Romans 5:13-14 - Counting Sin in Adam

Romans 5:13-14 - 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.

Message: Sin existed, apart from the Law; Sin Spread to All Men when Adam sinned.

Time: The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans from the Greek city of Corinth in AD 57, just three years after the 16 year old Nero had ascended to the throne as Emperor of Rome. Persecution of Christians wouldn't begin until AD 64. The church was experiencing times of relative peace. From where he wrote, Corinth, was a hotbed of sexual immorality and idol worship.

What the Lord is Saying:

I am in the middle of studying Romans 5:12-21. I saw yesterday that sin entered the world through one man, Adam. And from that one sin, death spread to all men. All sinned. Adam began the human race. What Adam does affects everyone else. Overall, I am in the middle of an explanation by Paul of why it is necessary for man to be redeemed and justified. Why can't man just say? "I'm working on living the best kind of life I know how?"

Without the Law, sin still exists
In Chapter 4, in describing that righteousness was by the faith of Abraham. Abraham was present 430 years before the Law. Before the standard was given, therefore, Abraham was still accountable. In Romans 1:19, Paul states "that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them." God makes himself evident to man. And in Romans 2:14-15, Paul addresses that our conscience itself is a law written on our hearts. Paul is letting us know clearly that apart from the Law there is still an awareness of right and wrong.

Here in verse 13, "for until the law sin was in the world." The only thing the Law did was expose sin for what it was, but sin still was in the world. Verse 12 stated, "All have sinned."

The Law helps call sin--sin (but there is still sin without the law)
The word imputed is also the word credited that Paul speaks of Romans 3 when it speaks of man being justified (3:24), or made right with God, through gift of the grace of God, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the justifier (3:26).  Paul shows further in Chapter 4, in which he quotes from Genesis 15:6 in verses 3 and 9 to state that Abraham's faith or believe in God was reckoned (credited, imputed) to him as righteousness. It is through faith that the credit transaction of righteousness is made between Jesus and man. But imputed also represents what happened to all men when Adam sinned. His sin imputed sin to all mankind. By sinning, sin was credited to the account of man.

In Romans 4:15, it states that "the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there violation." In that verse the Law is a signpost in our life. But, that verse wasn't stating that there is only sin with the Law, but it is saying that Law exposes us to our sin that we have already been committing.

This verse in Romans 5:13 really is stating the same thing in that a violation of the law is not counted against man until the Law is present. Paul is not saying that No Law = No Sin.

I think what is kind of difficult here to understand is that in life we often don't change our behavior until  a Law or standard is known or been communicated to us. But, I think what Paul is saying is the Law is written on our hearts and our conscience, even before the Law is communicating to us what is right and wrong. This is hard for us because Laws and rules are so abundant in our lives. And yet I think we know the difference between right and wrong.

There are people that I have communicated with that don't know of a 10 commandments and what it says, but they still recognize sin in their life.

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses
In verse 12, Paul mentions sin coming into the world and because of it, death spread to all men. So, here in verse 14, Paul mentions that death was present from the time sin came into the world (through Adam) until the giving of the Law (by Moses). There isn't really anything difficult in this statement, sin ushered in death and we all know death was present from Adam to the giving of the Law (Moses). Thus, we don't doubt that death is present, so we also shouldn't doubt that sin is present during those years.

Death was not present because of the exact sin Adam committed
Paul goes on to say in verse 14, "even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam." What is being established in verse 14 is really a connecting of the dots from verse 12 and 13. Sin was in the world before the Law. Abraham was declared righteous by faith before the Law. So obviously, to be declared righteous, sin must be there. Adam sinned. When Adam sinned death came into the world and we know death was present from Adam to Moses or from sin entering to the Law being erected.

That said, Paul feels it necessary to communicate that death is not simply present because of the exact sin of Adam not believing God. Because of what Adam did in sinning, the human race after him because like Adam, irregardless of whether a person sins or not. God is not waiting to judge man by seeing if that person will sin. This is the point of this phrase within this verse. Death is present. Death isn't waiting for a person to sin, but it is just present. Why? Because Adam sinned.

Adam was a type of Christ
As Wayne Barber reminded me yesterday, before being in Christ, we are all in Adam. So, we are either In Adam or In Christ. So, Adam is a type of Christ. "(Adam) who is a type of Him what was to come." In Christ, through believing in Him, righteousness is credited or imputed to all men. In Adam, my his act of sinning, sin is credited or imputed to all men. Adam sinned, once, for all. Christ died for sin, once, for all.

Promise: From Tabletalk, April 10, 2014: When a person is born, they are already deserving of death.