless, holy, and upright. Until they broke the covenant.
And I think we all know how that happened. The serpent fools Eve into breaking the one prohibition of God, and the bigger problem is that Adam was right there watching it happen - letting it happen - and taking part in it.
And the next part of the statement tells us why that’s the bigger problem. Because:
He was appointed representative and head of the human race, thereby exposing all his offspring to the effects of his obedience or disobedience to God’s commands.
This is what Federal Headship means. Adam was responsible not just for himself, but for Eve, and for all his posterity.
How do we know this?
Because God gave the command about the tree to one person. The first human He created. He gave it to Adam before there even was an Eve.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Adam knew sin was possible before he was a sinner.
And it is only after this that God declares it not good that Adam should be alone, and He creates Eve.
Then, after they both eat of the fruit, and they hide in shame from God, God calls out to Adam and addresses him alone, not both him and Eve:
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
These questions are all addressed singularly to Adam. Why? Because God made him responsible for himself and Eve and the entire human race.
This is what Paul is referring to when he says the roles of elder and preacher are assigned to redeemed men, and ties it in with the sin of Adam.
I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
Don’t misunderstand Paul, he isn’t putting blame on Eve, by saying she was deceived. He is putting the blame on Adam. Adam who was formed first and given the responsibility. Adam who was not deceived, but who knew exactly what was going to happen when he acted against God’s command.
This is why men in the household of God are given the responsibilities they are - we are tasked to succeed where the first man failed.
And note that I am being very careful to point out that these responsibilities are assigned to men among the covenant people of God. Because we have been brought back into a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and are back in a covenant relationship with Him.
So God gives us the responsibility as those who - like Adam once was - are holy, upright - and because of the work of Christ - also declared righteous.
In other words, when we are placed by God into Christ - when we are regenerated by the Spirit of God - we are made new.
Just like we sin because we are sinners - what we do flows from who we are - so in Christ, it isn’t first about anything we do. It is about who we are made. What we now are.
We need to be made something new before we can do anything pleasing to God, because:
We believe that Adam fell from his original righteousness into sin and brought upon himself and all his offspring death, condemnation, and slavery to sin.
The Bible is so very clear about what everyone deserves in their natural state.
Death. That is our sentence, because we all deserve condemnation. Because of what we do, yes, but even more fundamentally, because of who we are.
And because of who we are in our natural state, we are in slavery to sin. Apart from Christ, we can’t not sin.
The Bible is clear on that, and if were being honest with ourselves, our own experience confirms that quite conclusively.
Because we don’t have the original righteousness of Adam, instead, because of his sin as our representative in the covenant of works, we inherit original sin.
And because sin affects every part of our being, we can’t but act sinful.
This goes for everyone, as Paul makes quite clear in the book of Romans. He takes great pains in the first three chapters to point out our sinful nature - whether Jew or non-Jew - so that we see our need for the righteousness of Christ - whether Jew or non-Jew.
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “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.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
This describes every human in our natural state.
And this is why I said we need to understand sin to truly grasp the amazing grace of God in the Person and work of Jesus Christ and what it really means for us.
Which is why Paul continues:
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
This is the central theme of the letter of the Romans.
This passage has been called by some “the most essential paragraph in the most essential book of the Bible.”
And I am excited that we will be preaching through the book of Romans beginning next fall so we can really break this down.
But in short, what Paul is saying in this chapter is that our statement on sin is correct. All of us are born sinners.
But he’s also saying that God did something about that.
And He did something that both restores man to Him through His own perfect righteousness, and yet He does it without in the least bit affecting His perfect justice.
He makes it just, for us to be righteous, by giving us His righteousness.
How?
Through Jesus Christ. Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
You see, this is why all I said earlier - all that “theology” I started with - we see here that Paul says it matters. If we don’t understand this part of our statement of faith that addresses original sin, the federal headship of Adam, and the total depravity of fallen man - then we don’t really understand what God has done in Christ.
See, it is so simple to say “Jesus paid for my sins.” And that is true. And it is easier to grasp because we tend to be so transactional in our thinking in the west, don’t we? You know: “I did something wrong, God demands restitution, Jesus pays the restitution for me, we’re all back to even.”
But the thing is that we’re not all back to even. Because if all Jesus does for us, is pay back God for what we’ve done, we still have a problem. The problem is what we are. We are still sinners if that’s all Christ does for us.
But it’s not. He does so much more.
God doesn’t leave us in that state when we place our faith in Christ. He changes who we are. He objectively changes our very nature.
And we go from not able to not sin, to able to not sin.
And while we will still struggle with sin in this life because the remnants of the old man fight against our true nature in Christ - the fact is that we are made righteous again. Original sin no longer dictates who we are.
And the original righteousness of Adam is not just restored in us. Something even greater happens. The righteousness of Christ is given to us.
That is what Paul is building to in chapter 3. Because in chapter 4 Paul is very careful to explain that this righteousness has absolutely nothing to do with anything we do. It is all about faith in Christ Who has done it all.
And what has He done?
He has done what Adam didn’t, and what we couldn’t.
Which is why Paul continues:
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Justified by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, all to the glory of God alone.
That should sound familiar if you were here last week.
And do you know why this is? How this was done?
It’s all because Jesus Christ took responsibility for us. For me. For you, if you believe.
Like Adam was given responsibility for us and in him all are sinners, so Jesus Christ came as a man - the second and ultimate Adam - to take responsibility for all who believe.
That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
You see?
In Adam we die.
In Christ we live.
Again, there are only two types of people in the world.
And you are either in Adam and are by nature a sinner and you are under condemnation and you are headed for death...
...Or you are in Christ, are born again as an upright and righteous creature, and have inherited eternal life.
That’s what we heard in our passage this morning:
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man [that’s Adam, the head of the human race] , and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned [we all sinned in Adam] — for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam [because our sin doesn’t change who we are - remember, we sin because we are sinners] , who was a type of the one who was to come [again, you can’t deny that it was just for Adam to represent us, because God has made it right for Christ to represent us!] . 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. [And here’s the good news] 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 [Jesus pays for our sins, and He pays for our sin] . 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. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 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.
You are either in Adam and are under condemnation and are dead in sin, or you are in Christ and you are righteous, justified, and alive.
Paul says that Adam’s sin affected all of us. Sin came into the world through the one man, and death through sin.
Death spread to all men because Adam was our representative.
That’s why Paul says, our sins are not like his sin. Because ours don’t bring death. In our natural state, the acts we commit change nothing. We already were sinners. We already deserved death. And we couldn’t not sin.
Because what we do always flows from who we are.
But God did not leave things as they were. Instead, He sent His Son.
Instead of leaving us in Adam, He sent the second Adam to pay for our sin and our sins. To pay for what Adam did, what we did in him, and what we did when we acted out of our sinful nature - and for who we were. Jesus paid it all.
And God sent this great salvation in His Son as a free gift. And it gives us life. And not the life Adam had. No. The free gift is not like the result of Adam’s sin. The life Christ gives is not just the converse of the death we had in Adam.
It is something so much more. The life we have in Christ is so much greater.
Much more have we received an abundance of grace that leads to justification and life.
We have been justified, brothers and sisters. We have been made righteous in Christ. Not Adam’s righteousness - which was a conditional righteousness. But an eternal and objective and irrevocable righteousness.
In other words, God changed who we are.
If you are here and you have placed your faith in Christ, you are not what you were.
And if you are here and you have not placed your faith in Christ, then you are still in Adam, and you are still a sinner under condemnation, and you need to become new.
And you can. God will make it so the person that did whatever you’ve done is not you, because He changes who you are.
All you need to do is repent and believe.
And when we do that, we are moved from in Adam, to in Christ. God takes this:
We believe that Adam fell from his original righteousness into sin and brought upon himself and all his offspring death, condemnation, and slavery to sin.
And changes it into this:
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.
And when we receive this abundance of grace… when we receive the free gift of righteousness… we also receive life - a life much more than what we lost in Adam.
It is eternal life in Christ.
Because God made us into something completely different in Christ, we have life.
We deserved death and condemnation - and Christ took them in our place. He got what He did not deserve.
So now, we need to give to Him what He deserves.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
What we do flows from who we are, not the other way around.
And now that we are in Christ and are made new creatures free from condemnation and slavery to sin, we need to live like what we are.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
Do we grasp the heinousness of sin? Do we understand that it is so awful, and so destructive - so disgusting in the sight of God - that He came as one of us and died to set us free from it?
Do we understand what we once were?
Do we grasp the grace of God - how great it is? For Him to do what He did to justly condemn sin on the cross of Christ - for Him to take on humanity to ultimately make us new?
Do we grasp what we now are?
We live in a world obsessed with identity. In a world that tells you: you are whatever you want to be. Whatever you feel that you are.
And so many Christians speak out against it. We see how wrong that is. We see how people objectively are what they are regardless of how they feel - and why? Because God made them that way.
But I wonder how many Christians - those who are objectively changed into people who are upright, holy, and righteous - how many of us live like we are something other than what we are?
That’s what Paul is saying. Those who are dead to sin and alive in Christ can’t live like we are anything else than what we are.
I mean, we can. We are able to.
But we are also able to do what we weren’t when we were in Adam. What those in Adam are still unable to do. We are able to live righteously in Christ.
We have inherited righteousness through Christ. It’s who we now are.
Brothers and sisters, let’s be who we are.
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Communion:
LBCF chapter 30
1. The supper of the Lord Jesus was instituted by him the same night he was betrayed. It is to be observed in his churches to the end of the age as a perpetual remembrance and display of the sacrifice of himself in his death. It is given for the confirmation of the faith of believers in all the benefits of Christ’s death, their spiritual nourishment and growth in him, and their further engagement in and to all the duties they owe him. The supper is to be a bond and pledge of their communion with Christ and each other.
