Romans 5.15a-Adam's Act of Disobedience and Christ's Act of Obedience are not Identical in Essence
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday May 7, 2008
Romans: Romans 5:15a-Adam’s Act Of Disobedience And Christ’s Act Of Obedience Are Not Identical In Essence.
Lesson # 164
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 5:12.
This evening we will continue with our study of Romans chapter five.
We noted in Romans 5:12a that the sin nature and spiritual death entered the human race through the disobedience of one man, Adam.
In Romans 5:12b, we noted that each and every member of the human race received the imputation of Adam’s sin at the moment of physical birth.
In Romans 5:12c, we studied that Adam is the “federal” and “seminal” or “natural” head of the human race.
Then, in Romans 5:13, we read that sin was universal prior to the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai but was never charged to the sinner’s account.
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.”
We studied in Romans 5:14a that spiritual death reigned as king over the entire human race from the Fall of Adam to the giving of the Law to Moses at Mount Sinai.
In this passage, Paul teaches that spiritual death reigned as a king over those who lived between the fall of Adam and the giving of the Law to Moses even though they did not disobey the same exact command given to Adam.
Then, we noted in Romans 5:14b that Adam is an illustration of Christ.
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.”
However, in Romans 5:15-21, the apostle Paul presents seven contrasts between Adam and Christ in order to prevent any misunderstanding of what he meant that Adam is an illustration of Christ.
In his study of Romans 5:15-21, Dr. Thomas L. Constable identifies seven different types of contrasts between Christ and Adam: (1) Essence (2) Verdict (3) Consequences (4) Extent (5) Issues (6) Significance (7) Dominion (Constable's Expository Notes on the Bible; pages 57-59).
This evening we will note Romans 5:15a, in which Paul teaches that Adam’s act is absolutely not identical in essence with Christ’s act.
The former was a transgression and the latter was an act of God’s grace.
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.”
Then, in Romans 5:16, Paul presents the contrast between the “verdict” following Adam’s disobedience and Christ’s obedience.
The former was judgment and condemnation whereas the latter was justification.
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.”
In Romans 5:17, he then contrasts the “consequences” of Adam’s disobedience and Christ’s obedience.
Spiritual death reigned as king over the entire human race as a result of Adam’s disobedience whereas eternal life will reign as king through Jesus Christ.
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.”
In Romans 5:18, Paul completes his thought that began in Romans 5:12 by noting the contrast between the “extent” of Adam’s act and that of Christ’s act.
The entire human race was condemned because of Adam’s act whereas all those who trusted in Jesus Christ as Savior were declared justified by God.
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.”
Then, in Romans 5:19, the apostle contrasts the “issues” involved in Adam’s act and Christ’s act.
Adam disobeyed God whereas Christ obeyed.
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.”
Paul in Romans 5:20 contrasts the “significance” of Adam’s disobedience with Christ’s obedience.
The Law revealed the “significance” of Adam’s sin more clearly while on the other hand, God the Father’s gift of His Son to the entire human race reveals the “significance” of His grace more clearly.
Lastly, in Romans 5:21, Paul contrasts the “dominions” of Adam’s act and Christ’s act.
In the former, sin reigned as king in spiritual death while, in the latter, grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life.
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.”
This evening will begin to study Romans 5:15, which is divided into two sections: (1) Romans 5:15a, “However, on the other hand, absolutely not like this transgression is, as an eternal spiritual truth, also, in the same way, the gracious act.” (2) Romans 5:15b, “For if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that by means of this transgression committed by the one, the entire human race died. Of course, we know this is true. How much more then has the grace originating from God and the gift on the basis of grace, which is specifically, on the basis of the obedience of the one Man, who is Jesus, who is the Christ been generously and graciously offered to the entire human race.”
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.”
“But” is the adversative use of the conjunction alla (a)llav) (al-lah), which introduces a statement that stands in direct contrast with Paul’s statement at the end of Romans 5:14, hos estin tupos tou mellontos, “who (Adam) is, as an eternal spiritual truth, an illustration of the One destined to come.”
As we noted in our study of Romans 5:14, many expositors interpret Adam as a type of Christ but this is not entirely accurate since he did not point predictively to Christ because of his act of disobedience.
Rather the word denotes that Adam was an example or illustration of Christ in that Adam was the head of the old creation and Christ, the head of the new creation.
Also, Adam was an example or illustration of Christ in that his act of disobedience in the Garden of Eden had universal impact in that it brought a curse and condemnation upon his posterity, i.e. the entire human race.
Christ’s act of obedience to the Father’s will in going to the Cross and dying a substitutionary spiritual death for all mankind also had universal impact in that it brought blessing and justification to all those who trust in Him as Savior.
Therefore, tupos denotes that just as Adam’s act of disobedience had universal impact so Christ’s act of obedience had universal impact.
Adam’s act of disobedience, which had universal impact prefigured Christ’s act of obedience, which also had universal impact. Adam and Christ are similar to each other only in the sense that what each did affected others.
Therefore, in Romans 5:14, the noun tupos draws a parallel between Adam and Christ, not in a comparative sense but rather in a contrastive sense.
The entire human race is under the corporate or federal headship of Adam by virtue of physical birth whereas those members of the human race who have been declared justified by means of faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior are under the corporate or federal headship of Christ by virtue of their spiritual birth.
Adam brought a curse and condemnation to the entire human race, i.e. his posterity whereas Christ brought blessing and justification.
Therefore, in Romans 5:15, the conjunction alla introduces a statement that stands in direct contrast with Paul’s statement that Adam is an illustration of Christ.
The word introduces seven different statements that present seven different ways in which Christ is “not” like Adam.
Alla serves to warn the reader not to misunderstand the nature of the illustration between Adam and Christ.
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.”
“The free gift” is the noun charisma (xavrisma) (khar-is-mah), which refers to the obedience of Christ to the Father’s will in going to the Cross and dying a substitutionary spiritual death of all of sinful mankind.
In the writings of Paul, the noun charisma is usually employed to denote a gift from God given to the person who trusts in Jesus Christ as Savior or a spiritual blessing imparted to the believer through the communication of the Word of God.
However, in Romans 5:15, the noun charisma does not refer to a spiritual gift from God given to the sinner who trusts in Jesus Christ as their Savior or the communication of the Word of God.
Rather, the word refers to Christ’s “gracious act” of obedience to the Father’s will in dying a substitutionary spiritual death for the entire human race.
This is indicated in that the noun is used in contrast with the noun paraptoma, “the transgression,” which refers to Adam’s act of disobedience to the Lord’s command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
There are four words in the Greek text that form a correlative clause, which are not all translated by the New American Standard.
We have the emphatic objective negative particle ou (ou)), which is coupled with the relative adverb of manner hos (w($).
Then, we have the adverb of manner houtos (ou^tw$) (hoo-tos), which is employed with the adjunctive use of the conjunction kai.
These four words emphatically state that Adam’s transgression was absolutely not like Christ’s act of obedience.
The emphatic negative adverb ou emphatically negates the idea that Adam’s act of disobedience and Christ’s act of obedience are identical in essence.
The relative adverb of manner hos functions as a particle of comparison introducing Christ’s act of obedience as the model to be compared with Adam’s transgression in the Garden of Eden.
The “adjunctive” use of the conjunction kai introduces an “additional” statement about Adam’s transgression, which emphatically does not hold true with Christ’s act of obedience.
The adverb of manner houtos is drawing a comparison from the essence of the previous historical fact of Adam’s transgression with the essence of another historical fact that is to follow, namely, Christ’s act of obedience.
The “comparative” adverb of manner hos (w($), “like” clearly indicates that the noun charisma is being compared to the noun paraptoma, thus indicating that Christ’s “gracious act” of obedience is being compared to Adam’s act of disobedience.
Therefore, in Romans 5:15, the noun charisma does not refer to the effects of Christ’s act of obedience and thus does not refer to the gifts of salvation, righteousness or even eternal life as it does in Romans 6:23 since the word is used in comparison with the noun paraptoma, which refers to Adam’s disobedience.
Paul employs charisma in this fashion since he is presenting the contrast between the “essence” of Adam’s act of disobedience and Christ’s act of obedience.
The former was a transgression and the latter was an act of God’s grace.
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.”
“The free gift is not like the transgression” emphatically negates the idea that Adam’s act of disobedience and Christ’s act of obedience are identical in essence.
“The transgression” is the noun paraptoma (paravptwma) (para-ap-to-mah), which refers to Adam’s deliberate and intentional violation of the Lord’s prohibition in the Garden of Eden to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
It denotes that Adam’s disobedience to the Lord’s prohibition was done in full awareness of the consequences of his action since the Lord told him that he would die if he disobeyed.
The apostle Paul teaches Timothy that the Woman was deceived and fell into the transgression but that Adam disobeyed knowingly (1 Timothy 2:9-15).