Romans: Lesson 10

Introduction

A very pleasant good day to you and welcome to Let the Bible Speak. We’re continuing our study today in the book of Romans, and we’ve come to Romans chapter 5, and we’re going to begin in verse 12 and go to the end of that chapter. So I hope that you have a New Testament near you and that you’ll be getting it open and reading right along with us. There are some who’ve described Romans chapter 5, verses 12 through 21 as perhaps the most difficult section of the book of Romans. Made so because out of it has sprung some doctrines that have certainly permeated the religious world and about which there has been quite a lot of confusion over the last few centuries, in fact. For example, out of this chapter has come an idea that man is born in sin.

And the idea of Calvinism, as is described, has said that in fact we inherit total depravity. Now that defines simply says that man is so depraved by nature that he cannot do anything of himself to save himself. That he is so depraved in his nature and sinful way that if he’s saved, it’ll be solely by God’s election. Now, starting with that premise, as though we are in total depravity, then has come the idea, the next step is that uh that uh it is unconditional election of God. The idea of Calvinism says that uh God solely has chosen who it is that he would infuse with his grace and save them. And it has nothing to do with what that person uh has done, whether by faith or not by faith.

It’s solely by God’s election, even before he was born. Well, if God has elected certain ones to be saved, then for whom did Christ die? The third premise of that doctrine is that uh the atonement of Jesus Christ is limited, that it’s limited only to those God has elected. Now, if you were not elected by God, too bad. You’ll not be able to be saved, and there’s nothing you can do, even if you want to, to be saved. That’s the theory, at least, that starts on the premise that we’re totally depraved. Well, you can see then if God has elected certain ones, and his atonement of Christ is far those limited to those, then the fourth part of that doctrine is that the grace of God is irresistible.

If he’s elected you, you’re not going to resist it. And he’ll infuse your heart and spirit with the Holy Spirit, and you’ll be saved. And in fact, if uh if you’re going to be saved by God’s election, then it’s saved, uh, once saved, always saved, or perseverance of the saints. In fact, when people look at that doctrine, it all begins on the premise, do we inherit sin? Now there are those who say, Well, I don’t accept all those five points of Calvinism, but another thing that springs out of it is the idea of original sin. You’ve heard the term at least that way, whether you believe in total depravity or not, there are those churches today who teach their preachers teach that we inherit Adam’s sin, the original sin.

1. Does This Text Teach Inherited Sin?

Where do you get it? Well, passages like Romans chapter 5, along with another one or two in the New Testament, but but particularly Romans chapter 5 is the chief passage. So it becomes a very difficult text. Do we inherit Adam’s sin? Well, let’s read. Romans chapter 5, verses 12 through 14. The scripture says, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. For until the law, sin was in the world. But sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned. After the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

Now the scripture clearly says by one man sin entered into the world. But if you notice carefully, the text does not say that we inherit Adam’s sin. It says Adam brought sin into the world. That’s what it says. It says then that sin brought death. Doesn’t say Adam brought death. It said by one man sin entered the world, death came by sin, even as we’ve studied from the very first chapter, how that man has sinned. And because of sin, death was the consequence of it. God’s moral law, God’s majestic law declared even the beginning story that in the day that Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, he would surely die. And it brought upon him a separation from God, as well as physical death, but it brought upon him that separation spiritually from God.

Sin brought death. Really, the text perhaps can most easily be explained and analyzed when two questions really are answered. One, does this text teach inherited sin? And what kind of death is it describing? Now, as we analyze it, you may notice, let’s raise the point what it does not say. You know where, see, in this text, or really any other place in the Bible, about inherited sin, inherited total depravity, or inherited original sin. That has to be added to the text. It’s just not in the Bible. Maybe we could illustrate it this way. If by one man poisoned gas entered a room, and death by gas, all died, for all uh inhale the gas. Is that the same as saying all brought the gas into the room?

No. All are guilty of the same wrong that that man who brought the gas in the room? No. They did suffer the consequences of what that man did. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, in fact, the text there speaks about some of the consequences of Adam’s sin. 1 Corinthians 15, I believe, is talking about a physical death. One of the consequences of Adam’s sin is that in the flesh we know that we’re going to die. It is appointed in a man once to die. After this, the judgment, the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 27. And there are some consequences. Indeed, the sins of the fathers, and in some ways, the children bear the consequences. If you’re the child of an alcoholic, no doubt you understand some of the consequences of having a father who has been an alcoholic.

2. All Have Sinned: Spiritual Death and Spiritual Life

If a pilot makes a mistake and the plane crashes, the people who are on the plane suffer the consequences of that mistake, but they’re not all guilty of that mistake. Adam was guilty of sin. We’re not guilty, or we do not inherit that sin. In fact, look at what the text does say. The text does say all have sinned. Death passed upon all men, why? Because all have sinned. That’s why all suffer spiritual death. This text really is a uh in contrast with spiritual life and spiritual death. I think here, while the word death in 1 Corinthians 15 may be talking about the physical death, yet in this text it seems to be talking about spiritual death and spiritual life. And it may be the reason why, we’ll just drop down quickly to verses 7 and 8, 17 and 18, when he says, For by one man’s offense death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ.

Therefore, as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men under justification of life. Now we all agree in verses 17 and 18 that the life he’s speaking of is spiritual life. There’s the redemption through Christ. We’re reconciled to God, and there is life.

So the contrast here is really putting spiritual death in contrast with spiritual life. The death that entered the world by sin, and the sin that entered the world by Adam in contrast to Jesus Christ. Christ bought life, but how did he bring life? By death. Christ died that we might have life. Adam sinned, and through sin we have death. We all sin and therefore have death. But we don’t read the text and say, hmm, you know, everybody’s going to have eternal life because Christ died for it. It doesn’t teach universal salvation, does it? It doesn’t teach universal salvation. If it doesn’t teach that, neither does it teach universal condemnation. You see, those who teach that original sin is inherited, are saying, We’re born in sin. Everybody’s going to die spiritually.

They’re already separated from God. The opposite of that is, if that’s what the text is saying, it would also say we inherit eternal life through Jesus Christ. But we don’t inherit that. It is by faith. And that’s a choice man must make. So it is with sin. We come to a point and stage in life where we make the choice either to yield to the temptations or to resist the temptation. God made us in his image. And that means we are creatures of choice, free moral agents to choose. God is no respecter of persons, Acts chapter 10, verse 34 and 5 says, and that means that he doesn’t elect who’s going to be saved and who’s going to be lost. Even in this grand book of Romans, chapter 2 and verse 11, it says there is no respect of persons with God.

God wants everybody to be saved. And if he wants everybody to be saved, why then, if it’s totally left up to him who’s saved and who’s lost, why then are not all men saved? 2 Peter 3 and verse 9, he wishes none would perish. The fact is that we’re not born in sin. We start this world as individuals who are safe in a relationship with God without sin. But when we come of age and in the flesh we begin to yield to the weaknesses of the flesh, the temptations of wrong, we we do sin. And by sin there is eternal death brought upon us. There’s a separation of God by sin. And that’s why I could say that death reigned, even. Death reigns by sin, because sin reigns.

3. Death Reigned Over Them That Had Not Sinned Like Adam

Look at verse 14. Where he says, Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness or the similitude of Adam’s transgression, is a figure of them. Now, that’s rather interesting. Here he says death reigned even over those who did not sin like Adam. You know, if they had inherited Adam’s sin, why didn’t he say death reigned? Because they inherited Adam’s sin? Here he says death reigned because they did something that was different from Adam’s sin. Yes, there was sin in the world, but it’s not because they they had inherited Adam’s taint of guilt. In fact, verse 13 says in a parenthesis, for until the law, sin was in the world. Now, before the law of Moses came, he’s saying there was sin.

In fact, in verse 13, it says sin is not imputed when there’s no law. In other words, it’s not put to the credit. There must be law before man’s guilty of sin. What he’s saying is the law of Moses was a written law. Before the law of Moses, there was still sin. From Adam to Moses. Yeah, there was sin. But it wasn’t because you could say, well, they’ve they violated the written law of God through given through Moses. No, it wasn’t like that. But there was law. Because of law, man sinned. And he didn’t inherit Adam’s sin. He sinned in a way that was not like Adam’s sin. Well, if that be the case, then what is the condition of a child born? He is safe, as we said.

You know, the Bible says in passages like Ezekiel 18 and verse 20, that children really do not inherit sin. In Ezekiel 18 and verse 20 it says, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Then it says, the son shall not bear the iniquity of the Father, nor the Father bear the iniquity of the Son. It says the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. We don’t inherit the sin. If we did, why did not Jesus have sin? He was without sin, but he came in the flesh. He was born of woman. He was in the flesh and tempted on all points, like as we are, yet without sin. He did not inherit Adam’s sin, neither do you inherit Adam’s sin.

In fact, the Bible says of children, that children belong in God’s kingdom. You may remember in Matthew chapter 18 and verse 3, when Jesus said, Suffer little, except you become as little children, you shall in no wise enter the kingdom of God. And in Matthew 19 and verse 14, he said, Suffer little children and forbid them not to come unto me. For to such belongeth the kingdom of God. Infants are pure and holy in God’s sight. In fact, if we’re really going to be saved, we need to be changed in our spirit and become like children, humble and naive, perhaps even, of the kind of trusting faith in God, like a child trust in his parent. And so without the feeling of guilt and without, in fact, going through life with the kind of malice that’s seen in adults, and without the fraud that’s seen in adults.

Children are innocent. Let us become like children, and our actions solely pure and innocent in our in our very thoughts. Let us be like children again, because to such belongeth God’s kingdom. You see, children don’t inherit Adam’s sin, and they in fact are safe in the arms of the loving God. When we reach an age, we sometimes call it an age of accountability. That is, that an age when we began to know the difference between right and wrong, when our responsibility is not just to obey parents, but now we realize about God that we have a responsibility to Him. And it’s at that point in our life when we then began to say, I know that’s what God wants, but I’m not going to do it.

That’s when sin enters our life. And with sin, death. And all of accountable age have sinned, and therefore all are worthy of spiritual death, eternal death. But you know what this passage is really teaching us? It’s not so much telling us why and how we are all guilty. The apostles already done that, really back in chapter 1, verses 18 through chapter 3 and verse 23. We laid the groundwork through those texts. We’re all guilty. Here’s why, those verses say. What this really is saying for us is the grace of God has made it possible for those who were in death. The gift of God is life. Even though we deserve death, there’s life. We’re going to pause for a moment. When we come back, we’re going to talk about the rest of the verses here in chapter 5 and illustrate how.

4. What Was Lost in Adam Was Regained in Christ

That’s the real principal theme. By the grace of God, we can be saved. What a wonderful story. We hope you’ll stay with us until we return. As we continue in Romans chapter 5, verses 15 through 21, actually we see a contrast between what Adam brought into the world and what Jesus Christ brought in the world. They’re really parallels, you might say, that are made to each other. Christ versus Adam, life versus death, obedience versus disobedience. And yet this is not saying either that one inherits sin nor inherits eternal life. We’ve already had well established in the book of Romans, and will be even in further passages that we shall study that life or eternal life is going to come through faith, not by inheritance of physical birth.

And neither does death come by inheritance of physical birth. As we’ve just observed, we do not inherit the sin of our Father. Ezekiel chapter 18 and verse 20, so says that. But what Jesus Christ brought in the world was the means by which all men could be saved. If all men would turn to God in obedient faith, then all would be saved. And that’s really what God wants. He loves all men and wishes that all would be saved. But as we read Romans chapter 5, let’s see the parallels that are made. I’m reading verses 15 through 17, first of all, where he says, But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one, many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one, the condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Indeed, the reading through this text is not the easiest, and you have to stop and think it through, the analysis that is being made. But perhaps the most basic point to be understood is that what was lost in Adam was regained in Christ. Now that’s just simply stated. The text is saying what was lost in Adam. That is that relationship with God. Adam and Eve walked in the Garden of Eden and had perfect relationship with the Father.

But they lost that relationship in the day that they ate, they were driven from the Garden of Eden. That brought about spiritual death or separation from God. And the consequence of that came about as physical death, because then the scripture teaches in Genesis chapter 3 that the cherubim was put at the gate with the flaming sword so that they could not enter the garden and eat of the tree of life and live forever. So physical life was taken from them as well. And it began on the day that they ate of that forbidden fruit. What was lost in Adam, though, was regained in Christ Jesus. That is, if we lost spiritual life, now we have regained it in Christ Jesus. Really, what we’ve learned in this whole context, and going back into the lesson that we had in our last study in chapter 5, verses 6 through 11, that while sin brought death, the death of Christ brought life.

You may recall in verses 6 through 11 how that though we were ungodly, though we were in a state of being sinners, though even the scripture says in verse 10 of chapter 5, we were enemies. Christ died for us, and that we shall be saved by his life. This text is not really so much trying to tell us how man became a sinner or why death is spiritual death is there, the result of that sin. That’s really already been done in Romans chapter 1. In verse 18, through the end of that chapter, he was talking about how the heathen, the particularly the Gentiles, had brought uh death into their world by sin, because even though they could have known God, they rejected the knowledge of God.

5. The Grace of God and the Gift of God

And then in chapter 2, he talked about the Jews, the Israelites, who who had the oracles of God, who had the whole Old Testament scriptures, and yet they too did not keep the word of God, and therefore they sinned. Really, those two chapters leading up into chapter 3 and verse 23 tells us how sin came about and why it is that all men are worthy of spiritual death. But what the text really is teaching us is not so much that point. That’s already been made, but what it’s telling us is about the grace of God. You might just uh count how many times in these seven verses, verses fifteen through twenty one, you’re going to read the word grace and the word gift. Five times the word grace appears.

Six times the word gift, the gift of God, appears. So while it’s telling us the history of man’s rebellion to God, it also shows us how really God loved us and provided for us. There is in this text the difference between spiritual life and spiritual death. And maybe a good text to read in conjunction with it is Ephesians chapter 2, in verses 1 through 10. Where there likewise the subject is spiritual death versus spiritual life. Ephesians chapter 2, he says, You hath he quickened, that is, made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins. So, you know, obviously he’s talking about spiritual death in Ephesians 2 1. He says, wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as others.

But God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace year saved. Hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Or by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God had before ordained that we should walk in them. You see, that text, grand text, like in Romans, is saying, We’re saved by the grace of God through faith.

And it’s not something we deserve. But as verse 10 says, we are his workmanship. We walk in the works God hath ordained. That’s what faith is all about. God’s part is by grace. Man’s part is by faith. But it’s a faith that really obeys. But what our text in Romans 5 is really saying is that here, as extensive as sin is, that’s how extensive the grace of God is. One man sinned of the world. But sin abounded. There were many who sinned. In fact, let’s read verses 18 through 21, and you’ll get the whole context here when he says, Therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Or over the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. You see, in the reading of the text, as we’ve already emphasized earlier, it does not teach that we have inherited sin. The word inherited is not in the text at all. It has to be added. But if you’re going to say it teaches original sin inherited, why not teach universal salvation? Because verse 18 says the free gift unto justification of life is for all men. And if death is all men, meaning inherited, then why wouldn’t life be?

6. Christ Provided a Ransom for All Men

But neither is really being taught here. Well, what he’s really saying here is that the free gift is made possible for all men. Just as sin entered the world and all have sinned, therefore death came about. We know it doesn’t teach universal salvation. Passages like Matthew chapter 7, verses 13 and 14, Jesus said, enter in at the straight gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth unto destruction, and many there be that go in thereat, but straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. What is that saying? Universal salvation? Absolutely not. In fact, it says the majority are going to be lost. Where will you be, dear friend? In what way are you walking?

Are you serving the Lord? Have you realized the grace of God that abounds to many, and you’ve begun by faith to walk as he would have you walk? That’s the way to have life. And Christ died that you might have life. It is free for all. You see, what this passage does teach is that Christ provided a ransom for all men. That’s the real message here. The book of Romans is just elaborating and enlarging on the fact that even though sin is in the world and it’s universal in its nature, yet Christ, by his death, has made possible life for all. 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 4, in fact, teaches that he would have all men be saved. God wants all men to be saved. In verse 6, Christ died as a ransom for all.

Conclusion

It isn’t limited to just a few. Those who take the idea of total and inherited total depravity make a wrong premise. And when they finally wind up with a wrong doctrine, as though God’s Christ’s atonement is just for a few, they make God a respecter of persons. And the Bible says that’s not so. Acts chapter 10, 34 and 5. God is no respecter of persons. In every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted. You know the difference between saved and lost? It’s faith. The grace is for all. Where do you stand in it? By faith or not by faith? Colossians 2, verses 12 and 13 teaches that those who are baptized into Christ, through the faith of the operation of God, raise the walking in us of life.

Have you obeyed the gospel by faith? May you rejoice how that his grace is even for you. Until our next study, we bid that the grace and the peace of the Lord be with you.