Romans: Adam’s Fall. Christ’s Victory.

Romans 5:12-21

In 1522, Martin Luther wrote a commentary on Romans, the book that had been so influential in his understanding of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. In the preface of his commentary, he wrote:

This epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament and the very purest gospel, and is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul.      

Romans is indeed the “very purest gospel” and deserves our repeated study. In this letter, Paul explains why every person needs Jesus and what Jesus did to provide eternal salvation to all who believe.

In Romans 5, Paul emphasizes what it means to have a personal relationship with God. First, he relates how Jesus provides justification, propitiation, and reconciliation with God. Then he describes aspects of this new relationship, including God's love, peace with God, and a confident hope of eternal life. 

In today’s passage, Romans 5:12-21, Paul offers more insight into Jesus’s work by comparing him to the first man, Adam. Let’s explore this unique comparison. 

Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned….

Adam and Eve lived innocent lives in perfect fellowship with God until that moment in the garden when they broke the only command God had given them. They fell for Satan’s deception. As promised, their disobedience introduced sin and death into the world. Humanity was created to live... but Adam’s sin set humankind on a path to die spiritually, physically, and eternally. That death “spread to all men because all sinned.” 

The entire human race is “in Adam,” meaning through Adam’s seed. Sin entered by Adam’s disobedience, and it has been passed down through him. Just as poison at the start of a stream contaminates the whole stream, sin in the first man pollutes all of humanity. Sin spreads through the human race like vapor filling every room of a house. 

This verse serves as the prooftext for what is called “original sin.” We don’t become sinners when we sin; we sin because we are sinners. We are born with a sin nature from our father, Adam, which continues to be passed down through humanity.

Romans 5:13-14
…For sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

Even before Moses was given the law, sin and its consequences were in the world, even though it wasn’t noted as breaking the law since the law didn’t exist. Going 100 miles per hour on a narrow road is dangerous; however, if there are no speed limit signs, you technically are not breaking the law.

Adam was given the command not to eat the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, but he disobeyed and broke it. However, “death reigned . . . even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam….”

Now, this is interesting to note. Paul says that Adam “was a type of the one who was to come.” What is Paul referring to?

The word translated “type” (Grk: typos) means “example or pattern.” It indicates that something is going to happen. For example, the Old Testament sacrificial system, where an animal was put to death in place of the sinner, was a pattern or type of what Jesus would do as the one-time-for-all-time sacrifice as the Lamb of God. 

So, how is Adam a type of Christ?

Adam is a pattern of Christ because both have universal significance in their actions. Adam’s sin affects all humanity, while Jesus’ obedience offers salvation to everyone. 

Paul further demonstrates that Adam is a type of Christ with six comparisons.

1. Adam brought the grave. Jesus provided the grace.
   
   Romans 5:15
   But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
   
   Death is a reminder that sin reigns. In Adam, all die. But in Christ, all live…forever.
   
   
2. Adam brought judgment. Jesus provided justification.
   
   Romans 5:16
   And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.
   
   Because of Adam, we are declared guilty. Because of Jesus, we are declared not guilty!
   
   
3. Adam brought the reign of death. Jesus provided the reign of life.
   
   Romans 5:17
   For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
   
   
4. Adam brought condemnation. Jesus provides justification and eternal life. 
   
   Romans 5:18
   Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
   
   
5. Adam’s disobedience causes people to be sinners. Jesus’ obedience causes people to be righteous.
   
   Romans 5:19
   For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
   
   
6. Adam’s sin increased. Jesus covered sin with abounding grace.
   
   Romans 5:20-21
   Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  

Sin reigns and rules in spiritual, physical, and eternal death. But grace reigns and rules through righteousness. Righteousness must come through grace. Our good works, moral efforts, and religious traditions can’t produce it. 

By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, we are made right before God…during this life and throughout eternity. All “through Jesus Christ our Lord.” 

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD 
Time in the Word: Read and reflect on Romans 5:12-21. Focus on the Adam/Christ comparisons.

Talking to God: Which identity are you living out: Adam’s legacy or Christ’s gift of grace?

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