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. 20 And the Law came in that
the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace
abounded all the more, 21 that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace
might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord.
The link between Adam and Christ is that
both persons, though one man, have acted in a way that affects all men.
Adam sinned, and his transgression brought condemnation upon all men.
Christ�s act was one of righteousness, resulting in justification and
life. Adam�s disobedience makes sinners of many; Christ�s obedience will
make many righteous.
Having summed up the impact of
Adam and Christ, Paul returns to the subject of the Law. Already Paul
has said that those who lived before the Law (from Adam until Moses,
verse 14) died because they sinned in Adam. Sin is not imputed to men
without law (verse 13). The absence of the Law, for those who lived
before the giving of the Law, was a kind of blessing. Without the Law,
sin, other than that of their sin in Adam, was not imputed to them. Now,
Paul must pick up the subject of the Law and its impact on men after it
was given.
The giving of the Law did not solve the
problem of sin. The Law was not given in order to reduce or remove sin
but to increase it. While this sounds incredible, this is exactly what
Paul says. And the reason: so that grace could surpass sin, abounding to
men in righteousness and salvation. The Law increased sin, our Lord
Jesus bore the penalty of that sin, and the grace of God is multiplied.
The Law was not to deliver men from sin but to declare men sinners so
that the sin introduced by Adam could be remedied in Christ.