Scripture Reading: Rom. 5:12-21
If we read the book of Romans carefully, we will observe that the section on justification ends with Romans 5:11. This means that in the first part of Romans we mainly have two sections, condemnation and justification. The section on condemnation begins at 1:18 and ends with 3:20. The portion on justification begins with 3:21 and concludes at 5:11.
In the section on justification, Paul is concerned with our outward position before God. Originally, we were full of sin and needed the redemption of Christ as a base upon which God can justify us. God’s justification has changed our position. Formerly, our position was under God’s condemnation; now our position is under God’s justification. As a result of justification, we have love, grace, peace, hope, life, glory, God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Although we may enjoy these six significant items and three wonderful Persons, they are mainly outward and objective. Nevertheless, in the section on justification Paul does give some hints to indicate that he will proceed to deal with our inward disposition.
The first hint is found in Romans 4:24-25, where Paul speaks of the resurrected Christ. The crucified Christ can never enter our being, but the resurrected Christ is able to come into us. Our Christ is not only the Christ who was crucified for our redemption; He is also the Christ who was resurrected that He may impart life into us. Therefore, Romans 4:24-25 intimates that Christ will come into the justified ones and live in them a life of justification.
We see another hint in Romans 5:10, which says that we shall be saved in His life. The words “shall be” imply experiences in the future. Prior to Romans 5:10 we were told that we have already been saved, because we have been redeemed, justified, and reconciled. Why does this verse suddenly say that we shall be saved? Although we have been saved by Christ’s death for redemption, justification, and reconciliation, we have not yet been saved for sanctification, transformation, and conformation. Redemption, justification, and reconciliation all require the death of Christ in which His blood was shed, while sanctification, transformation, and conformation require the inward working of His life. Christ’s death on the cross saved us in an objective way, and His life will save us in a subjective way. The crucified Christ saved us objectively on the cross; the resurrected Christ within us saves us subjectively. His life must enter into us. Eventually, in Romans 8, the conclusion of the section that deals with our disposition, we see that Christ is in us (8:10). Before chapter five Christ was crucified on the cross, but was not yet in us. In chapter eight Christ is no longer on the cross — He is in us. This indwelling Christ is the life that will save us subjectively after we have been saved objectively. We need to be saved more and more. We have been saved from hell and from God’s condemnation: this is positional salvation. Now we need to be saved from our disposition, such as our old man, our self, our natural life, etc.: this is dispositional salvation.
Another hint that Romans shifts from a positional aspect to a dispositional aspect after 5:11 is found in the occurrence of the words sin and sins. Before Romans 5:12 the word sin is always found in the plural number. However, in Romans 5:12 this word suddenly appears in the singular. Why is there this change? Sins are outward and concern our position; sin is inward and concerns our disposition. The outward sins in our position, our sinful deeds, have been fully dealt with by the death of Christ, but the sin in our disposition, our sinful nature, has not yet been dealt with. Starting with Romans 5:12, Paul begins to concentrate upon the dispositional sin within us.
Furthermore, although we are in God and Christ at the time of Romans 5:11, we have not had much experience of God and Christ living within us. Although we are in God, boast and joy in God, and stand in the realm of grace, we have not fully experienced God and Christ dwelling within us. To be in Christ is a positional matter; to have Christ in us, especially living and dwelling in us, is a dispositional and experiential matter. We must be in Christ, and then Christ can be in us and live within us. We find both aspects of this in John 15:4, which says, “Abide in me, and I in you.” “Abide in me” means to be in Christ; “I abide in you” means that Christ lives in us. Firstly, we are in Christ, then Christ lives in us. The dispositional matter of Christ living in us is covered in Romans 5:12 through 8:30, the section on sanctification and glorification. Both sanctification and glorification deal with our disposition and nature, not with our outward behavior. Paul treated our outward behavior in the preceding sections. In 5:12-8:30 he is occupied with our nature, our self. If we are not clear about these distinctions, we will be unable to understand Romans 5:12-8:30 adequately.
As we approach the section on sanctification, we must realize that the gift in Christ surpasses the heritage in Adam. Since we were all born of Adam and in Adam, we have inherited all that he is and has. What are the items of our inheritance in Adam? Two dreadful things — sin and death. Regardless of whether we are good or bad, as long as we were born of Adam’s race we have sin and death as our heritage. Praise God for the gift in Christ! The gift in Christ surpasses the heritage in Adam. There is no comparison.
In Romans 5:12-21 we have two men, two acts, and two results. This passage is difficult to remember because everything in it transcends our understanding. By nature, we do not have the concept that is revealed in this passage of Scripture. If we did, we would easily be impressed with Paul’s thought. Have you ever thought that in the whole universe there are only two men? Nevertheless, in the eyes of God there are just two men — Adam and Christ. We ourselves are nobodies. We are all included in either the first man or the second. Everything depends on where you are. If you are in Adam, you are a part of Adam. If you are in Christ, you are a part of Christ. Fifty years ago I was in Adam, but today and forever I am in Christ.
Adam was the first man (1 Cor. 15:47). He was not only the first man, but also the first Adam (1 Cor. 15:45). Adam was created by God (Gen. 1:27), and had nothing of the divine nature and life of God. He was merely God’s creation, a work of His hand.
Christ is the second man (1 Cor. 15:47) and the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45). What does it mean to say that Christ is the second man and the last Adam? It means that Christ is the last man. After Him, there is no third man, for the second man is the last. This excludes the possibility of a third man. Do not consider yourself as the third. Christ is the second man and the last Adam. Following Him, there is no third Adam.
This second man was not created by God. He is a man mingled with God. He is God incarnated to be a man (John 1:14). The first man had nothing of the divine nature and life of God, for he was merely God’s creation. The second man is the mingling of God with His creature, full of the divine nature and life of God. He is a man mingled with God, a God-man. The fullness of the Godhead is embodied in Him (Col. 2:9; John 1:16).
Romans 5:14 mentions Adam’s transgression, referring to Adam’s transgression of eating the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden. After God created Adam, He placed him in front of the tree of life, indicating that Adam should partake of this tree. This would have enabled him to receive God’s life and to live with God. Adam failed. He forsook the tree of life that denoted God as life and turned to the tree of knowledge that signified Satan as the source of death. Thus, Adam’s transgression consisted in leaving the tree of life and pursuing the tree of knowledge (Gen. 2:8-9, 17; 3:1-7). The issue of the tree of life is life, but the issue of the tree of knowledge is death. This means that Adam gave up life and chose death.
The second act was Christ’s obedience on the cross (Phil. 2:8). This act of obedience, a righteous act performed by Christ, terminated the man of knowledge (6:6). Adam brought man to knowledge, making him a man of knowledge. Christ, by His obedience on the cross, terminated the man of knowledge and brought man back to life. First Peter 2:24 tells us that Christ’s death restored man to life, and John 3:14-15 says that Christ was lifted up on the cross in order to bring man back to life eternal. Therefore, the obedience of Christ on the cross terminated the fallen man of knowledge, the man of death, and recovered man back to life, making him a man of life.
These two men have two acts, and the two acts have brought forth two results.
Sin entered through Adam’s transgression (5:12). It seems that sin is mentioned in Romans 5 through 8 in a personified way. It is like a person who can reign (5:21), who can lord it over people (6:14), who can deceive and kill people (7:11), who can dwell in people and do things against their will (7:17, 20). Sin is alive and exceedingly active (7:9). Thus, this sin must be the evil nature of Satan, the evil one, dwelling, acting, and working in fallen mankind. Sin is actually an evil person. Through Adam’s transgression sin entered.
As a result of Adam’s disobedience, the many, including us, were constituted sinners (5:19). We not only were made sinners; we were constituted sinners. We were not created sinners, but constituted sinners. An element not created by God was injected into our being and constituted us sinners. We are not sinners by accident; we are sinners by constitution. Sin has been wrought into us and constituted into our being. Therefore, sin is not just an outward deed, but an inward, subjective element in our constitution. Thus, we are typical sinners by nature.
Furthermore, all men have been condemned to death (5:18). All men are born of Adam and in Adam. So, through Adam’s one offense all men have been condemned to death in him as he was condemned.
Thus, death reigns over all men (5:14). Death has become a king ruling over all. “As sin reigned in death” (5:21) so death reigns through sin.
The final result of Adam’s transgression is that in Adam all die (1 Cor. 15:22). Everyone has died in Adam. Sometimes we say of a certain person, “He is dying.” When I first heard this phrase, I immediately thought, “Not only is that person dying — everyone is dying.” Do not say that you are living, for you, like everyone else, are dying. You are living to die. The more you live, the more you die. In a sense, people are not living but dying. We are all born to die, because we have a powerful king over us named death. He was inaugurated by sin, his forerunner. Sin brought death into power. Thus, all men are under the reign of death. This dreadful person has been inaugurated as king. When we were born in Adam, we began to die. Before people die absolutely, they sin, and sin hastens the hour of death. The more you sin, the faster you die; the less you sin, the slower you die. If you do not want to die quickly, you should not sin. We must stay away from sin.
Praise the Lord that we have the second man, the second act, and the second result! What is the result of Christ’s obedience?
Grace came (John 1:17) through the obedience of Christ. “The grace of God has abounded to many” (5:15). Paul does not say that life has abounded. This is similar to Adam’s transgression, in which sin came first and death followed. Likewise, through the obedience of Christ grace came first and life followed. Death is versus life, and grace is versus sin. Sin came from Adam’s transgression, but grace came through Christ’s obedience. Sin is Satan personified, come to poison us, damage us, and bring death into us. Grace is God personified, come to give us life and enjoyment. Through Adam’s transgression, sin entered the human race as poison for man’s destruction, but through Christ’s righteous, obedient act God came as grace for our enjoyment.
Romans 5:19 tells us, “through the obedience of the One shall the many be constituted righteous.” We are not only righteous; we are constituted righteous. If you paint my skin green, that will not affect my inward constitution. However, if you inject green paint into my blood, my whole being eventually will be constituted with green paint. This would not be outward painting, but inward constituting. When the living God comes into our being as grace, we are constituted righteous.
A further result of Christ’s obedience is that we have been justified unto life (5:18). Since we have been constituted righteous, we have come up to the standard of God’s righteousness and now correspond to it. Thus, we are justified unto life spontaneously. In Adam, through his one offense, we were condemned unto death; in Christ, through His one righteous act, we are justified unto life. Justification is for life. First we have justification, then we have life. Justification changes our outward position, and life changes our inward disposition. Now we have both justification outwardly for our position and life inwardly for our disposition.
Romans 5:21 says, “grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Grace reigns. We have another king because now we are in another kingdom. Once we were in the kingdom of death, and sin was our king through death. Now we are in the kingdom of life, and grace is our king. “Grace reigns through righteousness unto life eternal.” This thought is very deep. Why must grace reign through righteousness? Because we were sinners. If we had not been constituted sinners, we would have been clean and righteous, with nothing in our being contradicting God’s character. If such had been the case, we would not have needed righteousness. However, we were constituted sinners. How can grace, which is God Himself, reign over such unrighteous people? Grace needs an instrument, a means to reign. This instrument, this means, is God’s righteousness. Thus, grace reigns through God’s righteousness unto life eternal. Because Christ has died on the cross to accomplish redemption for us and because God’s righteousness has been revealed to us, we have a position to enjoy God as grace. We even have the position to claim God as our grace. Therefore, grace can reign through righteousness unto life eternal.
Let us apply this to our experience. Suppose I am a sinful, dying man. I am condemned to death, and death reigns over me. One day I realize that Christ died for me on the cross to accomplish God’s redemption, and God’s righteousness is revealed to me. As a sinner, I come to God under the redeeming blood of Christ. Immediately, the righteousness of God binds Him to justify me, and He becomes my portion. I can claim Him as my portion because the redemption of Christ has fulfilled all the requirements of His righteousness. I now have the position to claim Him as my portion. He has no choice. Because of His righteousness, He has to come to me as grace for my enjoyment. Grace means that I receive a gift which I do not deserve. If I work for you, you owe me my wages as a debt, not as a grace. However, if you present me five hundred dollars as a gift, that is grace, for I do not deserve it. Through God’s righteousness I receive grace, which I do not deserve.
God has given Himself to us as a grace that we do not deserve. We never worked for it and we cannot pay for it. The price is too high. God simply gives Himself to us as grace through righteousness. This grace becomes our portion for our enjoyment and reigns through righteousness, resulting in life eternal. This does not refer to eternal blessing, but to eternal life, which we may enjoy today. It is not the human life or the created life; it is the divine, eternal and uncreated life.
Under the blood of Christ, we claim God as our portion, and we receive from God a measure which we do not deserve. This measure is grace as our enjoyment. The issue of this enjoyment is life eternal, a life which will transform our whole being. It will sanctify us completely and deal thoroughly with our disposition. Thus, we will become sanctified, transformed, conformed and glorified persons.
In Adam all die, but in Christ all shall be made alive (1 Cor. 15:22). Adam’s transgression caused and still causes all his descendants to die, but Christ’s obedience causes all men to live. In Adam all are dying; in Christ all are living. The result of Adam’s transgression is death unto all. The result of Christ’s obedience is life unto all.
We have seen two men, two acts, and two results. These two men with their two acts and two results have brought in four reigning things. We have to know these men, acts, and results, and we also have to know the four reigning things in order to be clear about Romans 5:12-21.
As we have seen, sin entered through the first man (5:12). Through the disobedience of Adam, the evil one, as sin, entered into the world. The world here refers to mankind in general, for, in a sense, the word world in the New Testament means mankind. For instance, John 3:16 says that God loved the world, meaning that God loved mankind. Thus, sin has entered into mankind, into human nature, through the first man Adam.
After entering into the human race, sin made its dwelling place in the fallen body of man (7:17, 18, 21, 23). Sin does not dwell in our mind, soul, or spirit. Sin’s lodging is our body. Paul said that sin dwelt within him, that the law of sin was in the members of his body, and that in his flesh was nothing good, only sin (7:17, 18, 23). Sin dwells in our body. Although our body was created by God as good, it became flesh once sin had been injected into it and had made its home there. Although God created our body, He did not create the flesh. The flesh is a mixture of God’s creation with sin, the evil one. Thus, the body has become the flesh, and sin dwells in this flesh. Every kind of lust has its source in the flesh.
Sin has the law as its power (1 Cor. 15:56; Rom. 7:11). Without law, sin is powerless. According to Romans 7:11, sin kills us through the law because the law gives sin its power. Sin uses the law as a knife to kill us. First Corinthians 15:56 says, “The strength of sin is the law.” Do not touch the law, for if you do, you will touch the killing knife of sin. We are absolutely unable to keep the law, and it is foolish for us even to try. If we attempt to keep the law, sin will use the law to kill us.
Sin reigns in death (5:21; 6:12). Sin, like every other king, needs an authority in order to reign. The authority of sin is death. Sin has authority to reign as a king in death. Romans 5:21 and 6:12 show sin reigning as a king.
Sin is in our flesh, our fallen body. This sin is not an act of wrongdoing; it is the personification of the evil one. In Romans 7:21 Paul said that “the evil” was present with him. The Greek word translated “the evil” in this verse is kakos, a word denoting that which is evil in character. This must refer to the evil character of Satan himself. I have no doubt that the sin which has entered into our body is the incarnation of Satan. When man ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge, that fruit entered his being. In fact, everything we eat comes into our body. As we have already seen, the tree of life in the garden denoted God, and the tree of knowledge signified Satan. Therefore, when man partook of the tree of knowledge, man took Satan, the evil one, into him. The body created by God originally had no evil in it. The Bible says that the man created by God was very good and upright (Gen. 1:31; Eccl. 7:29). However, after the fall another element was injected into man’s body. That element was sin, the very nature of the evil one. This sin reigns in us. Its power is the law and it reigns in death.
The second reigning thing is death. Death came through sin (5:12), for sin opened the way for death to enter mankind. The sting of death is sin (1 Cor. 15:56). A sting, such as the sting of a scorpion, contains poison. Sin likewise has the element of poison. Once sin poisons us, we experience death.
Through Adam’s offense death reigns over all men (5:17, 14). According to Hebrews 2:14, Satan has the power of death. Hence, Satan is intimately related to death. Sin ushers in death, and death reigns with power in the hands of Satan. Thus, Satan is related to death, death is related to sin, and the power of sin is the law. We all must stay away from the law, sin, death, and Satan.
John 1:14 tells us that when Christ was incarnated as a man, He was full of grace. John 1:17 says that the law was given by Moses, but that grace came through Jesus Christ. Grace came with Christ. This means that when Christ is present grace also is present. As sin is the personification of Satan, grace is the personification of Christ. Therefore, grace is Christ, the embodiment of God. What is grace? Grace is God incarnated to be our enjoyment. God has given Himself to us for our enjoyment. If we compare 1 Corinthians 15:10 with Galatians 2:20, we see that the grace of God is Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul says that he labored more abundantly than the other apostles, although it was not he himself, but the grace of God that was with him. In Galatians 2:20 Paul says that it was no longer he, but Christ living in him. Therefore, grace is the living Person of Christ. Second Corinthians 13:14 also mentions the grace of Christ. Therefore, Christ is the grace of God. When Christ comes to us as God embodied for our enjoyment, that is grace. This grace has come through the second man.
This grace abounds, multiplies, and reigns through righteousness unto eternal life (5:15, 20, 21). We have seen that through the redemption of Christ we have the righteousness of God and that this righteousness gives us the ground to claim Christ as our grace. This grace is constantly abounding and multiplying. The abounding of grace results in reigning unto life eternal. The result is not something that is material and temporal, but something in the reign of grace that is eternal and divine — God’s divine life. The more grace we enjoy, the more life we have. This life is a sanctifying life, a transforming life, a conforming life and a glorifying life. This life comes from grace.
The believers also reign, for believers are kings.
Romans 5:17 says, “those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” How can we reign in life? We reign in life by receiving the abundance of grace. We need to consider the practical significance of the abundance of grace. Suppose you have a certain problem. If you find it easy to care for this problem, it means that you have an adequate supply of grace. If you find your situation unbearable, it proves that you lack the abundance of grace. Although you have grace, you have only a small portion. You do not have the abundance of grace. Many times a brother is offended when we speak a frank word to him. Why is he offended? Because he is short of grace. If he has the abundance of grace, that grace will sustain him and enable him to bear a hard word. The most difficult thing for us to bear is a hard word. We all like to hear soft words, sweet words, sugar-coated words. The smooth talkers know how to sugar-coat their words. However, if you like sugar-coated words, you will be cheated. It is much better to speak salty words. In Colossians 4:6 Paul tells us that our speech should always be seasoned with salt. This means that we must be restricted in our speech. Helpful words are salted words, not sugar-coated words. Learn to accept salty words. If you are filled with grace and have the abundance of grace, you will be happy with any kind of words.
Paul had a certain trouble, a thorn in the flesh, and he asked the Lord three times to remove it (2 Cor. 12:7-9). The Lord seemed to answer him, “I will not remove the thorn. You must suffer it by My grace. My grace is sufficient for you.” What is this grace? It is the incarnation of Christ. It is nothing less than Christ Himself as our enjoyment. When you enjoy this grace, the issue will be life. You will be rich in life. The more you endure hardships by grace, the more you will be filled with life.
Thus, Paul said that grace not only “abounded to the many,” but also that “grace might reign through righteousness unto life eternal.” Life continually issues out of the multiplication of grace. Grace must abound. Romans 5:20 says, “where sin abounded grace has more abounded.” Grace always exceeds sin. Although sin is powerful, grace is more powerful. Grace is stronger than sin. We need to open ourselves to the grace and enlarge our capacity to receive grace upon grace. John 1:16 says, “of his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” Christ is the source of grace and Christ is grace itself. If we open ourselves to Christ and receive “the abundance of grace,” we shall be filled with life.
This life becomes the growing life found in Romans 6. It is also the sanctifying life, the liberating life, the transforming life and the conforming life. Eventually, this life will be the glorifying life. This is the issue of enjoying Christ as grace.
As grace reigns unto life, so we who “receive the abundance of grace shall reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (5:17). From the beginning of Romans through 5:11, there is little mention of life. Romans 5:10 says that we shall be saved in His life, and Romans 1:17 tells us that the just shall have life and live by faith. However, as we enter the section on sanctification, we find a strong word in Romans 5:17, telling us that we “shall reign in life.” Hence, we can “walk in newness of life” (6:4). We reign in life and walk in newness of life because we have received the abundance of grace in Christ. Today through the man Jesus Christ, by the abundance of His grace, we not only have eternal life, but we can reign over all things and all situations in this life and walk in its newness.
