adam, christ, and justification - by john piper

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Adam, Christ, and

Justification, Part 1June 18, 2000by John Piper

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. 15 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. 16 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. 17 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. 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.

An Implication for Men

This is not a Father's Day sermon. But with one slight twist of the dial it could be. What Paul

does in this paragraph is compare and contrast Adam, the first man and the father of humanity,

with Jesus Christ, the second Adam and father of the new humanity. The passage begins in verse12, "Therefore just as through one man [Adam] sin entered into the world and death through sin .

. ."

What this implies for fathers - though it is not at all Paul's main point here, and it won't be mine -

is that Adam, the first man, had a unique burden of responsibility for leadership when he was

created which Eve did not have. The reason we say this is that, even though Genesis shows that

Eve was the one Satan picked to tempt, and in one sense she broke the specific commandment

first not to eat of the tree, that made no difference to God or to Paul; they held the man

accountable. When God came to call the couple to account, Genesis 3:9 says, "The LORD God

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called the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" And when Paul talks about how sin entered the

world and how we are all now sinners because of that first sin, he looks straight to Adam and not

to Eve as the head and responsible one.

None of this is incidental. It is woven all through the Bible. The point is not that women aren't

responsible or have no dealings with God directly. The point is that God holds men responsible

for a unique role of leadership and protection and provision. So men, boys (who will become

men); God designed you for this burden of responsibility. It is your calling. And if you fulfill it

with humble, sacrificial love, it will be your glory as well.

Now that is not the point of the text. It is a subordinate implication.

Christ Is Far Greater Than Adam

The main point of the text is that what Christ has done for all who are in him is far greater than

what Adam did for all who were in him.

The obedience of Christ is parallel, but vastly superior, to the disobedience

of Adam.

The righteousness imputed to those who are in Christ is parallel, but vastly

superior, to the sin imputed to those who are in Adam because of his

disobedience.

The life that comes to us who are in Christ through that imputed

righteousness is parallel, but vastly superior, to the death that comes to

those who are in Adam through that imputed sin.

The point of the paragraph is that the obedience of Christ - the obedience unto death, as Paul says

in Philippians 2:8 - is the foundation of the doctrine of the imputed righteousness of Christ in the

act of justification. In other words, the overarching theme of the letter to the Romans from 1:17

onward has been the doctrine of justification through faith apart from works - that believers are

declared to have a right standing with God not on the basis of our inherent righteousness, but on

the basis of Christ's righteousness received by faith alone. And now, in this paragraph, Paul draws

this same teaching to a climax by explaining it more fully through the comparison and contrast

between the effect of Christ's obedience and the effect of Adam's disobedience.

Why would he do this? Why involve himself in such a complex argument as we find in this

paragraph?



Adam Is a Type

Before I try to answer that, let's be sure you see for yourselves that Paul does indeed intend to

draw out a parallel here between Adam and Christ. Look with me at verse 14. Don't worry for the

moment about the context here. We will work on that next week. I just want to get one crucial

preliminary point from verse 14: "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over


to come." Now that last phrase is what I want you all to see. That is the hinge on which the whole

paragraph swings. Adam is a "type" of him who is to come. Adam is a type of Christ.

What does "type" mean? The NIV says "pattern." Adam was a pattern of Christ who was to

come. He was an example, or a foreshadowing, or a prefiguring of Christ. Let me see if I can say

it so that the children can understand it. Sometimes when we want to understand something betterwe compare it with something like it, but not totally like it. For example, if you come to my

house and I say, "Look at my dog, Sable, and tell me what you see," you might say, "She's black

with white paws and brown eyes and a tail with a white tip." And that may be about it. But then I

go get Pastor Livingston's dog, Lady, and put her beside my dog and say, "Now how is my dog

different? What do you notice that you didn't notice before?" Then you might say, "Well, Sable is

bigger, and Lady seems to be friskier and Sable is sort of laid back, and Lady's tail kind of hangs

down and Sable's curls up. And Lady has long hair and Sable has short hair. And Lady's nose is

thinner." So do you see what happens: you notice new things about Sable when you compare her

with another dog that is different - the size, the temperament, the curl of the tail, the length of

hair, the thickness of the nose. So one way to see something better is to see it alongside

something like it but different.

That is what Paul is doing in this paragraph. In verse 14 he says he is going to view Christ in

comparison and contrast with Adam. That makes Adam a type or a pattern. And the aim is to see

more clearly and more fully and more deeply the work of Christ and how he became the

foundation of our justification.

Now why? Why take this approach? There are probably other ways Paul could have explained

justification more fully and deeply. Why bring in Adam, the first man, and talk about his sin and

how it affected the whole human race, and then compare that to Christ and his righteousness and

how that affected all those who are in him? Why this approach?

Adam Is the Father of Every Person

There is more than one reason. And they are all woven together. Let me mention one and you willsee others woven into it. Paul explains the obedience of Christ as the remedy for the damage done



by the disobedience of Adam, because he wants us to see that the doctrine of justification by

grace through faith is not limited to any one people group or any one place or any one time period

of history, but is relevant and essential for all people in all times and all places. Wherever there

are descendants of Adam, there is a need for the truth of justification by faith. The damage done

by Adam's sin affects every human being in every place in all times. And now we see by this

comparison in Romans 5:12-21 that the obedience of Jesus Christ and imputing of that obedience

to all who believe is the remedy for the damage done to all human beings everywhere. There is no

other remedy. There is no other salvation for the fatal damage done through Adam to all human

beings.

The implications of this are staggering. One is that Jesus Christ is very great and worthy of our

greatest admiration and trust and love and praise. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and

his greatness is unsearchable. He and he alone has lived and died in such a way that it can remedy

the deepest problem of sin for any human being anywhere who trusts in him.

Another implication of this comparison between Christ and Adam is that Jesus Christ is not a

tribal deity. What this means for missions and evangelism is immense. Jesus Christ is not a

Christian god alongside the Muslim god and the Hindu gods and the Jewish God. He is the

universal Lord and Savior, and there is no other Savior. The point of the comparison with Adam

is to show that there is one fundamental problem in the human race that began with Adam at the

beginning: Sin. And the burden of this text, expressed over and over and over again, is that the problem with humanity is not most deeply our individual sinning that might seek out individual

remedies; but our problem is the connection that we all have with Adam's sin.

Verse 15: "By the transgression of the one [Adam] the many died."

Verse 16: "The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation."

Verse 17: "By the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one."

Verse 18: "Through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all

men."

Verse 19: "Through the one man's disobedience the many were made

sinners."

So the problem with the human race is not most deeply that everybody does various kinds of sins

- those sins are real, they are huge and they are enough to condemn us. Paul is very concerned

about them. But the deepest problem is that behind all our depravity and all our guilt and all our

sinning, there is a deep mysterious connection with Adam whose sin became our sin and whose

judgment became our judgment. And the Savior from this condition and this damage is one

Savior, who stands in Adam's place as a kind of second Adam (or "last Adam," 1 Corinthians

15:45). And in one great life and death of obedience he undoes what Adam did. In Adam all men



were appointed sinners (verse 19), but all who are in Christ are appointed righteous. In Adam all

received condemnation (verse 18), in Christ all receive justification.

Now let's drive this home for our missionaries and for all our evangelism here at home. Do not

think that the doctrine of justification by grace, based on the imputation of the obedience of

Christ through faith apart from works, is a mere concoction of a western European worldview

that got off the ground with the guilty conscience of a monk named Martin Luther. That's not

true. It can't be true, because it is the historical remedy in the person of Jesus Christ for the

historical damage in the person of everybody's first ancestor.

The doctrine of justification by grace through faith cannot be replaced by a redemptive analogy.

If Paul had merely said for example, "Sin is like drowning in the ocean, and salvation is like

being pulled out of the water into a boat by a strong man," then you might go to a people group

somewhere far from oceans and boats and say, "Sin is like sinking in quicksand and salvation is

like being pulled onto a firm rock by a strong man." That's fine. But you can't do that with this

doctrine of justification - not now, not after Romans 5:12-21.

Why not? Because now Paul has connected it with Adam. And Adam is the historical ancestor of

every people group on the face of the earth. This is not a myth; it's not an analogy; it's not an

illustration. It is historical fact. Adam, the first human being, sinned and in him all human beings

sinned, and all died and all are condemned. And the remedy for that is another historical Person -the God-man, Jesus Christ, who came in space and time to undo what Adam did. He trusted and

obeyed God perfectly, so that all who are in him by faith have that obedience imputed to them

and become right with God forever.

Jesus' Righteousness Relevant to Each of Adam's Children

That historical truth is relevant and applicable to every people group on the face of the earth and

every person you know in the United States of America. Someone might say, "But what if you

come to a people group that has no categories or thought forms for understanding this sort of

thing - a corporate connection between humanity and its ancestors, or the possibility of our

sinning in the sin of another, or our being counted righteous with the righteousness of another?

You know what? We are that people group. We don't have any categories for that in modern

America. Many third world peoples would have far less difficulty with this text than we do.

I expect that before I am done with this three-part series on this paragraph some of you may say -

or feel like saying - no way! We can't sin in Adam. We can't be identified with him in his guilt

and condemnation. Somebody else can't obey for me to make me right with God. We can't havethe righteousness of another imputed to us.



So the last thing I want to say this morning is this: It is the task of every missionary - and every

pastor and evangelist - not only to accommodate Biblical teaching to cultural categories where

possible and helpful; but it is also our task to create Biblical categories where no others will carry

the Biblical truth faithfully. So, very personally, some of you have heard this morning:

that the Bible says that your deepest problem is your connection with

Adam's sin and condemnation - that you share in it as part of the human

race;

and that the only remedy in all the universe for this condemnation is the

justification that comes by the work of Jesus Christ who was perfectly

obedient even unto death;

and that faith in Christ is the one and only way to be united to him and

justified and accepted before God.

But you say, "I don't understand this. I don't think this way. I don't have any categories in my

brain for holding this." Please do this: embrace it as you see it; and tell God that you receive his

way of salvation in Christ; and ask him with faith that he give you the fuller understanding that

you need. God loves to save humble sinners. You don't have to understand it all to benefit from it

all.

A closing appeal to the dads and all men. We want to pray for you this morning. If you take

seriously the burden of your responsibility as spiritual leader in your family and church, thenevery one of you has burdens that could be made lighter by prayer. Come and let us pray for you

after the service. A kind of Father's Day gift.

Adam, Christ, and

Justification, Part 2June 25, 2000

by John Piper

Scripture: Romans 5:12-21

Topic: Imputed & Original Sin

Series: Romans: The Greatest Letter Ever Written


spread to all men, because all sinned –

13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not





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the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.

When It's Hard to Understand a Teacher

When a teacher becomes complex in his teaching, then probably one of two things is happening.

Either he is confused and has lost his bearings and doesn't really know what he thinks, or he is

dealing with reality at a level that defies ordinary human language and thought. Not allcomplexity means that a teacher is deep and wise; it may mean he is confused and befuddled. But

then again, when something is hard to understand it may not mean the teacher is inept. It may

mean that the subject itself is very complex and difficult.

In Romans 5:12-21, Paul's thought is complex and difficult to follow. But I don't think Paul has

lost his bearings. He speaks, we believe, as an inspired apostle. He is not confused or befuddled.

Instead, he is dealing with the saving work of Jesus Christ at a level that pushes the limits of the

human mind. So don't panic and don't be too discouraged if you find the flow of thought in these

verses difficult to follow. They are difficult. But it's because he is taking us very deep into the

very structure of salvation and history and humanity and deity. This should encourage us to linger

over these verses and meditate long on them and work hard to mine the gold and silver in this

shaft.

A Universal Image

Last Sunday I gave the big picture: The point of the text is to display the greatness of the work of

Christ in the way he provides a righteousness for sinners like you and me. And the way Paul goesabout displaying the greatness of Christ's work is by lining it up beside the work of Adam, the

first man, and pointing out the similarities and differences.

We noticed at the end of verse 14 the words, "Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come."

That's the hinge on which the text swings. Adam, the first man, is a type or pattern or

foreshadowing of Jesus Christ. Paul believes that we will understand and cherish the justifying

work of our Lord Jesus better if we see it alongside the work of Adam. And so we will admire

Christ and trust Christ and love Christ more. And God, who ordained it all, will be honored. And

that is our aim.



The other main emphasis last week was the way Paul shows the global significance of Christ's

work. If Adam is the father of all human beings, and if the fundamental problem with all human

beings is found in how we are related to Adam and what happened to us when Adam sinned, then

everybody in the world, no matter when or where or who – whatever tribe or language or culture

or ethnic identity – everybody has the same fundamental problem. And this means that if Jesus

Christ is not just a Jew who died as a Jewish sacrifice for sins, but is also the "last Adam" or the

"second man" (as Paul calls him in 1 Corinthians 15:45, 47), who provides a righteousness better

than what we lost in Adam, then Jesus is no tribal God, or limited, local Savior. He is the one and

only remedy for the divine judgment of condemnation that rests on every human soul. Which

means he is a great Savior able to save persons from all times and all places and all peoples.

Now today let's go to the text and see what happened in Adam and how Paul displays the work of

Christ as the remedy to that.

For All Sinned

Let's go to verse 12. Paul begins his comparison between Adam and Christ with the words "just

as." "Therefore, through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and

so death spread to all men, because all sinned . . ." And then Paul breaks off. We expect him to

follow his "just as" half to be followed by a "so also" half. " through one man sinned

entered into the world . . . through one man righteousness entered the world . . ." In fact

he will pick up the comparison in verse 18. But here he breaks off and doesn't complete it.

Why? Probably because he realizes that he has just said something that is liable to be

misunderstood and needs to be clarified. What was that? Well, several things, but he picks out

one in particular, because if he can make this one clear it will keep the others from being

misunderstood. He wants to clarify what he means at the end of verse 12 by the phrase, "for all

sinned."

He has just said that through one man, Adam, sin entered the world of mankind, and through sin

death –

the penalty, the judgment on sin. Then he broadens out this statement and says that this

death, this judgment, was not confined to one man but spread to all humans. Why? Now here

comes the ambiguity. He says, "because all sinned." Does this mean "because all sinned in

Adam"? Does it mean that Adam's sin was the sin of the human race, so that when he sinned, in a

real and profound and mysterious way, I sinned, and you sinned? Was Adam's sin imputed to us,

so that we are viewed as sinning in him? Or does it mean that the penalty and judgment of death

is owing to our individual acts of sin and not to Adam's sin being imputed to us? I believe the

answer is that Paul means we all sinned in Adam, that his sin is imputed to us, and that universal

human death and condemnation is God's judgment and penalty on all of us because we were in

some deep and mysterious way we were united to Adam in his sinning.



Why Does It Matter?

Now someone might say, why does this matter? Doesn't Romans teach in 3:23 that "all have

sinned and fall short of the glory of God" individually? And doesn't Romans 6:23 teach that the

"wages of sin is death"? And so if our judgment and condemnation are what the sins we do every

day deserve, why does it matter if you can find a deeper cause of our guilt and death and

condemnation – namely our union with Adam in his sinning at the beginning?

I think it is the answer to that question that made Paul stop here at the end of verse 12 and break

off his comparison so that he could clarify what he means by "because all sinned." What's at stake

here is the whole comparison between Christ and Adam. If we don't understand "because all

sinned" as "because all sinned in Adam," the entire comparison between Christ and Adam will be

distorted and we won't see the greatness of justification by grace through faith for what it reallyis.

Let me try to illustrate what's at stake. If you say, "Through one man sin and death entered the

world and death spread to everybody because all sinned individually," then the comparison with

the work of Jesus could be, "So also through one man, Jesus Christ, righteousness and life entered

the world and life spread to all because all individually did acts of righteousness." In other words,

justification would not be God's imputing Christ's righteousness to us, but our performing

individual acts of righteousness with Christ's help and then being counted righteous on that basis.

When Paul saw that as a possible misunderstanding of what he said, he stopped to clarify.

But what does it say about the work of Christ, if we take the words, "because all sinned" to mean

"because all sinned in Adam"? Then it would go like this: "Just as through one man sin and death

entered the world and death spread to everybody because all sinned in Adam and his sin was

imputed to them, so also through one man Jesus Christ, righteousness entered the world and life

through righteousness, and life spread to all who are in Christ because his righteousness is

imputed to them." That is the glory of justification by grace through faith. The basis of our

vindication and acceptance before God is not our righteous deeds, but Christ's righteousness

imputed to us. But this would be all distorted if the words "because all sinned" at the end of verse

12 meant "because all sinned individually," and not because all sinned in Adam and his sin was

imputed to us.

The parallel Paul wants us to see and rejoice in is that

just as Adam's sin is imputed to us because we were in him,

so Christ's righteousness is imputed to us because we are in him.



One of the best reasons for thinking this is what Paul meant is to look at verse 18 where he really

does complete the comparison he started here. "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." In Adam we all were condemned; in Christ we all are justified.

Adam's transgression was imputed to us; and Christ's righteousness is imputed to us (see 1

Corinthians 15:22).

But all that would be lost if at the end of verse 12 the words "because all sinned" referred to

individual sins and not to our sinning in Adam.

So he stops to clarify. Now how does he clarify?

Everybody Died, Even Before the Law

Verses 13-14: "For until the Law [of Moses] sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when

there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses. . ." What is he saying?

Something like this: 1) Sin was in the world before Mosaic Law (verse 13a); he concedes that

personal sin was prevalent in the world before Moses, not just Adam's sin. 2) But sin is not

imputed (not counted, not punished) where there is no law (verse 13b). 3) "Nevertheless death

reigned from Adam until Moses" (verse 14a). That is, everybody died. Everybody was punished.

Now what's the implication Paul wants us to see? He wants us to see that universal human death

was owing to individual sins against the Mosaic Law but to their sinning in Adam. That is

what he is trying to clarify. Verse 12 says that "death spread to all because all sinned." So Paul

argues and clarifies: But people died even though their own individual sins against the Mosaic

law were not the reason for dying; they weren't counted. Instead, the reason all died is because all

sinned in Adam. Adam's sin was imputed to them.

But now there is an objection at this point to Paul's argument, and Paul can see it coming. The

objection is that even before Mosaic Law there were commands of God to Noah and Abraham

and others, so maybe their death was owing to disobeying "laws," not because they sinned

in Adam. And not only that, the objection would go, Paul himself said back in Romans 1:32 that

all people – even Gentiles outside Israel – in their consciences "know the ordinance of God, that

those who practice such things are worthy of death." So there seem to be two exceptions to Paul's

argument: Yes, there is no Mosaic Law to sin against before Moses, but there are personal

revelations; and there is the law written on the heart. So, Paul, have you really shown that the

people between Adam and Moses died for sinning in Adam and not for their own individual sins

against these laws?



Even Those Whose Sin Was not Like Adam's

I said Paul sees this objection coming and, I think, that's why he adds the next words in verse 14.

He doesn't stop by saying, "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses. . ." He goes on to

add the very crucial words, "[Death reigned] even over those who had not sinned in the likeness

of the offense of Adam." In other words, yes he concedes that there are other kinds of laws before

the Mosaic Law, and yes people broke those laws, and yes, one could argue that these sins are the

root cause of death and condemnation in the world. But, he says, there is a problem with that

view, because death reigned "even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of

Adam." There are those who died without seeing a law and choosing to sin against it.

Who are they? I think the group of people begging for an explanation is infants. Infants died.

They could not understand personal revelation. They could not read the law on their hearts andchoose to obey or disobey it. Yet they died. Why? Paul answers: the sin of Adam and the

imputation of that sin to the human race. In other words, death reigned over all humans, even

over those who did not sin against a known and understood law. Therefore, the conclusion is, to

use the words of verse 18: "through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men."

The Deepest Reason That Death Reigned

This is Paul's clarification: At the end of verse 12 the words, "death spread to all men, because all

sinned" mean that "death spread to all because all sinned ." Death is not first and most

deeply because of our own individual sinning, but because of what happened in Adam.

Now here is the all-important question: Why did Paul, exactly at this place – at the end of verse

14, right after saying that death reigned over those who did not sin personally against a known

law like Adam did – why exactly here did Paul insert the all-important words, "who is a type of

Him who was to come"? Why, precisely here at this point, did Paul say that Adam is a type of

Christ?

If you haven't gotten anything else, get this. Because this is your life. Right here he says that

Adam is a pattern for Christ because the all-important parallel is seen here. What? The parallel

here is this: The judicial consequences of Adam's sin are experienced by all his people not on the

basis of their individually doing sins like he did, but on the basis of their being in him and his sin

being imputed to them. As soon as that becomes clear in Paul's argument, he brings in Christ as

the parallel: The judicial consequences of Christ's righteousness are experienced by all his people

not on the basis of their doing righteous deeds like he did, but on the basis of their being in him

and his righteousness being imputed to them.



The Deepest Reason Eternal Life Reigns

That is the all-important parallel. The deepest reason why death reigns over all is not because of

our individual sins, but because of Adam's sin imputed to us. So the deepest reason eternal life

reigns is not because of our individual deeds of righteousness, but because of Christ's

righteousness imputed to us by grace through faith.

O how much light this sheds on why Paul embarked on this paragraph at all! He did it for the

sake of our faith and our assurance and our joy. He did it to underline the fact that our right

standing with God and our freedom from condemnation is based on our righteous acts but on

Christ's righteous acts.

This is the foundation of the great Biblical truth of justification by grace alone through faith

alone. It has rescued thousands of saints from the despair of legalism and the paralyzing fear ofimperfection. Christ became obedient even unto death so that in him we might become the

righteousness of God (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). Here is rest for your soul. Here is a message that

everyone you will ever meet needs to hear. Christ is our righteousness. Trust him. Trust him.

Trust him.

Adam, Christ, and

Justification, Part 3July 2, 2000

by John Piper





spread to all men, because all sinned –

13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is notimputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over



























Christ.

Christ Is Like Adam

We ended last week with the words at the end of verse 14, "Adam, who is a type of Him who was

to come." That is, Adam, the first man, is a type or pattern or foreshadowing of Christ, who

would come much later in history. We asked, Why did Paul insert those words just where he did?

Why say that Adam is a pattern of Christ right after saying, "Death reigned from Adam to

Moses,

"? That is, right after saying that the personal sins of Adam's descendants were not the root

cause that brought their death; it was their union with Adam in his sin.Why say right here, Adam is a pattern of Christ? And I answered: because this is precisely the

point Paul wants to make about Christ and how we are justified in him. Just as those who are in

Adam die because of his sin imputed to them, so also those who are in Christ live because of his

righteousness imputed to them. Just as it is not at root the personal sinning of those in Adam that

brought their condemnation, so it is not at root the personal goodness of those who are in Christ

that brings their justification. The point of saying right here that Adam is a pattern of Christ is to

signal that justification comes to us not on the ground of our obedience, but on the ground of

Christ's obedience and our union with him by faith alone.

Christ Is Not Like Adam

That's where we ended last week in the text. Today we will take up verses 15-17. Why these three

verses? Because they form a very distinct unit with a distinct purpose. You can see the purpose in

the first words of verse 15 and the first words of verse 16. He has just said at the end of verse 14

that Adam is a type or pattern of Christ. But now he says in verse 15: "But the free gift is

the transgression," and then in verse 16, "The gift is that which came through the

one who sinned." Notice the two phrases, "not like."

The point of verses 15-17 is to show how Christ is Adam. Yes, there is a similarity and

a correspondence. But we will miss the point entirely if we don't realize that the similarity and

correspondence are meant to highlight the difference and the superiority of Christ and his work.

The point is not simply that Adam / sin / condemnation / death are different from Christ /

righteousness / justification / life. That is so obvious, you don't need to take three verses to say

that righteousness is not sin and justification is not condemnation and life is not death.

Rather here's the point. Someone might say that Adam / sin / condemnation / death equal negative

ten (-10), and Christ / righteousness / justification / life are the counterpart that equal positive ten(+10). That would make clear that they correspond but are different. But that is what Paul is



doing here. He is saying that, yes, correspondence is there, but the positive side is much more

than an equalizer of the negative side. It doesn't just balance the number, leaving us at zero, so to

speak. Christ and his righteousness and justification and life are than Adam and his

sin and condemnation and death. They are not a positive ten, they are positive ten thousand.

You will see this plainly as we take each verse one at a time and ask, How are Christ and his

work like Adam and his work? How is Christ far superior?

So let's start with verse 15. "But [Notice this! Yes, Adam is a pattern of Christ, ] the free gift

[What is this? Verse 17, near the end: "gift of righteousness"] is not like the transgression [that is,

the transgression of Adam]. 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."

I want to make a minor point and a major point on each of these three verses (15-17). The minor

point here is this: Notice the words "the one" and "the many." Verse 15b: "If by the transgression

of died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one

Man, Jesus Christ, abound to ." This is the real parallel throughout this passage. Many

are in Adam and many die because of one man's transgression. Many are in Christ and many

experience grace because of the one man's grace. The minor point is simply this: judgment came

because of one man; salvation comes because of one man. There was one way for all men to fall

– in Adam. There is one way for all to be saved – in Christ. It's the singularity of Christ and his

grace and righteousness that Paul wants us to see and savor. See the uniqueness and singularity

and greatness of Christ in this text and worship him and love him and trust him.

Much More

Now for the major point in verse 15. What is the contrast that Paul wants us to see? What is it in

verse 15 that is parallel between Adam and Christ?

Verse 15 begins, "But the free gift is not like the transgression." Now this seems too obvious to

need repeating. The free gift refers to the gift of righteousness, according to verse 17, and, of

course, the gift of righteousness is not like the transgression. Righteousness and transgression are

opposites. Is that all Paul wants to say? I don't think so. What he wants to say is that when

transgression and righteousness are contrasted, righteousness – the grace that gives it – is far

more certain and far more preeminent than transgression.

You can see this in the next half of verse 15 that begins with "for." "For if by the transgression of

the one the many died, [note this crucial phrase!] did the grace of God and the gift

by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many." So in view of this supporting

clause, I would paraphrase verse 15a like this: "But we should not merely say, 'As the

transgression of one, so the gift of one.' No, no. What we should say is, 'As the transgression ofone, grace and gift of one.'"



What does "much more" mean? "If many died . . . will grace abound to many."

Look at verse 10 to see the answer. Verse 10: "If while we were enemies we were reconciled to

God through the death of His Son, , having been reconciled, we shall be saved by

His life." "Much more" in Paul's mind is a "much more" of certainty, not a much more of

quantity. "Much more [certainly], having been reconciled, shall we be saved."

Ultimate Purpose – The Praise of the Glory of God's Grace

So it is here in verse 15. "For if by the transgression of the one the many died,

[certainly] did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ,

abound to the many." Now here we have almost arrived at the major point of verse 15: Why is it

more certain that the grace of God abounds than that the judgment of death follows transgression?The reason is that God's ultimate purpose is not judgment but the display of the glory of his

grace. I could show you this from Ephesians 1:3-6, where Paul says that the aim of all history is

"the praise of the glory of God's grace." I could show it to you from Romans 9:22-23, where Paul

says that God endures vessels of wrath in order to make known the riches of His glory upon

vessels of mercy. Or I could show you from Romans 8:20-21, where Paul says that judgment

came upon creation with a view to a greater hope than judgment: "For the creation was subjected

to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, that the creation itself

also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of

God."

So here is the major point in Romans 5:15: If judgment followed Adam's transgression, it is

"much more" certain that God's grace abounded and will abound, because judgment is not God's

ultimate purpose in the universe. Rather – and this is the major point – the ultimate purpose of

God in creating and governing the world the way he does is the display of abounding grace – not

to the exclusion of the display of justice and judgment and wrath, but against the backdrop of

judgment and wrath. The display of the glory of his grace is God's ultimate purpose in the world

– and here the stress falls on the fact that all of this comes through "the one Man, Jesus Christ."

The glory of God's grace is the glory of Christ applied to all who are in him. All of history –

all of

its sin and redemption – is about the glory of the grace of God in the one man Jesus Christ. That

is the meaning of history. That is the main point of verse 15.

Now verse 16. Here is another statement about how Adam and Christ are not alike. "The gift [of

righteousness, verse 17b] 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 [of righteousness] arose from many transgressions resulting in justification."



First the minor point: Notice, in the last half of the verse, that the "free gift," which is the "gift of

righteousness," according to verse 17, "results in justification." "The free gift arose from many

transgressions resulting in justification." This is crucial because it shows that there is a foundation

for justification, namely, "the gift of the righteousness" of Christ, or, as verse 18 calls it, "the one

act of righteousness," or, as verse 19 calls it, "the obedience of the One." Justification is not

merely a new relationship with God, or a new status before God, hanging in the air. It is a new

legal standing on the basis of Christ's righteousness, or Christ's obedience. That is the minor point

in verse 16 – a huge minor point – "the free gift results in justification." "The free gift" is not

itself justification; it is the foundation of justification. We are declared righteous on the basis of

the free gift of righteousness – Christ's "righteousness" (verse 18), Christ's "obedience" (verse

19).

When you read the gospels and you see your Lord living out a perfect life of righteousness,

rejoice that he not only is giving you an example of how to live, but he is also laying the

foundation for your acceptance with God by grace through faith alone.

God's Grace Triumphs Over Many Transgressions, Not Just One

Now what is the major point of verse 16? What is the contrast that Paul sees between the work of

Christ and the sin of Adam? He says, "The gift is not like that which came through the one who

sinned." So we know he is still talking about how Adam and Christ are not alike. The next clause

gives us the explanation: "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."

Here's the contrast: One transgression (of Adam) leading to condemnation versus many

transgressions (of all of us) leading to justification. What's the point? The point is again to display

the greatness of grace far outstripping the display of judgment. How?

Well, condemnation is a natural and fitting response to transgression. But justification is not a

natural or fitting response to a transgression, let alone many transgressions. So there are at least

two things that grace has to overcome for justification to exist: One is that transgression calls for

condemnation; and the other is that many transgressions call for great condemnation. What makes

God's grace shine in this verse is that it triumphs over both obstacles. How? By providing a

substitute righteousness. Because Christ was righteous for us, God can now justify us in spite

of transgressions.

So be mightily encouraged here. Paul is trying to strengthen your faith here. He is not just talking.

You are to think something here and feel something here. Think the truth about the greatness ofthe grace of God and the free gift of righteousness that Christ provides for all who trust him. Then



feel the sweetness of God himself reminding us in these words that the great number of our past

sins is no obstacle for God to justify us. Because there is a "free gift" that "results in justification"

– the gift of Christ's righteousness.

That's the major point of verse 16: God's grace triumphs over many transgressions –

not just one

– because he provides a substitute righteousness for us in Christ.

Kings and Queens in the Age to Come

Finally, the minor and major points in verse 17. "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."

First the minor point: When Paul says "those who the abundance of grace" in verse 17b,

he implies, I think, that there are those who do receive it. In other words, Paul shows us here

that "the many" in verse 15 who die because of Adam's sin and the many who experience God's

grace are not the same group, for all humans are in Adam, but not all are in Christ. Some receive

the grace and some do not. So some are among "the many" (verses 15, 19) or the "all" (verse 18)

that are in Christ.

Now, finally, in verse 17, what's the major point? Look carefully and you will see it. He

does say, "If death reigned through one [Adam], much more will life reign through Christ."

He does not say that we exchange rulers over us: Death for life. He says more. He says that some

day through Jesus Christ, we will move from being ruled by death to becoming ourselves rulers in

life. Verse 17b: "Those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will

reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ" (see 2 Timothy 2:12).

So the final declaration of the supremacy and glory of God's grace in this text is that it takes

sinners like us who receive his grace and makes us kings and queens in the age to come. It is

almost too good to be true. And if you believe it, if you humbly rest in it, this glorious truth will

change your life – not just marriage (as I hinted last week), but everything.

Dwell on this, little Christian – and we are all little Christians – dwell on this. Your inheritance is

to reign like a king or a queen in the presence of God (see Revelation 3:21). Let this sustain you

in the frustrations and the heartaches and the pain of this present life.



Summary

God's ultimate aim is to display the preeminence and glory of his

grace over the judgment.

God's grace triumphs not just over one transgression, but over many

transgressions and justifies us on the basis of the substitute righteousness of Christ.

The triumph of God's grace will not simply replace life with death,

but will make us reign in life like kings in the presence of our Father forever and ever.

Lay hold on these great truths about grace. Trust Christ. Trust him. He will be your righteousness

and your life and your joy.

Adam, Christ, andJustification, Part 4

August 20, 2000

by John Piper





spread to all men, because all sinned — 13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not













One the many will be made righteous.



















Two Pages in Yesterday's Newspaper

It may be helpful to connect the message of Romans 5:12-19 with yesterday's newspaper. Killing

and dying are common – far too common in our world and in our city. Sometimes murders

multiply so fast you feel overwhelmed by the evil of it all. That was the effect of yesterday's

Metro section of the on me.

There was the ongoing saga of Katie Poirer's murder.

There was the possible murder of 24-year-old Kinsey Otto in relation to the

drug Ecstasy.

There was seventeen-year-old Steve Temple, who was killed Wednesday in

Lakeville, and the three men who are being held in custody.

There was the sentencing of Ezekiel Caliguiri because of a murder in May.

There was another unnamed man who died Friday after being pushed off a bus downtown earlier this week.

There was Kimberly Harmon who was stabbed to death Wednesday

morning.

And those are just the ones that make the paper – two pages of one day's news.

What these tragic and real-life stories make painfully real to us is that there is sin in the world and

there is death. Murder is the outworking of sin in the human heart. And the result is death. One

kills, another dies.

It stares us in the face from the newspaper or from television every day: death and sin, death and

sin. It reminds me of one of the Proverbs that struck me on vacation: "Wisdom shouts in the

street, she lifts her voice in the square" (Proverbs 1:20). Wisdom shouts in the street. What does

she say? How does she say it? She says, "Number your days, O people and the Twin Cities, and

get a heart of wisdom. You are going to die someday, and it will be unplanned. Will you be

ready? Get ready. Stay ready." She says, "Turn away from hate and bitterness and greed and

killing. Turn away from sin and fear God. Vengeance is mine; I will repay. Trust me, follow my

teachings. O do not be a fool any longer." That's what Wisdom says.

How does she shout this in the street? Just read the newspaper. Listen to the news. And think.

Trace it all out. Follow anger to its end and see where it leads. Follow greed and addiction to the

end and see where it leads. Peer into the ashen faces of dead teenagers and follow the soul to

heaven or to hell. Wisdom is shouting in the street – from the papers and the televisions. "How

long will you be foolish? How long will you cover your eyes and say, Sin is better. Sin is

better!"? Wisdom is shouting in the streets. Are you listening?



What Does This Have to Do With Romans?

So what's the connection with Romans 5:12-19? Much in every way! To mention two:

First, when a person kills, and knows in the depth of his heart that he is under the condemnation

of God (even if he is never caught on earth; see Romans 1:32), what can he do to silence his

damning conscience and get right with God, so that he is spared hell and given everlasting joy? Is

such a thing even thinkable – for a murderer to be acquitted by the highest court of the universe,

where God sits as judge, and be counted righteous and even loved with everlasting life? That's

what this text is about.

Second, when a person is killed, when a person dies, what becomes of him? Is there just

nothingness? Is there unconsciousness and non-existence forever? Is a human being, created inGod's image with a will and conscience and reason, like a leaf or a stick? Do we just die and

decay and turn to dust, and that's it? Or is there a reckoning? Is there condemnation and salvation

to reckon with? Is there a meeting with our Maker and the Judge of all? Is there the possibility of

eternal life after a horrible death? If you were murdered tonight, would you be alive and happy in

the presence of Jesus Christ tomorrow? That's what this text is about – that wonderful phrase in

verse 18: "justification of life."

This pulpit is not the street. But this text is the voice of Wisdom. Divine Wisdom. And it is

shouting to all who hear: Come all you killers and thieves and liars and fornicators and adulterers

and coveters and blasphemers – come and hear how you may be put right with God – how your

guilt may be removed and your conscience made clean. Come all you who will die, come and

hear how you may be ready, come learn to meet your Judge and Maker unafraid. There is a great

hymn with that line. We will sing it at the end.

Picking Up After Six Weeks – Summary

It's been six Sundays since we left off at the end of Romans 5:17. So it would be good to say

some summary words about what we have seen so far in this passage, and then deal today simply

with verses 18 and 19.

The main point of this passage is that what Christ has done for all who are in him by faith is far

greater than what Adam did for all who are in him by nature. The disobedience of Adam brought

all those who were in him (1 Corinthians 15:22, "in Adam all die") into condemnation and death.

And the obedience of Christ brought all who are in him (2 Corinthians 5:2) to justification and

life.



For five chapters Paul has been laboring to make clear and compelling for us the truth that sinners

are put right with God not on the basis of any inherent righteousness in us but on the basis of the

righteousness of Christ received by faith alone. Now in this passage Paul takes us to the deep

cause for why God saves us this way.

God saves us this way through Christ because it corresponds to the way we were condemned

through Adam. Justification unto life corresponds with condemnation unto death. And our

condemnation, at its deepest root, comes not from what we did individually but from what Adam

did as our representative. And so our justification, at its deepest root, comes not from what we do

but from what Christ did. The reason for developing this comparison between Adam and Christ is

to make clear that the root cause of our justification is the righteousness of Christ – the obedience

of Christ – in the same way that the root cause of our condemnation was the sin of Adam – the

disobedience of Adam.

And I think the reason God was willing to push the limits of our reason in revealing this hard

doctrine of original sin to us is that we are so prone to think that we can and must get right with

God by performing deeds of righteousness, instead of casting ourselves as helpless sinners on his

mercy and depending on the righteousness of Christ alone as the basis of getting right with God.

And so he says in this passage: No – it is "not on the basis of deeds which we have done in

righteousness" (Titus 3:5), rather . . .

Now, let's pick up the text where we left off six weeks ago, at verse 18:

So then [here is the summary] as through one transgression [Adam's first sin] there resulted

condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness [Christ's] there resulted

justification of life to all men. (19) For as through the one man's disobedience [Adam's] the many

were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One [Christ] the many will be made

righteous.

Being Put Right With God

So you can see what the main point is here. The main point is not merely to teach the doctrine of

original sin – that in Adam we all fell and sinned and became sinners. That is true. But the reason

for revealing that to us – and pushing the limits of human reason – is what it shows about how we

are put right with God. That is the point. So before you stumble over that doctrine of original sin,

be sure to hear why God reveals it to us. Let it have that effect first. Before you begin to judge

God's method of condemnation, be sure to see the glory of God's method of justification.



We will come back next week to talk more fully about the doctrine of original sin, but today let's

be sure we emphasize what is the main point, namely, how we are put right with God – how

murderers and thieves and liars and fornicators and adulterers and coveters and blasphemers can

be acquitted and put right with God and escape condemnation and be given eternal life.

Look carefully now at each of these verses, 18 and 19. Verse 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." I will say something about the word "all" in just a

moment, but for now, notice the main point about justification. Justification happens to all who

are connected to Christ the same way condemnation happened to those who are connected to

Adam. How is that? Adam acted sinfully and, because we were connected to him, we were

condemned in him. Christ acted righteously and because we are connected to Christ we are

justified in Christ. Adam's sin is counted as ours. Christ's righteousness is counted as ours.

One Act of Righteousness

I think when Paul says that it was "one act of righteousness" that resulted in our justification, he

is probably treating the entire life and ministry of Jesus as a single whole – as one great act of

righteousness, rather than any one act he did in life. What act would you pick? If you said his

death, would you mean the obedience of Gethsemane, or the obedience when the mob took him

away, or the obedience when he was interrogated, or the obedience when he was crowned with

thorns, or the obedience when he was flogged, or the obedience when he was nailed to the cross,

or the obedience when he spoke words of love to his enemies, or the obedience when he offered

up his spirit to his Father? So you see, even if you say the "act of righteousness" is his death, you

mean a whole cluster of acts of righteousness. You are treating many acts as one great whole –

the death.

I think the same thing should be done with his whole life, because any act of unrighteousness

would have disqualified him from being our righteousness, and because in Matthew 3:15, at his

baptism, Jesus said to John the Baptist, "In this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness"

– not "many acts of righteousness," but "all righteousness," as if all were one whole. So from

beginning to end in his ministry, Jesus was fulfilling one great "requirement of righteousness"

(which is what means in Romans 5:18).

That righteousness, Paul says in verse 18, "resulted in justification of life to all men." That

righteousness of Jesus became the basis of our acceptance with our Maker and our Judge. Christ's

righteousness is counted as our righteousness because we are connected to him. We are in him

(see 2 Corinthians 5:21). That's what justification means.



Verse 19 supports this by saying it another way to make sure we get the main point: "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." The difference here from verse 18 is that the word

"obedience" is used instead of the word "righteous act." This is to show that the nature of the

righteousness we are talking about in verse 18 is compliance with the will of God. Adam did not

comply and we were counted or appointed sinners in him. Christ did comply with his Father's

will and we are counted righteous (obedient) in him.

So you see the point: Our righteousness before God, our justification, is not based on what we

have done, but on what Christ did. His righteous act, his obedience is counted as ours. We are

made or counted or appointed as righteous in him. It is a real righteousness, and it is really ours,

but it is ours only by imputation – or to use Paul's language from earlier in the letter: We are

"reckoned righteous."

Who Is This "We?"

Now a concluding word on who this "we" is. And here you should ask: Am I included in this

justification? In verse 19 those who are "made righteous" are called "the many": "so through the

obedience of the One will be made righteous." In verse 18 those who have

"justification of life" are "all men." "Through one act of righteousness there resulted justification

of life ." Who are these "all men"? Does it mean that every human being who is in

Adam will also be justified so that no one will be lost and there is no such thing as eternal

punishment for anyone? This is called universalism.

I don't think so, for several reasons.

1) Verse 17 speaks of " " the gift of righteousness as though some do and some don't.

Verse 17: "For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much

more will

reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ." That does not sound like everybody does receive it.

2) "Justification of life to all men" in Romans 5:18 does not mean all humans are justified,

because Paul teaches clearly in this very book and elsewhere (2 Thessalonians 1:9) that there is

eternal punishment and all humans are not justified. For example, in Romans 2:5 he says, "But

because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the

day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God," and then in verses 7 and 8 he

contrasts this wrath with "eternal life" and so shows that it is eternal wrath, not temporary wrath.

So there will be some who are not justified but come under the wrath of God forever and others

who have eternal life.



3) "Justification of life to all men" in Romans 5:18 does not mean all humans are justified,

because in all of Romans up until now justification is not automatic as if every human receives it,

but it is "by faith." Romans 5:1, "Therefore, having been . . ." Romans 3:28,

"For we maintain that a man is apart from works of the Law."

So here is the message for us this morning: Killers and thieves and liars and fornicators and

adulterers and coveters and blasphemers, that is, all human beings, whatever you have done, may

be put right with God, not on the basis of your own righteous acts, but on the basis of Christ's

righteous act, not on the basis of your own obedience, but on the basis of Christ's obedience, and

not because you are human, but because you believe.

So I urge you, I plead with you, while there is still time in this very uncertain world of killing and

dying: Trust Christ for all that God is for you in him; trust him for your righteousness. And if you

wonder if you can trust him for a lifetime, trust him now for that. And then, no matter what you

have done, you will be able "to face your Judge and Maker unafraid."

Those are the words of verse 2 of "We Come O Christ to You," and I would like us to make it our

closing song of faith. If you are trusting him now, sing this as your testimony, then tell others of

your faith this week.

You are the Way to God, your blood our ransom paid;

In you we face our Judge and Maker unafraid.Before the throne absolved we stand,

Your love has met your law's demand.

Adam, Christ, and

Justification, Part 5August 27, 2000

by John Piper





spread to all men, because all sinned —

13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not































One the many will be made righteous. 20 The Law came in so that the transgression would

increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death,

even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Positively, the Work of Christ

We have devoted four messages to the positive side of this passage because that is the main point.

The negative effects of Adam's sin are here mainly to help us see the positive effects of Christ's

righteousness. Notice again the litany of positive statements about the work of Christ:

Romans 5:15b: "Much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace

of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many."

Romans 5:16b: "The free gift [of Christ's righteousness, verse 17] arose

from many transgressions resulting in justification."

Romans 5:17b: "Much more those who receive the abundance of grace and

of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ."

Romans 5:18b: "Even so through one act of righteousness [of Jesus] there

resulted justification of life to all men."

Romans 5:19b: "Even so through the obedience of the One [Jesus] the

many will be made righteous."

Romans 5:21b: "So grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life

through Jesus Christ our Lord."

But now we need to stop and ponder the negative situation behind all these positive statements.

We need to try to understand how Adam's sin affects the human race. I hope to point out six

practical benefits from doing this besides the main one of seeing the nature of justification moreclearly, which is what we have been stressing in these last four messages.



What we have said is that just as the sin of Adam brings condemnation to all who are in him, so

the righteousness of Jesus brings justification to all who are in him. We have stressed that our

justification is not based on "deeds which we have done in righteousness" (Titus 3:5), but on the

deeds that Christ has done in righteousness. And we have seen that the reason God saves us this

way is because it corresponds to what happened to us in relation to Adam. Our original

condemnation is not based on individual deeds done by us in sin, but on the first sinful deed of

Adam. Since condemnation came to us through Adam's sin, justification comes to us through

Christ's righteousness.

Negatively, Our Relationship to Adam

Now we need to pause and ponder our relationship to Adam and the effect that it has on us and

the world. Be aware that what we are about to consider is a massive question about what it meansto be human and about why the world is the way it is. How you think about this issue will have a

pervasive effect on the way you think and act about almost everything, from childrearing to

evangelism to education to the nature of civil law and government.

Let's put the negative parts of the text before us and then make some observations and draw out

some practical benefits for our lives.

Romans 5:12a: "Through one man sin entered into the world, and death

through sin."

Romans 5:14: "Death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those

who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam."

This is very important to see. Paul is saying that the consequence of Adam's sin, death, was

experienced by those who had not done what Adam did. In other words, Paul is stressing here that

it is not our own individual sins that bring our first condemnation on us. People die who had not

sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam. The point is that Adam's sin is the most

fundamental problem, not our sins – just as Christ's righteousness is the fundamental solution, not

our righteousness.

Romans 5:15a: "By the transgression of the one [Adam] the many died."

Romans 5:16a: "The judgment arose from one transgression [Adam's]

resulting in condemnation."

Romans 5:17a: "By the transgression of the one [Adam], death reigned

through the one."

Romans 5:18a: "Through one transgression [of Adam] there resulted

condemnation to all men."



Romans 5:19a: "Through the one man's disobedience the many were made

sinners."

Paul teaches two things here about our condition in relation to Adam: 1) the power of sin enters

into human life and corrupts or depraves our human nature, and 2) nevertheless our condemnation

is owing first to Adam's sin, not our individual acts of sinning. Let me point each of these out one

at a time, starting with the second.

We Sinned in Adam's Sinning

1) We sinned in Adam's sinning. That is what Romans 5:12 says in the words, "for all sinned"

(see the previous sermons on this verse). How do we explain this? Without getting specific, we

can say that God ordains that that there be a union of some kind that makes Adam's sin to be our

sin so that our condemnation is just. Verse 16 talks about the basis of our condemnation. It says,"The judgment arose from one transgression [Adam's] resulting in condemnation." Notice three

steps: 1) one transgression, 2) a consequent judgment, 3) resulting in condemnation. What is the

"judgment" that condemnation results from?

You could try to answer: The judgment that results in condemnation is our fallen nature and our

individual sins. But that would not fit well with verse 14 where Paul says that this condemnation,

death, reigned "even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam." In

other words, Paul wants to stress it was Adam's act, not our independent acts, that brings

condemnation. He makes it explicit in verse 18: "Through transgression there resulted

condemnation to all men."

What is this judgment in verse 16 that "results in condemnation"? I answer that it is the counting

of Adam's sin as our sin, on the basis of the union God has established between us and Adam.

God established a just and fitting union between Adam and his posterity, and on that basis, when

Adam sinned, the judgment that leads to condemnation was the reckoning of Adam's sin as our

sin and guilt. That judgment, Paul says, resulted in condemnation. So our

condemnation have a basis in sin. But it is not ours the way all our individual sins are

ours; this sin is ours on the basis of our union with Adam. It is through "one transgression" –

Adam's transgression – that condemnation resulted to all (verse 18).

That's the first thing that the passage teaches about our relation to Adam.

All Humanity Becomes Corrupt and Sinful

2) The other thing we see in this passage is that through Adam's sin all humanity really does

become corrupt in their hearts and sinful in their behavior. This is not the main point of Romans

5. In fact, it seems to me that Paul is trying explicitly to keep this from being the main point, lestwe base our condemnation first on our individual sins, and then base our justification on our



individual righteousness. He is trying to avoid that mistaken view of justification. Which is why

he says in verse 14: "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who

had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam." That is, death came to all, but it was not

owing first to their individual sinful acts. For example, infants died.

But, even though it is a subordinate point in this passage, it is here. Notice Romans 5:13, "Until

the Law [that is, in the time from Adam to Moses] ." So it is clear that

Paul views ongoing sin in the hearts of men as part of what entered the world through Adam –

"sin was in the world." All people become sinful in their nature and in their behavior.

Even though this is not clear and dominant here, it is clear elsewhere in Paul and in the rest of the

Bible (Psalm 51:6; 58:3; Job 15:14; Jeremiah 13:23; Ezekiel 11:19). Or for example, Ephesians

2:3, "Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the

flesh and of the mind, and were , even as the rest." The key

phrase is "by nature" we are children of wrath. In other words, something happened to us in the

sin of Adam that altered our human nature. We do not just do sins; we are sinners,

corrupt, depraved, bent, rebellious. Here in Romans, Paul said it like this: "Both Jews and Greeks

are all under sin" (3:9). The point of verses 9-18 is that there is "none righteous, no not one"

(Romans 3:10). We don't just do sins; we are under the power of sin. We are by nature

unrighteous. And in Romans 6:6,17,20, we are called not just sinners but "slaves of sin." That is

the condition of all human beings since the first man sinned.

Two Things That Need a Remedy

So we have seen two things that need a remedy. One is our sinful nature that enslaves us to sin,

and the other is our original guilt and condemnation that is rooted not first in our individual

sinning but in our connection with Adam in his sin. The book of Romans – indeed the whole

Bible is the story of how God has worked in history to remedy these two problems. The problem

of our condemnation in Adam God remedies through justification in Christ. The problem of our

corruption and depravity he remedies through sanctification by the Spirit. Or to put it another

way: The problem of our legal guilt and condemnation before God is solved by his reckoning to

us the righteousness Christ; and the problem of our moral defilement and habitual sinning is

solved by his purifying us by the work of Spirit. The first remedy, justification, comes by

imputed righteousness. The other, sanctification, comes by imparted righteousness. Justification

is instantaneous; sanctification is progressive – and we will deal extensively with it in Romans 6-

8, just we have dealt with justification in Romans 3-5.

They are not identical, and they are not separable. Justification comes first by faith prior to anydeeds done by us in righteousness. By this we are forgiven and put right with God legally. We are



acquitted and counted righteous with Christ's righteousness. Then on the basis of this secure and

reconciled standing with God, we are gradually transformed into the likeness of his Son by the

Spirit. Justification and sanctification are inseparable because both are by faith. The faith that

unites us to Christ for justification also breaks the power of sin in our lives. Woe to us if we try to

get right with God by faith alone, and then try to become good people by some other means.

Trusting Christ for all that God is for us in him is the link to God's justifying grace, and trusting

Christ for all that God is for us in him is the link to God's sanctifying grace. We are pardoned and

we are purified – by the same kind of faith.

Well, I meant to focus on the negative half of this text, but I keep slipping into the positive part.

That's because God's plan of salvation is so perfectly suited to our fallen condition, that it is hard,

as a Christian, to look at the condition and not immediately exult in the remedy we have

experienced.

Benefits of Pondering Our Depravity

But let me try to close by pointing out several practical benefits from pondering the condition of

the human race as depraved by nature and legally condemned in Adam.

1) First, it humbles us morally and intellectually. Morally, because I must admit I not only do bad

things, but I bad. I not only need natural training, I need supernatural rebirth. Something

about me needs to die and something new needs to be created. I am deeply in need for something

beyond what I can produce. And I am humbled because this doctrine of original sin (which is

what we have been discussing) pushes the ability of my reason to the limit of its powers and

leaves me behind. Most of us will have to settle for a large dose of mystery here. How are we

connected to Adam such that it is just for his sin to be counted as our sin, and just for us to be

condemned? Paul does not make that explicit. We do not doubt the justice of God; we doubt our

own ability to explain it. The doctrine of original sin is therefore a morally and intellectually

humbling truth.

2) It deepens our gratitude for salvation. The more we know about our fallen condition, the more

grateful we should feel that we are saved. This is why Paul erupts with thanksgiving in Romans

6:17, "But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the

heart." Knowing that we are not just sinners but "slaves of sin" will make us sing for joy to be

justified from sin's guilt and delivered from sin's power.

3) It helps us explain the world we live in. The ironic thing about the doctrine of original sin is

that, while being one of the hardest doctrines to accept, it helps explain most of what we see in

the world: namely, the universality of evil. People who believe what the Bible teaches about this



doctrine are not baffled about why history is strewn with corpses and why every society that has

ever been has had to deal with the evil of its people.

4) It therefore gives insight into how governments should best be established. G. K. Chesterton

and C. S. Lewis said that the doctrine of original sin is the basis of a democratic form of

government – where power is spread out over the people – because it is the only reason we can

give for not absolutely trusting a ruling elite. In other words, the best argument of democracy is

not that men are good enough to govern themselves, but that men are so bad none can be trusted

with absolute power.

5) It should produce compassion for others. Here is the way Jonathan Edwards put it:

This doctrine teaches us to think no worse of others, than of ourselves: it teaches us that weare , as we are by nature, companions in a miserable helpless condition: which under a

revelation of the divine mercy, tends to promote mutual . And nothing has a greater

tendency to promote those amiable dispositions of mercy, forbearance, longsuffering, gentleness

and forgiveness, than a sense of our own extreme unworthiness and misery, and the infinite need

we have of the divine pity, forbearance and forgiveness, together with a hope of obtaining mercy

(Jonathan Edwards, , , vol. 3 [New Haven:

Yale University Press, 1970], p. 424).

It is very hard to treat other sinners with contempt and lovelessness when we have a deep grasp ofour own fallen condition.

6) This doctrine will help motivate us in evangelism and world missions. It teaches us that there

are no exceptions to human sinfulness. All who come from Adam are in need of the second

Adam. There is only one, Jesus Christ. There is no other way for us to get right with God but

through God's one remedy: the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and the power of his Spirit through

faith. No other religion teaches this remedy besides biblical Christianity. God has revealed to us

the diagnosis and God has revealed the remedy. He has shown it to us. He has made us love it and

rejoice in it. It is plain what we should do. Tell this good news to all the world and delight in the

spread of Christ-exalting joy.

adam, christ, and justification - by john piper

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