GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR MAN FROM START TO FINISH

Part III: God's Righteousness Imputed To Man, Romans 3:21-5:21

F. Contrasting Adam's Fall With Christ's Salvation And Its Implications

(Romans 5:13-21)

I. Introduction

A. The theory of evolution asserts that man evolved by the process of the survival of the fittest, a process that involves the death of the less-fit since death is presumed by evolutionists always to have been a part of nature.

B. However, Paul's contrast of Adam and Christ in Romans 5:13-21 counters the evolutionary view of man and offers insight on Christ's great victory over sin and death. We view the passage for our insight and edification:

II. Contrasting Adam's Fall With Christ's Salvation And Its Implications, Romans 5:13-21.

A. Having taught in Romans 5:12 that all men have sinned, the Apostle Paul had to explain that all men had sinned between the fall of Adam into sin and the giving of God's Law by Moses thousands of years later, for until the Law was given, sin was not legally "taken into account, reckoned" as sin, Romans 5:13.

B. However, all men between Adam and Moses did indeed sin as is proved by the fact that all men died between Adam and Moses even though they had not sinned like Adam had, Romans 5:14a.

C. Having introduced the person of Adam, Paul claimed that he was a pattern of Christ Who was to come (Romans 5:14b), and in Romans 5:15-21, he contrasted Adam as an antitype of Christ seven ways (Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, p. 461):

1. Through the one man Adam's trespass many died, but by the one Man Christ's grace is God's gift of grace, which is righteousness (Romans 3:24) to the many who believe in Christ, Romans 5:15.

2. Through the one man Adam came judgment and condemnation to all, but by the one Man Christ, the problem of the many trespasses is handled by God's gift of justification, Romans 5:16.

3. Through the one man Adam's one trespass death reigned, but by the one Man Jesus Christ believers reign in eternal life by faith in Christ, Romans 5:17.

4. Through the one man Adam's one trespass resulted in condemnation for all men, but by the one Man Christ's one act of righteousness, His death on the cross, justification is offered to all men, Romans 5:18.

5. Through the one man Adam's disobedience to God many were constituted as sinners, but by the one Man Christ's obedience many are constituted righteous by faith in Him, Romans 5:19.

6. Through the one man Adam coupled with the arrival of the Mosaic Law the offense of man's sins abounded, but by the one Man Christ grace did much more abound unto salvation, Romans 5:20.

7. Through the one man Adam sin reigned in death, but by the one Man Christ grace reigns to bring eternal life to those who believe in Him, Romans 5:21.

D. In addition, throughout this Romans 5:12-21 section, Paul repeatedly claimed that death was the PRODUCT of sin, and NOT the evolutionary view that death existed PRIOR TO and/or INDEPENDENT OF sin:

1. In Romans 5:12 ESV, Paul claimed death entered the world through sin so that death passed on all men, and the act of sin he repeatedly mentioned in Romans 5:13-21 was Adam's sin, cf. Romans 5:15, 17, 18.

2. In Romans 5:15 ESV, Paul claimed many became spiritually dead through the offense of one man, Adam.

3. In Romans 5:17 ESV, Paul claimed death reigned through one man because of his offense, that man being Adam and his offense being his disobedience in the Garden of Eden in eating of the forbidden tree.

4. However, these repeat claims counter the evolutionary view that death existed before and independent of sin, which evolutionary claim is necessary to explain the evolutionary development of life forms by way of the survival of the fittest and thus of the death of the unfit. (David H. Lane, "Theological Problems With Theistic Evolution," Bibliotheca Sacra 150 (April-June 1994): 155-74)

E. Also, Paul's repeat contrasts of Adam with Christ, his contrasts of their deeds and his contrasts of the results of their deeds would be meaningless if Adam had not been an historical person as evolutionists would claim, Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Romans 5:18; Ibid., Lane, p. 161.

Lesson: Though the Law that defined sin as sin did not come until Moses, death reigned over man since Adam's first sin as evidenced by the fact that all men [except Enoch who was translated, Genesis 5:24] died, for sin entered the world by Adam's sin. Yet, by grace, Christ, the Second Adam, offers salvation and release from Adam's fall!

Application: (1) May we believe that though all men inherited Adam's sin nature and stand condemned, through Christ they can be saved. (2) May we believe that death is the sole product of sin and thus hold to creationism.