The Good News (6): One Sins, Many Die; Many Sin, One Dies (Romans 5:12-21)

Introduction

We have many representatives in life, don’t we? Sometimes we choose them, like our parliamentarians. Sometimes we don’t, like the Governor General.

We have a House of Representatives, who we elect. We have shop stewards or union reps, who represent our issues. Or we have sporting representatives. All this people represent Australia, or the State, or us.

And representatives are a necessary part of life. They can make decisions efficiently on our behalf. They can represent people’s interests and needs.

But I think we have a love-hate relationship with our representatives.

At one level we love them. Think of the Australian cricket team, one of the most successful teams ever. We love it when we see Warnie turn it a yard, or when Steve Waugh makes a ton. And we say, "we won the Ashes". We won them from the airconditioned comfort of our lounge rooms.

Or think of the St George Rugby League Team. When they beat Canterbury, as they must and will, I can say to our beloved brother Mark, who has joined us today, I can say to him with an air of vicarious triumph, a little tempered with compassionate pity, "We beat you. Our team won. Your team lost." (Mark if you don’t know, supports Canterbury Bankstown.)

Now there is a sense where this enmity Mark and I have towards one another stemmed from an accident of birth. Mark had the grave misfortune of being born in Earlwood, too far north, and so he follows Canterbury. I however, grew up onthis side of the railway line, where the sun shines and the birds sing, God’s own country, Bexley North, and so all my life I’ve worn the red and white. St George is my team.

And think of the advantages of this set up. It is a very efficient way for me to experience victory. I beat all kinds of opposition without breaking into a sweat. I press the remote, sit there for an hour and a half in front of the TV watching the game, and then I emerge victorious, with no training, no injuries, and no effort. When they win, I win. So we love our representatives, at least, when they win.

But we also hate our representatives. They sometimes lose. They let us down. They betray us.

So our newspapers pretend this high moral ground: they are ‘shocked’ about a sporting star’s phone-sex indiscretions (notwithstanding all the phone sex advertising in the classifieds), or horrified at this sportsman’s or politicians marital unfaithfulness (notwithstanding all the bikinis they show. I sometimes think our papers got rid of the page three girl so they could have one the page 5, 9, 13, 19, 27, 39 and 51.)

And we are no different. We hate our representatives, too. When they lose, we blame the coach, or we make ourselves feel better by saying how hopeless they are, all from the air conditioned comfort of our lounge chairs. Or we busy ourselves with other distractions. We are fair-weather friends.

Well, in our passage today, Paul presents two representatives for us. He gives us two men, whose pasts determine our future, and whose histories determine our destinies. They are Adam, the first Man, and Jesus Christ, the last Man.

Previously

Our passage today is Romans 5:12-21. We’ve seen that Paul has found there is no-one righteous (Rom 3:10), and that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23). That was Chapter 1 verse 18 to chapter 3 verse 20. All humanity is guilty before God because everybody individually has sinned.

And then we saw that God saw our lack of righteousness, so he worked his own righteousness. God sent his own Son as a propitiation, taking our punishment for sins, and thus turning aside his own anger. And thus we are justified by faith, trusting God and his saving works, and not by trusting ourselves and our own works.

Well, now Paul draws the threads together. He has already shown that all of us are individually guilty before God. Now he explains that in fact God considers us all guilty as a race, and that God has viewed us all as guilty ever since Adam’s sin. Our own individual guilt is real, but our own guilt is part of a corporate guilt. And our head and representative in this guilt is Adam.

The First Man: Adam (verses 12, 14-19)

I remember skimming a book I found on my Uncle’s book case. It was titled something like "The 100 Most Important figures in History". At the time I was surprised to find Jesus only mentioned ‘third’. But on reflection, there was something more surprising. I cannot recall any mention of Adam. For as far as Paul is concerned, Adam is the most influential person in history, apart from Jesus. For Adam’s decision led to sin and death for his whole race.

For there is a sense where Adam is humanity. As a matter of fact, the Hebrew word Adam can mean the person ‘Adam’, or alternative ‘humanity’, ‘mankind’, or even an individual ‘man’[1].

Paul says that Adam acted not merely for himself, not merely for himself and Eve, but Adam acted for all their children as well. We are Adam’s children. And his sin affected us tragically. Look at verse 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…

We have all heard of class actions in the United States, haven’t we? There have been class actions against the manufacturers of silicon implants, or exploding motor cars, or of cigarettes. A group of plaintiffs suffering the same harm, get together to take the alleged wrongdoer to court.

The Australian version is a ‘Test Case’. An example of this is Mabo, the High Court case that allowed Aboriginal land rights claims. Eddie Mabo argued the case for his Torres Straight Islanders. Eddie wins, and all his people win.

Well, what we see with Adam is a kind of reverse class action, or a reverse test case. Adam represents us, his people. But we are not the plaintiffs, No, we are the defendants. For we are like Adam in every way, especially sin.

The plaintiff, the aggrieved party, is God. And Adam is in the dock. And we are in the dock with Adam, For Adam represents a class: all his children. So our fate and Adam’s is linked.

What was the situation with Adam. Adam sinned and died.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin ...

Adam’s experience was that if you sin against God, you will die. Adam discovered that the wages of sin is death (cf. Rom 6:23). So the link between sin and death in our world was established.

Now, Paul has already established that all people have sinned. That was Chapters 1:18-3:20, or chapter 3 verse 23. So since we sinned, we too shall die. The last part of verse 12.

…and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned…

Why do we die? Because, we all sinned.

Probably the best way to take this is that each person individually sinned[2]. And like Adam, each person dies. Every individual is guilty and thus dies. Thus, corporate guilt is established, because of individual guilt. This is consistent with what Paul has said elsewhere in Romans.

This leaves open another question. Why do we sin? Now it seems to me, Paul doesn’t explain here the reason why each person sins[3].

We might say that the reason we all sin is because we have an inherited corruption from Adam. That is the doctrine of original sin. And that is correct. It is just that Paul doesn’t teach it here, but he assumes it.

Elsewhere Paul talks of us being "by nature objects of wrath" (Eph 2:3). And other parts of the bible speak of a universal bias to sin. Thus Genesis 6:5 says:

The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. (Gen 6:5)

Indeed, David tracks back his own sinfulness to his time as an embryo. Psalm 51:5, "Surely I was sinful from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." From the moment of conception on, David sees himself as sinful. Children might be innocent in a relative way, but as far as God is concerned, no child is innocent before him. In the womb and in the cradle, we need God’s grace and forgiveness.

And nothing explains the state of our world better than original sin. Why does every generation never learn from the mistakes of the last? Why is it that technological advances, from the printing press to television, from video to the internet, have not made us better? Why has technology only given us new and improved ways to kill each other, novel and exciting ways to defame, gossip, and slander? Why is the internet notorious for its pornography, and not the fact that we can contact missionaries cheaply and quickly? Isn’t it because of a universal sinfulness, that has continued down the generations?

However, our passage is not talking about an inherited bias towards sin. It is speaking of our legal guilt before God. We see this in verse 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.

Here is God’s divine verdict against all of us. It is given through Adam, just as in a test case a verdict applies to the whole class. Our representative is guilty of sin. So also are we. We, too, are legally established as sinners, and that is exactly what we really are.

I want to make three observations regarding Adam’s sin: First, Adam’s sin involved breaking a commandment. When Adam sinned, it was more than sin. It was ‘trespass’. ‘Sin’ is a principle of rebellion against God. But ‘trespass’ is the breaking of a known command (vv. 18-19). Verse 14 tells us that what Adam did was broke a command.

Now you can have sin without breaking a command. That’s Paul’s point in verses 13 to 14. Before the law of Moses came, all men died[4]. They died because they sinned. Their hearts were evil and rebellious against God. But there was no commandment to transgress.

So Paul’s point is this. Sin was always in the world. But law turns sin into trespass, so that sin is recognised as sin.

Second, Adam’s sin made death king of all of us. Adam’s sin brought death. In Adam all die (1 Cor 15:22). We see this in verse 14:

Death reigned from the time of Adam.

Verse 15:

The many died by the trespass of the one man.

Verse 17:

By the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man.

Adam sinned and died. And he bequeathed to all his children the legacy of death. And this death came to all with an explanation. Death is not simply a natural process. It is God’s judicial guilty verdict on sinners. Our death is our condemnation as sinners. So, Adam’s sin brought condemnation for all.

Third, Adam’s sin brought condemnation for all. Verse 16:

The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation…

Again verse 18:

… The result of one trespass was condemnation for all men….

Adam sinned as our representative. And as our representative, God condemned him, and so condemned all of us. Our question is, "How is this fair?" This raises serious questions, doesn’t it? How is this fair? God holds us guilty for the sin of Adam. It was Adam that sinned that day. Shouldn’t he die alone?

Well, our first answer is, when Adam sinned, he acted on our behalf. The fact is that history has shown that none of us has chosen differently from our representative. Scripture teaches only Jesus is without sin. Each of us has sinned in our own persons. We are sinful even from the point of conception. So here is a completely valid way for God to relate to humanity. He sets Adam as our representative. He is a good one. He is human, we are human. He sinned, we sinned.

My second answer is this. What fair-weather friends we can be when our team loses. Adam sinned, let’s blame him. We enjoy all the benefits of having representatives. But we don’t want to bear the costs.

And I say this because most people are quite happy to know that we can be declared righteousness by Jesus' death and resurrection, but don’t think it’s fair that God can consider us sinful because of Adam’s sin.

We are happy for Jesus to take our punishment. We are happy to have his obedience, which we don’t have from our own obedience but should have. We are happy for Jesus to die and us to live. We call that grace. But we are not so happy when Adam sins, and we are held sinners.

In the end, it is not a matter of fair and unfair. Rather, it is a matter of grace or not grace.

Think of this example. I drive my wife and children in the car. My intention is to take them on holidays. Now I can drive foolishly. I can speed, or drink drive. If I crash they share the foolish consequences of my decision. At an individual level, it seems unfair on my family.

But suppose I drive sensibly. And I arrive at the holiday. Is that then fair on my family? Is my and my children’s enjoyment of a holiday fair in world which half the world starves?

There’s a sense where we have moved outside the realm of fair. For holidays are not a matter of fair or unfair. I don’t deserve them, no matter how hard I’ve worked. They are matters of grace, or not grace.

Adam a ‘pattern’ of Jesus (verse 14)

For Paul’s whole point in this passage is to compare the wreckage that followed Adam’s sin with the obedience of Jesus Christ. Notice verse 14: "Adam was a pattern of the one to come." For if Adam was influential, Jesus was far more so.

The Last Man: Jesus

Now, Paul is very cautious in his comparison of Adam and Christ. He spends three verses contrasting them, verses 15 to 17, and two verses comparing them, verses 18 to 19. Let’s look at the comparison first.

Jesus and Adam compared (verses 18-19)

18Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness [better, the justification of the one] was justification that brings life for all men 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made [better, judicially established] sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made [judicially established] righteous.

Jesus like Adam were each one person, whose acts effected the many. The NIV takes 'one' to refer to single acts, but it is probably better to have the reference to a single person. One man's actions effected the many. Adam and his transgression brought ruin and disaster to all humanity. But Jesus Christ obeyed, and through that obedience was declared righteous. It is through the justification of the one, Jesus, because of his whole course of obedience, not just in his death, but in his whole life, that he was vindicated and justified. This justification happened in his resurrection (Rom 4:24, cf. Rom 1:4, 5:10-11, 1 Tim 3:16). Jesus' whole course of obedience showed him righteous. He had kept God's law which he was born under, and according to the law's terms, he who does these things will live. Well, Jesus did live. After dying to bear the penalty of the law for our sin, he rose again to receive the reward of obeying the law, eternal life, and we get to share in it. Through the justification of the one, Jesus Christ, many are justified in resurrection life. Jesus' resurrection is the earnest or guarantee that all in him will also rise to life.

For on the last day, at the judgment[5], God will not see us, and our disobedience, nor will God see us in Adam, and his disobedience, but God will see the whole course of Christ's obedience for us, and that will be imputed to us. God the Father will see Jesus' life obeying the precept of the law, Jesus' sin bearing death bearing the penalty of the law, Jesus' vindicating resurrection defeating death, and Jesus' ongoing intercession. We will be saved through his life. Our redeemer lives, and in our flesh we will see him stand on the earth. And the Father will see us united to our representative, Jesus. And on that day we will stand as righteous people in God’s sight. That is the wonderful gospel of justification by faith alone, through Jesus' righteousness alone.

Jesus and Adam contrasted (verses 15-17)

And so it’s not surprising that in comparing Jesus to Adam, Paul must contrast Jesus and Adam. In verses 15 to 17, Paul must show how much greater Jesus is than Adam.

Adam may be the second most influential man in the world. But he is influential like the top dog in a prison is influential, Or like the mastermind of a terrorist cell. Because Adam’s power of influence is only to bring death and condemnation.

Well done! Any murder can bring death to the living. And any useless layabout can become a Fagan, like in Oliver Twist, a criminal leading his children into lives of crime. There’s no achievement in that[6].

But Christ’s contribution was life and justification. Bringing death is easy. But for someone to bring life to the dead, that’s a different matter. And for someone to bring justification to the wicked, well that takes some doing. It took the obedient life of the one who always obeyed God. It took the death of one over whom death had no claim. It was shown in his resurrection which justifies both him and us. It took the sinless one being made sin for us, and then rising again for our justification, something which neither Adam nor his followers could ever do. And that is how much greater Jesus is to Adam.

Grace abounding to the chief of sinners (verses 20-21)

The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Here is set before us God’s grace, as an ocean. Go and pour your polluted bucket of sin in the ocean of God’s grace. And God’s grace will absorb it. Does your sin rise in your heart the more you think about it? Does trespass come to mind as you see God’s good laws? Is sin abounding? Then know, in Christ, grace has superabounded.

Perhaps your sins come back to mind now. Perhaps things we think little: harsh words, angry thoughts, covetousness. Perhaps things we think big: adultery, sexual immorality, theft, lies, deceit, drunkenness, violence. Do such things come to mind? You aren’t the first, you won’t be the last. For we are Adam’s children. But know, when sin increased, grace increased all the more. God’s grace is an expanse beyond the furthest star. No sin is beyond it. And for this we thank Jesus.

[1] You can find this in your NIV footnote for Genesis 2:20.

[2] Conscious that I disagree with Murray, Moo, Morris, Hodge, and many others. Here I follow Blocher and Cranfield. I would like to agree with the former, but their dependance on the aorist tense is wrong. Further, they all accept the causal meaning of eph ho. I would like it to be in quo theologically, but for the reasons given by Moo, it seems to not be the best way to take it.

[3] ‘Paradoxically, this hypothesis entails that Paul was not dealing with original sin’: Blocher, Original Sin, 81.

[4] Except Enoch.

[5] Note future passive, Contra Cranfield, 291.

[6] It’s a bit like comparing Star Wars to the bible and Jesus, because Star Wars is a redemption or salvation story.George Lucas has put all this Christian imagery into it. The story is all about Anakin Skywalker who is a powerful Jedi. But he turns to the dark side, and become Darth Vader. And his fall from grace leads to destruction across the galaxy. But his Son, Luke Skywalker, saves him by turning him back from the dark side. In Star wars, the many die so that Darth Vader can be saved. But for Jesus, the one dies so that the many can be saved.