The Epistle to the Romans
Lesson 11
Special English Version

Adam and Christ Contrasted

Reading Assignment: Romans 5

Introduction
In lesson 10 (Romans 5:1-11), we learned the results of our justification and called them “Our Great Inheritances in the Gospel.” These results are: Peace with God, an entrance into God’s grace, strength to rejoice in our difficulties, God’s love shed abroad in our hearts, the gift of the Holy Spirit, deliverance from God’s anger in the future and the promise of Christ’s power to take care of us. All of these together make up the believers’ inheritance. God, by His grace, justified the believer by faith and delivered him from the guilt of sin.

In Romans 5:12 the emphasis changes. From Romans 3:2-5:11, Paul’s theme is RIGHTEOUSNESS IMPUTED FOR JUSTIFICATION. From Romans 5:12-8:18, the theme changes to RIGHTEOUSNESS IMPARTED FOR SANCTIFICATION. Through justification, God delivers us from the guilt of sin. In sanctification, which means that God sets the believer apart for Himself, God saves us from the power of sin.

Importance of this Lesson

• Romans 5:12-21 is important for our study because Paul changes the emphasis. Before this he strongly emphasized justification.
• In Romans 6, he begins to explain the doctrine of sanctification. Romans 5:12-21 is introduction to that doctrine.
• Here we see the SOURCE of our sanctification – Christ, our new Federal Head. Paul presents some very important and noteworthy contrasts.
• We also have one of the greatest verses in the Bible in this section, because it show that grace wins over sin.
• Here we see RIGTHEOUSNESS REIGNING.

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The Lesson

I. DEATH REIGNED FROM ADAM TO MOSES

1. Romans 5:12
   1. By one man – That man was Adam. What was Adam’s sin? It was an act of rebellion. He rejected God’s word. He did not believe God. He made his own will greater than God’s will. He gave himself to Satan and ate the forbidden fruit.
   2. Sin entered – The evil, rebellious nature of sin came into the human race and influenced all of nature in the wrong way. What a tragedy!
   3. And death by sin – We do not die because of Adam. We die because we “all have sinned.” All people are sinful and will die.
   4. Only those Christians alive at the rapture of the church will escape physical death. We must keep in mind believers are saved by grace, but will still die physically because of sin.
2. Romans 5:13-14
   1. For until the law sin was in the world… Until God gave the Law, man had the light of his conscience, the witness of nature (Romans 1:19-20) and the knowledge of God that had been handed down from generation to generation. Against this light man sinned and was “without excuse” (Romans 1:20).
   2. But sin is not imputed – Sin was in the world but since God had not yet given the Law, it could not be imputed (reckoned or charged to man’s account).
   3. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses – From the creation of man to the giving of the Law, death reigned as an absolute king. Death reigned even before the Law was given. Death ruled over those people who probably boasted about their goodness. They boasted because they had not sinned in the same way Adam had sinned.
   • Keep Romans 5:14 in view. Because of Adam’s sin, death passed upon all men.
   4. …who is the figure of him that was to come – Adam, was our former federal head before he sinned. Adam is an opposite type of Christ. Christ is our new federal head now
      (1 Corinthians 15:22,45,49).

II. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ADAM AND CHRIST – Romans 5:15-19
(Know the three differences for your exam.)

• If Adam were not a real person this whole section of the Bible would have no meaning
• In Romans 5:15-16 you must note the words “but not as” and “and not as.” In other words, the blessings that have come to us through Christ are in sharp contrast to the curse that came through Adam.

1. First difference – Romans 5:15,17 – DEATH RESULTED FROM ADAM’S SIN – LIFE CAME BY THE GRACE OF GOD THROUGH CHRIST.
   • Please note the phrase “much more.” The same phrase is found in Romans 5:9-10. It means “much easier and in far greater abundance.” In other words, the work of Christ and the grace of God are far greater than the results of Adam’s sin.
   1. …the free gift… (Romans 5:15) is the gift of righteousness and eternal life (Romans 5:17).
   2. Death has reigned because of Adam’s sin (Romans 5:15,17), but the life of Jesus Christ reigns in all of us who received the …gift of righteousness… which God gave us through His plentiful grace (Romans 5:17).
   3. Adam is the federal head of the old creation. Christ is the head of a new creation
      (2 Corinthians 5:17). Every person who receives Christ as Savior receives the gift of everlasting life (John 5:24; Romans 6:23). That person will never know death in the same way unbelievers will know it (John 11:25,26; John 3:36).
   4. Romans 5:15 and 17 both mention …the gift… – “the gift by grace” and “the gift of righteousness.” We must always remember that salvation is a free gift of God’s grace. His grace cannot be measured (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9).
   5. Believers shall reign in life by (or through) Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17). Here is righteousness reigning. For the believer, death is not in control any more. Believers no longer live under the fear of death because we shall never die (John 10:28).
   6. Believers will also literally “reign with Christ” in the millennium some day (Revelation 5:10; 2 Timothy 2:12).
2. Second Contrast – Romans 5:16,18 – JUDGMENT UPON ADAM RESULTED IN CONDEMNATION. THE FREE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS RESULTED IN JUSTIFICATION.
   1. Again read the “but not as” of Romans 5:15 and the “and not as” of Romans 5:16 and realize the much greater aspect of God’s provision for our sin.
   2. The judgment was for one sin of one man – …by one that sinned… (Romans 5:16), …by one to condemnation…(Romans 5:16), …by the offence of one judgment came upon all men…
      (Romans 5:18). In contrast, “the free gift” of God is for …many offenses… (many sins)
      (Romans 5:16). God offers this free gift to …all men… (Romans 5:18), for justification.
3. Third Contrast – Romans 5:19 – MANY WERE MADE SINNERS BY ADAM’S DISOBEDIENCE.
   MANY SHALL BE MADE RIGHTEOUS BY CHRIST’S OBEDIENCE.
   1. Ponder the comparisons:
      1. Adam was disobedient (Genesis 3:3,6,7) – Christ was obedient (Philippians 2:8; Hebrews 10:7).
      2. Adam obeyed Satan (Genesis 3:4-7) – Christ defeated Satan in the wilderness and at the cross (Luke 4:1-13; Hebrews 2:14).
      3. Adam rejected God’s grace and truth (Genesis 3) – Christ brought God’s grace and truth. Christ showed what grace and truth is. He brought grace and truth back to man (John 1:17; Titus 2:11).
         2. To discover that Christ brought back everything that was lost to us because Adam sinned is a very enlightening study that can make your life spiritually rich.

III. THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW AND THE VICTORY OF GRACE – Romans 5:20-21

1. …the law entered, that the offence might abound.
   1. In Romans 5:12, we saw that …sin entered into the world… because of what Adam did.
   2. Here we see that …the law entered… or God gave the Law to show us how bad Adam’s sin was to God. It shows us how much God detests all sin (Romans 7:7-10).
2. …But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Romans 5:20). Here is one of the greatest verses in the Bible revealing the victory of grace over sin.
   1. There is no limit to the grace of God. No sin regardless of its nature or duration is beyond God’s grace to forgive.
   2. Notice again Paul’s use of “much more,” found also in Romans 5:9,10,15,17. God’s grace is more plentiful by far than all the sins of the world.
3. Romans 5:21 – Sin once reigned unto death with complete power. No one escaped the power of sin. It ruled in the lives of all people. Every person sinned and they all died. But now, because of the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ, grace reigns through righteousness. God’s righteousness was satisfied concerning sin because Christ died on the cross in the place of the sinner. Every person who believes in Him now has eternal life. Christ won over death eternally! Read Hebrews 2:14; 1 Corinthians 15:55-57; Revelation 1:18; Romans 8:2.

Examination

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