Duck in the Pulpit

Comparing Adam and Christ

Since faith has justified us, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Also, by faith through Christ we have access into God’s grace in which we stand. Let us rejoice in the assurance of the glory of God. Not only that, but let us rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces assurance, and assurance does not put us to shame because God has poured His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who God has given to us.

For while we were still weak from the burden of our sin, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Nevertheless, God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Therefore, since Christ’s blood has now justified us, much more shall He save us from the wrath of God. If while we were enemies the death of His Son reconciled us to God, much more—now that we are reconciled—shall His life save us. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have received reconciliation.

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all people because all have sinned. Yes, sin was indeed in the world before the law, but for some sin is not reckoned when there is no law. However, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam, who is a pattern of the one who was to come. But the gift of grace is not like the trespass. Adam’s disobedience is not like Christ’s obedience. For if the many died through the one man Adam’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. Again, the gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. The judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Therefore, just as one man’s trespass leads to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. Just as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. —Romans 5.1-19

Adam’s fall introduced sin into the world, and death came because of sin: “When you eat of [the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] you will surely die” (Genesis 2.17). For Paul death is a spiritual separation from the body and estrangement from God. The sin Adam introduced into the world brought spiritual disaster for humanity. Death affects all people because all people have sinned. That all human beings stand under God’s sentence of wrath because of sin is a point the apostle made earlier in Romans (1.18-19).

The capability of Christ’s obedience to overcome Adam’s act of disobedience is the great theme of Paul’s explanation. Paul presents both Adam and Christ as representatives of humanity whose acts determine the destiny of all who belong to them. Just as Adam has disobeyed, and through his sin, brought sin and death to all who belong to him, so also Christ has obeyed, and through His obedience brought righteousness and life to all who belong to Him. Adam’s sin introduced the reign of death. However, Christ’s giving of Himself on the cross has similarly established a reign—but a reign of life rather than death, of grace rather than of deserved punishment. Believers can be certain of living eternally because we have been transferred into this new realm in which grace and life reign. This teaching of the certainty of life in Christ supports what Paul has taught in 5.1-11. We can be sure of salvation because our relationship to Christ guarantees that we will “reign in life” (5.17).

The last clause of 5.12 explains why death spread to all people, because all sinned. Humans die because of human sin, meaning that every person dies because every person, in his or her own body, sins. Paul stresses the way in which the disobedience of the one person leads to sin and condemnation for all people. Paul suggests that the sinning of all people takes place through their relationship with Adam. All people sin because they inherit a corrupted, sinful nature from Adam. The sinning of all people is a sinning that takes place in Adam. From a biological viewpoint, all human beings sinned in Adam because we were all seminally present in him. From a forensic viewpoint, as our God-appointed representative, Adam’s sin is accounted by God to be the sin of all people at the same time, and it is by reason of this sin that all people die. From either viewpoint, Paul’s point is that all people, by virtue of their relationship to Adam, are sinners under a sentence of death.

Paul then takes a defensive stance about the universality of death from the possible objection that people could not be held responsible for their sins if they did not “transgress” the law of Moses, a previous topic in his letter. Paul asserts the reality of universal death throughout the time before the giving of the law through Moses. From Adam to Moses, people died; therefore, people sinned.

Paul moves to contrast the result of Adam’s and Christ’s actions. Adam’s disobediencebrought condemnation and death while Christ’s obedience brought justification and righteousness. Adam’s act brought sin, death, and misery on all the world. However, God’s grace is at work through Christ and is capable to overcome Adam’s activity.

In summary, sin was introduced into the world through a single individual, resulting in death for all humanity. This consequence persisted even prior to the establishment of the law, as all were subject to sin. However, the grace of God, manifested through Jesus Christ, surpasses the impact of the original transgression. While one person’s disobedience led to widespread condemnation, one person’s act of righteousness offers justification and life. Thus, many were made sinners by one individual’s disobedience, and many will be made righteous by one individual’s obedience.