Sin Resolved and Forgiven

Remember the story that Jesus told about the “Prodigal Son” (Luke 15:11-22)?  This guy took his inheritance from his father and ran off to a life of wild, foolish living.  Of course he ran out of funds and ended up living in horrible poverty.  And then his father’s undying love for him came back to his memory, he was convicted of his foolishness and he resolved to go back home.  Can you grasp the incredible emotions that were experienced when he came around that bend in the road and found his father faithfully watching for him every day?  Both father and son embraced in great joy – the son’s humble confession and request for forgiveness – the father’s uncontained joy to have his prodigal son return home.

Paul’s use of the term “reconcile” in Rom. 5:10 carries with it the emotion expressed in this marvelous story.  God was broken-hearted when His fellowship with mankind was broken by sin, and from that point in time to now He has sought to fulfill His promise of Redemption (Gen. 3:15) to bring us back into fellowship with Him .  His inspired Word, the Bible, constantly expresses how His heart aches to have his precious people return to Him (Hosea  6:1-3).  The Gospel story, the truth of the finished work of Christ on the Cross, is the story of God giving man a  way to come home to Him, by being reconciled to Him through faith in Christ as Savior.

Since Adam & Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden as a result of their sin, God has sought to recover that fellowship He treasured so deeply with His precious creation.  He has worked as He promised Adam since that time in many ways, in many peoples’ lives, sovereign over all the affairs of man, all the way through history to the first coming of the Messiah – Jesus Christ our Savior, born in Bethlehem.  The work of Redemption was completed in Christ, the “once for all” payment for sin was made, and the free gift by God’s grace was now offered to every man and woman.  “Therefore…we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).

Romans 5:12-21 – The REAL Problem

God inspired Paul to write these ten verses in order to give a thorough summary of the foundation on which man is condemned for his sinful guilt, as well as understanding the gift of forgiveness God has provided through Jesus Christ in order to forgive that guilt.  Note that this passage follows the important summary of Justification in verses 1-11 – we were hopelessly lost in sin, but God demonstrated His love for us by sending His Son to die for us.  God declares us “declared righteous” on the basis of Jesus’ shed blood, and as a result we are reconciled, brought back into fellowship with God and blessed with the privileges of being God’s child.

The reality and seriousness of our sin has already been established in Romans 1-3.  In Romans 4-5, Paul is declaring the remarkable work of Redemption which God has accomplished through Jesus’ finished work on the Cross.  Based on our faith in Christ as our Savior, we are born again into God’s family and He declares us righteous – amazing!  Paul will be moving on to the important subject of living the New Life we have in Christ in Romans 6-8, however before that transition, Paul chooses to make a final review of the reality of sin, how we inherited sin, and then Christ’s work of paying the penalty for that sin so that God could wipe that sin completely from our record.  He does this by comparing the position and impact Adam and Jesus Christ each have on the human race.  From one man we inherit death, from One Man, we gain eternal life.

Bible Study Journal
The NAS translation shows 119 times Paul uses the term “therefore” – 25x in Romans.  The Greek text actually has at least three different words that can be translated “therefore”, so the version you’re using may have a different word, such as “so then”, “since” or “wherefore”.   The word collectively expresses  conclusion based on what has just been stated, usually with some level of emphasis.  There are several  “most important” therefore’s in Romans, and 5:1 & 12 are certainly two of them.  Interestingly, sometimes in all of Paul’s writings, you can actually trace his argument or outline he’s following by noting the “therefore’s”.

There’s a well-used Bible study axiom for this grammatical device which suggests that whenever you encounter a “wherefore” in the Bible, you need to ask “what is that “therefore” (or “wherefore”) there for?!”  When the writer says “therefore” (especially Paul), before proceeding to understand the new phrase you’re reading, you need to stop and be sure you understand the point he just finished making in the previous verses, how that point fits with what Paul is now going to say, and where that point fits into the bigger picture of what Paul is writing about.   

Try that Bible study principle out on these two texts – what is the previous point he made, and how does that point support what is said in each of these verses?

• • • • • Rom. 6:4
        • Rom. 12:1

Romans 5:12-17 – Old Man… New Man

The Bible makes it clear that sin is hereditary, coming from Adam to all of mankind.  The seed for the whole human race was in him, so when he turned away from God’s righteousness and sinned, all of his descendants (including us) inherited the propensity to sin.  Result: we inherit a sinful nature (or soul) and will sin automatically.  Remember that the references to “man” in the Bible are often generic, being used to refer to humans as a whole without reference to gender.  The term “mankind” is also this type of generic reference.

Romans 5:12-14 teaches that the guilt of sin took effect immediately for all people.   However when God gave the Mosaic Law, He then “imputed” to all mankind (placed on the account of every person) the guilt of sin.

As a result of this scenario, the first man, Adam, served as a foreshadowing “type” (Rom. 5:14) of the One Man Who would arrive much later in man’s history, the “last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45), Jesus, the Messiah.  Jesus was the only perfect man Who could die in our place, pay the penalty for our personal rebellion, and provide our Redemption and New Life in Christ.

In Verse 14, “Nevertheless” signals Paul’s transition in this passage (verses 12-21) to emphasize the free gift of God’s grace now offered to all mankind.  Note that vv.13-17 are a parenthesis, provided as an expanded review of the key truth stated in v.12, sin came from one man to all mankind.    In Rom. 5:15, Paul describes how Adam’s condemnation was passed along to all, and how Christ’s work of redemption is freely available to all.  MacArthur observes these distinctives of Christ’s work:  v.15, greater effectiveness; 16, greater deliverance ; 17, greater results.

From Adam, we received disobedience and death – from Christ we receive forgiveness, righteousness and life.  We had been alienated from God, but now we are His children.  Two notable Bible statements come to mind as we move from this great subject of sin and justification to resurrection:  from “dust to dust” to “new life in Christ.”  It will be interesting to see in the next section of Romans, chapters 6-8, how this Old Man/New man scenario carries into the Christian’s experience.

Bible Study Journal

• In Rom. 5:14, what does Paul mean by Adam being a “type” of Jesus Christ?
  • • From 1 Cor. 15:21-22, how is Jesus’ free gift not like Adam’s sin?
    • Rom. 5:15 says Christ’s gift is better than Adam’s sin; how is “better” intended to describe Christ’s work?  how is it better?  (note Rom. 5:9-10, 17, 20)
    • In what ways should a Christian demonstrate not being an “old man” but now a “new man” (or “woman”, see above)?  Write a few ideas down in your journal – then rate the items:  in order of importance, and then in order of how they are showing in your life.  (Look up these verses to give you ideas:  Gal. 5:22-2Heb. 10:23-25; 1 Jn. 3:9-10)

Romans 5:18-21 – The Bottom Line

In these first five chapters of Romans, Paul has taken us through a challenging discussion of the awfulness and pervasiveness of sin, and then to the remarkable work of Justification and its abundant benefits.  He has described our path from disobedience and rebellion against God’s holiness to our rescue from that rebellion in the abundant grace of salvation through Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross.  What a Great Salvation God has blessed us with!  Through the One Man, Jesus Christ, God has provided to each believer the Free Gift of Righteousness.  By God’s grace, He has chosen to declare us righteous based on our faith in Christ’s shed blood which He offered for our Redemption.  The effects of Adam’s sin are overridden by the promise of an eternal life in God’s presence.  In 2 Cor. 5:21, we are told that Christ was “made to be sin” on our behalf so that we can be the righteousness of God.