Rom 5.12-21

the reign of grace

Romans 5.12-21

Jason Procopio

People who are newly married and expecting their first child often ask us questions about what it’s like. My wife’s answer is unwavering: “The hard things are much harder than you think they will be, and the good things are much better than you think they will be.”

Every new parent knows this. It’s hard to not sleep. It’s hard to be woken up in the middle of the night, for months on end, to a crying baby. That’s objectively, empirically difficult, and you can never be prepared for it.

But when your baby stops crying, and smiles at you, and squeezes your finger in his pudgy little hand… Nothing can prepare you for that, either. It makes your late night seem like nothing in comparison. Like, how could I ever have gotten worked up over not sleeping when I get to see this? If this is what I get for my troubles, I’ll take the sleepless night, no question.

The good far outweighs the bad.

That is basically what Paul says in today’s text.

As you know, we’ve been in the book of Romans since September. We took a break for Advent, so I know some of you have forgotten where we are. Here’s what we’ve seen so far, really quickly.

Every human being who has ever lived or will ever live has rebelled against God and fallen short of his glory, and deserves his eternal wrath and punishment (3.23). We do not deserve to be saved from this punishment, and we cannot earn our salvation. (That, by the way, is what “salvation” means: being saved from the wrath of God against our sin, our rebellion against him.)

And yet, God justifies his people—he declares them righteous—not on the basis of what they have done, but because Christ lived a perfect life for them. Christ was delivered up for our trespasses, and raised for our justification (4.25): God takes our sin, places it on Christ, and punishes Christ for that sin; and he takes Christ’s perfect life, places it on us, and declares us righteous. This is called “justification”, and it is a gift that we receive, through the faith God gives us in Jesus Christ (3.24).

And last time, we saw that because we have been justified by faith as a gift, we no longer boast in ourselves—because we don’t save ourselves—we boast in God, who proved his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (v. 8). Those who place their faith in Christ have been reconciled to God—perfectly and completely.

Today’s text is Romans 5.12-21, but before we get into it we need to stop, because far too often we come to texts like this the wrong way. Paul’s going to go into some stuff that seems theologically dense, so our reflex is often to intellectualize it. We put on our thinking caps, we take notes, we connect the dots, and we feel like we’ve done our work. We chew on it for a while and think we’ve eaten a full meal.

But I’d submit that Paul’s main goal here is not intellectual, but emotional. He doesn’t merely want us to think, but rather to feel how massive the good news is. That’s why, in this text, he uses at least six separate examples to illustrate pretty much the same thing: he’s repeating his point in slightly different ways, like looking at a diamond from all sides, to help us realize that seen from any angle, by any metric, the good news is even better than we thought.

Paul left us here in v. 11:

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

This is incredible news! We were separated from God and dead in our sin, ostensibly cut off from the only true source of life in the entire universe, and now, through our Lord Jesus Christ, we have been reconciled to him, plugged back into the source, so to speak. This is why, as Paul says, we rejoice.

And Paul is so brimming with excitement that in v. 12-21, he’s going to go on and on about the reasons we have to rejoice.

So this passage is not an intellectual exercise: it is fuel for joy. Things might seem dire—we see death and sin reigning all around us—and that bad news weighs a lot. But heavy as the bad news is, the good news is infinitely heavier.

The Need for Grace (v. 12-14)

Paul begins v. 12 with the word “therefore”—since we are now reconciled to God, things are even better than we think. But he’s going to take a minute to get to this good news.

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

This can be confusing (because Paul starts a sentence in v. 12 that he doesn’t finish until v. 15), so I’ll say it very simply. The big idea Paul is getting at here is something called federal headship. It’s an idea that is largely foreign to us today, but it was the common way of thinking at this time and place. It means simply that who you are depends on the family you belong to. Whatever you have, you inherit from your ancestors. And whatever we inherit tends to repeat itself.

That’s what he’s getting at in v. 12, when he says that sin came in the world through one man, and death came through sin as a consequence. Through one man, we all inherited sin, so now we all sin. And because we all sin, we all die, since (as we will see a little later in chapter 6) the wages of sin is death.

Now in v. 13-14, he’s says something that we might find confusing, but that would have been obvious for the church in Rome, filled with Jewish and Gentile believers. He interrupts the train of thought he began in v. 12 and says (v. 13):

13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

So Paul affirms here that even before God gave his law through Moses, this problem of sin and death was already underway. When he says that “sin is not counted where there is no law,” he’s not saying that people weren’t responsible for their sin before the law of Moses; he’s saying that even before sin was clearly defined by the law, it was already at work.

Death reigned from Adam to Moses, he says, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam. OK, so what was Adam’s “transgression” like?

Like the people of Israel who had the law, Adam had a clear instruction from God which he disobeyed. Lots of people who came after him didn’t have such clear instruction, at least until the law of Moses came, so it could be tempting to view these people as “less guilty” before God, because they had less information—God hadn’t given them any clear instructions.

But Paul says no, it doesn’t work that way; he already showed us why in chapter 1, verses 18-23: what can be known about God is plain to us—his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature, are clearly visible in the things that God has made, so we are without excuse.

Ever since Adam, sin has been the constant problem of humanity—even if they didn’t have clear instructions from God.

The big question here is, how could this happen? How could all humanity after Adam be infected with Adam’s disobedience? How does that work?

Adam sinned, and through him, sin infiltrated and infected all of humanity.

This might sound unfair—we weren’t in that garden, why should we suffer for Adam’s mistake? If we’re honest though, we think this is unfair because we are all under the assumption that if we had been in the garden, we would have done a better job than Adam. As one person said, we think this is unfair because we are used to choosing our representatives. But you can’t choose the family you’re born into. Whether we think it’s fair or not is irrelevant: the things people do have consequences, not just for themselves, but for those who inherit their mess.

And furthermore, we know that whatever we inherit tends to reproduce. We all know how common it is to become an alcoholic if you have alcoholic parents; to battle with depression if your parents battled with depression. We are hard on our parents for the mistakes we made…and then we find ourselves making the same mistakes.

Adam sinned, and consequently all of his descendants sin—all of humanity sins against God. No one will stand before God and say, “I didn’t choose to sin against you.” We repeat the mistakes of our ancestor Adam, who was (Paul says in v. 14) a type of the one who was to come.

This is a strange term and a strange idea, and the best way I can think to illustrate it is that of a photo negative.

When you look at a photo negative, you can see what’s happening in the picture, but it looks just a bit off. Back when we used to use film in cameras, when I was a kid I used to love looking at the negatives of photos my mom had taken, because I could see myself, but in a strange kind of reversed mirror image: my skin was black or blue, but my eyes were white. It was creepy. Then when I looked at the actual photograph, there was a tangible relief I felt, because finally I could see the picture as it actually was.

Typology in the Bible is kind of like this. A “type” is a person or a thing which we see early on in the Bible, and which is either contrasted with or foreshadowing something else that will come later. Like a photo negative—the picture is there, but it hasn’t been fully developed yet. It’s not until you actual get that photo developed that you see what the picture truly is.

This is what Paul means when he says that Adam is a “type” of “the one who was to come,” of Christ. He’s like a photo negative of Christ.

So this is the one big idea that Paul is going to spend the rest of the chapter explaining: human beings, regardless of background or nationality or race, fall into only two categories—we are either in Adam, or we are in Christ. One man commits an act of disobedience, and his disobedience infiltrated and infected everyone who is in him. Consequently, we need grace. The only solution to this problem is grace—an act of obedience performed by a perfect human being, which would be given to us, and which would in the same way infiltrate those who are in him.

We are in Adam…or we are in Christ.

The Gift of Grace (v. 15-17)

Now Paul is going to tease out these two categories in the rest of this chapter by saying one main thing, which we find summarized in verse 15:

But the free gift is not like the trespass.

That’s the big idea. Remember that Adam is a “type”, like a photo negative, of Christ. Adam’s act (“the trespass”) had a profound impact on humanity…but Christ’s act (“the free gift”) is better, and more powerful, and more efficient, than Adam’s. Paul’s going to show us this by answering two questions.

The first question he’ll answer, in v. 15-17, is How is Christ’s “gift” different from Adam’s “trespass”?

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

So how is Christ’s gift different from Adam’s trespass?

The first way is obvious: his gift is different in what it produced. Adam’s act brought death to many; Christ’s act brought grace and life to many. Adam’s act brought condemnation; Christ’s act brought reconciliation with God.

But even more essential than what these two men produced is the power of their acts. Paul says in v. 16 that the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation; but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.

To put it simply, it’s far easier to make a mess than it is to clean up the mess. We know this from experience. What’s easier? eating the Christmas meal, or cleaning up after the Christmas meal?

Christ’s act is infinitely more powerful than Adam’s act, because Christ solved the problem, not just of one man’s sin, but the sin of all of his people.

And because Christ’s act is so much more powerful than Adam’s, its results will also be more powerful. That’s what Paul says in v. 17: if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Notice the shift that Paul makes here: in Adam, death reigns. Those who are in Adam are under the active reign of sin and death. In Adam, death reigns.

But in Christ, who reigns? It’s those whom he has saved. He surprises us, because he doesn’t say Christ reigns, but us. Those who have received the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Paul will go into more detail on this in chapter 8, and we’ll come back to this later on. But the point here is that in Christ, agency has been restored. In Christ, we are finally free, and equipped to live the life for which God created us.

People often ask questions about whether or not we have free will. Augustine gave a famous answer to the question of how this works:

• Before Adam’s sin, we were able to sin.

• After Adam’s sin, we were not able to not sin.

• After Christ’s work, we are able to not sin.

• And after Christ’s return, we will be not able to sin.

As long as we are in Adam, we are not free; we are slaves to sin. We’re can do what we want, but we’re not able to want what we should.

Only in Christ are we truly free. In Christ, we are finally able to desire the right thing, finally able to not sin, finally able to choose what is right.

So that’s the first question: How is Christ different from Adam? His gift produced different results, and is infinitely more powerful, than Adam’s trespass.

The Reign of Grace (v. 18-21)

Here’s the second question: How is Christ like Adam? In what ways does the final, developed photo reflect the distorted photo negative?

Christ is like Adam in that he has become a new representative for his people. It is no longer Adam’s sin that we inherit, but Christ’s righteousness. V. 18:

18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

The immensity of these verses can be overlooked: Paul is telling us how it makes sense that the sacrifice of one man would be sufficient for all of his people.

It’s a common question we have: how is it possible for the work of one man to make such a huge impact?

It’s kind of a silly question, because we already have modern examples (Oppenheimer springs to mind). Paul reminds us that this is nothing new: Adam sinned, so we are all born in sin. Adam’s sin infected us all, and the proof is that we all sin.

So it shouldn’t be surprising that the perfect sacrifice of the one man who never sinned would be sufficient and efficient to spread to everyone in his family.

One trespass brought condemnation; one act of righteousness brought justification and life. One man’s disobedience made many sinners; one man’s obedience made many righteous.

And Paul gives this beautiful example of the dynamic at play here. V. 20:

20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The law came to increase the trespass, that is, to make the trespass explicit. Among other things, the law shows us how wide the gap is between us and God.

If we are in Christ, we have all had this experience. We are living in sin, blissfully ignorant of our problem, and rebellious against God. Then one day, Christ meets us and saves us. The first thing he does on that day is show us the gap between our holiness and God’s. But then Christ surprises us by showing us that as wide as that gap is, his cross fills the gap. His sacrifice is sufficient.

So we keep walking with him, and growing in him, and before long we come to realize that the gap between our holiness and God’s is even bigger than we thought. And then Christ reminds us that even so, the cross fills the gap.

And on and on we go—every time we realize that the gap is even bigger than we thought, we find that the cross of Christ is more than sufficient to fill that gap.

When we understand this, the paradigm of our entire lives undergoes a seismic shift. Before Christ, sin reigned in death. We were dead in our sins, slaves to sin, not able to not sin. But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more: as sin reigned in death, grace now reigns through righteousness, leading to eternal life.

Sin is victorious over those who remain in Adam. Grace is victorious over those who are in Christ.

This can be easy to forget, so please let Paul hammer this truth home today. Many Christians spend the bulk of their time looking at their own sin, at all the ways in which they fail to live up to God’s standards of holiness. It’s true that we should pay attention to our sin and our obedience. But far too often it can be easy to fall into the trap of looking at our sin and getting the impression that sin reigns over us. How many of us, when we come to church on Sunday, sing that we are free in Christ, but shoot furtive glances at the folks around us while we sing through gritted teeth? Because we say that we’re free in Christ, but we feel like we’re still slaves to sin.

Listen closely: if we have placed our faith in Christ and repented of our sin, sin does not reign over us—GRACE reigns over us. The only thing God takes into consideration when he considers us is the grace he has shown us through our Lord Jesus Christ. Are we in Adam, or are we in Christ? If we are in Christ, then the righteousness of God is at work to constantly give grace to cover our sin. If we are in Christ, grace reigns.

Application

I’m sure you’ve noticed some repetitive language in this passage. We have these constant contrasts between Adam and Christ, between Adam’s work and Christ’s work (“Just as…so also…” “If … then…”).

But that is not the only element of repetition. The other is this word “reign”.

Before, sin and death reigned—he says this three times, in v. 14 (“death reigned from Adam to Moses”), v. 17 (“because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man”), and in v. 21 (“sin reigned in death”).

But the interesting thing is that when Paul comes to the contrast, he doesn’t say the same thing twice. In v. 17, he says,

For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

That’s us—all of us who have received God’s grace and righteousness in Christ. If we have received his gift, we reign in life. We have power to act. We have power to do.

But in v. 21, he seems to say the opposite:

…grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So here, it’s grace which reigns. This grace tells us we are saved no matter what we do.

So which is it? Do we reign, or does grace? The answer, of course, is both—but that is only possible for those who have received this incredible gift.

In Adam, on our own, every person says, “I have to be righteous.” The burden of success or failure falls on us. If we are not righteous, we will be found guilty before God. But of course we aren’t righteous, and so we are condemned.

In Christ, that impulse changes. Rather than saying, “I have to be righteous,” in Christ we now say, “I get to be righteous.” Christ lived the sinless life I should have lived, and he gave it to me. So now, I’m free to obey God. Now, I have agency. Now, I can choose. Because grace reigns in my life, I’m able to do what God created me to do—I’m free to make the conscious and joyful decision, day after day, to obey God, for my good and for his glory.

So this is the fundamental question God is asking all of us today: are we in Adam, or are we in Christ?

If you have not placed your faith in Christ for the forgiveness of your sin, then you are in Adam—you are enslaved to sin and condemned by a holy God, and if nothing changes, you will spend eternity suffering, separated from him. (And separation from God is nothing but suffering, because God is the source of all good.)

If you have repented of your sin and placed your faith in Christ, then you are in Christ. Grace now reigns in your life, so you are now able to obey him. You are now able to follow him. You can consider this incredible grace you have received, and be thankful, and rejoice, and you can now see how foolish it would be to want anything else but to do exactly what Christ tells us, because he created us and knows better what is good for us.

Brothers and sisters, the good news is infinitely heavier than the bad news. As powerful and pervasive as sin is, God’s grace for us in Christ is infinitely more powerful, and infinitely more effective.

So if you are in Adam, I implore you: repent, and trust in Christ for your salvation. Trust that your sin is no match for his grace. Trust that just as you were born in sin in Adam, you can be born again to life in Christ.

And if you are in Christ, I implore you: submit to God’s grace, and rejoice in him, and love him, and obey him. Stop fighting his grace, as if it were an obstacle that keeps you from doing what you really want to do. Accept his grace, and let it reign over you, and reign in life through that grace.