“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into this world, and through sin death, and so death 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 until Moses even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression, who is a figure of the one to come.”
Now he begins to dispute at greater length concerning the two men: the one, the first Adam, by whose sin and death, as hereditary evils, we and his descendants are bound; the other, the second Adam, who is not only man but also God. By him, paying for us what he did not owe, we have been freed from debts—both ancestral and our own.
Accordingly, since because of that one the devil held all who were begotten through his corrupted flesh by concupiscence, it is just that because of this one he should release all who are spiritually regenerated through his immaculate grace. For since the Apostle had said that we are reconciled through Christ, he proceeds to show that fittingly through one who was obedient we are reconciled, just as through one who was disobedient we were 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 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 this miserable world, that is, into the whole human race; for by sin he corrupted his entire stock in himself as in a root, so that whatever offspring would be born through carnal concupiscence from the wife condemned with him would draw original sin as a similar punishment of disobedience.
For just as Christ, in whom all shall be made alive, besides offering himself as an example of righteousness to those who imitate him, also gives to the faithful the most hidden grace of his Spirit—which he secretly pours in, even into baptized infants—so also Adam, in whom all die, besides being an example of imitation to those who transgress the command by their own will, has by the hidden decay of his carnal concupiscence corrupted in himself all who were to come from his stock.
Here is understood the sin of generation, not of imitation. For just as from the woman came the beginning of sin, so from the man comes the beginning of generation; for the man first sows so that the woman may bear. Therefore through one man sin entered the world, because through the seed of generation it entered, which the woman receives from the man and conceives.
This work, chaste in marriage, has no fault; yet the origin of sin carries with it the due punishment. For the husband is not mortal because he is a husband, but is mortal because of sin; and thus through one man sin entered the world and through sin death, because if man had not sinned he would never have died.
And so sin—or death—passed into all men, so that no one born of man and woman is free from sin and death. Note carefully the expression “passed”: hence the infant is guilty—not because he has yet committed sin, but because he has drawn it. For that sin did not remain only in its source but passed into all born through corrupted flesh. In him—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.
Likewise in Christ all are justified who believe in him because of the hidden communication and inspiration of spiritual grace; for “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 lose life, so through the righteousness of the second man, which is diffused into all who become his members, we shall recover life.
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, since they had the law and could recognize through the law that they were under it; but concerning those before the law, who did not know original sin. Until the law of Moses that sin was in the whole world—indeed it was, but it was not imputed, that is, it was not thought to be in the soul, since there was no law to reveal the fall of the first man from whom it was propagated.
Or again: when the Jews wished to say that righteousness and life were restored by the law rather than by Christ, as the Apostle taught, the Apostle shows that righteousness could not be restored by the law, which could not remove sin. For until the law—that is, as long as the law remained—original sin was in the world; it was not removed by the law. This “until” is not terminal but inclusive, as when it is said “unto eternity.”
The law 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 sin was in the world until the law, he does not mean that afterward it was not, but that it could not be removed by the letter of the law, which only the Spirit of grace could remove.
Lest anyone trusting in his own powers—not of true will but of vanity—should think that free will and law suffice and thus despise 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 present, but that it was not imputed—that is, it was unknown and not considered sin. For God did not regard it as non-existent, but blind men did not know it because there was no law to accuse and reveal it.
Before the law sin was not imputed, yet death reigned, securely possessing men through the devil, who was believed to act with impunity, until Moses through whom came knowledge of the one God. Before this, men either ignored God or thought he did not care; but when the law was given they knew that God cares for human affairs and judges.
“Death reigned from Adam to Moses”—that is, from the first man until the law itself—which could not remove the reign of death, since death reigns only through sin. The reign of death means that the guilt of sin so dominated men that it did not allow them to come to eternal life but dragged them even 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 operated in the ancient saints who, before Christ came in the flesh, belonged not to the letter of the law—which commands but does not help—but to his assisting grace.
When he says “until Moses,” he means until the end of the law and the beginning of grace, just as we say “they lived until Attila,” meaning not the beginning but the end of a period. So death reigned like a widespread plague because the physician was absent; but when the physician came from heaven, death lost its power.
Thus death reigned in all who were not helped by Christ’s grace—even in those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression—that is, who had not yet sinned by their own will but had drawn original sin from him. Though not yet using reason nor receiving a command, they were bound by original fault which dragged them toward condemnation.
Adam is called a figure of the one to come because he imposed the form of death on his descendants; in him was established the pattern of condemnation. Or he is a figure 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 the Virgin Mary without seed. As Adam is father of all according to the flesh, so Christ according to faith. Adam slept and Eve was formed; Christ died and the Church was formed. From Adam’s side Eve was made; from Christ’s pierced side flowed the sacraments by which the Church is formed.
By contrast: through Adam’s disobedience many were made sinners; through Christ’s obedience many are made righteous. As in Adam all die, so in Christ all are made alive. As Adam ate at the devil’s suggestion and all born from him became subject to death, so Christ fasted and all reborn through him are restored to eternal life. As Adam communicated sin and death to his children, so Christ communicates righteousness and life. Adam is father of the present age and prince of discord; Christ is father of the age to come and prince of peace.
“But not as the trespass, so also the gift.” For Christ confers more good than Adam brought evil. Though similar in that both affect many, they differ because Christ’s grace is more powerful. The trespass brought temporal death to all; the gift brings eternal life. Thus Christ benefits the regenerated more than Adam harmed the generated.
If by one man’s trespass many died, much more the grace of God—the forgiveness of sins given freely without preceding merit—and the gift of virtues abound through the grace of the one man Jesus Christ. This grace comes abundantly to all his own—not that more are justified than condemned, but that it is not given to few.
The judgment from one trespass led to condemnation; grace from many trespasses leads to justification. Even if only original sin were present, it would suffice for condemnation; yet Christ’s redemption dissolves also the sins added by personal will and gives eternal life.
From Adam we inherit only original sin; from Christ we receive remission not only of that but of all others. If remission shows goodness, judgment shows justice: those liberated praise mercy; those punished do not blame justice.
Having said that grace cleanses us from many sins, he adds that through remission and righteousness we shall not only live but reign through Jesus Christ. If we died through Adam’s sin, much more shall we live through Christ’s grace. Death reigned temporally; the faithful reign eternally.
Therefore, just as through one trespass condemnation came to all, so through one righteousness justification of life comes to all—that is, to all who are reborn in Christ, just as all born in Adam share condemnation. “All” in each case means all belonging to that head: none is born in the flesh except through Adam, none reborn except through Christ.
For as through one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one many will be made righteous—justified by faith in his incarnation and passion, in which he was obedient unto death. He calls Christ “man” so that no one may think that even the ancient just were justified only by the Word apart from faith in his incarnation.
Here ends the dispute concerning the two Adams: from one we received sin and death; from the other righteousness and life.
CONTINUE
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