Transcript

As we close chapter five, I wanted to remind you of the overall theme of these past 21 verses. Paul has been telling us of the results or benefits of our justification by faith. He has emphasized as the primary blessing eternal peace with God. Paul anticipated that the idea of needing “peace with God” through Christ, would raise questions like:

How did humanity find itself in need of peace with their Maker? What caused the hostility between God and mankind? And at what point did this enmity with God come into existence?

To offer an explanation, Paul went back to the Garden of Eden to teach us the origin of sin, it’s connection with Adam, and its consequence of spiritual and physical death. This was, of course, the opposite of peace with God. This was the wrath of God revealed upon humanity for their sin against a holy God.

But Paul also introduces the concept of Federal headship. Namely, he showed us how the sinfulness of all humanity began with the one sin of one man—Adam. In this, we learned that sin was not just an act committed individually by each person but also a condition imputed to all who are born of Adam. Then, Paul went on to demonstrate our need for another representative and how we must be born of the spiritual seed of this new head—Christ the Righteous.

He explained that through this greater head and better representative, we also receive imputation, but not like the imputed sin of Adam that leads to condemnation and death, but the imputation of righteousness that leads to justification and life.

In short, Paul was comparing and contrasting Adam and Christ to demonstrate the superiority of Christ to Adam. He was showing us the blessings and benefits found only in Jesus—the true and better Adam.

Today, Paul opens with the words “So then,” signaling his conclusion on the content of chapter five. But some commentators, including myself, believe that verses 18-21 are the completed thought of verse 12 and that verses 13-17 were a parenthetical explanation or digression from the main point to which he returns here in verse 18 to conclude.

So let’s read verse 12 with verses 18-21:

¹² Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned—¹⁸ So then, as through one offense the result was condemnation to all mankind, so also through one act of righteousness the result was justification of life to all mankind. ¹⁹ For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. ²⁰ The Law came in so that the offense would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

There are two central contrasts being made in this text. The first is between the condemnation experienced in Adam and the justification experienced in Christ. The second is between the imputation of sin through Adam and the imputation of righteousness through Christ.

• Adam = Condemnation and Sin
• Christ = Justification and Righteousness

Then, in verse 20, Paul finally ends the great comparison between Adam and Christ and explains the relationship the Law had between these two heads of humanity, and concludes the superiority of grace in Jesus Christ.

Vs. 18: So then, as through one offense the result was condemnation to all mankind, so also through one act of righteousness the result was justification of life to all mankind. 

• This verse gets back into the content I shared in my sermon on verse 12, discussing the doctrine of original sin. There are four observations we should observe:
  • First, condemnation is upon all mankind.
  • Second, this condemnation is spiritual and physical death.
  • Third, this condemnation is the result of one sin by Adam, not only our individual acts of sin.
    • I need you to see this passage of Scripture because it is the most direct and clear passage on the matter.
    • One sin was sufficient to condemn all mankind through representation.
    • This can be viewed in the negative until you realize that the power of representation can be used in the positive, which is my next point.
  • Fourth, in the same way, a single act of sin by Adam (as an appointed head of humanity) can condemn, and a single act of righteousness by Christ can justify.
    • Now, Jesus’s entire life was righteous, but this single act of righteousness refers to Jesus’ work on the cross. It’s the action that accomplished the legal demands for redemption.
    • Colossians 2:13-14 “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴ by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”
  • But we have a problem here. This text is often used by universalists who say, “See through one act of righteousness the result was justification of life to all mankind… We are all justified by the work of Christ.”
    • This is the way of heretics. They take verses out of their immediate context.
    • The word context comes from two Latin words “con” which means together, and “texere” which means woven. Therefore, the context is that setting which a particular verse is woven into.
    • As we know, this paragraph is woven into this chapter. This chapter is woven into this section on the benefits of justification by faith alone. This section is woven into larger multi-chapter defense of justification by faith alone.
    • Nobody at this point of the letter should believe the lie of universalism that all men are justified. No, Paul makes it clear that all men are condemned and that you must have faith in Christ to be justified before God.
      • Romans 1:17 “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live (in contrast to death) by faith.”
      • Romans 3:22 says, “The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
      • Romans 3:26 “It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
      • Romans 3:28 says, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”
      • Romans 4:3 says, “For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
      • Romans 4:5 says, “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,”
      • Romans 4:16 “That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
      • Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
    • Furthermore, I want you to see the passive and active nature of Adam and Christ.
    • The headship of Adam is native and passive to all mankind, while the headship of Christ is alien and active to all mankind. The first is the default by the means of natural birth, while the second is contingent by the means of spiritual birth.
    • This is why Jesus says in John 3:3-7 that in order for a person to inherit the Kingdom of God, they “Must be born again.”
    • Therefore, our placement in Adam comes by default, while the placement in Christ only comes by grace.
    • It’s also why Romans 5:17 says, “For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
    • Justification must be received by grace through faith.
    • One commentator defended against the interpretation of universalism by saying, “Paul is using all men with two different meanings for the sake of parallelism, a common practice in the Hebrew Old Testament, which is similar to Paul’s repetition of the phrase the many in Romans 5:15. The first all covers all humanity who are born into Adam. The second all refers to that part of the first all who by grace through faith are reborn into the Last Adam, Christ.”

Vs. 19: For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. 

• Again, we see Paul’s parallelism and the clear teaching that people were made sinners first and foremost by the action of Adam.
• This text unequivocally affirms the doctrine of original sin and federal headship. When considering the explicit statements found in verses 12, 16, 17, 18, and 19, it becomes evident that there is no alternative explanation for rejecting the doctrine of Original Sin, unless you are deliberately choosing to turn a blind eye to the truth.
• But again, Paul’s central intent in showing Adam’s representation is to demonstrate that the representative power of Christ is actually superior to the representative power of Adam. Which is the lesson of verse 20 that says:

Vs. 20-21: The Law came in so that the offense would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

• There it is, where Adam has power to represent, Christ has power to supersede that representation.
• Where sin reigned, the righteousness of Christ overcame it.
• Where death ruled, the resurrection of Christ overpowered it.
• Where the Law came in to make known the already existing sinfulness and our condemnation before it, the grace of God abounded beyond it.

As one theologian said, “Grace met sin head-on and defeated it at the Cross.” Sin and death were our king until grace conquered sin and death through Jesus Christ.

James Montgomery Boyce once said of this verse:

“The fact that grace is pictured as reigning like a king…tells us something about grace that we have not yet adequately considered. It tells us that grace is a power. We tend to think of grace as an attitude; and, of course, it is that. We even define it that way. We call grace “God’s unmerited favor toward the undeserving,” in fact, toward those who deserve the precise opposite. But grace is more than an attitude. It is also a power that reaches out to save those who, apart from the power of grace, would perish. This means that grace is more than an offer of help. It is even more than help itself. To use the illustration of two rival kingdoms, it would be possible to say that grace is an invasion by a good and legitimate king of territory that has been conquered and controlled by another.”

While God is our redeemer, grace is His instrument of redemption. It’s by grace that we are saved. But behind that grace is something more—love.

Love has driven God’s decision to not only extend grace but to send grace through His Son to save those who are His.

This week, I want you to think about that. I want you to recognize the value of that grace. But more than that, I want you to see the exclusivity of that grace. I want you to see the personal electing love of that grace. And most of all, I want you to see the riches you have because of that grace, and I want that to animate how you think, act, and worship this week.