Rom 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into this world, and through sin death, and so it passed into all men, in whom all sinned. For until the law sin was in the world; but sin was not imputed when there was no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression, who is a type of the one to come.”
Now he begins to discuss more at length the two men: the one, the first Adam, through whose sin and death—as hereditary evils—we and his descendants were bound; the other, the second Adam, who is not only man but also God, who, paying for us what He did not owe, has freed us from both ancestral and personal debts.
Accordingly, since because of that one the devil held all through his vices—those begotten according to the flesh through concupiscence—it is just that because of this one he should release all who are spiritually reborn through His immaculate grace. For since the Apostle had said that we are reconciled to God through Christ, he goes on to show how fitting it is that through one obedient man we are reconciled, just as through one disobedient man we had been separated from God.
We have received reconciliation through Christ; therefore—that is, because through Him we are reconciled—just as through one man sin entered into the world and through sin death, so (understand) through one Redeemer righteousness has been restored, and through righteousness life.
Through one man, who first sinned, original sin entered into this wretched world—that is, into the whole human race—because by sinning he corrupted all his offspring in himself as in a root, so that whatever offspring would be born from the equally condemned spouse through carnal concupiscence (in which a punishment similar to disobedience was repaid) would draw original sin.
For just as Christ, in whom all will be made alive, besides setting an example of righteousness for those who imitate Him, also gives to the faithful the most hidden grace of His Spirit, which He secretly infuses—even into baptized infants—so also Adam, in whom all die, besides being an example of imitation for those who willingly transgress the Lord’s command, also by the hidden corruption of his carnal concupiscence infected in himself all who would come from his stock.
For here is understood the sin of generation, not of imitation. For just as from the woman was the beginning of sin, so from the man is the beginning of generation; for the man first sows so that the woman may bear. Therefore through one man sin entered into the world, because through the seed of generation it entered, which the woman receiving from the man conceives.
This work, though chaste in marriage, has no fault; but the origin of sin carries with it the due punishment. For a husband, simply because he is a husband, is not mortal; rather, he is mortal only because of sin. Therefore through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death, because if man had not sinned he would never have died.
And thus sin—or death—passed into all men, so that no one born of man and woman would be free from sin and death. It should be noted that it says “passed over”: hence the infant is guilty. He has not yet committed sin, but he has drawn it. For that sin did not remain at its source but passed into all born through corrupted flesh.
“In whom,” that is, in the first man, all sinned; because when he sinned all were in him, and the whole mass of the human race was infected in him with the poison of sin. So also in Christ all who believe in Him are justified through the hidden communication and inspiration of spiritual grace, because whoever is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
And just as through the sin of the first man, which passed into all, we lost life, so through the righteousness of the second man, which is poured into all who become His members, we shall recover life.
Rom 5:13 I said that sin passed into all, and I spoke truly. For from Adam until the law original sin was in all. I do not prove concerning the Jews that they were under original sin because they had the law and could know themselves to be under it through the law; but concerning those before the law, who did not know original sin—for until the law of Moses that sin was in the whole world. It indeed existed but was not imputed—that is, it was not thought to be within the soul as such a sin when there was no law to make known the fall of the first man from which that sin was propagated.
Thus that sin passed into all even before the law, though it did not appear so because the law had not yet taught it.
Or thus: since the Jews might wish to say that righteousness and life were restored through the law rather than through Christ, as the Apostle taught, the Apostle shows that righteousness could not be restored through the law, which could not take away sin. For “until the law”—that is, as long as the law remained—original sin was in the world; that is, it was not deleted by the law.
This “until” is not terminal but inclusive, as when it is said, “and life forever.” Sin was until the law because the law could not remove it, but entered so that sin might abound—whether the natural law, by which one who begins to use reason adds personal sins to original sin, or the written law given through Moses.
Therefore when he says that until the law sin was in the world, it is not because afterward it was not, but because it could not be removed by the letter of the law, which could be removed only by the Spirit of grace. Lest anyone, trusting not in the strength of will but in vanity, should think that free will with the law sufficed and should mock the grace of Christ, the Apostle says that until the law sin was in the world.
And he adds, “But sin was not imputed when there was no law.” He did not say it was not, but it was not imputed—that is, it was unknown and not considered to be sin. For it was not regarded by the Lord God as though it did not exist, but by blind men it was not known because there was no law to convict and reveal it—whether the law of reason in children or the written law among the people.
Before the law sin was not imputed, but death reigned, the devil securely possessing men because of supposed impunity, until Moses, through whom the knowledge of the one God returned. For previously men either ignored God or did not think that He cared what they did. But when the law was given they learned that God cares for human affairs and judges.
Rom 5:14 “Death reigned from Adam to Moses”—that is, from the first man even until the law divinely promulgated, because even it could not take away the reign of death, which reigns only through sin. For the reign of death is when the guilt of sin so dominates men that it does not allow them to come to eternal life—which is true life—but drags them to the second death, which is eternal punishment.
This reign of death is destroyed in each person only by the grace of the Savior, which also worked in the ancient saints—whoever before Christ came in the flesh nevertheless belonged to His helping grace, not to the letter of the law, which could only command and not help.
When he says “until Moses,” he means until the end of the law and the beginning of grace, speaking as we say, for example, “The Huns existed until Attila”—we designate not the beginning but the end. Thus “until Moses,” that is, until the end of the law and the beginning of grace.
Therefore death reigned in all from Adam to Moses who were not helped by Christ’s grace, even in those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression—that is, those who had not yet sinned by their own will as he did, but had drawn original sin from him. Since they were not yet born or did not yet use reason as he did when he sinned, nor had received a command which he transgressed, they were bound only by original fault, through which the reign of death dragged them to condemnation—that is, to be slain in Gehenna.
It can also be understood thus: when he said death reigned even in those who did not sin, he adds “in the likeness of Adam’s transgression,” that is, because there was in their members a likeness of Adam’s transgression.
“Who is a type of the one to come,” because he imposed the pattern of death on his descendants; in him was established the form of condemnation for future offspring who would be created from his stock, so that from one they would be born into condemnation, from which only the grace of the Savior frees.
Or he is a type of the future—that is, of Christ—partly by likeness and partly by contrast. By likeness: just as Adam was made by God from virgin earth without a father, so Christ was created by God from a virgin without seed. As Adam is father of all according to the flesh, so Christ according to faith. Adam slept so that Eve might be made; Christ died so that the Church might be made. From Adam’s side Eve was made; from Christ’s pierced side flowed the sacraments by which the Church is formed.
By contrast also Adam is a type of Christ: as through his disobedience many were made sinners, so through Christ’s obedience many are made righteous; as in Adam all die, so in Christ all are made alive. As eating was done at Adam’s persuasion by the devil and all born from him were made subject to death, so Christ fasted and all reborn through Him are restored to eternal life. As Adam could communicate sin and death to his children, so Christ communicates His righteousness and life. As Adam is father of the present age and prince of discord, so Christ is father of the age to come and prince of peace.
Rom 5:15 “But not as the trespass, so also the gift…” By these words the Apostle declares how Adam is a type of Christ by contrast and how the type is not in every respect alike: they are similar in opposition, yet differ in that the gift of Christ confers more good than Adam brought evil. The sin of Adam is not as efficacious for damnation as Christ’s grace is for salvation.
Rom 5:16 Although trespass and gift are similar in that trespass produces estrangement from God and death, while the gift produces reconciliation and eternal blessedness, they differ because trespass brings temporal death, whereas the gift brings eternal life. Therefore Christ benefits the regenerated more than Adam harmed the generated.
Indeed the gift is greater and more powerful than the trespass: if one man’s trespass could lead many into death, much more the grace of God—that is, the forgiveness of sins given freely without prior human merit—and the gift—that is, the bestowal of virtues—abounded through the grace of the one man Jesus Christ.
Grace abounds not in more persons than the trespass—since more are wicked than righteous—but “in many” is said as meaning “not in few.” It abounds more because all who are freed through Christ die temporally because of Adam but through Christ will live without end.
When he said “many died,” not “all,” he hints that he speaks of those in whom Adam’s sin caused the death of the soul. But grace abounds more because Christ dissolves not only original sin but also the sins added by personal will and gives justification and eternal life.
Judgment from one trespass leads to condemnation; grace from many offenses leads to justification. Even original sin alone suffices for condemnation, though those who add personal sins are punished more severely. That original sin separates from the kingdom of God and eternal life, into which only the fellowship of Christ introduces.
From Adam we draw only original sin; from Christ we receive remission not only of that but also of the sins we ourselves add. Thus the gift is not like the trespass: judgment from one trespass can condemn, but grace, remitting many sins, leads to justification.
All who were to be many were one in that one man; therefore his sin would have been his alone if no one had descended from him. But since human nature was common in him, no one is immune from his fault. Only Christ’s grace frees, given not according to merits but freely because God is merciful—and not given to all because God is judge. In some is shown what grace bestows; in others what justice exacts. Let those freed praise mercy; let those not freed acknowledge the debt.
Since grace cleanses from many sins and justifies, he adds that by remission of sins and attainment of righteousness we not only live but reign through Jesus Christ. If we died in Adam’s sin, much more shall we live in Christ’s grace.
Death reigned through one because through his offense it obtained dominion over all; but those who receive abundance of grace—remission of sins, spiritual gifts, and righteousness—shall reign through Christ, and more gloriously than death reigned, because their reign is eternal whereas death’s was temporal.
Rom 5:17 Therefore as through one trespass condemnation came to all, so through one righteousness justification comes to all—that is, to all who are elect. As condemnation leads to death, justification leads to life. As without our prior work Adam’s sin brought condemnation, so without prior merit Christ’s grace brings justification and eternal life.
Rom 5:18 Justification passes to all not because all are justified, but because all who are justified are justified only through Christ, just as all who are condemned are condemned through Adam. No one belongs to that generation except through Adam, nor to this regeneration except through Christ.
Rom 5:19 Thus through one man’s disobedience many were made sinners; through one man’s obedience many are made righteous—justified by faith in His incarnation and passion, in which He was obedient unto death. The Apostle calls Christ “man” so that no one thinks the ancient saints were justified only by the divine Word without faith in His humanity.
Here ends the discussion of the two Adams, from whom one brought sin and death, the other restored righteousness and life.
Rom 5:20-21 “The law entered so that the trespass might abound… but where sin abounded, grace abounded more, so that as sin reigned in death, so grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
CONTINUE
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