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. 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.

Here in Romans 5:15-17, Paul compares Adam and the powers of sin and death to the superior work and effect of Jesus Christ, the one in whom we have hope for victory and justification over and against the devastating effects of the fall because of Adam.

Introduction to Romans 5:12-14 What have we seen so far in Romans 5? We have seen the abundant blessings from God as a result of how we have been justified by faith in His Son. The most amazing of all is God’s love shown to us by the substitutionary atonement of His Son on the cross. If God can do this most difficult thing to rescue us, it is not difficult at all for Him to remove the hostility in our relationship with Him so that we would not experience His wrath. Rather we can rejoice in...