Romans 5.19-The Contrast Between the Issues Involved with Adam's Act and Christ's Act
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday May 21, 2008
Romans: Romans 5:19-The Contrast Between the Issue Involved with Adam’s Act and Christ’s Act
Lesson # 172
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 5:12.
This evening we will study Romans 5:19, which presents the contrast between the issues involved with Adam’s act and Christ’s act.
The former disobeyed God whereas the latter, Christ obeyed the Father.
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.”
In Romans 5:19, Paul feels the need to offer an explanation for his statement in Romans 5:18 since it could be inferred from it that men were condemned only through Adam’s disobedience and without committing any sin on their own part.
Therefore, he clearly affirms in verse 19 that every member of the human race is a sinner by nature and practice.
Romans 5:19 is a comparative clause that compares not only the results of Adam’s act and Christ’s act but also the issue involved in Adam’s act and Christ’s act, namely, disobedience and obedience, respectively.
“Through the one man’s disobedience” means that Adam’s disobedience was the means by which, God the Father rendered the entire human race as sinners.
“Disobedience” is the noun parakoe, which denotes a person hearing a command but yet unwilling to obey.
Therefore, the word refers to the “active disobedience” of Adam since the word is used in contrast to the noun hupakoe, which is used of Christ’s “active obedience” or “submission to authority,” i.e. the Father’s will.
Further indicating that parakoe refers to the “active disobedience” of Adam is that Genesis 2:16-17 and 3:1-7 clearly teach that Adam understood the prohibition to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Therefore, parakoe in Romans 5:19 when used of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden denotes that Adam heard the Lord’s prohibition and yet chose to deliberately and intentionally disobey it.
The fact that parakoe refers to the “active disobedience” of Adam is also indicated by Paul’s statements in 1 Timothy 2:12-15.
Adam knowingly ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because he chose his relationship with his wife over his relationship with God, which is illustrated by the fact that he listened to his wife rather than obeying God.
Therefore, in Romans 5:19, the noun parakoe denotes that Adam heard and understood the Lord’s prohibition to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and yet he was unwilling to obey it.
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.”
The statement “the many were made sinners” refers to the judicial act of God whereby He imputed Adam’s original sin in the Garden of Eden to every member of the human race.
This imputation results in every member of the human possessing the sinful nature of Adam.
In relation to Adam’s disobedience, this statement denotes that each and every member of the human race became a sinner by nature at the moment of physical birth without committing on their own part, an act of sin.
The statement “the many were made righteous” refers to the imputation of divine righteousness to the sinner, which the sinner receives the moment he exercises faith in Jesus Christ as his or her Savior (cf. Romans 3:21-26; 4; Ephesians 2:8-9).
The statement “the many were made sinners” indicates that human beings are sinners by nature apart from their own actions and based upon Adam’s disobedience.
Whereas the statement “the many were made righteous” means that sinners become righteous apart from their own actions and based upon the merits of Christ’s obedience.
God rendered the human race the status of sinners through Adam’s disobedience whereas He rendered sinners the status of being righteous through Christ’s obedience.
“Sinners” is the adjective hamartolos (a(martwlov$) (ham-ar-tol-os), which is used in relation to the hoi polloi, “the entire human” and describes the entire human race as those who have missed the mark of the absolute perfection of God’s character, which is His holiness.
The word denotes that the entire human race are sinners by nature since the verb kathistemi, “were made” denotes the concept of imputation and the legal status of being a sinner as a result of a judicial act by God.
The Bible teaches that each and every member of the human race is a sinner by nature as well as by practice.
Ecclesiastes 7:20, “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.”
Romans 3:10, “As it stands written for all of eternity, ‘there is, as an eternal spiritual truth, absolutely none righteous, not even one.’”
Galatians 3:21-22, “But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.”
Romans 5:19, “For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.”
“Through the obedience of the One” means that Christ’s obedience is the means by which God the Father renders sinners righteous.
“The many” is the adjective polus (poluv$) (pol-oos), which refers exclusively to those sinners, i.e. Adam’s posterity, that have exercised faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and does not refer to the entire human race.
Paul is not teaching that the entire human race is automatically rendered as righteous by God as a result of Christ’s act of obedience to the Father’s will in going to the Cross.
Rather, he is teaching that Christ’s death established the basis for God the Father rendering sinners righteous when they exercise faith alone in Christ alone.
The fact that the sinner has to trust in Jesus Christ as Savior in order to receive the gift of God’s righteousness resulting justification is clearly taught by Paul in Romans 3:21-5:1, Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 2:16 and John 3:16-17.
Galatians 2:16, “nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”
Romans 3:21-30, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
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.”
“Righteous” is the adjective dikaios (divkaio$) (dik-ah-yos), which describes the state or condition of the sinner possessing divine righteousness as a result of God the Father rendering them righteous or declaring them justified through faith in Christ whose obedience established the basis for God the Father doing this.