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Here we find some of the more theologically dense verses of Romans. There is a lot happening and a lot of things being referenced, so lets see if we can't figure them all out.

First of all, we come across Adam, or "the one man" by whom sin entered into the world. This may be Paul once more emphasizing to the Jews that all have sinned, even in light of their forefather being Abraham the righteous.

Adam is a typos, a type or a foreshadowing of Christ. This comparison between Adam and Christ is prevalent throughout Paul's writings and is not unique to him either. Essentially Paul is trying to get across the idea that there are essentially "two humanities": one that is "in Adam" and one that is "in Christ."

Paul is playing with the Old Testament idea of "corporate personality," perhaps best explained by our friend C.S. Lewis. In The Problem of Pain he writes, “…the Old Testament seems at times to ignore our conception of the individual.” He then proves this by bringing up the example of God telling Jacob that he would bring him out of Egypt. In a sense God did; however it was the community of Jacob’s family that God delivered from Egypt, not just Jacob himself.

Paul uses this idea as well. It seems that the whole of humanity (which is what Adam's name actually means anyway) existed and thus sinned "in Adam." And though we say that this is simply not fair, we should be grateful that all of humanity exists now within the "second Adam," i.e. Jesus Christ. Of course Paul has made it clear that just because of Jesus' "act of righteousness" (5:18) we are now all now automatically "in Christ." That of course is done "by faith through grace." However we have the choice to step from realm into another, from the old solidarity into the new.

In 5:13-14, 20-21 Paul answers any questions that may come up concerning Moses and the Torah. Certainly, one might ask, there are more "solidarities" than just the old and the new Adam. What about Moses? Paul's answer is complicated but essentially he says that, no, Moses was only a parenthesis between Adam and Christ.

It gets complicated in 5:13-14. Paul admits that "death reigned from Adam until Moses" and beyond. But he also says that "sin is not imputed when there is no law." This seems to reference 2:12, "For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law," implying that the judgment they receive is different than the judgment of anyone else with the Law. But Paul does not elaborate. And he doesn't seem to have to. All he's trying to say, it seems, is that our individual sin is not what brings us to death, but the sin of Adam (This may be a contrast between "sin nature," which is what Jesus brings out of, and "individual sins," which Paul seems to deal with in the following chapters). With or without the Law we all die and we are all sinners because of "one man's disobedience" (5:19). The Torah, as Paul states in 5:20-21, exists for the sole purpose of pointing out our sin that is already there. As soon as one sees the law as salvific, they've missed the point.

This is one potential flaw in a "penal substitutionary" view of atonement. The Old Testament is very clear that it was not sacrifices that made one clean or absolved one's sins. It was always the righteousness and grace God. As Psalm 51:17 says, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." And Paul has stated it was Christ's "act of righteousness" (5:17) and "obedience" (5:18) not merely His death that leads to this free gift. I say "merely" because obviously there is an sacrificial nature to the death of Christ (cf. 3:25, "a propitiation in His blood"; but even then it is "in His blood through faith), but that is not all there is.

But that's okay. Things are looking up. Verse 15 emphasizes the fact that salvation and the gift of grace is for everyone ever. Paul states that "by the transgression of the one the many die." The many is a funny phrase for Paul to use because who dies? Everyone. Ever. But Paul repeats this phrase with a qal vahomer argument, i.e. a "how much more" argument. If "the many" (aka everyone) die because of Adam's sin, then how much more will "the many" (aka everyone and more) abound in the grace and gift of Jesus Christ! This verse alone puts to rest any possible arguments about who "the elect" may be. Paul obviously means that every single person may abound in the gift of grace. Even John Calvin realized this. He wrote concerning this verse, "…if Adam's fall had the effect of producing the ruin of many, the grace of God is must more efficacious in benefiting many, since admittedly Christ is much more powerful to save than Adam was to ruin."

Verse 17 essentially rephrases this truth with a slight magnification. If by the sin of one death reigned, than how much more will those "who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness" will have life (as opposed to death) reigning within them. Though the gift of righteousness is universally for all (the new humanity), it must be received and accepted by the individual. This where some people like Rob Bell get into trouble, though not because they are wrong. They (truthfully) state that salvation is already universally available for everyone; its simply a matter of stepping into that reality (i.e. the new humanity; the new solidarity). Others mock this point of view saying that salvation is for the individual and that s/he must come to terms on a personal level with God. That however is not what New Testament theology speaks of at all. You don't need to get saved; you need to realize that you already are.

This should then radically change our view of evangelism and the terms we use to describe salvation. We don't need to work and labor at getting people saved, redeemed, justified, reconciled, etc. Jesus did that already. The best term we can use is the term that Jesus' Himself used: "born again." We need to be born into the New Humanity, the one that already exists. Paul will expound on this language in a bit, but we need to die to the old solidarity (that of Adam) and be born into the new solidarity (that of the Second Adam, of Jesus).