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�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.
Paul sets out to establish two
very important connections in these verses. The first link is that
between Adam and mankind. The second is between Adam and Jesus Christ.
These connections are essential,
for they explain the way in which God
purposed to save men from their sins. In particular, the work of Christ
is presented as the reversal of the work of Adam. The curse which Adam
brought on the human race has its cure in Christ.
Adam
was regarded, rightly so, as the source of sin�s entrance into the
world. With his act of disobedience, sin first entered human history. No
believer would disagree with this. But Adam�s sin did much more than
this�it brought guilt upon all mankind. Adam�s sin and resulting guilt
was imputed to all his descendants. Adam sinned, and because of this he
died. Adam sinned, and because of this, all men die. All men die because
they sinned, in Adam.
Adam�s sin, along with its guilt
and penalty, was imputed to all those who were born of Adam. Adam�s sin
and death were imputed to mankind, for all mankind have come from Adam.
In some way that is difficult to understand, all mankind sinned in and
with Adam.133
Paul explains this more fully in verse
13. �The wages of sin is death,� both for Adam (Genesis 2:16-17) and for
all others (Romans 6:23). All those who lived from the time of Adam
until the time of Moses, when the Law was given, died. They did not die,
Paul tells us, because of their own sins, for the Law was not yet
given, and their sins were not a transgression of God�s commandments.
Sin existed in those days, but it was not imputed, because there was no
law. Why then did all those from Adam to Moses die? Because they all
sinned, in Adam, and were therefore guilty and worthy of death.
It
is very important that we understand what Paul is not saying here, as
well as what he is saying. Paul is not saying that we all sin because
Adam sinned, though this is true.134 Paul is saying that we all sinned
when Adam sinned. Paul is saying that we are all guilty of sin, in Adam,
and thus we fall under the divine death penalty. The period of time
between Adam and Moses best demonstrates this, because those who died
during this time period did not have their own sins imputed to them.
The
point then is this: Adam�s sin and its consequences included and
involved the entire human race. This does not really sound fair, does
it? Come on, admit it. This sounds, at first, like a terrible injustice.
Why should we suffer because of Adam?
There is a
solution to our problem. First, we must understand and interpret Paul�s
words here in the light of what he has already written. Men are not
guilty sinners only because Adam sinned, corrupting and implicating the
rest of the human race. 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.
Are we guilty sinners because
Adam sinned? Yes, we are. But we are also guilty sinners because we
have sinned. We are not under divine condemnation only because Adam
sinned; we are condemned as sinners because we have sinned. Adam sinned,
and we are guilty (Romans 5:12-14). All have sinned and are also guilty
(Romans 3:23).
Does the curse of sin on the entire
human race, due to the act of one man, trouble us? Then we must press on
to the second link which Paul makes in our text. Not only is there a
link between Adam�s sin and mankind�s universal guilt, there is a link
between Adam and Christ. In verse 14, Paul informs us that Adam �is a
type of Him who was to come.� Adam is a type of Christ.135
What
seems to be bad news becomes very good news. There is a correspondence
between Adam and Christ. Adam, we are told, is like Christ. It is this
likeness, this link, which enabled our Lord Jesus Christ to die on
Calvary, and to rise from the dead, and in so doing to free men from the
curse brought upon them by Adam. Adam�s curse has its cure, in Christ,
who is like Adam in some way. Before Paul will play out this �likeness,�
he will first show how our Lord was distinct from Adam. It is in His
�unlikeness� as well as in His �likeness� that our Lord provided men
with the opportunity to be saved from their sins.