It All Does Make Sense, You Know! (Romans 5:12-21)

Sometimes we like to have summaries of situations, perhaps even when a big situation can be stated in a few words. We are familiar with mission statements in which an organisation can summarise its existence in a sentence. Is it possible to make a statement that can describe the human race? Or is it possible to arrange time into periods in order that we can grasp what is going on? Paul provides answers to both questions in this passage. We can look first at what he says about the second one.

Making sense of time

One way in which we divide time is to use various empires (indeed the Bible itself uses this method in the prophecy contained in Daniel 9). The extent of time that Paul has in mind here is from the creation to Jesus and the basis of the division that Paul uses here is the law that was given through Moses and the apostle mentions two periods connected to it. First, there is the period before the law, which ran from Adam to Moses; second, there was the period of the law, which was from Moses to the coming of Jesus. Clearly he has in mind Jews who were struggling with the claim that the period of the law was not permanent.

Why does Paul say this? I would suggest he is pointing out that the coming of the law did not deal with the effect of sin, which was death. He points out that there was a big difference between the two periods. Those who lived in the first period from Adam to Moses did not know as much about sin as did those who received the law through Moses. When Paul says that sin was not counted before the law, he does not mean that God did not recognise people as sinners. Paul was fully aware that God had judged the whole world for its sin at the time of the flood. Instead Paul means that humans did not know so much about sin as became known to the Israelites once the law was given (v. 20).

Perhaps we are seeing here another aspect of the failure of Israel to use the God-given law correctly. Instead of using to show their own sins and the sins of others they opted to make it a means of self-justification, and of imagining that their use of it made them better than the Gentiles. Yet there was one obvious detail that should have highlighted to them that they were using the law in a wrong way, and that detail was that people still died. The fact that people still died should have revealed the limitations of the law at the same time as they should have realised the benefits of the law, which was to reveal that they were sinful. And God has also told them that one was coming who would deal with the problem of death.

Making sense of people

Sometimes we say of someone, ‘I wish we could understand him. I wish we could fathom why he is what he is.’ Paul here goes further and tells us why everyone is what he or she is. And he explains it by referring what happened when Adam sinned.

Take note of the phrase in verse 12, ‘because all sinned.’ When we read that verse we may assume that what Paul means is that everyone dies because of his or her own sins (plural). Yet if we look closely, we discover that Paul is referring to all people, not just to those who lived in the past or were alive in the present. In addition to them, he is including those who had not yet been born, and he includes them among those who have sinned.

When Paul uses the verb ‘have sinned’ in this clause, he uses a particular Greek tense that we do not have in English. It is an aorist tense, and it usually points to a single past event or action. Here Paul uses it to describe an event that affected everyone and that was done by everyone, even those not yet born. What event was that which affected every person in such a way that death became the outcome for them all? The answer to that question is the sin of Adam.

This means that it does not matter if a person lived in the period from Adam to Moses or in the period after Moses. All people in both periods died for the same reason – their connection with the sin of Adam. This is a reminder that Adam was the representative of all those people, that he was their agent acting on their behalf. He was a suitable agent because he was able to keep God’s commandments perfectly.

Paul reminds us, however, that Adam failed to do what was required of him. The apostle points out that Adam’s action was a trespass, a willing action that went beyond the limits that God had placed on him. We can read about his trespass in Genesis 3. Adam had a very simple prohibition to obey for his own benefit and the benefit of all those he represented.

Adam’s wrong action had very serious consequences for himself and for everyone else – he and they were condemned by God. The proof that they were condemned is the presence of death, although physical death is not the only aspect of condemnation that we should recognise. In addition to physical death, there is the loss of eternal life, which had been the prospect for everyone whom Adam represented. Instead of eternal life, they have eternal condemnation, the conscious experience of divine judgement.

Making sense of Jesus

Paul mentions several important details about Jesus in verses 15-20. First, the apostle says that what Jesus did was an expression of grace (v. 15). Paul’s way of explaining its gracious aspect includes an affirmation of the deity of Jesus. The grace is called both ‘the grace of God’ and ‘the grace of that one man Jesus Christ’. Paul is saying that Jesus is equally the source of the grace that was shown to those who has sinned in and with Adam. Although he had become a man, Jesus had not ceased to be divine.

Second, Paul states that this grace revealed in Jesus abounded towards those in Adam (vv. 15-16). In order to show how it abounded, Paul contrasted what preceded the judgement imposed on Adam and what precedes the blessing received through Jesus. What occurred before judgement was pronounced on Adam was one rebellious act whereas what occurred before the blessing was received were many rebellious acts by those who trusted in Jesus. This was the opposite of what would have been expected. After all, if one wrong action brought such condemnation, surely many wrong actions would result in further condemnation! But to those who had been condemned for their sin in Adam God had something different to say.

Third, the free gift that is given through grace is said to be justification, which is the opposite of condemnation (vv. 16-17). We should meditate on what Paul says about justification in verse 17. He uses a contrast to help his readers appreciate its amazing features. The contrast is between the effect of condemnation and the effect of righteousness: the effect of condemnation was to experience death and the effect of justification is to ‘reign in life’. Note that Paul says that death reigns over those in Adam, that each one is its slave, under its power. In contrast, Paul says that those in Christ reign (he does not say that life reigns over them), and this reveals the amazing consequence of justification. Those who were imprisoned under divine condemnation become rulers over all that God has planned for them. Adam had been created to rule over God’s domain on earth and share it with his descendants. He and they lost it. But in Jesus, those who by faith are justified become kings with him, and share his inheritance.

Fourth, justification is said in verse 17 to be righteousness, which is the same as perfect obedience. Furthermore, in verse 18, the righteousness they have is also called ‘one act of righteousness’. Which action of Jesus, the one man, brought this about? No doubt, it would be possible to suggest particular moments, but Paul is referring to the entirety of the life of obedience that Jesus lived while on earth. He was dedicated to the service of God at every stage of his life and his dedication was always perfect. But his dedication was not only for his won benefit, as it were; it was also his gift for the benefit of rebels against God. Jesus obeyed the commandments of God on their behalf. Perhaps we can say that Jesus was born in the age of the law because his perfection would have shined brighter in the eyes of those who should have had a better awareness of sin because they lived under the law. This great transaction – the perfect One was condemned for the sins of the rebellious in order that the condemned rebels could have the same righteousness as the perfect One. No wonder Paul describes its as abounding grace.

There is a fifth detail that Paul mentions, and that is the consequence of righteousness (v. 21). Again Paul uses contrasts, this time contrasting sins’ increasing domain of death and grace’s domain leading to eternal life. Paul here is reminding us of the way to eternal life – receiving the righteousness of Jesus – and the wealth of eternal life, which is that God will give to his people all that the eternal inheritance includes. We can truly say that justification is a wonderful doctrine and see why others regarded it as such a crucial doctrine.