Lesson 10
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WE HAVE just studied the Genesis account of the fall of man. In order to understand aright the full meaning of this fall, it will be necessary for us to turn to the New Testament. Our Shorter Catechism says: "The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery." But why is this so?
In what way did the disobedience of Adam affect you and me? Why am I in any way affected by or responsible for what Adam did? The answer to these questions lies in the fact that Adam was our representative. If he had abstained from the forbidden tree, he and his descendants would have lived forever. But since he disobeyed God, he, by his own act, brought not only himself, but also all his seed (i.e. his descendants) into a state of sin and misery. In other words, God imputes Adam's disobedience to you and to me.
To "impute" means to attribute to, to reckon to, to lay to one's account. Therefore, God attributes Adam's sin to us. God lays this sin to our account. We are held accountable for what Adam did. The very fact, then, that we are human beings, IN ITSELF is enough to condemn us. If the student feels that this is unjust or unfair of God, we must simply answer, "Nay, but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast Thou made me thus?" That this is the clear teaching of Scripture, we shall now demonstrate. It will be necessary to study carefully Romans 5:12-19.
ROMANS 5:12-19
Verse Twelve [Rom. 5:12]. When this verse says that sin entered into the world, it does not merely refer to the first case of sin; it means that sin entered into the world and is in the world now. It is stated that this happened through the agency of one man (Adam). Death also came in by means of sin. The force of the words "passed upon" is "permeated." Thus, we may read, "death permeated all men, because all have sinned." This phrase, "Because all have sinned," means that all have sinned in Adam, their representative. That is, all sinned when Adam partook of the forbidden fruit. That this is the correct Interpretation of these words is shown
a. By the fact that it is in harmony and complete accord with what Paul says in the next few verses. Since Paul is trying to prove that all sinned in Adam, he would certainly be inconsistent to contradict this fact in the midst of his argument.
b. This view of the passage is the one assumed by the great commentators of the Church.
Verses Thirteen and Fourteen [Rom. 5:13-14]. These verses are difficult, but their general meaning seems to be as follows. They refer only to the time between Adam and Moses, before the Ten Commandments were given. As we read these verses, we are not to understand that God had given no law upon earth before the Mosaic law. Of course, the basic principles of morality expressed in the Ten Commandments were operative from Adam to Moses, and if a man violated these principles, he was subject to condemnation. But during this time there was no law ADEQUATE to explain the universality of death. If there is no law for man to break, then God cannot treat a man as a sinner.
Now, between the time of Adam and Moses, the Ten Commandments had not yet been given. But even though this was so, yet sin was present. God did reckon men as sinners. He treated them just as though they had broken law. How do we know that God treated men as sinners before the Mosaic Law was given? We know this because God punished men with death. Now, not every man had sinned just as Adam did. Adam had deliberately disobeyed a revealed command of God. But some had not sinned in this manner at all. Nevertheless, they died. Death reigned. How are we to explain this universal, unrestrained reign of death? How are we to account for the fact that those died who had not sinned as had Adam? There is only one way to account for this fact. They died, because they sinned in Adam, their representative. God imputed to them the sin of Adam.
He held them to account for what Adam had done, for all mankind fell in Adam.
The interpretation of these verses which we have given may be disputed by some, for they are difficult as to details. Their design, however, does seem to be to prove that the last phrase of verse twelve (for that all have sinned) means that all have sinned in Adam, their representative.
Verse Fifteen [Rom. 5:15]. Here it is definitely stated that by the transgression of one man (Adam) many died. The thing that Adam did is imputed to us. God holds us to account for his sin. The gift of grace here mentioned is the salvation which Jesus procured for us by His death upon the cross.
Verse Sixteen [Rom. 5:16]. Here is the same thing. The act of one man, Adam, brought about the judgment of God which condemns all men. Because of Adam, we are condemned for one sin, but through Christ, we are freed from the condemnation of many sins.
Verse Seventeen [Rom. 5:17]. Words cannot be plainer than these. Because of the one transgression, death, which is the penalty of sin, reigned through one man.
Verse Eighteen [Rom. 5:18]. The original is very vivid here. "Wherefore, as by the transgression of one, unto all men, unto condemnation." We are condemned because of Adam's transgression. The one deed of his pulled us down so that our nature is sinful, death reigns over us and there awaits only condemnation. But while the transgression of one plunged us all into a state of condemnation, the righteous act of Another saved us from condemnation.
Verse Nineteen [Rom. 5:19]. Again we find the same teaching. It is by the disobedience of one man that many men were established as sinners.
Let us also look briefly at I Corinthians 15:21-22, where we find the very same thing taught. The very fact that we are human beings causes us to die. This is the terrible result of Adam's sin. He plunged the whole human race into a state of misery and despair, leading only to judgment and condemnation. The student is most earnestly urged to master this teaching of the Bible. There are those who rebel against it, in spite of the clear method with which the Bible presents it. And it is a hard thing to understand. But while the act of the first man, Adam, plunged us all into a state of misery leading to condemnation, the first man, Adam, is only a type of Him Who was to come.
In the fulness of time, God sent forth a second MAN, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and now is both GOD and MAN, Who kept the law to the very letter, and Who performed a righteous act which causes us to be declared just and righteous by God. For the Lord Jesus Christ, seeing us ruined and lost and eternally damned by the fall and under the terrible curse of the law, came to this earth and offered Himself a Sacrifice, pure and spotless and perfect, so that He might completely satisfy the Divine justice and might wholly reconcile us to God. By His death He completely paid the full penalty of our sin. His atoning death satisfied the justice of a holy God, so that God will now declare just every man that believes on Jesus.
The Lord Jesus was our Substitute upon the cross. We deserved the terrible death which He died. But He took the full penalty of our sin upon Himself and wholly delivered us from the accusing finger of God's law. He was made sin for us, He Who knew no sin, that we, lost, undone, condemned sinners, might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
It is because Christ was our Substitute upon the cross that we are saved. We lay hold upon this salvation by faith, and faith is the gift of the Holy Spirit. The only hope of the world today is Christ. Man is a fallen creature and cannot save himself. But there is a Saviour, even Jesus Christ the Lord, Who loved us and gave Himself for us.
EXERCISES
- Romans 5:12. What does the phrase "sin entered the world" mean?
- Through whose agency did this happen?
- What does the phrase "for all have sinned" mean? Prove it.
- Romans 5:13-14. If a man dies, does it show that he has sinned?
- Did men die between the time of Adam and Moses?
- Did men die during this time because they had broken the Ten Commandments?
- Why did men die between the time of Adam and Moses?What does "imputation" mean?
- Show how each verse of Romans 5:15-19 teaches that it was the sin of Adam which plunged each one of us into condemnation.
1. Does God lay to our account the sin of Adam?
OPTIONAL EXERCISES
- Commit to memory Romans 5:12-19.
- Study carefully and commit to memory question sixteen of the Shorter Catechism, or question seven of the Heidelberg Catechism.
HYMNS FOR STUDY
No. 137: "Rock Of Ages, Cleft For Me."
No. 30: "Round The Lord In Glory Seated."