Xchange - Discussion Notes

Romans Study 4
Adam - Romans 5:12-21

So then, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and [consequently] death spread to everyone because everyone sinned…

(Sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not recognised when there is no law. Yet death was in charge from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a figure of the one to come.

But the free gift is not on an equal footing with the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, you can be even more certain that the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. This is because the judgement following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of one man’s trespass, death was in charge through that one, you can be even more certain that those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exert their authority in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.)

…[what was I saying? Oh that’s right …], Just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for everyone, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for everyone. For just as by one man’s obedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience, many will be made righteous. But law came in, so that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace increased even more, so that just as sin was in charge in death, so grace might also be in charge through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

It’s no secret that the stars, are falling from the sky
The universe exploding, because of one man’s lie
(Bono)

In the Gospels themselves we see one (Matthew) focus upon the Fatherhood of Abraham, so another (Luke) draws attention to the Fatherhood of Adam, embracing not only the Jews but all humanity. Paul moves from a focus upon Abraham to a focus upon Adam, implicating the entire human race in the particular events in the lives of two particular people.

This passage is sometimes taken as proof of the existence of a historical Adam and a historical fall. It seems quite clear that Paul himself believed this, although it is not necessary to do so in order to follow his argument. Paul himself was acutely aware of the function of metaphors and stories in his own culture, and attuned to the figurative structures of the Genesis accounts, but he is not here trying to address the question that modern Christians and others bring to the text about requiring a historical Adam.

Adam (or Adamah in Hebrew) is the word for soil, and for all humankind. By talking about Adam, Paul is talking about the condition of all humanity, arguing that we are thrown into a sinful world, characterised by the heritage of Adam – a world whose hallmark is rebellion against God. This rebellion, we have already seen, is the reason for the disintegration of all people, and as we will later see, the disintegration of the entire creation. (‘The universe exploding because of one man’s lie’)

In such a world, the law is unable to do anything but to amplify human sin, showing it up for it to be seen in all its ugliness. But here, having described the utter dark hopelessness of the world of Adam, resulting in death – on either side of the grave – Paul moves to offer an alternative, to draw attention to what C.S. Lewis might have described as ‘a deeper magic’ (see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.)

If the whole world, all of Adam’s offspring, are implicated by the sin which precedes them in the world (which does not, by the way, excuse them from their own moral responsibility) and are thereby hopelessly subject to the power of death, so in Christ, a new world is created. This time, not creation ex-nihilo (out of nothing), but a creation out of sin and death. In fact, the narrative echoes the language of Exodus, as Christ – like the new Moses – offers a ‘way out’ (the literal meaning of ex-hodos) of the all-encompassing law of sin and death, just as Moses had led the people from the all-encompassing slavery inflicted by Pharoah.

In this context, Grace enters into our world as a free gift, bringing disruption to the world of sin that ruled by law of sin and death. Grace denotes an utter ‘beyondness’ that enters into the world of the familiar, in order to effect transformation. In this sense, grace is uncomfortable, even painful, and as such is frequently snubbed (see Lk 4:18-30). But it is only this grace that is able to transform, to get to the heart of humanity, to change the world by its radical (literally, right down to the root) liberation. But it is precisely this which makes it meaningful, beautiful and powerful. It is the grace we see at work in the cross and resurrection of the one man Jesus, infusing the world with a liberating beauty from beyond itself, the only source of a hope that can take the world beyond itself.

Discussion Questions

1. What is the relationship between ‘sin’ as a condition, and ‘sins’ as manifestations of that condition? Is a sinner simply something we become when we commit specific sins? Or do we sin because we are already sinners? If it is the latter, then is sin really our fault, when we are so helplessly thrown into a sinful world?

How might we sometimes belittle the monstrous gravity of sin, by seeing it merely in terms of particular sins that we commit?

2. What is death? In what form do you think it might have existed prior to the fall of Adam? In what ways is death experienced on either side of the grave? In what ways have you already experienced it in your own life?

3. How might grace be regarded as something that disturbs as well as comforts?
Have you experiences that confirm Paul’s claim that the de-humanising effects of sin (in this instance, the recoil from grace) are greatly surpassed by the blessing and benefits of encountering that grace: that is, that the fear of encountering this disturbing grace pales into insignificance when compared with the life-changing, life-giving power of that grace I.e., “the free gift is not on an equal footing with the trespass”?

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