The Resulting Effects of Our Two Representatives - Romans 5:18-21

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oijks25dCH4

Introduction to Romans 5:18-21

Romans 5:18-21: We are in a passage where Paul explains about how what one person did can have such a big impact on humanity. The way he explains it is by using a comparison between the first Adam and the second Adam.

God has made a special covenant with each of these men and they are representatives of humankind. God deals with humankind through these two representatives. He began to make the comparison in v. 12, only to break off into two digressions in vv. 13-14, and vv. 15-17.

As Brother Joshua pointed out, even in the parallel statements in vv. 15-17 comparing Adam and Christ, Christ is the superior one of the two.

He returns to the comparison in vv. 18-19. Then in vv. 20-21 he will introduce the purpose of the law.

The Result and Extent of the Two Representatives of Humankind (Romans 5:18-19)

V. 18 returns to the comparison between mankind’s two representatives that he started in v. 12 with the word, “therefore.”

Back in v. 12 he started to make the comparison but he only talked about Adam and he did not get to the second Adam who is Jesus. Now after the two digressions, he returns to the comparison between Adam and Jesus.

In the comparison, we actually see the contrast between the first Adam and the second Adam.

The first part of vv. 18 and 19 describes the result of what Adam did and the second part of vv. 18, 19 describes the result of what Jesus did. We will first take a look at the result of what Adam did.

The Result and Extent of What Adam Did (5:18a, 19a)

Through our representative Adam’s one trespass, the result for all humankind is condemnation.

We have seen the word trespass repeated in this passage. It appears 6x (vv. 15 [2x], 16, 17, 18, 20).

In the English word “trespass,” there is an idea of crossing a boundary that you should not have stepped across. The sign “no trespassing” comes to mind.

However, the Greek word conveys the imagery of one making a false step and losing one’s footing. Someone steps on unstable ground and falls as a result.

The fact is, Adam was clearly instructed in what he could and could not do, and what happens is the consequence of his disobedience to God’s clear command.

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen 2:16-17).

When Adam disobeyed God, he trespassed against God’s clear command.

The result of Adam’s sin is condemnation.

We have seen this word used most recently in v. 16. This word “condemnation” doesn’t just mean Adam was guilty, but that there is punishment for the guilt. The consequence of Adam’s condemnation is death.

First, spiritual death, and then eventually physical death.

But perhaps the consequence is not as bad if it affected only Adam. But what we see here is that what he did affected all of humankind who would come after him.

Once again, Adam is our representative; he is our federal head.

Because God has a special covenant with Adam as the representative of man, what he did affected all humankind who would come after him.

It did not take long for trespasses to become the norm.

Just in the second generation, one of Adam’s sons, Cain, would be guilty of the trespass of murder. The sin of murder did not come much later as man learned how to get worse and worse over time.

All it took was just one generation later for Cain to be filled with enough envy and hatred to kill.

And by the time we come to Gen 6:5, we read “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

We knew what happened after that.

Because man is condemned, God displays His wrath on them. He would send a flood to wipe out all of mankind except for 8 persons who were saved in the ark.

In the book of Romans, we read about the wrath of God (1:18). “Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” (Ro 1:32). “We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice sin” (2:2).

That is what God does to those who are condemned.

But notice that in v. 19a, Paul now calls what Adam did disobedience.

As a result of his disobedience, the many were made sinners (v. 19). Of course, when Paul says “many,” he is certainly referring to all made sinners.

In the context of this book, Paul says repeatedly in ch. 3 that none is righteous. In v. 18, he said that because of what Adam did, all have become condemned.

The point, once again, is that what Adam did through his disobedience affected all of mankind in that everybody became sinners.

Adam as our federal head really messed things up for the rest of humankind.

The result of his trespass and disobedience resulted in condemnation for sinners. He plunged every single person into that condemned state.

If this is where the story ends, we would be most helpless and hopeless.

But this is not where the story ends because there is a second Adam who is going to come and not only clean up the mess, but provide a way for condemned sinners to be made right with God.

The Result and Extent of What Jesus Did (5:18b, 19b)

Just as what Adam did was described as one trespass of eating the forbidden fruit, what Christ did was described by Paul as “one act of righteousness.”

The result of Christ’s righteous act leads to justification and life.

The word “righteousness (δικαίωμα)” and “justification (δικαίωσις)” are related in the Greek.

Christ earned righteousness for condemned sinners by living a righteous life. We, who are condemned sinners, are bankrupt of any righteousness of our own.

When we put our complete trust in Jesus and purpose to turn away from our sins, God credits the righteousness of Christ to our bankrupt account. The order of these two results is important to note.

Only when a person is justified (declared righteous by the Judge of the universe) can he get to enjoy eternal life.

Universalism

However, there is something we need to address in v. 18b.

We know that what Adam did in trespassing the command of God led to condemnation for all men. No one is excluded from this group. But the next part of the verse says that by one act of righteousness that leads to justification and life for all men.

Does that mean that what Christ did saves every single person with no exception?

Those who believe that Paul teaches that what Christ did brought salvation to all men are called universalists.

But this is where we must abide by hermeneutical principles:

1. The context of the passage determines the meaning of this verse.

2. Clear passages must be used to explain unclear passages.

The context in 5:17 is clearly teaching that only those who receive the grace and free gift will have life through Christ.

Other Scripture passages are very clear that those who do not call upon the name of Jesus will be condemned and suffer the wrath of God.

2 Thess 1:7-9 says, “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”

In this very book, Paul argues in Rom 2:8-9, “for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil.”

Then in Rom 2:12, “For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.”

In fact, the whole argument in Rom 1:18-3:20 is that all of mankind stands condemned without Christ.

Eventually they will be judged by God at the Great White Throne Judgement and then thrown into the Lake of Fire where they will be for eternity (Rev 20:15).

So how can we explain what Paul says here that one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

What does the “all” mean if it does not mean “without exception” like in v. 18a?

Another reasonable possibility is that “all” means “without distinction.” One act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all kinds of people, without distinction, whether Jews or Gentiles.

We have a lot of verses especially from Romans to back this up.

• Rom 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

• Rom 2:10-11 “glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.”

• Rom 3:22 “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction.”

• Rom 3:29-30 “is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith

• Rom 4:11-12 “He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.”

• Rom 4:16 “That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,”

Another way of interpreting the “all” in v. 18b is that the one act of Jesus on the cross is sufficient to save all men.

2 Pet 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

All who would humble themselves to receive this free gift will be justified and receive eternal life.

This is the invitation of Jesus to everybody, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Re 3:20).

The point of this passage is that Christ has secured the results of His one righteous act for all who belong to Him.

Just as Adam’s act affected those who are his, so Jesus’s act affects those who are His. Everybody, without exception, is in Adam (we have seen that in vv. 12-14) but only those who receive the free gift (v. 17) are in Christ.

Only certain people will be benefited by Jesus’s one act of righteousness, but the benefits of justification and life will certainly be theirs inasmuch as they are genuine believers.

Then in v. 19b, what Jesus did was referred to as his obedience.

Theologians distinguish between Christ’s active and passive obedience.

Christ’s active obedience refers to his entire life of perfect obedience to God in obeying every single law of God so as to earn righteousness for us. His passive obedience refers to His suffering and death on the cross for our sins.

Some object to this way of distinguishing what Christ did when He was on the earth because it can be argued that even in His death on the cross, He is actively obeying the Father.

Jesus did say in John 10:18, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Nevertheless, the two categories are still helpful for us to appreciate the two aspects of the work of Christ.

When Paul refers to the one act of obedience, he is most probably referring to Jesus’s atoning death on the cross for us as Paul said in Phil 2:8, “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

But Paul could also include the active obedience of Christ’s entire life in perfectly keeping the law. The two are difficult to separate.

Through Christ’s obedience, many will be made righteous.

Now if you remember the definition of “justification,” where we made the point that the definition is to be “declared righteous,” not “made righteous.”

The word translated “made” has a few meanings: 1. To take someone somewhere (bring, conduct, take) 2. To assign someone a position of authority (appoint, put in charge) 3. Cause someone to experience something (make, cause).

Regardless of which of these meanings you choose, it does not mean that somehow we are in the process of becoming more and more righteous.

The third sense seems to be the best.

The point is: who causes us to be righteous? Jesus’s righteous obedience is what causes anyone to experience justification.

The emphasis of this choice of Greek word is the One who causes us to be righteous, rather than the way or process by which we become so. The cause of one’s sinful state is the disobedience of Adam and the cause of one’s justified state is the obedience of Jesus.

Application

If you are a believer this morning, your former state was described in the first part of vv. 18 and 19: “you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Eph 2:1–3).

You stood condemned. You were in the gravest of all danger. Do not forget that grave condition from which you were saved.

But that is the exact danger that unbelievers are currently in.

They will face the wrath of God. On my last trip, the pastors had a great burden for souls in their neighborhood.

I had the privilege of going tracting with them in the neighborhood. The neighbors were all welcoming and open to our invitation. Some even came that evening for our evangelistic meeting. These are nice people who are warm and welcoming.

There are plenty of unbelievers who are also nice and who think that they are good people.

Perhaps you were saved at a young age, and you were not a really bad person yet.

Most of us would deny that we are universalists, but we may be unconscious universalists by not really believing that the nice unbelievers we know are heading to hell.

And therefore, our zeal to give them the gospel is diminished.

But you were under condemnation and under the wrath of God and there are many under that condemnation. These are the perishing.

Who will go and faithfully proclaim the gospel to rescue the perishing?

And all who come to Christ, He will by no means cast them out.

He welcomes all who humble acknowledge their sin and turn to Him as Savior and Lord.

And it is only Christ alone who saves, no one else (John 14:6). Only those who “receive” the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness will be saved (5:17).

All who would humbly turn to Jesus will be saved.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Ro 10:13).

May the Lord use this passage to correct our thinking and move us with burden for lost souls.

Some may argue that Paul's comparison of Adam and Christ is too simplistic; there are other factors to take into account too, for example, what about the law given by God in the OT to Israel? Surely we ought to take that into account, too.

And so Paul will cover the law before he ends this passage.

The Purpose of the Law (5:20-21)

The previous mention of the law was all the way back in vv. 13-14.

Back there, the discussion was whether sin was counted where there is no law, but the fact that death reigned before the Mosaic law was given shows that sin indeed was counted because the wages of sin is death.

But now the discussion is on the purpose of the law. Paul feels the need to talk briefly about the law because it is central in the lives of God’s people, the Israelites.

To Increase the Transgression

This would not be the first thing that comes to our mind when we think about the purpose of the law.

We would say that the law has a restraining effect on people from sinning. Or that the purpose of the law is to encourage people to live more righteously.

But what Paul says here is that the law was given by God to increase transgression.

Rather than restraining sin, the law promotes its reign. Rather than improving the disaster caused by Adam, the law made it worse.

The verb translated “came in” has a negative connotation with the idea of someone or something secretly sneaking into someone’s home for unwelcome or unwanted purposes.

It is found only one other time in Gal 2:4 “Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery.”

The law increases the transgression in the sense that the law increases and intensifies the seriousness of sin. The law turned sin into transgression.

Earlier on, Paul says where there is no law, there is no transgression. When you disobey a specific law, that is a greater rebellion than infractions against an unwritten law or conscience (cf. 4:15).

Sin is technically defined as transgression only when there is a revealed law about it. The seriousness of sin is magnified when the law as given by God is broken.

As in v. 21a tells us, the dominion of the reign of sin is death.

How is sin and death related here?

The preposition “in” can refer to the realm or domain of, so sin reigned in the dominion of death. The idea is that sin is some sort of authority or king, and a king has a kingdom or dominion in which he reigns over.

That kingdom or dominion is death. Sin has authority over or control over the kingdom of death.

The Ultimate Purpose to Increase Grace

Against the backdrop of increased transgression is that grace abounds even more. It superabounds to defeat the tyranny of sin increased as a result of the law.

Paul returns to the language of comparison for one last time in v. 21 as he concludes this chapter.

This time, he compares the reign of sin to the reign of grace.

But the reign of grace is greater.

Sin and death do not have the authority over us, they do not have the last say. Just as what Christ did to save us is more significant than what Adam did to plunge mankind into sin.

For those who have received the free gift (v. 17), they have been transferred from the domain of death to the domain of righteousness where grace reigns.

Grace reigns through righteousness by conquering the reign of sin so that people no longer stand condemned before God.

Grace is the supernatural ability that enables righteous living and a transformed life.

Because we have been given the righteousness of Jesus, we will have eternal life, as promised by Jesus.

Conclusion

Jesus is greater than Adam. Grace is greater than sin and death. We can rejoice in our salvation. Each of us is God’s trophy of grace.