Studying His Word and His Works

Listen to the study here: Romans 5:12-17

Read here: Romans 5

Review

• Calvin on theme of Romans: “Man’s only righteousness is the mercy of God in Christ, when it is offered by the Gospel and received by faith.” Romans 1:17 and elsewhere.
• Luther: Simul iustus et peccator = At the same time, righteous and a sinner! Romans 3:23-25
• In Ch. 1-3 Paul shows us our unrighteousness, and God’s wrath against that, and the switches to Christ’s righteousness as our covering, the propitiation of our sins (Romans 3:25) as the final sacrifice for sin, fulfilling the promise to Abraham, who had faith before any works
• Faith being “counted” or “credited to our account” as righteousness is mentioned 11 times in Chapter 4! If “none are righteous” as Paul wrote in Romans 3:10, then this saving faith must be a gift from God.
• Ch. 5, We now have peace with God, access to God, and hope, because of what Christ did for us while we were weak(v. 6), sinners (v. 8), and enemies (v. 10). Christ did this “at the right time,” (v. 6), connecting Christ’s work on the cross and God’s plan of redemption to real history (not just a myth or legend).
  • In the last study we defined atonement: Jesus satisfying God’s wrath through His sacrificial death on the cross.
    • The purpose of militaries is to save us from temporary wrath of enemies. The purpose of Jesus and his death, burial and resurrection is to save us from the eternal wrath of God. 
• Sproul wrote that Paul’s premise in Romans 5:10-14 is that in Christ, we have a better federal head than Adam.
  • Here is a YouTube video where Sproul and Macarthur discuss Adam as the federal head of sin: https://youtu.be/F0BCvkRH65M?si=xUhT8tRa8spvF5Cy

Intro

• We are reviewing v. 12-14, and finishing with v. 15-17.
• In these verses, we learn more about righteousness and life and Heaven through Christ alone, contrasted with wickedness and death and hell without Christ. Schreiner refers to vs 1-11 as describing the assurance of hope, and vs. 12-21 as hope in Christ’s triumph over sin. 
• Some of the things we are discussing seem like contradictions, which is why it is SO GOOD to memorize Scripture, read back over it, read the reference verses, TAKE YOUR TIME, and trust God with the rest. We are talking a lot today about gifts, about one way in (meaning death spread to all through Adam’s sin, Adam being the federal head of humanity), and one way out (eternal life through one Man’s righteousness, the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ (John 14:6)). We can make sense of some of it, but we don’t need to over-worry about our finite brains not perfectly understanding everything. Jesus saves, not our level of understanding. Instead, if you believe, then latch onto the gift of faith He gave you, trust Him with the Word, woven into history. For now, we see in a mirror dimly, but then, in Heaven, it will be clear (I Cor 13:12). 
• Some key words and phrases in v. 12-17 include:
  • sin/trespass/transgression   11 times
  • One man – 7 times
  • Free gift – 5 times
• Verse 12
  • In our last study, this is where we discussed the idea of federalism. We use words like Trinity, federalism, etc. to help wrap our finite minds around an infinite God. Words not found in the Bible, yet useful. I’ve written about avoiding reductionism, the oversimplifying of things. But, these words we use to describe an infinitely complex God ARE reductionism! So, there is a balance to find here, avoiding both under- and oversimplification.
  • So, here are some things we know about Adam, the federal head of sin. God created, and the first rule God gave man was to “rule over”, to steward, His creation (Genesis 1:26-28). The first rule with a consequence was the tree in the garden. Adam was the first human God created, the federal head, and he was ultimately responsible, even though it was Eve who broke the law first. Also, God’s design in marriage is that “the two become one flesh”, Gen 2:24, so if Eve sins, then so does Adam. 
  • Note in v. 12 that sin is a noun, sin came into the world, it says. So, sin is part of the world now, just like trees and people and DNA and molecules and atoms. Sin is a thing. In Greek, the word translates “error”. It is interesting how there is so much more to a word sometimes, like sin. Language can be a barrier to us knowing the truth fully and flawlessly, which should remind us to pursue God’s word with humility and faith, not pride and overconfidence in our interpretations.
  • But, because of sin, the world is flawed now. God said in Genesis 3:17, “cursed is the ground because of you,” so we should expect error. This error is part of the “now we see dimly” in I Cor 13:12. It is also part of why, I believe, when we build an instrument to measure something, there is always some error involved. Either in the instrument’s ability to measure exactly, or our ability to read the instrument exactly. For example, go weigh yourself, do you really believe the scale says EXACTLY how much you weigh? Anyways, we may not understand these verses perfectly, but just like we can strive to make better scales and other machines, complete the perfect marathon, do our jobs to perfection, etc. yet never ultimately reach that goal, we can strive to understand God’s word and how it has played out in history. And with the Holy Spirit leading, we CAN understand God and His word better. Sin is in the world, along with all its consequences (Genesis 3), including death, curses, physical alteration of a woman’s body so childbirth is more painful, genetically modified plants that now produce thorns and thistles, the list goes on. 
• Verses 13-14
  • In the previous study, I said we would wait until this study to discuss the meaning of sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. To help us understand, consider the following:
    • Yet death reigned of verse 14. So, death, the penalty for sin, was present, which means sin was present too. Think about it, the law gave sin a name, made it more real, and in a way, gave us something to relate to. Think also about how God created, but didn’t name the animals right away. They didn’t have a name until Adam named them later (Genesis 2:19-20). Just because something doesn’t have a name, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. With or without its name, if you had a face-to-face confrontation in the wilderness with an 800 lb grizzly bear, would you really care that its scientific name is Ursos arctos? Whether or not you knew this would not change the reality of the animal in front of you. Likewise, everybody dies. People joke that the two biggest ways to tell you really exist are death and taxes.
    • Paul is reminding us here of the very real historical origins of sin and its very real penalty, death. And, that it doesn’t matter if we can give a specific name to a sin, the truth is that sin is real and in the world. 
    • Just because, from Adam to Moses, sin didn’t have a specific name yet which made it hard to account for in human terms, it was still here and death proves it. Once sin had a name though, it became more relatable, it made it even more real to us, something we will cover more in the next study. Schreiner has a similar conclusion, writing that through the law, sin increases (5:20) and takes on a sharper profile(7:7-11). 
  • Yet death reigned is used again in v. 17, suggesting Paul is emphasizing that. Think about this, who reigns? Rulers reign. Kings reign. Rulers put their subjects in their place.
    • John Macarthur said death reigned like a king from Adam to Moses. Today, an average of 2 people die every second. Why is this? That is what Paul is telling us right here, the real answer to how death got started with its reign and how Christ defeats it.
  • In Sproul’s commentary, he titled his chapter on v. 12-17 “Imputed.” He wrote: “God imputed Adam’s sin on us. ‘Death spread to all men’ is this imputing. God then imputes our sin to Jesus, followed by Jesus imputing his righteousness to us. There’s a transaction here. Adam traded righteousness for wickedness, which we inherit. Jesus traded our wickedness for His righteousness. We couldn’t defeat the penalty for our wickedness, but Christ could.” 
    • Remember, the word “righteous” appears at a more frequent rate in Romans than any other book in the Bible. It is a huge theme throughout the Bible, this contrast between the righteous and the wicked. Look for it. Remember righteousness is from Christ alone. That’s what Paul is teaching us here.
• Verses 15-17
  • Macarthur says the biggest thing Paul is describing in these verses is how one man can make a difference. The word one is actually used 9 times in verses 12-17, and one man is used 7 times. The most important thing in the v. 12-17 is not to teach why everyone dies, but to show us how one man’s deed can affect so many.
    • I would add here that Paul points to sin even more in these verses, 11 times, how humanity got infected and how humanity gets healed.
  • In the last study, we discussed the idea of federalism as the best way to understand sin and its consequences for all men. As “federal heads” , men and their deeds have consequences!
    • Joshua 24:15-”And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD”.
  • We see with Adam, choosing poorly had great, wicked consequences. Likewise, choosing wisely can have great, righteous consequences. Because Adam was appointed the federal head of humanity, his sin was imputed to us. If he was autonomous, there would be no influence. Likewise, because Jesus is the new federal head, the sins of humanity are imputed to Him, and he imputes righteousness to believers. So while Adam only imputes one thing, his sin to us, Christ allows our sins to be imputed to Him, AND His righteousness imputed to us. Compared to Adam, Christ’s imputing is the much more we see in v. 15 and 17.
    • Verse 15, death came through one man’s sin, but much more, the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of Jesus abound. 
    • Verse 17, death reigned due to one man’s sin, but much more, life reigns through Jesus and for those who receive the abundance of grace, and the free gift of Christ’s righteousness.
    • Both verses refer to the grace of God, AND the free gift, which is actually many things, including faith, and Christ’s righteousness. Perhaps the grace of God refers to our sins imputed to Jesus, and the “free gift” of v. 17 is Christ’s righteousness imputed to us. 
  • Some other points about these verses:
    • Death, sin’s penalty, is obviously not immediate physical death, although physical death is part of this. The penalty is spiritual death, eternal separation from God. It is the sin nature, the noun “sin” we received from Adam that sends us to death, not the verb “sinning”. Physical death comes at any time, ultimately because of sin nature, not because of (but it could be connected) sinning. 
    • Eternal separation from God was not the original plan. Sin brought this about, and we inherited it. In a YouTube sermon, Macarthur discusses how inheriting sin doesn’t seem fair. Here are some things Macarthur says to consider:
      • How can I sin in Adam when I wasn’t even there, How can I be responsible for that?
        • Macarthur answers with a question: Have you died in Christ and rise in Christ? How did you do that if you weren’t there? You welcome the understanding that God put you in Christ and you’re ready to accept it. If we were crucified with Christ, then why isn’t Adam’s sin our sin, too?
      • I Cor. 15:22 says that as in Adam all die, in Christ all live. Somehow we were in Christ when he did what he did and I don’t understand that, but God is giving us an analogy to help us reason through it, a mix of faith and reason.
      • Is it fair that you inherited a sin nature from Adam? If you are wondering that, then think about this: Is it fair that you should go to heaven when Somebody else dies for you?
      • In Habakkuk 1, the prophet writes about how he can’t understand some things, like why God won’t bless them, etc. He can’t understand the whole thing, but then he backs off and trusts God as holy and almighty. Likewise, Macarthur rightly teaches that there are times we must back off our own understanding and get on the rock of trusting God (Proverbs 3:5-6).
      • And, if all of this seems unfair still and you think you are just a “good person,” and people are “born good,” then Macarthur reminds us to look at child. Even the youngest of children you will find are throwing temper tantrums, coveting, stealing, etc. If you don’t believe you are born a sinner, then you have either not had a child, forgotten what children are like, or forgotten what you were like as a child!
  • The connection between Adam and Jesus and the reality of sin and death, and the reality of grace and eternal life all point to these events happening in history. We mark our calendars by Jesus birthday, but then many reject His grace. It’s like we trust him as a historical figure but don’t trust what He did for us. With Adam, we can maybe see death from sin more than we can see Adam as a historical figure from a few thousand years ago. I don’t know any humans who deny that death is real, but most humans reject that it resulted from Adam’s sin in the garden around 6,000 years ago. Unbelievers usually acknowledge Jesus in real history, but reject His grace. Why not just accept all of it as real?
    • I think the “why not” has to do with 1) whether you are truly born again and the Holy Spirit now indwells you and 2) where you are on your sanctification journey. Questions will pop up as you walk that road. If you have no questions, then that’s a sign of stagnation. Search the Word. Pray. Go to church. Read. Do that and you will see more how this journey is not blind faith, but a Hebrews 11:1 reasonable faith.
    • Let’s finish with some connections to logic. The ESV version titles v. 12-21 Death in Adam, Life in Christ.
      • Adam:death::Jesus:life.
        • Adam is to death what Jesus is to life
      • This passage is a logical statement called an analogy.
        • The one man Adam’s transgression imputed wickedness on the world in the same way the one man Jesus’s righteous act imputed righteousness on the world.
          • This is also basically verse 18, which we will discuss next!
      • Think of some other ways to create a similar analogy.
        • Adam:imputing wickedness::Jesus:imputing righteousness
        • Man’s works:death::Christ’s works:life.
        • Choosing poorly:wicked consequences::choosing wisely:righteous consequences.
      • Where does logic come from? How do we have any ability to reason at all? At some point in your life, you didn’t know what an analogy was, but were analogies still around? Of course they were. Analogies were around before you knew what their name was in the same way that sin was in the world before Moses named the sins.  
• Coming soon, Romans 5:18-6:4.