Romans 5:18-19 - 18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. 19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
Message: Through on e man, sin came. Through One man, sin was paid.
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:
As I'm reading in various sources, it states that these verses in Romans 5:12-21 are difficult passages as well as controversial passages. I'm seeing a common theme in these verses as is very consistent with Paul's writing throughout this book. I'm seeing him repeat ideas and further expand on them. The focus in these verses has been that the sin of Adam resulted in all people being sinners. But, conversely, Jesus died on the cross one time and so when we receive Jesus into our life by believing that He died and rose from the dead, then the sin he died for on the cross, our sin, is no longer on us, but has been transferred to Christ and Christ credits to us His righteousness. Through one man, sin came in. Through one man, sin was paid for.
Adam being a type of Christ (verse 14) is an apt statement. Chris and Adam are connected. You can't have one without the other.
A terminology that is used to describe our relationship with Adam and Christ is "federal head." Federal headship is the position that the male represents to his descendants. Adam is our federal head. He sinned resulting in us all being called sinners before we were even capable of sinning. Thus, our natural self or natural seed is here because of Adam. Christ is our federal head as well. He died for sin so that we may be capable of inheriting life again. Our spiritual life or spiritual seed is available because of Christ. The difference though, in the seeds, is Adam sin's resulted in all people's sin, but the seed of Jesus must be received. God isn't simply giving the free gift of grace to all people.
I think this can be difficult for people to wrap their brains around. This is clearly what the scripture says, but we are in an age now, more and more, when just because the scripture states it doesn't mean we are accepting of it. We are more and more a questioning people. And so, we are now, more so than ever questioning these words. The questions make sense in that if we have sin because of no fault of our own, but because of Adam's sin, then if the reality is that we can be restored life not because of anything we have done, but because of Christ's life, then why doesn't this just simply fall upon all men. The answer obviously lies in the fact that in both instances, Adam and Christ, man has free will. Man is not a robot. Man has the ability to choose and make his own decision. This is what God created. And this does make sense.
From Tabletalk, April 14, 2014: We can add to Adam's disobedience and incur more legal guilt before the Lord, but we cannot add to Christ's righteousness and incur more legal righteousness.
Promise:
One transgression = condemnation to all
One act of righteousness = Justification to all
One man's disobedience = many made sinners
Obedience of One = many made righteous
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