Romans
5:12-21 - Outline and Summary
By
pointing to the parallel which exists between the condemning work of the first man, Adam (through whom the human
race was condemned) and the saving work or the “last Adam” - Jesus Christ (through whom Christians
were saved) Paul shows how sinners were justified.
(Romans 5:12-21)
•
Paul’s purpose is
to demonstrate that we are:
–
Justified (ie. Put in right
standing with God)
•
in the same
way we were
–
Condemned (ie. Put in wrong
standing with God)
•
through what another did (while acting in our place as our legal head or representative).
•
To make his
point, Paul uses a “Just As -- So Also” type of argument:
–
Just As we were condemned through the sin of
another (Adam, the first man)
–
So Also we are now justified through the obedience of another (Jesus
Christ)
•
The passage is
designed to teach that
the whole basis of a sinner’s acceptance before God is the righteousness or obedience of Christ which God gives to undeserving sinners.
•
Paul begins showing the parallel (between Adam and Christ) by pointing out how the
first man Adam brought sin and death to all connected to him (i.e., to all his
natural descendants) (Romans
–
Romans 5:12 - Therefore, just as sin
entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death
came to all men, because all sinned--
•
Sin entered the world through one man
(Adam) and
•
Death entered as a result of sin.
•
In
this way death came to all men
•
Because “all sinned” in Adam.
–
Adam’s sin was counted by God as the sin of all
mankind, for under God’s arrangement Adam
served as the legal head and representative
of the human race (that was to come from
him by natural birth).
•
Verses
13-14a provide proof
of the assertion of verse
12 - that “all men” are under the
sentence of death as the result of Adam’s one sin (rather than as a result of their many personal sins) (Romans
–
Romans
•
Since sin is
the violation of law, there can be no sin or guilt apart from the breaking of a law.
•
Since death,
which is a result of sin, reigned over all who lived from Adam to Moses
(infants included), it follows that all were counted guilty
as the result of the violation of some law.
–
The fact that death was universal (from Adam
to Moses) cannot be accounted for on the basis of the violation of the
Law of Moses, for it had not been given.
–
The fact that death was universal cannot be accounted for on the basis of the law written on the heart (see
•
No
Law existed from Adam to Moses which all who lived during that period could have
personally broken.
•
Yet they were all guilty of sin
for they were all under the sentence of death.
•
If it was not their own sin
which had brought death
to them, whose sin was it?
•
It was Adam’s
sin!
•
When the first
Adam sinned “all sinned” in
him (as verse 12b states)
•
Verse 14b
states that Adam was a type
or pattern
of Jesus Christ - the One to come.
–
Romans 5:14b - Adam, who was a pattern
[or type, NASB] of the one to come.
–
Question:
•
In what way was
Adam a type or pattern of Christ - “the One to come”?
•
How did the two correspond?
•
How did the work
of Adam prefigure or foreshadow the work which Christ was to fulfill?
–
Answer:
•
As Adam
was the head and representative of his race, whose destiny
depended on what he did.
•
So Christ was the head and representative of His people whose
destiny depended on what He did.
•
As the sin of
the one (Adam) was the ground for our condemnation
•
So the righteousness of the other (Christ) was to be the ground for our justification.
After stating that Adam was a
type of Christ, Paul next draws a contrast (to show the differences) between the effects which the two
representative men produced. Adam brought death and condemnation to “the many” connected to him, whereas Christ brings justification and life to the many redeemed by Him (Romans
•
Paul
continues the contrast in verse 16:
|
Again,
the gift of God [Christ’s
righteousness] is not like the result of the one man's sin:
The judgment [of God] followed
one sin [Adam’s sin] and
brought condemnation |
but
the gift [of Christ’s Righteousness] followed
many trespasses [Namely
the many personal sins which had been committed by those for whom Christ
died]
and
brought justification. |
Paul concludes the contrast
in verse 17 by showing how the final result of what Adam
did differs from the final result of Christ’s work:
DEATH <-----------------------------and-------------------------------->
LIFE
|
For
if, by
the trespass of
the one man,
Death Reigned through
that
one man [Adam], |
How much more will Those
who receive God's
abundant provision of grace and
of
the gift of righteousness
Reign in Life through
the
one man, Jesus Christ. |
•
Paul resumes and completes the parallel (which he began in verse 12 and stated
in verse 14b) between the representative work of Adam
(with its results) and the representative work of Christ (with its results). (Romans 5:18-19)
–
In verse
18 Paul shows that just as Adam’s one trespass resulted in condemnation for all connected
to him, so also Christ’s
one act of righteousness resulted justification that brings life for all connected to Him.
–
In verse
19 Paul concludes the parallel by showing
that just as the many in Adam were made sinners so also the many in Christ were made righteous.
•
This parallel is
designed to teach us that the only basis
of the sinner’s acceptance
before God is the righteousness or obedience
of Christ. We are saved
through what Christ did for us in the same way we were lost
through what Adam did while acting as our legal head and representative.
•
Paul explains
God’s reason for giving the Law of Moses to
•
Verse
20 gives the order of events in the
unfolding of God’s redemptive plan:
 |
Paul explains God’s reason for giving the Law of Moses to
•
Verse
21 sets forth the conclusion of the argument (of verses
12-20) and makes the final comparison:
–
Romans 5:21 - So that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal
life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.