Okay, this is Romans lecture number 12 Romans lecture number 12 We're still on the section That deals with salvation in Christ and deals more specifically with justification Romans 5 verse 12 21 I titled this death in Adam death in Adam life in Christ As a doctrine, Paul has stated that all are condemned and salvation is only found in Christ. He said that the salvation was proclaimed in the Old Testament. using David and Abraham as examples, and Paul showed the results of justification in Romans 5, verses 1 to 11. And now Paul discusses the doctrine of imputation, and we'll talk about that in just a minute. The doctrine of imputation. Okay, so let's take a look at verses 12 to 14. Now, verses 12 to 14 talk about the fact that sin is imputed to all men. Sin is imputed to all men. Let's take a look at verse 12. Adam's sin contaminated the human race. Verse 12 of Romans chapter 5. Therefore, just as through one man, sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. Okay, so verse 12. This whole section, first of all, sin is imputed to all men. The verse 12, Adam's sin contaminated the human race. Now what we need to do here is differentiate between two things. There's two things really being spoken about here. There's imputed sin, or imputation, and there's inherited sin. So let's differentiate between the two. Amputation, now amputation starts with an I. If you change the I to an A, it would be amputation. Amputation, you would take something away from somebody. If you had your arm amputated, your arm would be removed. Amputation, you would credit something to another's account. You would add something to somebody else. That's what amputation is. And so, amputation is to credit something to another's account. Adam's sin was imputed directly to us. The word direct is very important here. Inherited sin, we inherit a sin nature from Adam, but indirectly. In other words, I'm going to move to the board right here. Imputation or imputed sin goes from Adam right to me, right to you, right to everyone. It's direct. So when Adam sinned, I sinned. I sinned in Adam. His sin, Adam's sin was imputed or accredited to the account of all mankind. Adam was the embodiment of the human race, so when he fell, all mankind fell. So the sin of Adam was imputed to all of us. But inherited sin is not direct, it's indirect, but it's still from Adam. We inherit the sin nature from Adam, but it went from Adam to his son Seth, to his son, to his son, and eventually to me. So then I inherited a sin nature from my father, who inherited a sin nature from his father, who inherited a sin nature from his father, on and on until eventually we can trace the sin nature to Adam. But it was indirect, it was from Adam, from one generation to the next. So inherited sin, we inherited sin nature from Adam from one generation to the next. In Pewter's sin, though, when Adam fell, all mankind fell. Some see him as a representative of the human race. Others see him as being the human race itself. The human race would come from him. And so when he fell, all mankind fell. So keep that in mind. Adam's sin contaminated the human race. Adam's sin was imputed directly to us. Imputation means to credit something to another's account. Adam's sin was credited to our account. Inherited sin, we inherit our sin nature indirectly from Adam. It went from Adam to his son, to his son, to his son on and down the line, and eventually to us. Let me talk about, very briefly, about some false views of the fall of Adam. The liberal view, of course, is that the Adam and Eve and the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden is nothing but a myth. It's a fairy tale, a legend. And so, therefore, the fall of Adam and Eve had no real effect on mankind. That's the liberal view. Man is not fallen, he doesn't need to be saved. The Pelagian view. Pelagius was currently a monk who debated Augustine. And the Pelagian view was that Adam set a bad example for us. But perfection is actually possible. The word actually is important there. So the Pelagian view, Adam set a bad example for us, but if we don't follow Adam's example, it is possible for us to live a perfect life. It's actually possible. In fact, Pelagius gave several examples of people that he thought lived a perfect life. Obviously, that's a false view of the false. Very close, as a matter of fact, to the liberal view, only that Adam and Eve is not a myth. But the fall of Adam was a bad example set for us. Now the Arminian view, those who believe you could lose your salvation, the Arminian view is that the fall of Adam was more than a myth, and it was more than a bad example, but it actually weakened our will, yet perfection is theoretically possible. Now there's a difference between saying it's theoretically possible than it's actually possible. Pelagius would say it is actually possible for somebody to live a perfect life and some people have done that. Arminius though would say it's theoretically possible but no one has ever done it nor will anybody ever live a perfect life except for Jesus himself. Okay, so the Arminian view is that the fall of Adam weakened our will and perfection is theoretically possible. So those three views, I would view them as false views of the fall of Adam. The liberal view, the Pelagian view, and the Arminian view. The true view of the fall of Adam is the view that is being taught here in Romans 5 by Paul. It was also taught in Psalm 51. And verse 5, by King David himself, the true view of the fall, it's the Augustinian view, St. Augustine held to this view. Psalm 51 and verse 5, and David says, Behold I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. David's mother had sexual relations with David's father, so that was not sin. The sexual intercourse that they had, so he wasn't saying that she sinned and that conceived him, but what he was saying was that his mother conceived him in a state of sin. David was sinful from the moment he was conceived. The NIV translates this as Behold, I was born in something along these lines. Behold, I was born in iniquity and sinful from the time my mother conceived me. That's the idea. David was sinful from the time his mother conceived him. So, from the moment of conception, at the moment of conception, we are sinful. In other words, the true view of the fall of Adam, when Adam sinned, his nature became corrupt. He was perfect, but when he sinned, He had fallen, his nature became corrupt, and we inherit Adam's corrupted sinful nature. Augustine worded it this way, corrupt nature begats corrupt nature. So we inherit Adam's corrupted sinful nature. And sin brings about death, Romans 6.23, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Sin brings about death. All men die because all men sin, yet all men sin because we were all born sinful and we do what comes natural to us, and that is falling short of God's perfection. We all naturally sin. Adam's sin contaminated the human race. When Adam sinned, his nature became corrupt, and we inherit Adam's corrupted, sinful nature. Now, Augustine, by the way, would argue that the unsaved does not have the ability... The unsaved must always sin. The unsaved cannot not sin. Okay? And so he would argue that the unsaved cannot freely accept Jesus as savior. God has to zap you in the Calvinist sense. Regeneration precedes faith. God has to make you born again. And then when you're born again, you have a new nature, then you freely believe. I don't think that's the case. In fact, Paul seems to contradict that in Romans 6. verses 17 and 18, Paul says, but thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. So Paul's saying, you were slaves of sin, even though you were slaves of sin, you accepted the gospel message, and then you became slaves of righteousness. Now, if Calvin is correct, And if Augustine is correct, and if Luther was correct, then we would have been slaves to sin, and God would have just made us slaves to righteousness, and then we would have accepted Christ. And that's not what the Bible teaches. So I would say this, that before we're saved, we cannot please God. Paul says that it is impossible for man to please God in the flesh, and Romans 8, Verse 8, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. We could not please God while in the flesh. We could not earn God's favor as non-believers. But when I accepted Jesus Christ, I believe I freely did that. At the same time, I did not earn God's favor. I merely accepted His grace. And so I think as long as we put it in that sense, that while we're unsaved we cannot earn God's favor, then we would understand that we're saved by God's grace and it would not be a contradiction of that. Okay. Now, Paul talks about the fact that sin was in the world from Adam to the law, verse 13 of Romans 5. For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Don't let that throw you for a loss there. Sin was in the world from Adam to the law, even though no specific verbal command of God was violated. In other words, God said, don't eat from the tree of the forbidden fruit. So Adam sinned by disobeying a specific verbal command of God. Paul is saying sin was in the world even after the fall of man until the law came, which was the next time God made a specific verbal command that he gave to all man, all mankind, because God's laws were written in man's conscience, Romans 2, 14 and 15. that even the, let's read that passage, Romans 2, 14 and 15. So when Gentiles do not have the law, for when Gentiles who do not have the law, do instinctively the things of the law, these not having the law are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them. And so God has written his laws in our conscience. We've been created that way by God. So all pre-law men, all men who lived before, men and women who lived before the Mosaic Law, the Law of Moses, this is about 1500 BC, all pre-law men and women were guilty with Adam in his sin In other words, when Adam sinned, the human race sinned in him. And then we also sinned against God's witness, God's laws written in our conscience. So when Adam sinned, the human race sinned in him. Now, that might sound kind of weird, but that's not alien to the Bible, that type of thinking, that type of teaching. And of course, if it's taught in the Bible, since the Bible is God's Word, then it is true. So if we think in a different way than what God's Word teaches. We're wrong and the Word of God is right. But take a look at Hebrews 7 verses 9 and 10. It says, And so to speak through Abraham even Levi who received tithes paid tithes for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. Now what it's saying is now Abraham was the, I believe, great-grandfather of Levi. Levi was one of the twelve tribes of Israel because from Abraham came Isaac, then Jacob, and then his twelve sons. One of them was Levi. So, Levi was not as great as Abraham because Levi came as a great-grandson of Abraham. Yet, and then the Israelites would pay tithes, would pay one-tenth of what they made to Levi, the Levitical priesthood. Yet, it was Abraham who paid tithes to Melchizedek. Well, if Abraham was greater than Levi, then the Levitical priesthood, through Abraham, paid tithes to Melchizedek, showing him that the Melchizedekian priesthood was greater than the Levitical priesthood. But the fact of the matter is, before Levi was ever alive, he actually can be seen as paying tithes to Melchizedek, in the sense that his great-grandfather paid tithes to Melchizedek. In the same way, even though we weren't alive yet, We are part of the human race, and Adam was, by definition, the human race. So when Adam sinned, we sinned in Adam. All mankind fell, including ourselves, when Adam sinned. So when Adam sinned, the human race sinned in him. When Adam fell, mankind fell. Because everything that we were ever going to be came from Adam. Just like everything that Levi was ever going to be came from Abraham. If Abraham paid tithes on Mechizedek, then Levi paid tithes on Mechizedek through him. Since everything we were ever going to be was wrapped up in Adam, since Adam fell, since he sinned, we fell, we sinned. And so, because of this, death reigned from Adam to Moses, verse 14 of Romans 5. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who was the type of him who was to come. So death reigned from Adam to Moses because of sin. Though no clear command of God was broken. Remember God said, Thou shalt not eat from the forbidden fruit. Adam violated that clear command. Then you don't have any other clear command at least spelled out in the Bible until the Law of Moses. So in that gap of probably 2,500 years at least, Men still sin even though they weren't violating clear commands of God until the law came. Again, God's witness to them in their conscience plus the fact that they had sinned in Adam and inherited a sin nature. But Adam is referred to as a type of Christ here. Look at 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15 verses 21 and 22. For since by a man came death, since, you know, obviously the man is Adam, for since by a man came death, by a man, now we're talking about Christ, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all can be made alive. Now some people try to refer to this as a passage teaching universalism, that everybody's going to be saved. Well the fact is, everybody's spiritually dead, because all human beings are in the family of Adam rather than saying Adam's family then confusing that with the movie every one of us who is physically born is born into the family of Adam so we're all born spiritually dead yet not everybody ever gets into not everybody gets into the family of Christ the only way to get into the family of Christ is by believing in Christ trusting in Him for salvation so we're all born the first time born physically of perishable seed, as Peter says, 1 Peter 1.23, we're all born of perishable seed through Adam, we're born physically, if we're born a second time, born of the Spirit, through Christ, by trusting in Christ, and then we could become a part of the body of Christ, we're in Christ for salvation, then all those who are in Christ, all believers, shall be made alive. So that's the real key there. But Adam, in this sense, is a type of Christ. You see, both Adam and Christ are the head of a family. In Adam, in his family, all are spiritually dead. In Christ, in his family, all are spiritually alive. Now, verses 15 to 19 of Romans chapter 5, Paul tells us that righteousness is imputed to all who are in Christ. So, when Adam sinned, his sin was imputed or credited to the account of all mankind. Yet, those who trust in Christ for salvation, the righteousness of Christ is imputed or credited to our account. Look at verses 15 to 19 of Romans 5. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For by the transgression 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 to the many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For on the one hand, the judgment arose from one transgression, resulting in condemnation. But on the other hand, the free gift arose from many transgressions, resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one death reigns through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one the many will be made righteous." A lot of words there, a lot of heavy terminology, heavy theology that is. Paul is getting at the fact just as sin, the sin of Adam, was imputed to all men, was credited to the account of all men, so too the righteousness of Christ is imputed to all who are in Christ, to all who truly believe. Paul was talking about the fact that Adam is a type of Christ because they have something in common. In Adam, they're both the head of a family. In Adam, all spiritually die. In Christ, all are spiritually alive. But now he points out, okay, we've got a point of comparison, but now there's also a point of discontinuity. There's a point where salvation is not like the fall. The difference is extreme. The difference is the difference between life and death. You see, Adam's transgression was obviously disobedience. But Christ's free gift was brought about by obedience. Adam's transgression brought death to mankind. But Christ's free gift brought life to mankind. Through Adam's transgression, many, all mankind, many were made sinners. But through Christ's free gift of salvation, through his obedience, many will be made righteous. 2 Corinthians 5.21 tells us that he who made He made Him who knew no sin, so God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. So what they're basically saying is Adam's sin was credited to our account, that's what Paul talked about. But then God credited to Jesus' account when Jesus was on the cross, our sin. So He died on the cross for our sin, so that if we trust in Him for salvation, then Christ's righteousness was credited to our account. So Christ's free gift, given through His obedience, His being obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross, Philippians 2, 5-8, brought to mankind God's grace, God's favor. It abounded to many, those who trusted in Him for salvation. Justification was given to all who are in Christ, who are declared righteous, and believers received life. through Christ's free gift, that's why it's not like Adam's transgression, because there we receive death, but through Christ we receive life and righteousness, rather than through Adam we receive death and sinfulness, the sin nature, and through Christ many will be made righteous. So the doctrine In fact, we'll get to that when we conclude this section. We'll talk about the entire doctrine of imputation. I'll diagram it on the board for those attending the lecture. Verses 20 and 21, Paul differentiates between law and grace of Romans chapter 5. And the law came in that the transgression might increase, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So he differentiates, he contrasts the law and grace. The law increases sin. You see, it gives us new ideas for evil. When God says, thou shalt not, sometimes we say, well, gee, I never thought about doing that, but now that God said not to do it, I'm kind of tempted to do it. So the law actually increases sin. It gives us new ideas for evil. It also, you know, if you break one of God's laws, but you never heard of that law, it's still sin. But once you do hear that sin, it increases the amount of guilt that you have for breaking that sin. It goes from a missing the mark, amortia, to a willful transgression. So the law actually increases sin, whereas grace covers sin. Grace pays the price for sin. The law declares God's holiness and God's holy standards to man but grace declares God's love and forgiveness. You see, the law declares God's holiness and his holy standards to man and because man can't keep those holy standards through his own strength, it declares man's sinfulness. It makes man conscious of his own sin. Romans 3.20 and in Galatians 3.24 the law was our tutor to lead us to Christ. So, grace Rather, the law declares God's holiness and God's holy standards. Grace declares God's love and forgiveness. The law declares man's sinfulness. It shows man that he can't keep God's holy standards, he falls short. But grace declares the sinful man righteous. Grace is God's charity. The law gives you what you earn. And of course we can't earn God's favor. The law demands obedience. It demands righteousness. And man cannot live righteously on his own. But grace provides the righteousness that man could not attain to on his own. And so therefore the law condemns man Whereas grace justifies man. Grace is God's charity giving us the eternal life and the righteousness we could not earn on our own. And so sin brings death. We try to obey God's laws in our own strength, we can't do it. And so sin brings death. 1 Corinthians 15, 56, Paul says that there as well. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. Now God's law is holy, but the fact of the matter is man cannot in his own strength keep God's holy law. So the law is actually the power of sin. And of course, verse 57, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot keep the law on our own. We cannot save ourselves, but we're saved through Christ. So sin brings death. And sin is the result of man trying to keep the law on his own. So actually the law brings death. Yet grace brings righteousness and eternal life. God's grace comes to us only through Jesus Christ. Now, eternal life, we need to break that down. Eternal life, when we say eternal, it's talking about the duration. The duration. For instance, eternal death, i.e. the eternal flames of hell is still eternal. It's just as eternal as eternal life is. So, eternal speaks of the duration. All human beings are going to exist throughout all eternity. The only question is are we going to eternally experience death in hell or are we going to eternally experience life in heaven? So eternal merely speaks about the duration, the fact that it never ends. John 10, 28, Jesus Christ defined this aspect of eternal life, the eternal aspect, the duration. He said, I give them eternal life and they shall never perish No one can snatch them out of my hand. So he said, I give them eternal life, they shall never perish. That's the duration of that life. It goes on forever and ever. So eternal speaks of the duration of eternal life, it never ends. Life speaks of the quality of that life. It's communion with God. Whereas eternal death is eternal separation from God. Eternal torment. John 17.3 speaks of the quality, the life aspect of eternal life. Jesus said, and this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, that they may know God, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. So, eternal life, the life aspect, the quality aspect of that eternal life, is that they may personally know God the Father and God the Son. Okay? And so the conclusion of this passage is the doctrine of imputation. Now, imputation is threefold. When you put Romans 5 together, where Adam's sin is imputed to us, together with 2 Corinthians 5.21, He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. You find a doctrine of imputation. A doctrine of imputation. First, Adam's sin was imputed to us. Okay? Adam's sin was imputed to us. So all of us are sinful and are declared sinful. Adam's sin was imputed to us. It's credited to our account. But number two, on the cross of Christ, our sin was credited or imputed to Jesus' account. So when Jesus died on the cross, he died for our sins. The sins of mankind was placed in Jesus' account. So that Jesus died for the sins of mankind, the just for the unjust. 1 Peter 2.24, 1 Peter 3.18. John 1.29, John about to say, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. So, imputation number one, Adam's sin is credited to our account. 2. Our sin was credited to Jesus' account on the cross at Calvary. 3. When you trust in Jesus for salvation, Christ's righteousness is credited to our account when we trust in Him for salvation. In other words, we're declared righteous. It's an alien righteousness, as Martin Luther would say. It's a righteousness not of our own. It's a judicial righteousness. We're judicially declared. God the Judge has declared us righteous, even though we're still sinners at the moment we first trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. And so Romans 5, just a brief overview, deals with justification. Paul mentioned the seven different results of justification that we have. Once a person is justified, he has peace with God, he's introduced into a new grace standing no longer under the law. He can boast in the hope of the glory of God. He can boast in his tribulations and have hope in the midst of his trials. The believer receives the love of God poured out within his heart through the Holy Spirit. Receives eternal security knowing that he will never be lost and be kept by God's power. And he can boast in God. Well, I said, but you boast. But I'm boasting the Lord. And Romans 5, 12-21 tells us that all mankind dies in Adam. is dead in Adam, but receives life in Christ. Those who trust in Christ receive life in Him. And so Paul has stated that all that are condemned in salvation can only be found in Christ. The salvation is nothing new. It was proclaimed in the Old Testament. And so he showed us the results of justification and they discussed the doctrine of imputation. Adam's sin was credited to our account Our sin was credited to Christ on the cross of Calvary. When we trust in Jesus for salvation, Christ's righteousness is then credited to our account. We have basically the ticket to get us into heaven. When we trust in Jesus for salvation, we receive Christ's righteousness. Anything short of Christ's righteousness will not get us to heaven. Then, of course, the Lord begins to change us from within. and that righteousness becomes more and more lived in our lives. Now, Romans 6, Paul will talk about the Christian and sin, and Romans 7 will talk about the Christian and the law, both Romans 6 and Romans 7 talk about the second aspect of justification which is sanctification, the process whereby God sets the believer more and more apart for his holy purposes and in Romans 8 the act of glorification is discussed where God fully perfects us and fully conforms us to the image of his son and the total presence of sin is done away with.