Jim McDonald

At least twice in Paul’s letters there is a contrast made between Adam and Christ — a contrast in which mankind is affected by what each did. The two contrasts are found in 1 Corinthians 15:22 and Romans 5:5:12-21. The Corinthian contrast (“as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive”) shows that by Adam’s sin and his removal from the garden in which grew the tree of life, he was destined to die for he was mortal. Therefore we must die for we also are mortal. We die because we too are separated from the tree of life. On the other hand, Jesus, by His resurrection, “brought to naught him who had the power of death, the devil” and showed that as He was raised from the dead, so will all men be (John 5:28-29). In this contrast “death” is physical death and “resurrection” is also physical as well.

However, in the second contrast (Romans 5) the death is different. The death in that passage is spiritual as is the life which is offered us in Christ. The passage reads, “Therefore as through one man sin entered the world and death by sin and so death passed unto all men for that all sinned.” We have stated that this death is spiritual and the reason for saying so is that the consequence of what befalls us is the result of what we have done, not what Adam did. Adam sinned and death passed unto all men. Why? Because all men sinned. Since “death” in this passage comes “because that all sin,” we pose the question, “Since some infants die either while in the womb or shortly after birth, what sin did that infant commit that it should die?” Sin is “the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). The “death” in this passage was the death God spoke of when he warned Adam not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil for “in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:15-17). Adam did not die physically the day he ate the forbidden fruit, but he did die spiritually. He was separated from the fellowship he had had with God in the garden. God had warned “in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” He had eaten and he had died spiritually. Death (spiritual) also passes to us because we sin. Notice that this passage does not say death “passed unto men because Adam sinned;” the reason given why “death passed unto all men” is because all sinned. This death is the consequence of each man’s sin, not because of Adam’s sin.

Yet, all are affected both by Adam’s sin and Jesus’ grace: “But not as the trespass, so also is the free gift. For if by the trespass of the one, the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound unto the many” (Romans 5:15). This verse addresses that all men are affected by both the sin of Adam and the grace of Jesus Christ, but not in the same way. “The many” are affected adversely through Adam’s sin, the same “many” are affected beneficially through Jesus’ sacrifice.

Calvinists who use this chapter to “prove” men inherit Adam’s sin meet their “Waterloo” in it, for rather than a proof that the passage which says that “through the trespass the many died” means all inherit the sin of Adam, thus universal condemnation, the same “many” are affected by Jesus’ sacrifice and thus universal salvation! The apostle shows the same people affected by Adam’s sin are affected by Jesus’ sacrifice. He wrote, “Through one trespass judgment came unto all men to condemnation; so through one act of righteousness the free gift came unto all men to justification of life” (v. 18); then, “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous.”

So what do we learn from the apostle in this profound dissertation? We hear him teach that men are creatures of choice who face the consequences of the choices they make. Sin entered the world through Adam’s sin, and because it did, men face temptation to sin. And, just as Adam made his choice to sin, and suffered the consequence of his disobedience; so all men are tempted and by their choice to sin face the consequence of their choice. On the other hand, God’s grace is offered to all, but for any to experience the benefit of that grace, he must choose to accept it — to obey God. It is a marvelous truth the apostle wrote: “But not as the trespass so also is the free gift.” The pleasures of sin and God’s gift of grace come equally to all men, but the results from our choices are vastly different; choosing to pursue “the pleasures of sin” brings spiritual death. Choosing to accept God’s brings spiritual life.