Hermeneutical Problems: “Imputation” #2

Introduction to the Fourth Argument for Imputation and the Comparison in Romans 5:12

0:00 Romans 5, verse 12, beginning with verse 12.

0:06 So we come now to the fourth argument supporting the doctrine of the positive imputation of the righteousness of Christ to believers as the basis, the ground upon which we are justified. The method by which the work of Jesus Christ is the basis upon which we are justified, that method being imputation. Now, as we look at this very important passage today, my plan is not to exegete every, in detail, every word and phrase. That would require a series of lectures in itself.

0:52 I'm currently engaged in a series of sermons in our church on this passage that I imagine I'll be in for several weeks, just opening up every part of the passage in some detail. But what I want to do today is to underscore the dominant lines of thought relating to the word of God. The apostle Paul is still dealing with his great theme of justification by faith. In chapter 5, verses 1 to 11, he has just opened up some of the wonderful consequences and fruits and blessings that arise and flow from the believer's justification.

1:27 And now as we come to chapter 5, verse 12, the apostle continues by explaining what it is in the manner of God's moral government that makes it possible for a sinner who believes on Christ to be justified. He declared righteous to be justified.

1:44 Notice, first of all, we have a comparison begun, but cut short. Verse 12.

1:53 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned, and then the comparison is cut short at that point. He's beginning to make a comparison. Just as implies a comparison, which he then suddenly breaks off before he finishes his thought.

2:21 We have the, I don't know what kind of strange Greek letters or letters came up there on your paper, but we have the interjection of a parenthetical section in which he explains himself before he gets back to his main point. He says, just as through one man sin entered, but he doesn't take up the comparison implied by the words, just as until verse 18, even so, through one man's righteous act, etc. So, we have this comparison begun, but cut short. Now, let's look at this verse.

2:53 First, the essence of the comparison that begins, and then the general content and teaching of the verse itself.

3:02 First, the essence of the comparison that it begins. A lot of detailed exegesis is not necessary to at least see, get a general picture of the comparison. Paul is beginning here. All you have to do is skip down to where he takes it back up.

3:18 Here in verse 12, he speaks of one man, just as through one man. That one man, as verse 14 indicates, is Adam. When he takes back up the comparison in verse 18, we see that he is comparing the one man Adam to the one man Christ. More specifically, he is comparing what the action of the one man Adam has resulted in to what the action of the one man Christ has resulted in.

3:43 We see this even earlier, beginning in verse 15. Just notice the comparison beginning with that. Verse 15b.

3:59 Verse 17.

4:13 Verses 18 and 19. Therefore, as through one man's offense, Adam, judgment came to one man, and the judgment came to one man, and the judgment came to one man. And the judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation. Even so, through one man's righteous act, Christ, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.

4:27 For as one man's disobedience, Adam, many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience, Christ, many will be made righteous. Now, without even opening up these verses in detail at this point, it's very clear right on the surface of this passage that the comparison Paul is beginning here in verse 12 is a comparison between the one man, Adam, and the one man, Christ. More specifically, it's a comparison between the one man, Adam's sin, and its results for all mankind, and the one man, Christ's obedience or righteousness, and what it results in for others as well. Those results for others from Adam's offense are described in terms like death, judgment, condemnation, being made sinners. The results for others coming from Christ's obedience are described, by terms like justification, the gift of righteousness, being made righteous. Now, all of that is right on the surface of this passage. And it's important not to miss the forest for the trees, and this is what can often happen.

5:32 Rather, before a person dies into the details, it's good to step back and look at what it is Paul is doing in this passage. He's making this comparison between these two men and the results of Adam's sin, the results of Christ's righteousness. Now, that alone greatly helps in interpreting the details properly, just getting the large picture of what he's doing here. Now, notice, secondly, the general content and teaching of verse 12.

General Content and Teaching of Romans 5:12

6:00 First of all, here we are told that sin entered the world.

6:07 Sin broke in. It intruded itself. It invaded the world. Sin has not always been in the world, is the implication of that statement.

6:16 There was a time when it was not. But at a point in time, it entered. This points us back to the beginning, to the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Secondly, we are told that death through sin or by sin entered the world as well.

6:31 Sin entered the world and death through sin. Here we have the explanation for the presence of death in the world. Where did it come from? The answer is that death came by sin.

6:41 And here we are reminded that death is penal. It is penalty. It is punishment for sin. Death came into the world as punishment for sin.

6:50 The wages of sin. Sin is death, Romans 6.23. Paul sums it up in 1 Corinthians 15.56.

6:57 The sting of sin is death. Death came because of sin. It is the wages and the penalty and the sting of sin. Thirdly, we are told here that sin entering the world and death by sin is the result of the action of one man.

7:14 Through one man, sin entered the world. And death through sin. All of this came into the world through one man. One individual.

7:23 And according to verse 14, that one man was Adam.

7:30 Fourthly, we are told that death spread to all men.

7:35 The action of the one man, Adam, has resulted in death spreading to all men. Universal death is a fact of human experience that no one can deny. And how is that explained? If Adam sinned and death is part of the penalty of sin, I can see why Adam died.

7:50 But why has Adam's sin resulted in death spreading to all men? Fifthly, we are told that death entered the world as punishment for sin. They're told that the reason is because all sinned. Through one man, sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned.

8:06 The word because is translated from epho.

8:10 Commentators argue over how it should be translated. It's interesting to read some of the debates over that. You may find translations, the translations for all sin, because all sin, and maybe even sometimes in which all sin, in whom all sin is offered. However, most interpreters agree that epho is causal.

8:34 There's a good reason for maintaining that it is causal, and that because is a good translation. One, there's apparently other Greek literature in which the two words function together in this way. Another reason is Paul uses the two words together in this way elsewhere in his epistles. See 2 Corinthians 5, 4, Philippians 3, 12.

8:52 However, it must be acknowledged that there is no universal consensus on how the words should be translated, and context has to make the determination. And I hope to show in a moment that the context favors the translation, I believe, because.

9:09 That Paul is giving a reason why death spread to all men through the one man sin. The reason, because all sinned. It's also to be noted that the verb is in the aorist tense. A tense.

9:24 A tense which often, not always, but often conveys the idea of a once and for all completed act. A historical event or act. It's not a description of a general state of being, but more commonly of a specific completed action which took place or takes place at a particular point in time. If Paul had said all have sinned, as is translated in the old King James that some of us were raised on, that could mean that they might have sinned yesterday, or some may have sinned last week, or others the week before.

9:52 But the apostle uses the air. It says all sinned. But now, what does Paul mean when he says that all sinned? Here in verse 12, he is preparing to make this comparison between Adam and Christ.

Clarifications: Universal Death and the Meaning of 'All Sinned'

10:11 But now, before he completes the comparison, Paul feels compelled to break off and to explain himself a bit. So, we have a comparison begun, but cut short in verse 12. And this is now followed by some important clearings. So, Paul says, clarifications. So we come now to the second major division of the passage, some clarifications made. Paul has just said, if one man's sin entered the world and death by sin and thus death spread to all men because all sinned, one might be tempted then to understand Paul as simply saying that Adam sinned and he died and because all other men are guilty of committing sins, they die. But Paul wants to make clear that that's not what he means. If his readers, if we think that's what he means, we will miss the whole comparison between Adam and Christ that he's about to make. Indeed,

11:05 if we understand him as saying here that through Adam, sin and death entered the world and death spread to everyone because we also have committed sins individually, then the whole comparison between Adam and Christ that he's about to make becomes meaningless. The comparison is lost and it really makes no sense. Well, he doesn't want us to misunderstand him in that. This is why he pauses now, breaks off his comparison to clarify himself before he completes this comparison. Now, in this parenthetical section, we have an explanation and some contrasts. First of all, a clarifying explanation. In verses 13 to 14, we have a clarifying explanation of what he means by all sin. Paul is going to explain that he does not mean by these words that the reason that all men die is because all men personally sin in and of themselves.

11:53 Instead, he means that all die because all sin when Adam sinned. That there is a sense in which we all sinned and are all held accountable for his sin. And it is for this reason that through the one man's sin, death spread to all men. Now, in these verses, verses 13 to 14, we have basically three lines of fault, or at least I'm going to divide it up. You could say four lines of fault, but I'm going to divide these lines of fault under three concepts really that he has here. First, Paul points out that though sin was in the world before the law was given, sin is not imputed where there is no law, and yet death still reigned during that time period. Secondly, he points out that death reigned even over those who had not sinned in the same manner Adam did. And then thirdly, he draws attention to the fact that Adam and his relationship to mankind is a type of Christ. So notice, first of all, Paul underscores that though sin was in the world before the law

12:53 was given, sin is not imputed where there is no law. And he points out that though sin was in the world before the law was given, sin is not imputed where there is no law, and yet death still reigned during that time period. Now, let's break this down phrase by phrase. First of all, he says, for until the law, sin was in the world. What does that mean? What does until the law mean? Well, he's referring to something that was true before the law was given in its written form to Moses. He's referring to that period of history between the fall of Adam in Genesis and the giving of the law through Moses, which occurred many years later in the book of Genesis. And he's referring to the book of Exodus, that this is the reference that's put beyond doubt in verse 14, where he speaks of death reigning from Adam to Moses. What does he tell us about that period? He tells us that during that period of history, sin was in the world. He is simply establishing and conceding the fact that men were sinners. They committed acts of sin before the law was ever given through Moses. He is establishing and conceding the fact that personal sinning was prevalent in the world before Moses. And he's referring to the fact that sin was in the world before Moses. And he's

13:57 not just Adam's sin. But now we move to the next part of the statement. Secondly, he says, but sin is not imputed where there is no law. In other words, yes, sin was in the world before the law was given. Yes, men were sinners and committed acts of sin before the law. But even though this is true, we need to realize that sin is not imputed where there is no law.

14:20 You see, Paul is wanting us to see that universal death is not owing to each individual's sins against the law. To prove this, he takes us back to that point where he says, before the giving of the law, and he points out that while it is true that men were guilty of their own personal sinning during that time period, sin was in the world. Sin is not imputed when there is no law. The word translated impute here is not the word Paul uses back in chapter four to speak of imputed righteousness, though it's a similar word. This word means to lay to one's charge, to put down in the ledger. Sins are not recorded in the ledger, as it were, when there is no law. And this is similar to what Paul says back in chapter 4, verse 15. For where there is no law, there is no transgression.

15:09 But now notice he says thirdly, verse 14a, nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the fact that sin is not imputed when there is no law,

15:23 death, the punishment for sin, still reigned from Adam to Moses. And do you see the argument? Yes, men were sinners. And committed sins before the law was given.

15:34 However, that fact is not an adequate explanation for the universal reign of death during that period. For sin is not imputed where there is no law. Therefore, one's own personal violations of God's law are not the reason that death is spread to all men. This is Paul's line of argument.

15:50 But now this is a difficult statement.

15:54 It does raise a problem. And I refer here particularly to the difficulty of precisely defining what Paul means when he says that sin is not imputed. Sin is not imputed where there is no law. How could Paul say that the sins of those between Adam and Moses were not imputed to them?

16:12 Or elsewhere in this same epistle, he tells us that not only are those without the written law of Moses still guilty of sin, they are also held accountable by God for their actions. See chapter 1, verses 18 through 33. Remember chapter 2, verses 12 to 15. For example, in Romans 2, 12, he says, For as many as have sinned without law will perish without law.

16:38 Furthermore, we clearly see in the book of Genesis that men, before the law of Moses was given, were not only sinners, they were also punished for sin. Consider the flood, for example. Consider God's judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah. So how could Paul say that sin is not imputed where there is no law?

16:57 Well, one thing we can definitely say at this point is that though men before the giving of the law were guilty of sin, they were not guilty of violating an expressly stated and written law. They were not guilty of sin as transgression.

17:14 And they were not guilty of violating an expressly stated and written law that had the expressed threat of death attached to it for disobedience.

17:24 Still, I have to concede that this is a difficult text. However, I think Paul himself anticipates the difficulty that we might have. And that's why he adds the next words in verse 13. Verse 13.

17:36 Verse 13. And here he makes his meaning much clearer. So first of all, Paul underscores that though sin was in the world before the law was given, sin is not imputed where there is no law, and yet death still reigned during that time period. But notice now, secondly, Paul hastens to add that death reigned even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam.

18:01 Now here I think he gets more specific. He speaks of death reigning over those who did not sin in the same way Adam did. They did not sin like Adam did by transgressing an explicitly stated command. Yet in that time period between Adam and Moses, people who never did that still died.

18:19 Now who are these people who died without ever seeing or knowing any divine law and choosing to sin against it? Well, some commentators have argued that, again, this is a reference to all those who lived between Adam and Moses. Yes, they were sinners and they were guilty of sin. But they did not sin.

18:38 They did not sin in exactly the same way Adam did. Adam not only had the law written in his heart, he was given an express, openly stated command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Furthermore, attached to that command was the specific threat of death if he disobeyed. In the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.

19:01 But Adam, with his eyes wide open, deliberately transgressed that specific and expressly stated command with its threat of death. The law of Moses also codified the law in forms of express, openly stated commands. And it also included the threat of death for disobedience. However, those between Adam and Moses were not guilty of sinning in exactly the same way.

19:24 They did not sin according to the likeness of Adam's transgression. They did not transgress a specifically expressed, specially revealed law that had the threat of death attached to it. However, death still reigned over those who lived between Adam and Moses. Now, I can accept that interpretation up to a point.

19:45 But there's another factor that I think has to be factored in and reckoned with. Some have argued that the reference here is to infants.

19:54 When Paul says that death reigned even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, and then we ask the question, who can we think of who died without seeing or knowing any divine law and choosing to sin against it? The group of people begging for an explanation. And at least providing a powerful illustration of Paul's point, are infants. At the very least, infants are included in those who died between Adam and Moses.

20:21 No doubt large numbers of infants died. Some died in birth. Some died very shortly after birth. And they died even though they had never consciously committed any act of sin.

20:32 And here is the big question that confronts us. Why did they die? Why was death passed to these infants? Paul says, But he cannot mean by that that all sinned personally themselves, and that's why death spread to all men.

20:48 No, because death reigned even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of Adam's transgression. And we may add that, by the way, that includes those who died in infancy. Some infants die even though they have never yet consciously committed any acts of sin. So whether Paul specifically or exclusively has infants, whether he has infants in mind or not, certainly infants are included in the number of those who died between Adam and Moses.

21:15 Furthermore, infants still die who have never personally and actively disobeyed a command of God. Now, how do you explain the death of infants if you interpret the words in verse 12, all sinned, to mean that the fact that all have personally committed sins is the reason that all die? So you see, though there are difficulties in this text, Paul's main point, I think, is clear. That neither the transgressions of the law of Moses, nor of the law of nature,

21:45 are an adequate explanation for the universal reign of death, even over those who live between Adam and Moses, and who never sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression.

21:58 So how can it be explained? Well, the explanation for the reign of death over mankind is to be found in the sin of the one man, Adam, and our solidarity in him. It is because, in the accounting of God, when Adam sinned, we all sinned. We all sinned in him.

Support for Corporate Sin from Genesis and Paul's Repetition

22:15 Now, this exposition is not dependent merely upon verses 12 to 14 alone. There is support for this in the Genesis account itself.

22:29 Do you remember the various curses that God pronounced on Adam because of his sin? Did those curses only apply to Adam himself, or to Adam and Eve? Did it only apply to Adam or to Adam and Eve alone? No, they have come upon the whole race because of his one sin.

22:48 When God said to Eve, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception in pain, you shall bring forth children. Was that only true for Eve?

23:00 No, that curse was applied to all women. When God said to Adam, Curse is the ground for your sake. In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you.

23:14 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread. The ground is cursed for his sake. Did that curse only apply to Adam and Eve? Did that curse only apply to Adam?

23:23 Does every subsequent generation or every person get a fresh start with better soil and no thorns or thistles until you yourself individually commit sin? No, of course not. That curse came on the whole human race because of the one man's sin. Well, the same is true when God immediately follows by saying, Till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.

23:47 That too, death, comes to every man. It wasn't just that curse. It did not just apply to Adam. It came to every man because of the one man, Adam's sin.

24:00 When the way into the garden and the tree of life was blocked so that Adam could no longer enter, did that apply only to Adam? No, again, the way to the tree of life was blocked for all of us. Furthermore, the above interpretation of all sin is supported by the fact that the apostle keeps repeating this throughout the passage. From verse 15 to verse 19, five times, repeating this statement about this one offense, the offense of the one man, Adam.

24:30 Let's follow it through. Verse 15. For if by the one man's offense many died. Now, do you see what he says?

24:38 He says that because of this one offense of the one man, Adam, many died. Now, how can this one act of one man result in the death of many unless it be in this way? The many are accounted guilty of the one man's act. Then he draws the parallel with Christ.

24:53 Much more the grace of God and the gift by grace. Much more the grace of God and the gift by grace. Much more the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. Look at verse 16.

25:00 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation. There it is again. The offense of the one for the judgment was by one to condemnation.

25:16 Then again, he completes the parallel. Verse 17. For if by one man's offense death reigned through the one. There it is again.

25:31 Verse 18 and 19. Then we have the parallel. And now verse 18 and 19 are even plainer. Verse 18.

25:39 Therefore, as through one man's offense came to all men, judgment came to all men resulting in condemnation. Now, what is he saying? He specifically says that judgment has come,

25:53 tying back into the statement preceding, upon all men resulting in condemnation for all men as a result of the one man, Adam's offense. How can that be? Again, the answer is that all sinned in Adam because all sinned. Precisely the answer Paul gives back up in verse 12.

26:13 And then again, we have the parallel with Christ. Now look at verse 19. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners. Now, this word translated made is regularly used to mean to appoint one as something, to set down as, to constitute as something.

26:33 It's used, for example, with reference to appointing or ordaining someone to an office in Acts 6.3 and in Titus 1.5. The reference here is not to the changing of someone's character, but to the placing of someone in a position or category.

26:48 When Paul says that by the one man, Adam's disobedience, many were made sinners, he's not saying that many were made sinful and depraved. It's true that Adamic corruption and depravity is also transmitted to Adam's descendants. But that's not what Paul is talking about in this passage. Throughout the passage, he's using legal courtroom language, justification, condemnation.

27:11 We come under condemnation because of the one man's sin. The idea here in verse 19 is that by one man's disobedience, many were constituted sinners. They are put down as sinners. They are regarded as sinners under condemnation, subject to death because of the one man, Adam's disobedience.

27:30 Now, let me illustrate when President Roosevelt and the Congress declared war on Japan in December 1941. Most Americans didn't have a say in the matter.

27:42 When they declared war, they were acting as the legally appointed representatives of the entire nation. Therefore, when the President and the Congress declared war, the United States was at war and all of its citizens were at war. Well, in a similar way, Adam acted as the God-appointed representative for all of mankind. And when he sinned, he signed a declaration of war against God that includes not only himself, but all of those whom he represented.

28:08 And when he sinned, he signed a declaration of war against God. And his sin is accounted the sin of all of us. Now, let me anticipate the objection.

Addressing the Objection: 'That's Not Fair'

28:16 But that's not fair.

28:19 That's not fair. It's not fair that I should be born into the world under condemnation and that I should die because of what someone else has done. Now, as you know, that's the most common objection that's raised against this doctrine. And every person here, probably, who's heard this doctrine in the past has perhaps struggled with the temptation to feel that way.

28:39 It seems so contrary to human reason and to our conceptions of fairness. And that's why you'll find scholars who've come up with all kinds of contorted interpretations of this passage in order to avoid what the apostle is teaching here. But be careful before you accuse God of being unfair or before you reject the teaching of his word simply because it doesn't square up with your opinions about how God should do things. What do we say to anyone who would object by saying that this is not fair?

29:10 Well, the first thing I would say to this person, whether it's someone here, I don't know, but this hypothetical person perhaps is, the first thing I would say to you in the language of Romans 9, 19 is, O man, who are you to reply against God? Who are you, O man, to reply against God? In other words, remember who you are and who God is. Put your hand over your mouth and your face in the dust and be silent.

29:39 Who are you, O man? A man. Sinful. Sinful man.

29:42 Finite man. Darkened man. Foolish man. Created man.

29:46 Fallen man. Who are you, O man, to reply against God, your creator and judge? Infinite in wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth, eternal and unchangeable in the heavens. Would we sinful, finite creatures as we are, so limited in our understanding and comprehension of God and his ways, take the holy, infinite, good, and all-wise God to school, and teach him fairness?

30:14 Does God need to enroll in your school and say, Would you please teach me what is fair and right? No, I don't think so. Secondly, it will help us to remember that this passage follows after many other things that Paul has said in this letter about man's sinful condition. Men are not accounted sinners only because Adam sinned.

30:34 Paul has already taught in the first three chapters of this epistle that all of us are also sinners by choice and that our own personal sins, have exposed us to God's wrath. Adam may have unfurled the flag of rebellion against God, but every one of us has willfully and of our own free choice rallied around his standard. Paul spent the first three chapters of this epistle demonstrating what we all know in our consciences to be true, namely that every one of us personally and individually has sinned against God and thought word and deed and are without excuse. Thirdly, and most importantly, does the curse of death and condemnation on the whole human race, because of the act of one man, trouble us?

31:15 Well, then I remind you that God's wisdom in arranging his moral government on this representative principle is the legal loophole, as it were, by which we can be saved by one man's righteousness. This representative appointment is not to our disadvantage. It's our only hope. This is the point Paul is preparing to make by means of the comparison between Adam and Christ.

31:41 Think with me. Think with me. If God had indeed chosen to deal with us like a field of corn with each standing or falling on his own root,

31:50 what if he had done that? What if there was no such thing as this representative principle in God's dealings with us?

31:58 First, are you so prideful as to think that on the same test Adam was given, you would have fared any better than Adam did? Are you really so presumptuous as to say, yes, Adam sinned, but if it hadn't been me there in the garden, I would have never sinned? Is that so? Do you really think that you're somehow superior?

32:15 And if you were left to stand or fall on your own root, what would happen when you sin? And when you do sin, there would be no hope. That would be it. You'd be lost and damned with no hope of recovery.

32:27 But praise God he chose from the beginning to deal with mankind on the principle of representation. Not like a field of corn in which every stalk stands or falls on its own root, but like a tree on the basis of our connection to the same root. Therefore, though by our connection to the one man Adam, when he fell, we all fell and are born under condemnation. Yet in the same way, we can be justified and saved by being connected to the one man, God's Son, Jesus Christ, when we put our trust in him.

32:57 That's the point Paul is preparing to make. The third line of thought in these two verses is that Adam is the type of him who was to come. Who, as he underscores at the end of verse 14, is the type of him who was to come. There he speaks of the Lord Jesus.

Adam as a Type of Christ: Clarifying Contrasts

33:14 Adam was a type of the Lord Jesus, just as Adam's action, the action of the one man, his sin, his guilt and punishment were passed to all men. This is in some way that is typical of Christ. So in this parenthetical section, we have a clarifying explanation. Next, we have some clarifying contrasts.

33:35 Having clarified what he means by saying death spread to all men because all sinned, we come to verses 15 and 17, and he still hasn't come back to what he began in verse 12. And this is something Paul does sometimes, as you've known. Reading him, he gets started in one direction, and then he realizes he needs to clarify himself, and he goes back and he picks something up, and then he picks something up related to what he had just said, and eventually he gets back to his main point. Well, this is what he's doing here.

33:59 He seems to feel that he needs now to clear up any misconception about what he meant by saying that Adam is the type of him who was to come. In other words, in verses 15 to 17, we have something of a parenthesis within the parenthesis.

34:15 Adam is a type of Christ. But there are some differences and contrasts. They need to be pointed out before Paul feels ready to get back to his main point. Now, without opening these verses up in detail, in verse 15, he describes what results from the one man Christ as a free gift.

34:33 He contrasts Adam's transgression with a free gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, which abounds to many. It is a gift that sinners receive, verse 16. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. So here's contrast, you see.

34:53 For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation. Adam's one offense brought judgment, a judicial sentence which Paul has spoken of as death and which he now expands to include condemnation. Death and condemnation result from the one offense. But, and here's the contrast, the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.

35:16 So Adam is a type of him who was to come. But there's this contrast. Adam's offense. Adam's offense resulted in condemnation.

35:21 The free gift connected to the one man Christ results in justification. Now, you'll note here that justification is not the free gift, but it results from the free gift.

35:34 Furthermore, the free gift totally outstrips the effect of Adam's one offense because it relates to many offenses. But now, what is the free gift he's talking about? He tells us in verse 17, it is the gift of righteousness. Justification is not the gift.

35:52 Righteousness is the gift. Justification is the result of the free gift. And this free gift of righteousness not only takes into account one offense, it takes into account many offenses. It is a gift that blocks out and covers many offenses.

36:06 The judgment of condemnation coming from Adam's offense was the result of that one offense. The free gift of righteousness takes into account many offenses. Indeed, it takes into account all of the offenses of all. Who are made partakers of that free gift.

36:21 Then in verse 17, Paul gives another reason why the free gift is not exactly like the effect of Adam's sin. It totally outstrips the effect of the one man's offense. There's not an exact one-to-one correspondence between the type and the anti-type because he says, Much more, those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. The gift of righteousness.

36:49 The gift of righteousness will not merely replace the reign of death and condemnation. But much more, those who receive this gift will reign in life like kings. Well, again, all of this could be carefully opened up in detail. But for our purposes right now, I just want you to get the general flow of thought.

37:11 In verse 12, we have a comparison begun but cut short. In verses 13 to 17, we have some clarifications made. First, a clarifying explanation of what he meant. When he said, Now, verses 15 to 17 are very interesting to me.

37:38 I'm actually in the process of getting ready to preach on those verses. There may be some things there that we might want to throw out for discussion later on today. Now we come to verse 18, which begins with the word, Therefore.

The Comparison Resumed: Adam's Disobedience vs. Christ's Obedience

37:52 He is ready now to return to the comparison he began in verse 12, but felt compelled to cut short. It's as if he says, Okay, having clarified some of these possible misconceptions, I'm ready now to get back to the point I was beginning to make. The groundwork for the comparison he began in verse 12 has been laid. Already in verses 14 to 16, he has alluded to it.

38:15 But now as we come to verses 18 to 19, we have the third major division of the passage, the comparison resumed. The comparison resumed.

38:25 The point that Paul is making, and that he was preparing to make up in verse 12, is now made explicit. In the reckoning of God, all sinned when Adam sinned. Death and condemnation are linked to the one man's sin. Now, beginning in verse 18, he tells us that in a similar way, by the one man's obedience, Christ, the many, are made righteous.

38:46 Let's read these verses again. Let's start with verse 12. I'm going to read the whole passage in the comparison. Verse 12.

38:52 Just as through one man's sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned. Or as he repeats the thought now at the beginning of verse 18, and completes the comparison. As through one man's offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation. That's basically a repeating of what he said in verse 12, yet in a different manner.

39:18 Even so, through one man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men. Resulting in justification. For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. Now, do you see the emphasis?

39:36 As to the one, Adam, these results. Judgment upon all, bringing death and condemnation to all. Many being made sinners. As to the one, Jesus Christ, these results.

39:48 Justification of life. Many being made righteous. Well, this passage tells us, that the moral government of God and his dealings with men is a divinely appointed arrangement in which all men are dealt with on the basis of their relationship to these two men, Adam and Christ. There's a sense in which we could say there's, in one sense, there's been two men who have lived.

40:13 And that we are all either connected to the one man, Adam, or the one man, Christ. You guys familiar with Thomas Goodwin's illustration of the, what does he use, the language of the, a big giant with a, with a, think of a huge giant with a, two huge giants with a girdle on them. That would, I guess that would mean in old Puritan language, you know, what would that be, a girdle, I guess. Belt, yeah, a belt.

40:40 And that the whole human race is either hanging upon the belt of Adam, the giant Adam, or the giant Christ. We're all hanging upon the belt of one of those two, men.

40:58 Just as surely as the whole human race was represented by the first man, Adam, and therefore when he sinned, we all sinned in him, were made subject to death, were brought under condemnation. So also Christ came as the last Adam, and all he represented in his obedience received the free gift of righteousness and are justified. Not because of their own obedience, but because of his obedience.

41:24 Just as it is true that death and condemnation came upon us, not because of our own personhood, not because of our own personal acts of sinning, but because of the sin of Adam. So this righteousness by which we are justified is a gift that is given to sinners resulting in justification, as Paul underscored up in verses 16 to 17. And that righteousness is described here as the one man's righteous act, resulting in our justification. And it is also described here as the obedience of the one.

41:54 And I remind you of what was pointed out earlier, the particular word translated here, man. And I remind you of what was pointed out earlier, the particular word translated here, man. The word made in verse 19, the word made in verse 19, many were made sinners, many will be made righteous, means to appoint one as something, to set down as, to constitute as something. It doesn't refer to the subjective changing of someone's character, but the placing of someone in a position or category.

42:15 When he says that by the one man's disobedience many were made sinners, he's not saying that many were made sinful and depraved. It's true that Adamic corruption and depravity is also transmitted to Adam's descendants, but that's not what Paul is talking about in this context. Again, as I said earlier, he's using legal courtroom language, justification, condemnation. We came under condemnation because of the one man's Adam's sin.

42:41 The legal guilt of his sin was credited to us, thereby constituting us sinners under condemnation, thereby putting us into the rank or category of sinners in our standing before God, and as such subject to death and under condemnation. Well, likewise, Paul is saying, that it is by the righteousness of the one man Christ that we are put into the rank or category of righteous. We are counted righteous, constituted righteous because of his righteousness, which Paul has told us is given to us as a free gift. Now, my dear brethren, that is just another way of saying that as Adam's sin was imputed to us and we all fell in him, so also Christ's righteousness is freely imputed to us who believe. And we are justified. The fact that Paul is not referring here to being made righteous in the sense of a change in moral character is further confirmed by the objection he anticipates at the beginning of chapter 6. Chapter 6, verse 1.

43:44 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? There would be absolutely no occasion to ask or to anticipate someone asking that question if Paul were teaching in Romans 5, that by Christ's obedience we are morally transformed. No, he is telling us that by virtue of Christ's obedience we are put into the category of righteous.

44:08 And being constituted righteous, God declares us righteous. We are justified. This is not because of any righteousness in ourselves or because of any obedience of our own. It is the righteousness and obedience of Christ that is the gift of righteousness given to us by which we are justified.

Objection 1: Christ's 'Righteous Act' Limited to His Death

44:28 That is put to our account. Now, let me expand on this a little bit. Let me expand on this in the context of anticipating some objections. Objection 1.

44:50 The objection is sometimes raised that in verse 18 Paul speaks of the one man's righteous act. Therefore, all Paul is talking about is the death of Christ. Not his entire life of obedience and not any positive imputation of righteousness to the Christian. What do we say to that?

45:10 Well, first of all, Paul speaks of Christ's obedience in verse 19 without any limitation or qualification. And it's important for us to understand that the death of Christ is set forth in Scripture from two angles. On the one hand, it is set forth as his suffering of the penal demands of the law as our substitute. It is set forth as a penal satisfaction and propitiation for sin.

45:37 But it is also set forth as an act of obedience. Of obedience to the Father. In fact, the Scriptures describe his death as the culminating act of his life of obedience. Paul says in Philippians 2.8 that he was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And the idea there is not that Christ's obedience simply went up to the threshold of death, rather that he was obedient up to and through death. The life and work of Christ is regularly set forth from this perspective beginning even with his incarnation. Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, to do your will, O God.

46:16 Which is quoted in Hebrews with reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is described as God's righteous servant. He learned obedience through the things that he suffered in this life. Hebrews 5.7-9 Not only in his death, but throughout his life. Not that at any point he was ever disobedient. He was always fully obedient. To the full extent of God's commands, however, as Murray so well puts it, the demands of obedience became more extensive and exacting as he went on to the climactic demand.

46:52 And these expanding demands required increasing resources of obedient disposition, resolution, and volition. His entire life was one of obedience. And the cross was simply the crowning act of that obedience to the Father. Secondly, any act of disobedience at any point in his life would have rendered his death useless and ineffectual.

47:15 As Venema comments, indeed, were it not for the entirety of Christ's obedience from the beginning to the end of his ministry, it would be impossible to speak of his having died the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God. 1 Peter 3.18 Jesus at his baptism said to John that in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. And that's what he was doing for us.

47:37 And that's what he was doing throughout his entire life. He was fulfilling the one great requirement of righteousness. Thirdly, to limit the one man's righteous act here to our Lord's death alone as our substitutionary sin bearer is to give the impression that his obedience at death can somehow be easily separated from the rest of his life. Quoting Piper, Were there not many acts of obedience in Jesus' final days and hours?

48:05 Are we to think of the obedience of Gethsemane or the obedience when the mob took him away, or the obedience when he was interrogated, or the obedience when he was crowned with thorns, or the obedience when he was flogged, or the obedience when he was nailed to the cross, or the obedience when he spoke words of love to his enemies, or the obedience when he offered up his spirit to his Father? The death of Christ was a unified act involving and including many acts of obedience. Therefore, it seems arbitrary to draw the line at some point in the final hours or days of Jesus' life and say that the obedience before that hour was not part of the righteousness that leads to justification or part of the obedience that constitutes many righteous . And this brings me to a fourth argument.

48:50 The word translated act of righteousness is the same word used in Romans 8, 4. And there it is clearly used, though there it is also, we have a singular word there as well, to refer to the entire scope of all that the law requires. Romans 8, 4 tells us that Christ condemned sin in the flesh that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. The righteous requirement of the law takes in all that the law requires, according to the same idea in Romans 5, 18.

49:34 The language of one man's righteous act is used to summarize the one man's whole life of obedience. Now listen to Murray commenting on this. If the question be asked how the righteousness of Christ could be defined as one righteous act, the answer is that the righteousness of Christ is regarded in its compact unity in parallelism with the one trespass. And there is good reason for speaking of it as the one righteous act, because as the one trespass is the trespass of the one, so the one righteousness is the righteousness of the one and the unity of the person and his accomplishment must always be assumed.

50:12 Well, I trust we see again here in Romans 5 strong exegetical evidence for the doctrine of the positive imputation of the righteousness of Christ to believers. Let me now continue to press further in the context, further in this, in the context of anticipating a second objection. There are people who argue that justification involves nothing more than the forgiveness of sins. God, by virtue of the authority and atoning work of Christ, justifies us in the sense that he pardons all our sins.

Objection 2: Justification as Forgiveness Only

50:46 That's all that justification is, the forgiveness of sins, and there's no such thing as the positive imputation of Christ's righteousness. Now, what do we say to that? Well, it is true that in some passages there is great stress placed upon the element of remission of sins, so much so that pardon is all that is mentioned in some texts. It's also true that possibly one of the reasons for that is that in the awakened soul it is the need for forgiveness that is usually most immediately felt.

51:12 It's the burden of guilt that weighs upon the conscience, and the blessing of forgiveness is what tends to most dominate in the mind. Furthermore, it is true that the death of Christ as well as the righteousness of Christ is set forth in Scripture as the ground of our justification. Paul does speak of justification by his blood, Romans 5, 9, of being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by his blood, Romans 3, 24-25. These texts clearly connect our justification to the death of Jesus Christ.

51:49 But does this mean that justification involves nothing more than the forgiveness of sins? Does this mean that the only imputation is the imputation of our sins to Christ by which we are forgiven, and that there is no positive imputation of his righteousness to us? Well, there are several problems with that. First of all, I remind you again of what we just saw a moment ago, that the death of Christ may be viewed and is viewed in Scripture from two angles.

52:16 On the one hand, it involved the endurance of the penalty of sin and the wrath of God. And in that sense, it answers to our need for pardon and forgiveness. The death of our sin was paid upon the cross, securing our pardon. But also, his death is viewed as the crowning, culminating act of his whole life of obedience to the Father.

52:35 And in that sense, it answers to our need for positive righteousness before God. Now, we need to be careful here to avoid confusion and distortion. The 1689 London Baptist Confession, our confession, refers to the imputation of Christ's active obedience unto the whole law and passive obedience in his death for our whole and sole righteousness. So, there is this distinction made between the active and passive obedience of Christ.

53:06 Now, that's a legitimate and useful distinction when properly understood. But it can be misunderstood, and it has sometimes been wrongly understood. Let me explain. There has been the tendency to understand the active obedience of Christ, to refer to Christ's perfect obedience to God, up to, but not including, the cross.

53:31 While on the other hand, his suffering on the cross is looked upon purely as his passive obedience. And in this way, these two things are viewed as two completely separate things. Now, that kind of distinction between Christ's active and passive obedience, I believe, is totally unbiblical. This concept of the passive and active obedience of Christ must not be misunderstood as referring to two completely unconnected parts of Christ's work.

54:03 But having said that, the two terms are useful in describing the one work of Christ, his one righteousness, viewed from two legitimate and biblical perspectives. By the obedience of his entire life up to and through death, he satisfied the demands of God's law in two ways. One, he satisfied the penal demands of the law by his endurance of the punishment for sin. Two, he fulfilled the preceptive demands of God's law by his fulfillment of its demand for perfect obedience.

54:38 Looked at in that way, we may refer to his passive and active obedience, what he suffered and what he did. All that whole obedience, all that he did in obedience to the law and to the commission that the Father gave him, and all that he suffered to satisfy the penalty of God's law, makes up the one righteousness of Christ by which we are justified. Secondly, the fact that justification involves more than pardon is seen by what the word justification means. What does it mean to justify?

55:10 It means to declare or to pronounce righteous. That's what it means to justify. It doesn't mean to pardon. Technically speaking, the word justification, justify, doesn't mean to pardon.

55:22 Of course, pardon is implied and involved because this is the justification of people who are sinners. But strictly speaking, pardon is not the essence of what justification is. To justify is to declare righteous. When a judge justifies a person, the meaning is not that he forgives him of his crime.

55:40 To justify is to declare him not guilty, to declare him righteous. Someone says, but what's the difference? If your sins are all forgiven, is that not the same thing as being counted righteous? No, it's not the same thing.

55:52 Consider thirdly, that the law of God contains a twofold sanction. There are two sides to it. The law requires obedience, and it also requires punishment for disobedience. Furthermore, it promises blessing for obedience and cursing for disobedience.

56:10 If its terms are perfectly kept, there will be the inheritance of eternal life. If its terms are broken at any point, there is the punishment of eternal death and hell. So there is this twofold sanction, and therefore as sinners, we stand under a twofold need. Pardon alone can only release the sinner from the punishment.

56:28 It cannot entitle the sinner to positive blessings. Let me borrow an illustration. Suppose the owner of a large estate, before leaving for a trip, gave his servants ten commandments to be obeyed. While he was away, joined to this was the threat of punishment for the failure to obey, and the promise of reward if they did obey.

56:49 Well, when the master returned, one of the servants had perfectly obeyed. Therefore, he both avoided the threat and punishment, and he received the promised reward. But the other servant had failed to obey. He had been disobedient.

57:02 But because this unfaithful servant pled with his master for pardon and forgiveness, the master, being moved with compassion, gave him for all of his offenses and did not punish him. So this second servant was forgiven and did not receive punishment. But that's not the same thing as having inherited the reward as the other servant had. He still could not be rewarded as one who had fully carried out his duties.

57:26 You see, being forgiven and freed from punishment is not the same thing as being entitled to the reward of perfect obedience. Remember that justification is a legal term. We are in the realm of the law, court. A judge may try a criminal and find him guilty, but then for some reason choose to show mercy to him and forgive him of his debt to society.

57:46 That's one thing, to be a criminal to whom the judge shows mercy and frees from punishment. But it's another thing and an even more wonderful thing for the judge to declare that in the eyes of the law you're not guilty of the crime and that you have perfectly kept the law. You see, we can be forgiven and yet still be declared guilty. But in justification we are not merely forgiven, we are declared righteous.

58:07 We are reckoned as having guiltlessly obeyed God. Our standing before God is not merely that of a pardoned criminal who is freed from punishment. It is that of one who is righteous. God declares righteous the sinner who believes on Jesus.

58:24 Christ stands in the believing sinner's place by fulfilling the whole law on his behalf both its preceptive and penal demands. And then fourthly and related to this, justification answers to the original state of man in his relationship to God under the Adamic administration or what is sometimes called the covenant of works which we heard about earlier this week. Adam as our representative was under the obligation to obey. In fact, he was under no obligation to punishment or penalty in his original state because he was sinless.

59:06 His original relationship to God as our representative head was one in which he was under obligation to obey. Well, Adam failed to obey. Having failed to obey he then came under the penalty and became liable to punishment but that did not change in the least the original obligation to render obedience. For Christ, the last Adam to endure the punishment securing our pardon alone would not be sufficient to fulfill the original obligations of Adam and his race.

59:35 For forgiveness alone does not remove the original obligation of obedience. Furthermore, the obedience of Adam was the necessary condition for the inheritance of immutable eternal life as we have seen this week. Whatever you want to call that arrangement in the garden, it has been called the covenant of works. I agree that that may not be the best description of it.

59:54 Call it the creation bond or the Adamic administration or whatever you call it. It was an arrangement in which Adam was required to render full and unfailing obedience. And it can be demonstrated and it has been clearly demonstrated in this module notwithstanding the protests of many that his obedience was also necessary if Adam was to inherit the blessing of eternal life in a state of immutable holiness. A state he obviously was not in in the garden or he would never have sinned.

60:27 And a state that those who are in Christ will be in in glory as a result of the work that Christ accomplished. I again remind you of the exposition given earlier concerning the covenant of works. I also point you to the second attachment in the back of my notes where I've included what I think is a helpful contribution to this that was given recently by my co-elder Bob Gonzales. Let me just quote at this point from one of the ancient Puritans, Dr. Sam Waldron.

61:03 The necessity of these two aspects of Christ's obedience is clearly manifested when we compare the positions of the first Adam with the second. The failure of the first Adam greatly increased the burden laid upon Christ the second or last Adam. What did Adam have to do to inherit eternal life? His responsibility was simple.

61:32 Obey the law written on his heart and the special precept God had given him. What did the second Adam have to do if those he represented were to inherit eternal life? Two things. First, he had to undo what Adam did.

61:44 By his suffering or passive obedience he had to bear our guilt that we might be forgiven. Second, he had to do what Adam failed to do. By his active obedience he had to provide for us the positive obedience Adam failed to render. And then fifthly and finally, the fact that justification involves this positive side as well is clearly set forth in the many passages that we've looked at, that we looked at yesterday.

62:08 Paul not only speaks of justification in terms of pardon, he describes this blessing in positive terms, in terms of the positive value of imputation of righteousness. I'll not go back over all of that again but I trust we've seen that Paul describes the blessing of justification in terms of the imputation of righteousness to us, not merely in terms of the imputation of our sins to Christ. And we'll stop there for now.