8: Dead In Adam, Alive In Christ (5:12-21)
8: DEAD IN ADAM, ALIVE IN CHRIST (5:12-21)
Paul now comes, in Romans 5:12-21, to what we could think of as a parenthesis. This will be the first time in Romans that Paul has talked about the entrance of sin into the world through the Fall of Adam. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this is the place where it appears. Remember that Paul has already explained why mankind needs salvation (1:18—3:20), yet he did so without even mentioning Adam and Eve. Could it be that even the order in which Paul explains is a guide for us in presenting the gospel? As Paul explains mankind’s need for salvation, the emphasis is on how individual humans have turned away from God. He talks about people knowing the truth and deliberately turning away from it in culture after culture; serving the creature rather than the Creator; sinning against their own moral standards. Now, in chapter 5, he will give the root explanation for all of this. The bottom-line reason that all people are sinners, Paul now shows, is because of the historical Fall of mankind in Adam. And when one denies the historicity of Adam, one throws away the authority of Paul. But the intriguing thing is that Paul discusses Adam at this place, where he is talking to Christians and not to non-Christians.
I think that Paul does this purposely and with care. If we begin presenting the gospel by discussing things like the Fall of mankind or the inspiration of the Bible, we can easily get bogged down and never get beyond such issues. Of course, if the person with whom you are talking asks about the origin of sin, you should explain it. But it is interesting that Paul, in his natural flow of presenting the gospel, doesn’t begin at that point. It isn’t that he’s ashamed of it, because when he does get to the subject, he is very emphatic about it. Yet he doesn’t begin there. Rather, he begins his discussion of mankind’s need for salvation by showing that individual people, down through the centuries, have turned away from God and have deliberately sinned against their own moral standards.
Now, as Paul does begin explaining how sin entered the world, he insists very strenuously that Adam was a real historical person.
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. (5:12-14)
Paul’s straightforward statement that “by one man sin entered into the world” shows he clearly believed that the account of Adam and Eve in Genesis 1—3 was real history. We see this in other places as well. In 16:20, Paul says that “the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly,” undoubtedly a reference to what we have seen to be the first promise of the Savior, in Genesis 3:15. As Paul in 1 Corinthians speaks of the coming resurrection of believers, he assumes the historicity of Adam: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22). We could look also at 1 Timothy 2:13-14, where again Paul speaks of Adam and Eve as though they were real historical people.
Jesus also believed in the historicity of the first few chapters of Genesis. We see this in Matthew 19:4-5, where He quotes Genesis 2:24, assuming it to be historical fact, to explain His opposition to divorce. There is a tendency in our day to view the first three chapters of Genesis as merely myth or parable, an idea or an allegory. But considering that both Paul and Christ accepted those chapters as real history, if we reject them we are rejecting the authority not only of Paul but even of Christ Himself. Seeing, however, that both Christ and Paul did believe in the historicity of Adam and Eve, we can be confident and unapologetic in presenting Genesis 3 as the sufficient explanation of sin’s entrance into the world.
Paul says that “death reigned from Adam to Moses”; that is, death reigned even before the law came. As we saw in 2:1, those who lived from the time of Adam until the giving of the law will not be judged by the Law of Moses, but on the basis of what they knew, apart from the law, about right and wrong. They will not be judged by what they didn’t have (the law), but by what they did have (their own conscience and moral standards). So all come under condemnation, for even before the Law of Moses all were guilty.
There was a historical Fall, bringing death to all people, even those who lived before the giving of the law. But then there was also the equally historical coming of the Redeemer.
But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. (5:15)
There were two historical acts: the historical act of Adam, wherein all mankind became sinners; and, parallel to this, the historical act of Jesus, who came to raise up what had been lost. There is an interesting Old Testament parallel to this, in the Jewish custom of the brother raising up a seed for a brother who had died: “If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her. And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel” (Deut. 25:5-6).
Simply stated, if a man died with no heir, his brother was to take his wife, and the child who was born would carry on the name of the dead brother. The book of Ruth centers in just such a situation. When Ruth lies down at the feet of Boaz (chapter 3), she is not suggesting some sort of immoral act. Rather, since her husband has died, she is asking Boaz her kinsman to do for her exactly what the passage in Deuteronomy says should be done. She is asking that Boaz marry her so that a child may be born to raise up an heir for her dead husband.
With this in mind, let’s look at Isaiah 53, a chapter of tremendous importance concerning the work of Christ. In 53:10 we read, “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed.” Note the phrase, “He shall see his seed.” Although He was never married, Jesus is going to have a seed; He is going to have children. This refers, of course, to all of those who by God’s grace have accepted or will in the future accept Christ as our Savior. We who have done so are Christ’s children.
In Romans 5, Paul is explaining that the human race fell through Adam’s sin, but a second man came and raised up this fallen humanity. Just as in the Old Testament a brother raised up seed to his brother who had died childless, so, with humanity having died in the sin of Adam, Christ came to raise up a real, living humanity. The man who raised up seed for his dead brother under the Old Testament law was called a kinsman redeemer. Christ is the true kinsman redeemer. He has raised up a seed to God.
Some people in our own time say that “God is dead,” but whether people overtly say such a thing or simply choose to live as though God doesn’t exist, they themselves in fact become dead, because their unbelief has destroyed the purpose of their existence. They can no longer find themselves as real humans. But because Christ has come and has died, those who do believe in Him can become a true and living humanity.
Some other cross-references should help us understand the drive of this fifth chapter concerning Adam and Christ. Look at Isaiah 9:6: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” A child is to be born who shall be called “the everlasting Father.” Is this a confusion between God the Father and God the Son? I don’t think so at all. I think this relates to what we saw in Isaiah 53:10: Jesus, by His death on the cross, raised up a seed that is the true humanity, and in this sense He is indeed the everlasting Father. We can think of Jesus in various ways. The book of Hebrews emphasizes that He is our brother. But He has raised up this seed, this true humanity, and if we have accepted Christ and He is our Savior, in this sense we are also His children and He is our everlasting Father. Even in Hebrews we see Christ portrayed as our Father as He says, “Behold I and the children which God hath given me” (Heb. 2:13). Just before this, in verses 11 and 12, we are called Christ’s brothers. Christ is our brother, in the sense that He became one of the human race. But while we’re His brothers and sisters, we are also His children.
This has a profound implication for our view of humanity. Because it has fallen, humanity is far less than God meant it to be. But since Christ has become the second Adam, there is now a humanity raised up that is humanity indeed—a humanity that is fulfilling the purpose of its existence, which is to love God. God told Adam that if he ate the forbidden fruit he would die. When Adam ate the fruit, he didn’t die physically right away, but he was dead for all intents and purposes. He had rejected the purpose of his existence and so he was dead—and with him, all humanity has died (5:12; 1 Cor. 15:22). What we see of humanity today is less than human. When a man like van Gogh paints himself as less than human, he is portraying what mankind really is. Van Gogh understood. We look out across the human race, with all its longings, all its possibilities, all its potentiality, all its creativity, all its motions toward morality, all its motions toward significance, and we realize that unredeemed humanity is dead. We must have tremendous compassion. The story of fallen mankind is indeed a great tragedy.
Thankfully, of course, this is not the end of the story. Christ has come, and through His substitutionary death on the cross He has made it possible for a seed to be raised up that will be the true humanity. As Christians, our whole life must be consumed by a sorrow for fallen humanity, but also by the joyful proclamation of the true humanity made possible through Christ.
Mankind is dead, but Christ has come, the second Adam has come, and the second Adam, Christ, has finished the work. Therefore, you are not dead. You are alive. You are the real humanity. You are not a corpse. Once you begin to feel this, you begin to understand the deep call to the Christian life, which is the larger context of Paul’s discussion of Adam.
You remember we pointed out the unity between chapters 4 and 5. Abraham understood that his and Sarah’s bodies were dead as far as reproduction was concerned. But they both believed the promise of God, and out of this death there came a living faith. Prior to this there was nothing but death, but now that he had believed God, there was that which is living, a son of promise. So when we come to the fifth chapter of Romans, Paul says to us, “You are living. Humanity has died. It has sinned. It has no purpose of existence. But if you have accepted Christ as your Savior, even though you have been dead, you are now alive. And because you are alive you can begin to live within the framework in which the human race was meant to live from the very beginning.” The world is dead because it is Adam’s seed, but we are alive because we are Christ’s seed. In light of this, how should we live? Paul’s discussion of Adam is therefore not just something thrown in illogically; it fits very much into the whole emphasis on sanctification in 5:1—8:17.
Keep in mind also the theme of life versus death. We were dead, now we’re alive. We were dead because we are Adam’s children, but when we accepted Christ as Savior we became Christ’s children. This ties into the whole New Testament emphasis on being born again. We were born naturally as the children of Adam, and therefore we are dead. But when through the preaching of the word of God we accepted Christ as our Savior, we were born again and we became alive because we became the children of Christ.
Thinking again of the place of this discussion in Romans—in the section on sanctification—we see that we have been born again, we are alive, and therefore we can bear the fruit of a sanctified Christian life.
We were dead, but now we’re alive. Now we’re to live this way. We are to be Christ’s seed in practice. How? In our own strength? No. We are to be His seed on the basis of His finished work. There are two lines of humanity. The humanity that is born naturally as the children of Adam is dead. We “have been the children of wrath, even as the others” (Eph. 2:3); but now we have accepted Christ as our Savior. We are His seed, and laying hold through faith of this great reality, on the basis of Christ’s finished work, we are to live a Christian life now.
Because Jesus has come and has died, He has created something new. He has children. We who have believed in Him are His children. We are the living human race, and the rest are dead. Far from making us proud or exclusive in any way, this should lay a great compassion on us, for we still share the basic human nature of those who are still lost. The angels surely look down with compassion on the lost world, but we should have more compassion. For we, unlike the angels, share the human nature of those who are still lost. Not only do we have their nature, but we also were, in the past, in the desperate situation that they are still in. We have been children of wrath; they are still children of wrath. We have been dead; they are still dead. Surely, then, we must have compassion.
Of course this notion of two humanities is completely contrary to the twentieth-century mentality, with its emphasis on the unity of the human race. This has been expressed theologically in the liberal concept of the “fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.” The biblical viewpoint is that there are two human races, the human race that stands in the place of Adam and is condemned, and the human race that stands as the seed of Christ, which He has purchased with His blood.
Once again, please note that Paul has not just stuffed this discussion of sin’s origin in here inadvertently. He is reminding us who we are. There is lost humanity, and then there is a seed of Christ, which is redeemed humanity. This should give us great compassion for those who are still lost, but it should also make us see the great importance of how we live as Christians. We must realize that it is a terrible thing to bring a bad name on the Christ who died for us. Children who go bad bring discredit on their parents. But when you and I do not live as we should as Christians, we are bringing discredit on the very one who died for us and whose children we are.
Paul has explained the reason why mankind is dead (5:12-14), but he is also now beginning to focus on the wonderful reality of being alive through Christ.
But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) (5:15-17)
Paul doesn’t want to dwell too long on the negative side, explaining why mankind is dead. His real emphasis is on the positive side: “All right, you were dead, but now you’re alive!” Beginning in 6:1, he will go on to say, “Now that you are alive in Christ, be alive! Don’t go on living as though you were still dead.” Christ died for us while we were sinners (5:10), but now He is alive. Adam sinned, and therefore all mankind is dead (5:12-14), but Jesus, the second Adam, has come. Jesus has died, and now Jesus is alive. There is the possibility of true life in the rough-and-tumble of life, in the midst of tribulation.
“We shall be saved by his life” (verse 10); we “shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” (verse 17). We could think of “shall reign” as a future thing. But surely the fact that Paul says this here means that there is a sense in which we can “reign” with Christ even in this present life. We are now the children of God, and as such we are to reign.
We have stepped out from the seed of Adam, this humanity that has revolted and is dead. By the grace of God we have become the humanity that is redeemed. We are the seed of Jesus Christ. Well then (Paul will say beginning in 6:1), let’s live this way! Paul’s explanation of sin’s origin is not just an academic exercise. It’s a call to life! It’s a call to live as the children of God—as the descendants of Jesus Christ. The lost world is in the parade of Adam, but we are to follow in the way of Jesus Christ. Paul’s emphasis is not primarily on the death of human ity, but on the reality that now, as the seed of Christ the second Adam, we are to be alive.
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. (5:18)
A more accurate reading of the Greek would be, “Therefore as by the one offense . . .” and “by the one righteousness,” thus putting the focus on Adam’s first sin, and on Christ’s specific righteous act of redemption.
Some have interpreted this verse to mean that just as all humans came under judgment because of Adam’s sin, all will be saved by Christ’s act of righteousness, regardless of their personal belief or disbelief. But this universalism simply cannot be reconciled with Paul’s emphasis, throughout Romans, on the importance of the human response of faith. Rather, when Paul speaks of “all men,” he means that there is no other way to be saved. There was one historical Fall, and there was one historical act of redemption.
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (5:19)
“Made” righteous is better understood as “declared” righteous, as we have noted throughout this study. Salvation is the declarative act of God. We have sinned and have been declared to be guilty. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are justified and declared to be free of guilt. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were declared sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be declared righteous.”
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. (5:20a)
This is better translated, “the law entered, in addition, that the offense might abound.” The people who lived between Adam and the Law of Moses didn’t have the Law of Moses, but they were sinners nonetheless because they had the law of their own moral standards and they had violated that standard (2:1; 5:14). Then, in addition to this moral standard that all humanity has had from the beginning, God gave the law through Moses, and this made it possible “that the offence might abound.” In other words, the law made it abundantly plain that all people were sinners. The law didn’t make them sinners, it simply made it very plain that they were sinners. As we have seen, this was an act of grace on God’s part; He gave us the law as a schoolmaster to show us our need for salvation (Gal. 3:24).
But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. (5:20b-21)
As he concludes his explanation of sin’s entrance into the world through Adam, Paul’s emphasis is not on death but on life. It is actually an emphasis that flows from verse 10, “shall be saved by his life,” through verse 17, “shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ,” to here in verse 21: God’s “grace [shall] reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rather than simply explaining that all humanity died in Adam, Paul emphasizes the other side. All humans either have been or still are dead in Adam, but those who have accepted Christ as their Savior are not still dead but are alive. And if we are alive, if we are the redeemed humanity, and at such a cost, how important it is that we show this in our everyday lives.
That will be Paul’s theme in chapter 6.