Part 15 of Romans: The Gospel of God
Text: Romans 5:12-21
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men (v. 18).
Jesus, the Undoer
Have you ever had to undo something that someone else did?
My wife is a hairstylist by trade, and there have been times when she’s been asked to undo a mess someone has made with their hair. Maybe they used a do-it-yourself hair colouring kit and turned their hair green. Or their child was playing with scissors and cut a chunk out of their hair.
In Romans 5:12-21, the apostle Paul tells us that by one act Adam brought great harm to the human race. But Paul goes on to share the good news: what Adam did, Jesus undid.
What Adam Did, Jesus Undid
Death is a universal problem that has brought tremendous sorrow into the world. Humanity as been able to prolong life through medical science, but eventually all people still die. What is the biblical reason for death? In verse 12 we find the answer: “sin came into the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin” (v. 12).
God had warned Adam, “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Adam’s sin is called a “transgression” (v. 14) and a “trespass” (vv. 15, 17, 18) because it was “a willful violation of a known law.” [1] What kind of death did Adam bring into the world? Paul probably means both physical death (separation from the body) and spiritual death (estrangement from God).
“So death spread to all men [i.e., the entire human race] because all sinned” (v. 12). Why do all people die? “Because all sinned.” But what does that mean? There are three views concerning what “all sinned” means.
(1) “All sinned” means imitation of Adam’s sin. In other words, we have sinned like Adam sinned.
(2) “All sinned” means infection from Adam’s sin. In other words, we have sinned because we inherited from Adam a sinful nature.
(3) “All sinned” means inclusion in Adam’s sin. [2] In other words, we sinned when Adam sinned. [3]
I believe the context favours the third view. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says, “God has always dealt with mankind through a head and representative. The whole story of the human race can be summed up in terms of what has happened because of Adam, and what has happened because of Christ.” [4]
You might see this as unfair. “Why should everyone die because of the sin one man committed thousands of years ago?” But the same could be said of justification through Christ: “Why should the death of one man thousands of years ago lead to eternal life for many?”
How Jesus Undid It
“Adam, who was a type [pattern, NIV] of the one who was to come [Jesus]” (v. 14b). How was Adam like Jesus? Both Adam and Jesus committed an act that affected the whole human race. But there’s a big difference between what kind of effect the acts of Adam and Jesus have had on us.
By one act (i.e., eating the forbidden fruit), everyone is condemned, which leads to eternal death (i.e., being estranged from God forever). By one act (i.e., dying on a cross for our sins), anyone can be justified, which leads to eternal life.
On our accounts, we either have the sin of Adam (by birth) or the righteousness of Christ (by faith).
Grace
“Now the law came in to increase the trespass” (v. 20). Sin is worse when it’s a violation of a clear command. “But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (v. 20). How does God view sin? In righteous anger. But God’s grace is greater than his wrath.
The cross shows us that our sin is not something that can be simply overlooked. It also shows us the amazing grace of God.
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[1] Ben Witherington III, Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, p. 144.
[2] The words “imitation,” “infection,” and “inclusion” are taken from Douglas J. Moo’s Romans (pp. 189-192).
[3] In Hebrew, “Adam” and “man” are the same word.
[4] Quoted in John R. W. Stott, The Message of Romans, pp. 152-153.