Israel is known for its two main bodies of water. In the north there is the Sea of Galilee, which is really a lake that is 13 miles long and 7.5 miles wide. Fishing is big in the Sea of Galilee because there are over 22 different kinds of fish. There is also vegetation and fruit on the shore. It is a beautiful body of water. Now, 60 miles to the south is the Dead Sea. Two million gallons of water flow in everyday but none of the water goes anywhere, it just stays there. The Dead Sea is 47 miles long and 9.5 miles wide. It is the lowest point on the entire earth. You could take Mount Everest and drop it into the Dead Sea and it would still be a couple of meters before Mount Everest came to sea level. The Dead Sea contains 30 grams of salt per liter. No one has ever drowned in the Dead Sea. There is so much salt and so many minerals that one just floats in the sea. There is no life, no vegetation. The shore is barren. Tumbleweed is the only thing that you can find anywhere.

The physical geography of Israel is a portrait of the spiritual reality of man. Just as there is one sea that continually breathes life and fruitfulness, there is another sea that breathes death and uselessness. In the same way, there are two classes of men: the man who is in Adam and the man who is in Christ. When God looks at the six billion people who live on planet earth, including the other billions who lived here in the past, He sees two people who stand out from all the rest of humanity. They are representative men. They are the heads of humanity. The whole history of the human race revolves around these two men—what they did and what flowed from what they did. If you know these two men—and what they represent—then you will understand world history from God’s point of view. In fact, if you know these two men, you will grasp the essential message of the Bible.

In Romans 5:12-21, Paul wants to compare and contrast the work of Adam with Jesus Christ so that we understand that what Jesus did was far greater than what Adam did. That’s the whole message of these verses, in a nutshell. In 5:1-11, Paul told us about the immediate results of being justified by faith. We have peace with God (5:1a), access to God’s grace (5:2a), the hope of glory (5:2b), an understanding of our troubles (5:3-4), an experience of God’s love (5:5-10), and joy because we have been reconciled with God (5:11). If this isn’t enough, we also receive something greater and deeper. Romans 5:12-21 goes on to tell us that our entire position is changed. We used to be “in Adam,” but now we are “in Christ.” This is HUGE! This means that what Jesus did ought to change the way we live.

Are you terribly tired of the weary, fruitless, restless, barren, boredom of life as it is lived from day to day? Would you like to live above your circumstances? You can, because now you are in Christ. Before we discuss what it means to be in Christ, we need to look at what a human life is like apart from Jesus Christ.

1. All Humans are in Adam. In verses 12-14 we learn this sobering truth. Paul writes, in 5:12, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” This verse begins a new subsection, linked to the preceding with the word “Therefore.” This particular word translated “Therefore” is not the typical word translated “Therefore” that we see elsewhere in Romans. This word is usually translated “for this reason,” which looks back at what Paul has just said or continues his argument. This means that the word “Therefore” serves as a conclusion to what Paul has said in 5:1-11 and as a prelude to what Paul will share in chapters 6-8.

Paul begins to compare Adam and Christ in 5:12 (”just as. . .so”), but breaks off his sentence at the end of 5:12. Now you don’t have to be an English major to realize that 5:12 is not a complete sentence. Many of our English translations provide a dash so that it’s obvious Paul didn’t finish his thought.

If we are to understand the flow of Paul’s argument, we must realize that 5:13-17 are a big parenthesis and 5:12 is completed in the second half of verse 18. So let’s read it that way, skipping 5:13-18a: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.”

Paul often leaves a thought dangling so that he can flesh out his argument to make better sense. In the past when I have been asked if I like country music, I have responded, “I’m not a big fan of country.” But I quickly realized that I needed to explain myself. After making the declaration, “I’m not a big fan of country,” I usually backtrack and explain: my dad raised me listening to country music. I grew up listening to Johnny Cash, Don Williams, Marty Robbins, and the Statler Brothers. At the time, I enjoyed country music (I didn’t know better) but as I grew older my preferences changed. I now listen to Black Gospel and some edgier music. Although I like a lot of the newer country I just never listen to it, so I’m not a big country fan. Paul’s argument is essentially this. In 5:13-17 he is explaining his thesis in 5:12.

Returning to 5:12, Paul writes that sin entered the world “through one man and spread to all men.” Twelve times in 5:12-19 we have the word “one.” Paul uses this word repeatedly to refer to Adam, his sin, Jesus Christ, and His work (cf. 1 Cor 15:22; 45-49). There are several observations worth noting:

1. There was a certain time in history when sin entered the world. Thousands of years before Christ was born, sin reared its ugly head. Sin was not a part of God’s original creation. Therefore, we should be encouraged as we anxiously await the time when God will return things to what they once were.


2. Sin and death entered the world through the one man, Adam. In Genesis 3 it appears that sin entered into the world through Eve, as she was tempted by the Devil. But Paul states forcefully in Romans 5 that sin entered through “one man.” Paul helps to clarify this in 1Timothy 2:14 by explaining that although Eve was deceived Adam was not. Though Eve became a sinner first and was judged for her personal failure, nowhere in the Bible is she blamed for the fall or its consequences. The reason she is not charged with responsibility for introducing sin to the race is that she was deceived by the very subtle temptation of the Evil One. But Adam went into it with his eyes open and God, therefore, charged him with being the one who introduced sin into the human race.


3. Death came into the world through sin. God told Adam at the beginning, “In the day that you eat from it you will surely die” (Gen 2:17). What was this death?


4. This death involved a broken relationship with God. Immediately after Adam sinned, his fellowship with God was lost. When God came seeking fellowship with Adam, Adam was full of fear and hid himself.


5. This death involved broken relationships with people. Before his sin Adam had been delighted with the gift of his wife (Gen 2:23). Immediately after his sin he blames Eve for his sin: “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate” (Gen 3:12).


6. This death involved a damaged relationship with the world. Immediately after sin occurred, pain came into the world (Gen 3:16), the ground became unproductive (Gen 3:18), and work became difficult (Gen 3:1).


7. This death involved physical decay and death. Scientists tell us that every human being begins to die physically from the moment of birth. Even while we are growing and developing cells begin to die and the evidence begins to show: teeth decay, hair begins to fall out, eyes go bad, joints ache; and then when you turn thirty, serious problems begin! The greatest evidence of all is found at the cemetery. Rows upon rows of grave markers all bear witness to the one act of our ancestor, Adam.

Paul wraps up 5:12 with the important phrase “because all sinned.” Although there are various ways of handling this phrase, it is best to understand Paul to be saying that death came to all people because when Adam sinned, all sinned in connection with him. Paul writes that “all sinned.” If Paul were thinking about the sins of all people he would have written, “all sin” or “all are sinful.” The structure of Paul’s argument supports this view that all people “sinned” in Adam’s sin. Consider the following fivefold repetition of this truth:

1. “For if by the transgression of the one the many died” (5:15).


2. “The judgment arose from one transgression” (5:16).


3. “By the transgression of the one, death reigned” (5:17).


4. “Through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men” (5:18).


5. “Through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners” (5:19).

Whether we like it or not, the Bible is clear that Adam was our representative head, and when he fell, we fell. You may get upset and say, “I don’t want Adam to represent me.” Well, you may not have voted for the president in the last election but he can still send your son or daughter to war because he is your representative. You may not agree with everything your senators do, but they still represent you in congress.

In case you don’t like political illustrations, let me use one from the sports world: How many of you watch Husky football? I love Husky football. When the Huskies won the Rose Bowl this past January, I did not say, “The Huskies won.” I said, (like many of you) “We won!” I have followed the Huskies for over 20 years and they have become my representatives. That’s the positive side of this equation. Now for the negative: during a Pac-10 game, if a Husky offensive lineman jumps off sides, what happens? His penalty is imputed or charged to the whole team, because that player represents a larger unit. He is not acting just for himself. This is what Paul is talking about—he is teaching the idea of representation.

Right now you may be thinking, “This doesn’t sound fair. Why should we suffer because of Adam?” There is a solution to our problem. Paul has already taught in chapters 1-3 that all men, without exception, are guilty sinners, because each of us is guilty of unbelief and disobedience toward God. All men have received some revelation about God from His creation. Some men have the added revelation of God’s Law. But regardless of how much men have had revealed to them about God, they have rejected Him and refused to worship or to obey Him. As a result, Paul has said all men are guilty sinners worthy of death.

I like the story of the forester named Sam. Sam chopped down tress every day and every time the boss came by he would hear Sam saying, “Oh Adam! Ohh Adam! Ohhh Adam!” One day the boss asked, “Why do you moan ‘Oh, Adam!’ every time you’re out here chopping tress?” Sam replied, “Because if Adam hadn’t sinned, I wouldn’t have to do this backbreaking work, which is part of the curse.” So the boss said to Sam, “Come with me.” He took Sam to his palatial home with a tennis court, swimming pool, maid, and butler. “All this is yours, Sam,” he said. “You never have to complain again. I give all of it to you, a perfect environment.” Sam couldn’t believe it. The boss said, “Now you can have everything, all the time, only don’t do one thing. A little box sits on the dinning room table. Don’t touch it!” Sam went and played tennis every day, swam, and had his friends over, but after a while he got a little bored. There was only one thing in the house he didn’t know about: that little box on the dinning room table. He walked by, checking out the box, but then he reminded himself. “You can’t touch it. Don’t touch it.” But every day Sam walked by and saw that box. One day he finally gave in. “I’ve got to find out what’s in that box.” He went over and opened the box and out flew a little moth. He tried to catch it, but he couldn’t. When the boss found out the box had been tampered with, he sent Sam back out to the forest to chop trees. The next day the boss heard him groaning, “Oh Sam! Ohh Sam! Ohhh Sam!”

Are we guilty sinners because Adam sinned? Yes, we are (5:12-14). But we are also guilty sinners because we have sinned (3:23). We are condemned on both accounts. In 5:13-14, Paul now explains the result of man’s sin even apart from the Law: “For until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 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.” Paul breaks off his construction and moves in a different direction. But what he says is connected with the preceding because he links it up with the conjunction “for.” Even before the Law was given, sin and death exercised power over humanity (Gen 4, 6, 19, 37-38). Sin resulted in death even before the commands of the law had defined what sin was. Even when sin goes unrecognized or unacknowledged, it still has an affect.

But “sin is not imputed when there is no law.” What does this mean? The word “imputed” means “to charge to one’s account.” Sin is there but it is not counted as a legal matter, liable to legal punishment. It is not reckoned as punishable where there is no law. Adam’s sin was a transgression of an openly stated and explicit command of God. God stated a one-point law, “You shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. . .In the day you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen 2:17). Adam broke an explicit command when he sinned. After Adam, God gave no more explicit commands until the time of Moses. Although people sinned, their sins were legally tolerated (”not imputed”). Yet people from the time of Adam to Moses died. Why did they die? They had not broken a command to which the death penalty was attached. The answer is that people die because they had sinned “in Adam.” They shared Adam’s punishment because they had shared Adam’s sin. We were all there when Adam sinned. He was sinning for us as well as for himself. This is Paul’s way of proving what he said in 5:12, “death spread to all men, because all sinned.” All people sinned in Adam. Adam sinned for me. I sinned “in Adam.” He did what I would have done. He was my representative.

Adam is spoken of as “a type of Him who was to come.” The word “type” or “pattern” (NIV) refers to a person, place, or thing that can be compared or contrasted with someone or something else. In this context, when we look at Adam we can see certain principles that apply to Jesus. Here are several of these “types”:

• Adam and Jesus were both real persons.


• Adam and Jesus have both served as representatives for the whole of humanity.


• Adam and Jesus both drew the world to themselves: one for evil, one for good.


• Adam and Jesus both affected the course of humanity through one single act.


• Humanity follows up the work of Adam and Jesus: one with sin, the other with faith.


• Humanity is either “in Adam” or “in Christ.”

Is there any solution to this problem of sin? Yes! There is good news as we read on. Although all humans are in Adam, we find great and glorious news in 5:15-21:

2. All believers are in Christ. In 5:15-17, Paul contrasts the work of Adam and Christ. “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. 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. 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.” The word “But” brings out the many contrasts between Adam and Christ. First comes the negative: “the free gift is not like the transgression” (5:15a). Adam’s “transgression” brought death to all men and God’s “gift” brought life to all who will accept it. The principle found in this verse is that grace is more powerful than sin. Please notice that the idea of “gift” is stressed five times in 5:15-17.

In 5:16, Paul introduces a fourfold contrast: (1) “the gift” vs. “the one who sinned,” (2) “judgment” vs. “the gift,” (3) “one transgression” vs. “many transgressions,” and (4) “condemnation” vs. “justification.” The word “condemnation” refers to “the punishment following a judicial sentence.” In 5:16, we learn that the result of Adam’s sin was the condemnation of all men. But through the death of one man, the many can now experience justification. Finally, in 5:17, Paul tells us that Adam’s sin brought death into the world, while Christ’s death brought life into the world. Please notice, though, that Paul states that this life is only available to “those who receive.” This passage does not teach Universalism (the belief that in the end everyone will be saved). It does the exact opposite; it clearly emphasizes the necessity of belief.

If we receive the gift, Paul states that we will “reign in life” through Jesus Christ. In 1Corinthians 6, Paul teaches that saints will rule the world and judge angels. So right now, in this life, we are training for reigning. God is equipping us to rule in the world to come.

The word “reign” comes from the word “king.” In Scripture there are words that we can attach to kings: (1) wealth, (2) authority, (3) subjection, and (4) influence. No other person has greater ability to influence people than the king. We have NO idea the sphere of influence that we hold. Paul is calling us this morning to live this life according to who we are in Christ.

In 5:18-19, Paul compares Adam and Christ. “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. 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.” In 5:18, Paul returns to the thought he began in 5:12. He begins with “So then” a term that stresses the logical sequence. Adam provided condemnation, but Christ provided justification.

Paul concludes this paragraph in verses 20-21 by commenting on the purpose of the Law and the nature of God’s grace. “The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” In the first half of verse 20 Paul states, “The Law came in so that the transgression would increase.” The Law reveals our inability to achieve God’s standard. In this context, the word “increase” does not mean to multiply or grow larger; it means to highlight even more.

One of my favorite tools for Bible study is a yellow highlighter. I highlight portions in my Bible so that my eyes are drawn to certain words or phrases I want to focus on. Whenever I’m studying a particular passage I’ve highlighted, I can see the text I believe is important. In the same way, God’s standard of perfection is so important that He brought the Law in so our transgressions would become more obvious. The Law served to highlight our desperate need. This prepares us to admit our need for God’s grace.

This leads Paul to write in 5:20b-21, “But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” The phrase translated “abounded all the more,” literally means “super abounded.” Although sin had its day and “reigned in death,” grace will have the final hurrah through Christ’s righteousness.

By condemning the human race through one man (Adam), God was then able to save the entire human race through one man (Jesus)! That is our passage in one sentence. Believer, you are no longer in Adam, you are in Christ. Stop swimming in the Dead Sea; move over to the Sea of Galilee. You are a new creation with a high calling. Pre-Christian, if you haven’t received the gift that God has offered you, you are still in Adam. But you can receive the free gift by trusting in the person and work of Jesus Christ. When you do, you will no longer be trapped in a sea of death. You will escape the consequences of Adam and will have a life filled with greater purpose and worth.

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Copyright © 2001 Keith R. Krell. All rights reserved. All Scripture quotations, unless indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, and 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, and are used by permission.

Permissions: Feel free to reproduce and distribute any articles written by Keith Krell, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this information, not protect or restrict it. Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: by Keith Krell, Timeless Word Ministries®, 2508 State Ave NE Olympia, WA 98506, 360-352-9044, www.timelessword.com

All Scripture quotations, unless indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, and 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, and are used by permission.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
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