Romans 5.12a-The Sin Nature and Spiritual Death Entered the Human Race Through the Disobedience of Adam
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday April 24, 2008
Romans: Romans 5:12a-The Sin Nature and Spiritual Death Entered the Human Race Through the Disobedience of Adam
Lesson # 158
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 5:12.
This evening we will continue with our study of Romans chapter five.
Wednesday we presented a broad overview of Romans 5:12-21, in which Paul presents the basis of the believer’s justification through a comparison of Adam’s disobedience with the obedience of Christ.
This evening we will study Romans 5:12a, which teaches that the sin nature and spiritual death entered the human race through the disobedience of one man, Adam.
The former resulted in condemnation to the entire human race whereas the latter brought blessing and the availability of justification for the entire human race.
Therefore, this passage emphasizes that Jesus Christ’s act of obedience to the Father’s will to go to the Cross and die a substitutionary spiritual death for all of sinful mankind is the basis for the believer’s justification.
He also teaches that based upon this same principle of one man’s act of obedience being the basis for their justification and reconciliation so in the same way, one man’s act of disobedience, namely, Adam’s, was the basis for their condemnation.
The fact that those sinners who have been justified by faith in Jesus Christ possess a relationship with God indicates that the consequences of Christ’s obedience to the Father’s will in dying a substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross for all of sinful mankind are universal as were the consequences of Adam’s disobedience.
The outline of Romans 5:12-21: (1) Romans 5:12a: Introduction of a comparison between Christ and Adam. (2) Romans 5:12b-14: Expansion of the first part of the comparison-the disobedience of Adam. (3) Romans 5:15-17: Contrasts between Adam and Christ. (4) Romans 5:18-19: Completion of the comparison between Adam’s act of disobedience and Christ’s act of obedience. (5) Romans 5:20: Anticipation of objection concerning the purpose of the Law. (6) Romans 5:21: Victory over Adam’s sin and its consequences through Christ.
Let’s read Romans 5:12-21 and then concentrate on verse 12 this evening.
Romans 5:12-13, “Therefore, 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 until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.”
Romans 5:14, “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 of Him who was to come.”
Romans 5:15, “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 the many.”
Romans 5:16, “The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.”
Romans 5:17, “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.”
Romans 5:18, “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.”
Romans 5:19, “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.”
Romans 5:20-21, “The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Let’s study in detail Romans 5:12.
Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
“Therefore just as” is composed of the preposition dia (diaV) (dee-ah), which is followed by the accusative neuter singular form of the immediate demonstrative pronoun houtos (ou!!to$) and the adverb of manner hosper (w%sper) (hoce-per), “just as.”
This expression introduces a comparison that is drawn from a conclusion from Paul’s statements in Romans 5:1-11.
The preposition dia with the accusative form of houtos functions as a marker of cause denoting the basis or reason for something, which is identified for the reader by the immediate demonstrative pronoun houtos whereas the adverb of manner hosper introduces a protasis of a comparative statement.
The immediate demonstrative pronoun houtos is “anaphoric” referring to the “immediate preceding” paragraph that appears in Romans 5:1-11.
Romans 5:1-11 emphasizes that the believer’s justification and reconciliation with God is through the personal intermediate agency of One Man, the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ and His spiritual death on the Cross.
It also emphasizes that the believer’s deliverance from eternal condemnation and confident joy and expectation of sharing the glory of God in a resurrection body is the result of the spiritual death and eternal life of Jesus Christ.
The prepositional phrases throughout Romans 5:1-11 that emphasize the Mediatorship of Jesus Christ and the comparison between Adam and Christ in Romans 5:12-21 clearly indicate that the demonstrative pronoun is referring specifically to Romans 5:1-11.
Now, the adverb of manner hosper is used in the protasis of a comparison meaning that to which the main idea is being compared.
Romans 5:12-21 identifies the comparison as being between the consequences of Adam’s act of disobedience and the effects of Christ’s act of obedience.
In Romans 5:12, Paul uses hosper to introduce the protasis and then employs a parenthesis in Romans 5:13-17 to develop the significance of Adam’s disobedience and Christ’s obedience.
He resumes the protasis in Romans 5:18a and then completes the comparison in Romans 5:18b-19.
As we noted, the preposition dia with the accusative form of houtos functions as a marker of cause denoting that Christ’s act of obedience is the “basis” or “reason” for the believer’s justification and reconciliation since the immediate demonstrative pronoun houtos refers to this spiritual principle.
The adverb of manner hosper means, “just as” and introduces a comparison between the Lord Jesus Christ and Adam.
So the comparative adverb hosper introduces the protasis of a comparison, which Romans 5:12-21 identifies as being between the consequences of Adam’s act of disobedience and the effects of Christ’s act of obedience.
Hosper denotes that “just as,” one man’s act of disobedience, namely, Adam, was the basis for the condemnation of the entire human race.
The apodasis is completed in Romans 5:18b where Paul says “so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of all life to all men.”
The prepositional phrase dia touto identifies that the believer’s justification and reconciliation through the Lord Jesus Christ is “the basis” for the comparison with Adam.
Therefore, it is drawing a conclusion from Romans 5:1-11 and the adverb of manner hosper introduces a comparison that appears in Romans 5:12-21, which is drawn from this conclusion.
The comparison emphasizes that just as one man’s act of disobedience, namely, Adam’s, was the basis for their condemnation so Jesus Christ’s act of obedience to the Father’s will is the basis for the believer’s justification and reconciliation
By making this comparison between Christ and Adam, Paul intends to demonstrate that what God accomplished through Christ’s act of obedience is as universal in its scope and consequences as was the act of disobedience by Adam.
Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
“Through one man” is an obvious reference to the first man, Adam, as indicated in that Paul states in Romans 5:12 that sin entered the world through this one man, which Genesis 3:1-14 identifies as Adam.
Although, Adam’s wife actually committed the first sin, Adam is mentioned here since he was in authority over his wife and thus responsible for his wife.
“Sin” is the noun hamartia (a(martiva) (ham-ar-tee-ah), which refers to the sin nature that through the function of human volition produces personal sins.
The noun hamartia is not in the plural but rather in the singular and is articular indicating the sin nature is in view rather than personal sins.
In other words, the word in the singular emphasizes sin as an entity and not sins in general.
The noun refers to the inherent propensity in mankind to commit acts of mental, verbal and overt acts of sin.
In fact, the sin nature is being personified as indicated by the fact that Paul teaches that sin “reigns” (5:20; cf. 6:13-14), it can be “obeyed” (6:16-17), it pays wages (6:23), it seizes opportunities (7:8, 11), it “deceives” and “kills” (7:11, 13).
“Personification” is the ascribing of human characteristics or actions to inanimate objects or ideas or to animals.
Paul is ascribing the human actions of reigning, obeying, paying wages, seizing opportunities, deceiving and killing to the sin nature.
Sin is any mental, verbal or overt activity that is contrary to the perfect character and standards of God and results in spiritual death (Rom. 6:23).
It is the missing the goal or absolute standard of God’s holiness that is expressed perfectly in His Law, i.e. the Word of God.
In the New Testament, the old sin nature is called the “old self, the flesh,” which according to the Scriptures is being corrupted meaning that it is not getting better nor can it be rehabilitated but rather it is getting worse and worse everyday.
The old sin nature resides in the genetic structure of the human body and this is why the apostle Paul in Romans 6:6 calls it the “body of sin” and this is why we need a resurrection body.
Prior to salvation, the believer was enslaved to the lust patterns of the old Adamic sin nature since he was under real spiritual death meaning he had no capacity to experience fellowship with God (See Ephesians 2:1-3).
At the moment of salvation, through the baptism of the Spirit, the omnipotence of the Spirit identified the believer with Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session (See Romans 6:4-7; Ephesians 2:4-6).
Also, at the moment of salvation, God gave the believer a new divine nature that gives him the capacity to experience deliverance from the lust patterns of the old Adamic sin nature (See 2 Peter 1:4).
Therefore, as result of the Holy Spirit’s work at the moment salvation, the believer is commanded to abstain from the various lust patterns of the old sin nature, which wage war against the believer’s soul and is to flee them.
1 Peter 2:11, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.”
2 Timothy 2:22, “Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
“Entered” is the verb eiserchomai (ei)sevrxomai) (ice-er-khom-i), which is used in relation to the sin nature and means, “to enter” indicating that the sin nature “entered” into the human race through Adam’s act of disobedience.
The fact that the sin nature is said to have “entered” the human race implies that sin was in existence prior to Adam’s act of disobedience.
Of course, Satan is the first of God’s creatures to sin against Him (Isaiah 14:12-14; Ezekiel 28:12-18).
The aorist tense of the verb eiserchomai is “constative” aorist describing in summary fashion the sin nature’s entrance into the human race through Adam’s act of disobedience in the Garden of Eden.
“Into the world” is composed of the preposition eis (ei)$) (ice), “into” and the noun kosmos (kovsmo$) (kos-mos), “the world.”
In Romans 5:12, the noun kosmos refers to the inhabitants of the earth arranged in tribes and nations or peoples or in other words, the human race (Acts 17:26; John 3:16; 1 Cor. 4:9; 1 John 2:2; 2 Pet. 2:5).