Lesson 66
Grace Reigns in Life Over Sin's Reign of Death
Romans Chapter 5:12-21
Review:
Observations:
1. These verses demonstrate that Paul viewed Genesis and Adam - as
historical fact;
2. To deny the reality, the fact of Gen 1-3 is to deny the biblical
answer to the origin of sin. or Why man is the way he
is?
3. No sin is trivial, Adam sinned but once, and the whole race went down the drain.
4. See in this context how God views man; and it is related to the
unity with a single head, this brings either death or life!
5. Rom 5:12-21 is an antithetical comparison; sin, condemnation and
death what we are linked to in Adam; as seen in v.12-14
The
antithesis of this is righteousness, justification and life that flow from our
being linked to Christ. v.15-21
6. Have 2 important points made by Rom 5:12;
- in 5:12a explains the entrance
of sin through one man, Adam
- in 5:12b explains the extent of
the penetration of sin and death; all mankind.
7. This passage is the cornerstone of Biblical
anthropology.
- What you believe about man impacts 2 areas of study
today that are having a great impact in so many areas of our lives; psychology
and sociology.
5:15-21
Our link to Christ
- First notice how vs:14
closed; Says Adam was a type; tu,poj
- How
then are Adam and Christ similar?
#1 -
Both were firsts or heads of a long line of descendants.
#2 -
What each did affected their posterity!
"but" avlla, indicates a strong contrast; from here on contrasts are drawn between Adam and
Christ not similarities.
- The effect of Christ's work surpasses the effect of
Adam!
But the free gift is not like the transgression.
- What then is the free gift??
For if [1cc ] by
the transgression of the one the many died,
- What's
the most significant thing to remember about Adam?
much more did the grace of God and gift by the grace of the
one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
- Heb 2:14-15 points out that Christ's cross work is
more powerful/effective than death and its exploitation by Satan.
- What this is saying is that what Adam did was much, it
brought physical death; but what Christ did was much more, even greater He
brought life, eternal life.
The
first one "the many died" is defined by vs:12 "so death
spread to all men" these are
the ones in Adam.
The
second one, "gift...abounded to the many," refers to those who
have received the "grace gift" and therefore are new creations in
Christ.
- Something else we ought to notice here is the double
portion of grace?
- The "much more" coupled with the main
verb "abound" gives us the degree aspect, the how much more
the effect of Christ's work on the cross is than Adam's sin.
* So God's grace provision in/through Christ far exceeds
the effect of Adam's sin and the death it brings; grace brings forgiveness,
life!
* We see here an aspect of grace that the prophet Ezekiel
pointed out centuries ago.
That God
delights in grace more than He does in judgment. Ezk
18:23; 33:11
* What Paul is doing in the context here when he says that
the grace of God that abounds through one Man is setting us up for the axiom he
will give us in Rom 5:20 "where sin increased, grace abounded all the
more"
"And
the gift is not like (that which came) through the one who sinned;"
here's the contrast:
- "for on the one hand the judgment [judicial
sentence] (arose) from [ek] one
(transgression) resulting in condemnation,"
Adam's
judgment led to all humanity's enslavement to the sin nature which places all
humanity in a position to sin as Paul so thoroughly proved in chapter
1:18-3:20.
- "but on the other hand the free gift (arose)
from [ek] many transgressions resulting in [an act of] justification."
* What Paul's is contrasting here is the sphere of
enslavement unbelievers find themselves in, issuing in sinful acts, (katakrima - condemnation)
verses the sphere of liberation believers now have in Christ flowing
from God's gift that provides the resources to result in righteousness acts.
- Paul highlights the differences between Adam's sin and
Christ's gift, 2 areas of contrast;
#1 the terrible havoc wrought by one sin contrasted with
the tremendous deliverance wrought from many sins by Christ,
#2 between the fruit of the unbeliever of condemnation and
the freedom the believer has to produce righteous acts/conduct. [eivj dikai,wma]
** The greatness of God's grace and the free gift that
flows to us as believers from that grace is greater than the billions of sins
committed down thru the centuries.