Romans 5: 12 - 21

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned –

¹³ To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

¹⁵ But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! ¹⁶ Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: the judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. ¹⁷ For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, 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!

¹⁸ Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. ¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

²⁰ The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 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.

Eternal Life Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Like yesterday, another ‘therefore’ begins today’s reading. Paul has been talking about how we are all sinners, and in the first part of chapter 5 he wrote about how we are justified through the blood of Christ, and saved from the wrath of God. Today’s ‘therefore’ is to link the sin that he has been talking about (and how it came about) and the salvation we have though one man, Jesus Christ.

In this passage Paul does something that we occasionally see in his letters – he interrupts himself to explain a bit more about the point he is about to make. Verses 13 to 17 are really all in parentheses. Verse 12 begins with an unfinished ‘therefore…’ and his argument continues in verse 18.

Verses 13 to 17 are about the fact that sin entered the world through one man – Adam. And Paul is talking about how it was that people were sinners, even before there was the Law of Moses to break. This is another one of those things that made sense to Paul and his original readers, but is a bit outside our cultural understanding. In fact Paul is speaking from his Pharisee background here. The Pharisees viewed ‘sin’ as what happens when you break the commandments and laws of the Torah. You and I tend not to use that definition of ‘sin’ because we have been brought up with the Ten Commandments and their interpretation in the Sermon on the Mount. But Paul is explaining that even though there was no Law for people to break between the time of Adam and Moses, death still reigned (v. 14).

Adam was disobedient to God, and through his disobedience he brought sin into the world. Jesus, on the other hand, was obedient to God, and through his obedience he brought justification, life and righteousness into the world! (v. 18 - 19) Paul is arguing that just as the actions of one man brought death, so the actions of another man reversed it and brought life!

Verse 21 says, ‘Just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ That verse reminds us of where we have come from and where we are now. Before we knew Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we were caught in sin and death. But now, through Jesus, we have received the grace of God. And we have received his righteousness and the wonderful gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!

We shouldn’t get so caught up with some of the difficult arguments that Paul uses in Romans that we forget the central message, which is that God loves us so much and he puts that love into action (grace) by saving us from sin and death, and giving us the gift of life!

 

Prayer

Father God, we praise you for rescuing us from sin and death. Thank you that when Jesus came he reversed the sin of Adam, and brought us the gift of life! Help us know it, believe it and share it! Amen.