Transcript

Today, we continue to unpack this theme of comparison and contrast between Adam and Christ.

However, for context, I just want to remind you that chapter five, as a whole, is focused on presenting the results or blessings of justification. And that central result is eternal peace with God. As I have mentioned in the two previous sermons, the idea of needing “peace with God” through Christ raises some important questions:

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 shed light on these important questions, Paul went back to the Garden of Eden to provide clarity on both the origin of sin and its connection to spiritual and physical death.

But more than that, he introduced the concept of Federal headship or seminal representation. Namely, he showed us how the sinfulness of all humanity began with the sin of one man—Adam. He showed us how Adam’s sin, as the head and representative of all his seed, was equally our sin and how all men experience the consequence of death not only because of their individual acts of sin but primarily because of the one sin of Adam.

In this we learned that sin was not just an act but also a condition imputed to all who are represented by Adam. The theological concept behind this discussion is called the doctrine of Original Sin.

But Paul did not leave us only with bad news. He 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 representative, we also receive imputation but not of sin that leads to condemnation and death, but the imputation of righteousness that leads to justification and life. The words of 1 Corinthians 15:22 sum up this concept perfectly by saying, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

The theme of death and life are the absolute substructure of the entire Bible. In the Garden, humanity had eternal life. Through sin, life was lost. In Christ, life can be restored—eternally.

This is why Jesus says things like, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection AND the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

This is why John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not DIE but have eternal life.”

Today, in verses 15-17, Paul shifts from comparison to contrast and, in this contrast, aims to show the superiority of Christ over Adam. He does this by using what’s called an “a fortiori” argument that moves from the weaker or lesser of two options and moves to the stronger and greater to highlight contrast.

Romans 5:15-17
“But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. ¹⁶ The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. ¹⁷ 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.”

Vs. 15: But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. 

• Grammatically speaking, I want you to notice two words: The opening word “But,” which is a contrast clause informing us of the author’s intent in the first sentence, and the word “For,” which is an explanatory clause informing us of his intent for the second sentence.
• In many ways, Adam and Christ are similar: Both of them were heads appointed by God, both represented their seed, and both passed on the results of their actions to their progeny.
• But here in verse 15, Paul begins to show how they are not the same. He says, “But the free gift is NOT like the transgression.”
• First, he assures us that we do not forget that our justification that is received by faith is a free gift and not a result of works.
  • Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…”
  • The flesh forgets grace. Charles Spurgeon once said, “Oh how I wish that at the clock’s strike of the hour, it would cry out ‘For by grace you have been saved!”
  • We forget our helpless state as sinners. We forget that our salvation, including our repentance and our very faith, were not choices but expressions of grace freely given to us.
  • Here, Paul wants to highlight the undeserved nature of God’s grace. In other words, the results of Adam are deserved, but the results of the second Adam are
• He goes on to explain by saying, “For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.”
• Pay attention to the words “much more” as they are repeated in verse 17 and uphold this theme of Christ’s superiority over Adam.
• This passage makes me think of Paul’s words in the following chapter, “but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”
• Paul is saying that the death that was imputed to humanity by the one sin of Adam will be greatly overcome by the grace of God imputed to the many in Jesus Christ. He says this because God’s grace is much more than Adam’s fall.
• For me, this is one of the truths that uphold my postmillennial view of eschatology. It’s a promise that the resurrection of Christ is stronger than the fall of Adam.
• It’s a promise that Christ came to reverse the effects of the Fall. And because all authority has been given to Christ in heaven and on earth, I see no reason to believe Christ’s seed will not outperform the seed of Adam.
• This gives me hope not only for eternity but for future generations. It tells me that this Gospel that we have received, that has raised us from spiritual death, that has produced such fruit in our lives will go forth into the world and accomplish more than we can ever imagine.
• Why? Because it already has. How shocked would Peter be at the time of the ascension of Christ knowing that billions of people would eventually be saved by the Lord that he so closely walked with in Israel?
• In other words, we can have hope for global Christianization because we have already witnessed global Christianization.
• Christ is superior to Adam in every way.

Vs. 16: The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.

• Again, Paul is not comparing but contrasting. He’s showing how death and judgment came from ONE sin resulting in eternal condemnation, and contrasting that with how the free gift of salvation arose from MANY sins resulting in eternal justification.
• In other words, while Adam’s representation had eternal weight, the representation of Christ overcomes that weight. The grace of God in Christ not only covers the original sin inherited from Adam but covers all your sins, past, present, and future.
• Again, Paul is demonstrating the gravity and superiority of Christ’s representation.
• If you remain in Adam, you will be judged and experience eternal death. If you are born in Christ, you will experience justification and eternal life with God.
  • This is why Jesus says in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it.”
• Christ is the great restorer of life.
• He goes on in verse 17 to explain his claims in verse 16.

Vs. 17: “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.”

• Here he continues this theme of lesser to greater contrasting between Adam’s empire of death and Christ’s empire of life. In Adam, death will reign. In Christ, life will reign.
• And again, we also see this term “much more” and “abundance,” which maintains this theme of the superiority of Christ to Adam. Christ is triumphant. He exceeds Adam in every way.
• In the simplest terms, we receive much more in Christ than what we ever lost in Adam. I think of Romans 8:18, which speaks to the unworthy comparison between the suffering of the fall and the blessing of eternal glory. It says:
  • “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
• While Eden was lost in Adam, the new heavens and earth are received in Christ.
• While spiritual and physical life and health were lost in Adam, eternal life with God in immortal bodies is received in Christ.
• While peace with God was lost in Adam, everlasting union with God is received in Christ.
• David C. McCasland once wrote, “No matter how much we have personally lost because of sin, we have gained far more through the resurrection victory of Christ.”

This week, as you reflect upon your losses. As you experience pain and suffering and misery and fear. Remember that treasure that covers all trouble is yours in Christ.

No matter what you face this week or month, or year. No matter the tragedy or trial. What you have received in Christ far surpasses the casualties of this world.