Exposition of Romans 5:12-21

Welcome

Good morning!

I hope everyone has been enjoying the beautiful turn towards spring this week. I know we’ve been busy with all that spring brings, as I’m sure you have been too.

I want to take a moment to welcome our guests and returning visitors. We love having you with us to worship God! There are contact cards on the hall table if you wouldn’t mind filling those out, as well as follow-up cards if there is anything you need us to stand with you through.

Quick note, we are expecting our shipment of dirt for the community garden this week, but if there are further delays, we’ll make other arrangements so that we can get the dirt and begin planting as soon as possible. This means that the community garden ministry needs to be thinking about two things:

First, when would be a good time to call for volunteers from the local schools (and everything involved in making those arrangements)?

Second, keep your ear open for families that need help. We want to look for people who are struggling with inflation, unemployment, or under-employment, who would benefit from our garden’s fresh food.

These contacts will also give us an outlet to distribute any surplus food that you don’t know what to do with from your own home gardens as well.

I also want to take a moment to thank everyone for your prayers this week over my surgery. Everything went very well and, although I have the expected limitations on me from surgery, my recovery has gone much better than I expected.

Challenge

Be accessible to the community.

One of the first lessons Christians learn as followers of Christ is that he reshapes our entire life and gives purpose to even the mundane things in life. Nothing is too small to make available for his use. So one of the things we have to get used to doing to become effective citizens of the eternal Kingdom is to learn to re-engage the world with purpose. I think of how little children have to learn how to dribble the basketball with their heads up; we have to learn to live our lives with purpose to be effective in God’s Kingdom.

Fruitless Christian living is often the result of purposelessness.

So our challenge in May is to make ourselves accessible to the community.

Assignments

Romans 6:1-4.

Your reading assignments this week are meant to cultivate your mind for Scripture’s message next week. I recommend reading these verses on Monday and then again on Friday. Meditating on them throughout the week as your read elsewhere in Scripture and pray to God.

Now let’s take out your Bibles and open to Romans 5:12-21.

Pause to go live > > >

Righteousness Reigns

Today’s message provides the necessary groundwork for the rest of Paul’s letter to Rome by drawing an important contrast between Adam and Christ. Both stand as key representatives of the whole human race. Adam stands as the representative of fallen humanity, in whom death reigns through sin; Christ stands as the representative of the restored human race, in whom grace reigns through righteousness for eternal life.

I believe we need this message today. We need this message because everywhere we turn we hear voices calling our attention to focus on the reign of death, and if we listen to these voices, we find ourselves inwardly consumed by the darkness. But, the good news that resounds from today’s message calls our faith to be fixed on the reign of grace through Jesus’ righteousness for eternal life! And to stand courageously on the grace that is being brought to us from our Lord Jesus Christ!

Today’s message is composed of one of the most difficult arguments in Paul’s letter to Rome. So we will benefit from making a few key observations before we dig into this text.

Exegesis

First, we want to observe the pattern of Paul’s writing. His pattern provides an initial thesis statement, followed by arguments and illustrations that are used to draw his conclusions. This pattern continues as Paul presents another thesis summary statement in 5:1-11, followed by arguments and illustrations in today’s lesson that will provide the basis for his conclusions in chapters six through eight. This is very important because it suggests that we should expect Paul’s conclusions in chapters six through eight to draw on his arguments and illustrations from chapter five.

Second, we need to pay attention to the rhetorical devices Paul uses in this section. First, Paul uses what is referred to as “the rhetoric of comparisons”, which Quintilian argues is the general basis for all deliberative speeches. Such comparisons highlight both the differences and similarities between objects, and progress from “the lesser to the greater”. Therefore, we start with Adam and move towards Christ. Both Paul’s illustration and conclusion will follow this pattern. And this allows Paul to conclude on a positive note by ending with his considerations of “the greater” (i.e. Christ). Second, Paul uses the “rhetoric of digression” to temporarily depart from his main subject in order to strengthen the foundation of his argument before returning to the theme at hand. Those of you who did your weekly assignments will notice that this is partly what makes this week’s text so difficult to follow. And lastly, Paul employs the “rhetoric of personification” in order to treat concepts like “sin”, “death” and “the law” as characters in a play so that he can more effectively make his point.

Finally, our last observation is that we’re entering Paul’s fifth argument (5:12-21), which is also his shortest and heaviest argument. As we have already suggested, this argument is going to provide the rational and theological framework necessary for his remaining arguments. The comparison between Adam and Christ, the personifications of “sin”, “death”, and “the law”, and the basis for how Christ’s salvation is brought to the whole world are necessary if we are going to understand how God is going to rescue the human race from the reign of death.

Together these observations suggest that Paul is about to introduce us to the pattern that he will use to make his final arguments. We will see how the reign of death seized power through the old man, Adam, and how the reign of grace triumphs through the new man, Jesus Christ, for eternal life. And this provides us the necessary framework to interpret chapters 6-8.

Romans 5:12 CSB

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.

“Therefore” (Διὰ τοῦτο) (v. 12): These “Διὰ τοῦτο” clauses are vital to interpreting Romans because they summarize and transition Paul’s main arguments. And nowhere is it more important to identify exactly what is being summarized and transitioned than here.

So minimally, Paul is at least summarizing verses 1-11:

Romans 5:1–2 CSB

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

Taken in this light, Paul is addressing how we are set right with God and access into his presence is restored to the human race through our Lord Jesus Christ. And all of this is true and will feature heavily in Paul’s argument moving forward.

However, you’ll notice these verses also begin with another “therefore”, indicating that they are also drawing forward prior themes. So, taken in this light, this argument draws on the full meaning of gospel justification in order to illustrate for us the salvation we’re receiving in Christ.

So let’s take a bird’s eye view of this message:

Rapid Birds-Eye View > > >

Romans 1:18 CSB

18 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,

Romans 1:21 CSB

21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened.

Romans 2:6 CSB

6 He will repay each one according to his works:

Romans 3:10 CSB

10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.

Romans 3:20 CSB

20 For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.

Romans 4:5 CSB

5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness.

Romans 4:23–25 CSB

23 Now it was credited to him was not written for Abraham alone, 24 but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

These verses describe both the fall of humanity through Adam and the birth of a new humanity through Jesus Christ. What perished through Adam’s rebellion is reborn through Jesus’ resurrection.

This “new humanity” is what Jesus envisions in his “born again” metaphor:

John 3:5–6 CSB

5 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.

At the heart of Jesus’ message is the hope that we can put off our corrupt nature and be clothed through the resurrection in immortality! The flesh cannot enter eternal life because it is subject through sin to death, but, praise God, we can be born anew through the Spirit, which is dually symbolized by the washing of baptism and the washing of the water of God’s word (Ephesians 5:26; 1 Peter 1:23).

“Just as” (“protasis”) (v. 12): We need to pay attention to this clause. Scholars refer to this as the “protasis”. In ancient Roman dramas, the “protasis” was the opening part of the play in which all the main actors were introduced. And, in logic, the “protasis” is the conditional statement upon which another depends. Most importantly, when we read “just as”, we naturally expect “so then” (i.e. the “apodosis”). In other words, we should anticipate the rest of the play!

I trust you’ll see in a moment why this makes these verses among the most difficult to interpret in Romans; “where is the “apodosis”? Answering this is made difficult because it is not at first immediately obvious where we should look for the “apodosis” to enter.

“Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin” (v. 12): What is clear is that this is the opening scene of humanity’s ancient drama. In the Biblical narrative we see both human community and personal individuality intricately weaved together within divine providence.

So on the one hand, the human race composes one people such that the actions of one affect the whole. But, on the other, the human race is composed of individuals, who act on their own will. So Adam, as both an individual and the representative of the whole human race, brought sin into the world, and through sin, the whole world was subjected under the reign of death.

“In this way death spread to all people, because all sinned” (v. 12): Anyone reading from translations like the ESV, NASB, or NET will notice that this verse reads “And so death spread to all people”, while those reading from translations like the CSB, NKJV, or NIV will notice that the “and so” is omitted and replaced with something like “And thus” or “and in this way”. This is because “and so” is the grammatical form used to introduce the apodosis, the end of the scene. But the full force of the scene has not yet been made. So the latter translations (I think rightly) translate the meaning of this clause instead of its form in order to avoid confusion.

As a result of this, some scholars do argue that this is the end of the scene. Everything that follows would the be Paul’s argumentation. But, this view is rarely adopted because it leaves Paul’s illustration very flat. You’ll notice that none of Paul’s other illustrations are so short. Consider his illustration from Abraham in chapter four. Or you can look at how Paul personifies the Law in chapter seven to provide an illustration about human bondage to sin under the law. I think it is clear that Paul’s scene is not yet finished.

Instead, this is an extension of the previous scene in which death is seen entering the world’s stage through Adam’s rebellion and spreading like a dark cloud over the whole human race.

Romans 5:13–14 CSB

In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to a person’s account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression. He is a type of the Coming One.

“In fact” (“γὰρ”) (v. 13): We’ve paid a lot of attention to these “gar” statements throughout Romans because they’re used to give the basis or reasoning of Paul’s arguments. Normally, one would expect the “rhetoric of argumentation”, but, that is not the case here. So translations like the NIV, CSB, and NLT render this instead to indicate the implied basis for what has been said in order to preserve the dramatic scene of Paul’s protasis. The NKJV is most unique in that it puts verses 13-17 in parenthesis in order to suggest that Paul is momentarily stepping away from the scene to give an explanation and returning to the scene in verse 18.

However one looks at these verses, it should be clear that they are still at least tangentially within the unfolding scene of humanity’s drama.

“Sin was in the world before the law” (v. 13): Taken in this light, then, Paul is explaining what happened to Sin’s character after Sin entered the world’s stage through Adam. “Yes”, sin spread to all people because everyone sinned, but not everyone sinned in the same manner as Adam. That is to say, not everyone’s sin constituted a transgression of a known law. Instead, Sin’s character appears to exit the world’s stage momentarily between the acts of Adam and Moses so that only sin’s effects could be seen within the world. Sin was like a grand conspirator working behind the scenes to inflict the world with sorrow, suffering, and death.

“But sin is not charged to a person’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression” (v. 13-14): I think the results of prematurely stepping away from the story of humanity’s drama can be most seen here, where too much theological weight is placed without recognizing what this scene is doing in our story.

“Yes”, sin was antagonizing the world, making a great mess of things from Adam to Moses. But sin’s operation was behind the scenes and unknown. Sin’s effects were seen and recognized, such that human authors even composed various plays, sonnets, and poems on the subject. So humanity was baffled and befuddled by this reign of terror. And without our next protagonist - the Law - humanity would be doomed to be forever tormented by this unknown villain.

It’s within this scene that we now see the theological impact of this story: God doesn’t charge us with personal guilt when we don’t understand our own actions, though our behavior still subjects us to the forces at play.

Imagine an 18 month baby child slaps his sister because he wants to see her make that funny noise again. Or maybe the child slaps his sister out of frustration that she isn’t doing anything about that terrible ache in his stomach. We don’t charge the child with any guilt because we understand that the child is acting without understanding. But give the child a few more years, and time to grow, and then we expect the child to learn how to control those urges and put away his tantrums in favor of more peaceful means of solving his problems.

Unless the child’s understanding matures, the whole house will be forever subject to the tyranny of that child’s wild behavior. Their parents will dread taking their children anywhere because they know the havoc their child will cause. There will be no peace because of the child’s uncontrolled whims.

And so we see the story of the human race unfold in very much the same manner. From Adam to Moses we were subject to the tyranny of sin but were not charged with guilt because sin was not yet known.

You will notice two more things about this part of the scene before we move on: first, the next protagonist is anticipated in “the Law”; second, “the law” is juxtaposed with “Moses”, suggesting that the Law stands opposite Sin in the way that Moses stands opposite to Adam. We want to make clear at this point that the Law is not an antagonist. Moses was the servant of God. Instead, the Law has the purpose of forcing sin back onto center stage so that the hero - Jesus - can finally free the human race from Sin’s reign of terror.

“He is a type of the Coming One” (v. 14): Finally our last character is anticipated: Jesus is expected to perform for the new humanity a similar function that Adam performed for the fallen human race. So “Types” are characters who prefigure other key characters.

Romans 5:15 CSB

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflowed to the many.

“But” (“ Ἀλλʼ ”) (v. 15): Now that the main characters have entered the stage, the comparison must be set. So this is suggests to me that we are, indeed, still in the “protasis” and still anticipating the “apodosis”. In other words, we’re still in the opening act anticipating the final scene.

“the gift is not like the trespass.” (v. 15): Much like a narrator’s voice, we hear that the much anticipated gift of the “Coming One” is not like Adam’s trespass. Now, unless we hear this clearly, we will be lost in the next few scenes and struggle to interpret what we’re seeing.

“For if by the one man’s trespass the many died” (v. 15): So the narrator’s voice continues setting the conditions of this comparison between Adam and the Coming One. We are supposed to move in our thinking from the “lesser” to the “greater”, from Adam to Christ, contrasting the manner in which Adam’s trespass occured with the manner in which Christ’s gift is given. And the manner of Adam’s trespass is stated clearly: by one man’s sin many died. So through one man’s sin death took hold of the human race.

“how much more” (v. 15): You’ll recognize this phrase from verse 10, where the grace of God’s mercy shown to us while we were sinners through the death of his Son is contrasted with the grace shown to us through the life of Jesus’ resurrection. This phrase functions to demonstrate the superiority of something in contrast to another.

And so now we understand the next clause.

“Have the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflowed to the many” (v. 15): Just like the grace we receive from Jesus’ resurrection is superior to the grace that we received at his crucifixion, so the gift of Jesus is superior to the trespass of Adam.

Romans 5:16 CSB

16 And the gift is not like the one man’s sin, because from one sin came the judgment, resulting in condemnation, but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification.

We’ll take this passage all together.

The gift is also dissimilar to Adam’s sin in effect as well: sin not only brought death onto the scene, but it also introduced judgment and condemnation. Whereas humanity was without shame, after sin entered the world, we all became subject to shame. We not only judge and are judged by one another, but now, we also must answer to God. And we can expect only condemnation from God because of our sin if we must stand to answer for our trespasses before him.

Romans 5:17 CSB

17 If by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

“If by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man” (v. 17): Once again the conditions of the comparison are narrated. I have noticed that a great deal of confusion enters this scene when we don’t pay attention to the conditions of this comparison. And what are those conditions? We see from Adam’s sin how death reigned over humanity through him.

“How much more” (v. 17): We again move from the “lesser” in Adam to the “greater” in Christ.

“Will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ” (v. 17): While humanity was subjected under the reign of death through sin, through the grace of Jesus Christ and his gift of righteousness, we now reign in life through him.

Two things are now introduced here, which should then be anticipated in Paul’s coming conclusions: first, our freedom from the reign of death; second, our reign in life through Jesus Christ.

Quick Bird’s Eye Summary > > >

Romans 6:8 CSB

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him,

Romans 6:14 CSB

14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under the law but under grace.

Romans 8:16–17 CSB

16 The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, 17 and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

You see? The Law was the protagonist that flushed sin out into the open, but the Coming One - Jesus Christ - is the hero who triumphed over sin and broke the bonds of death through the power of his resurrection. He has become the firstborn among a new family of believers through the promise of the Holy Spirit. And this family is no longer subject to the reign of sin and death because we have been freed by the grace of God and the gift of righteousness from his Son to reign in eternal life!

So this is the necessary framework to interpret the coming chapters.

Romans 5:18 CSB

So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is justification leading to life for everyone.

“So then” (v. 18): Finally we arrive at the “apodosis” of humanity’s unfolding drama; “so then” picks up on the “just as” from verse twelve.

“As through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone” (v. 18): this essentially restates the opening scene where we see “sin enter the world through one man, and death through sin”, concluding that “through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone”. In other words, through Adam’s sin everyone died, even those who were not charged with the same guilt as Adam because the nature of their sin was different from Adam’s.

Yet, because the Law flushed sin out and exposed this cruel tyrant, now we have the gift of God.

“So also through one righteous act there is justification leading to life for everyone” (v. 18): Now, through Jesus’ singular righteous act, the sin that took hold of the world through Adam is set right, opening the door to life for everyone who was once held in bondage through sin to the reign of death.

Romans 5:19 CSB

For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

“For” (“γὰρ”) (v. 19): You will notice that all the major translations join together in rendering this “gar” clause as Paul’s typical “logical argument”. We have concluded the scene of Paul’s illustration from Adam and Christ, and are now giving the logical conclusions of this story.

These are, if you will, the essential truths of redemption in the Christian story that are not up for debate.

“Just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners” (v. 19): You will notice that I have not yet addressed the theological elephant in the room. I haven’t yet talked about the doctrine of “original sin”. For anyone who is theologically inclined, this may have come as something of a surprise to you since almost everyone’s tendency is to jump right into this doctrine, but this was a feature of design on my part, not a bug.

I believe we introduce a great deal of confusion into the gospel narrative when we prematurely interrupt Biblical thoughts with refined theological questions or issues of modern social and/or philosophical relevance. Without doubt these things do matter, but we cannot deal with their demands until we have first learned what Scripture has to teach us.

To this point I think we discover something truly beautiful: there is broad theological agreement among all Christians on the three main points illustrated by humanity’s unfolding drama.

Those three main points are:

First, sin gained standing in the world through Adam

Second, sin spread unknown to all people even before the law because everyone sinned

Third, sin subjected everyone to the tyranny of death

Now there remains one last question to answer from this verse before we talk about the theological elephant in the room: “in what way were all people made sinners through Adam’s trespass?” And, in fact, this question is what generates one’s answer to the doctrine of original sin.

This drama does answer this question:

First, v. 12 tells us that everyone dies because “all sinned”

Second, v. 13 tells us that not everyone bears personal guilt

Third, v. 14 tells us that not everyone sins in the same manner as Adam’s transgression

The first point argues for personal sin. We die because we sin. The point is simple enough until we take into account those who die without having personally committed any sins. Stillborn infants or invalids might be common examples cited. This is what leads some to call for some kind of transferred sin-guilt. They would read this to mean that all people sinned through Adam. But that’s not exactly what Paul said, is it?

The second point argues that not everyone bears personal guilt because of the third point, which argues that not everyone sins in the same manner as Adam’s transgression.

So, taken together, this means that the effects of sin are seen universally throughout the human race, being enabled through both Adam’s sin and our general participation with him in sin, while the guilt of sin is conditional upon one’s understanding and active participation in sin.

In this sense we were all made sinners through the reign of death that came about through sin. This answer generally satisfies the question because, when viewed from this distance, we recognize that everyone sins.

However, I think anything further than this stretches the intent of the text beyond its purpose. I don’t see any reason to think that Paul meant to comment on why infants die. I don’t think he was so obtuse that he was unaware of this reality. So he certainly could have narrowed this down to a more precise point with the addition of just one or two more words throughout this unfolding drama.

Instead, we must remember that Paul was being moved by the Holy Spirit to convey the message that we need for life and godliness in Christ Jesus. I think anyone who has seen the goodness of God in Jesus Christ will be comforted by his goodness to entrust these other weighty questions into his hands. I know that I have given this much thought sense our miscarriage. I believe the baby that was in Mary’s womb was alive and possessed a soul. And I know that this child died being outside the faith by which we rightly understand salvation. But I am not troubled by this because I believe God is good. I fully believe the second point articulated from verse 13, that no personal guilt is transferred from me (or Adam) to my child. Beyond that I am completely satisfied to entrust the rest to God because I am sure he is good.

“So also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (v. 19): By now we are well familiar with the rhetorical language of comparison being used, so we conclude that in the same manner as above, so now Jesus’ obedience makes us righteous.

Through Jesus’ obedience, righteousness has taken hold of us and spread to everyone who believes. He has become my righteousness.

I think this point is reflected in Paul’s writing to the Christians in Corinth:

1 Corinthians 1:30 CSB

30 It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption

So this is the confidence with which we approach the throne of grace, knowing that through Jesus’ power we are being made righteous, the reign of death is broken, and we enter the reign of eternal life!

Grace Reigns Through Righteousness

Even though this is the shortest of Paul’s arguments in Romans, it is among the most important because it illustrates how the reign of death took hold of the human race through sin, and how grace broke death’s grip over us so that we might enter to reign with Christ in eternal life.

All of Paul’s remaining arguments will trace themselves back to the narrative themes of this drama.

So we will let our conclusion draw from the text:

Romans 5:20–21 CSB

20 The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul personifies the law as one of the chief protagonists in humanity’s story. The law exposes sin, who was operating behind the scenes. But where the law exposed the tragedy of sin, grace entered with even more force so that sin’s grip over the world might be broken and grace might reign through righteousness for eternal life through Jesus!