12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned--
13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
This paragraph, verses 12-21, Paul compares Adam and Jesus. The key words in this paragraph are “sin - includes sinned, transgression, disobedience” - (14x); “one” (13x); “many” (5x); “all” (4x); “death” (5x); “gift” (5x); “grace” (5x). The theme of the verses: one man brought sin and death into the world, likewise one man brought the gift of righteousness and life into the world.
V. 12-13 - “Therefore” - The beginning of the sentence refers back to Rom. 3:23 - “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
“just as through one man sin entered into the world” - A visual image may help explain: think of the Russian nesting dolls - a big doll when opened up reveals a slightly smaller doll. When that doll is opened, there is another doll inside. There are many smaller dolls inside the biggest one.
Adam, he of the original sin, is the biggest doll. All the rest of humanity resides within that one doll. Adam was infected with the sin. We carry the sin and death within us. DNA testing seems to be very popular now (at least if you watch the number of ads on TV), to determine ‘where you are from’. Whether it is Central Europe or darkest Africa, you will now be able to tell who you are (according to the ads).
You are human. You were born with a sin nature. You inherited it from Adam. That is ‘who you are’. Because Adam was disobedient - he chose to disobey God - sin is baked into our genes. (See: Gen. 2:16-17 and Gen. 3:1-21). It is important to realize this is not just a ‘spiritual’ problem. This physical body which houses our soul, our spirit, and our mind has been corrupted by sin, it will die. God is not going to repair these bodies. At resurrection or rapture we are reborn, given a new body. We will be just like Jesus. (See: 1 John 3:1-2).
“death through sin” - This has been known from the beginning of humanity. See: “Then the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.’ " (Gen. 2:16-17). See also: Ezek. 18:4, 20; Jer. 31:3. I am not sure if physical death was part of the Eden experience, but we know for sure that physical pain and death is part of the curse. Even more, the “second death”, eternal separation from God, is the penalty of sin, and is inherited from Adam and Eve. All creation suffers from that sin.
“so death spread to all men” - The conclusion and heart of this sentence. Paul used two-and-one-half chapters to show that ALL are lost - Jews and Gentiles alike. The last part of chapter 3 and all of chapter 4 showed us that our path to the Lord is through faith, not works.
The premise of 5:1-11 is that we are helpless to save ourselves. The last ‘half’ of chapter 5 is to help us see we have inherited our ‘sin condition’ - just as you have inherited your skin color, eye color, face structure. These are a given to you by your parents and ancestors. You had no choice in any of these physical traits. Similarly, it is the same for your sin nature.
“because all sinned” - See: Rom. 3:23.
“for until the Law sin was in the world” - Sin has always been in the world (always since the Fall in Eden). Even without the Law to identify it as such, sin was here.
“sin is not imputed when there is no law” - This does not mean sin does not exist without the Law identifying it. Sin exists, but without the law it is not enumerated. The murder of Abel by Cain (Gen. 4), the corruption of mankind and the flood (Gen. 6-9),the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18-19), etc., shows that sin was throughout the world long before the Law was given to Moses and the nation Israel. Sin can not be blamed on the influence of the Law. Sin is the natural law of the world.
V. 14 - “death reigned from Adam until Moses” - So, without the Law specifying or identifying sin, its corrupting influence was felt and seen from Adam up until now. From Moses on, ignorance of sin is no longer a valid excuse. Perhaps it never was a valid excuse, but after the Law was given no one could say, “No one told me!”
“Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come” - Adam was the first to sin, no one else could make that claim. Adam disobeyed God, all others copied his rebellion. Adam had specific instructions from God. He violated them. After Adam, no one needed to hear God’s instruction to violate it. Sin is in our DNA. We commit sins because we are sinners, just we are humans because we were born to human parents.
How is Adam a ‘type’ of Jesus? From a dictionary, “A figure, representation, or symbol of something to come, such as an event in the Old Testament that is believed to foreshadow another in the New Testament.” Adam was the first human. Likewise, Jesus is the first resurrected of His church. There were other people were were raised from the dead, both in the OT and NT, but these were not born again to eternal life.
Jesus is the first who was dead, separated from the Father and then resurrected to eternal life, to His glory and honor. For this reason every knee shall bow and every tongue confess He is Lord! We who believe in Him will also be raised to eternal life with Him. We are His church. The life that is His is given to us - baked in to our new bodies, just as sin is baked into these old bodies.
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