Romans Chapter 5
Originally posted
Romans Chapter 5:1-11
Justification
Paul
has defined justification as God's forgiving/saving act of deeming a
person to be righteous by virtue of his/her faith. He now
proceeds to elaborate on the results or character of this justification.
Being justified leads to peace with God through Christ who has provided our
access to God's grace in which we have been forgiven and deemed to
be righteous. We can now dare to boast in the hope of sharing Gods glory.
Paul is not clear as to how this happens or what it actually means for the
believer to share God's glory. Perhaps we are to think in terms
of our salvation as defined by the believer's future heavenly or kingdom
existence. Paul's choice of words nuances the idea of salvation as both present
and future. In other words, we are "in the process" of being saved,
with ultimate salvation to be realized in the resurrected life (or transformed
world). It is as if we have one foot in the old age and another in the age to
come. However, we cannot hold him too closely to the precision of this
definition. Paul is free with his language and we will read other ways of
expressing his hope in Christ.
Reflecting
on his own experience, he can boast in his sufferings on behalf of Christ who
also has suffered. It is this suffering which has worked in him to produce
such qualities as endurance, character and a hope that does (will) not
disappoint. Even though he suffers, his hope is maintained, fortified by his
trust that God's love continues to fill him through the indwelling
presence of the Holy Spirit.
This
love God has "poured into [his] heart" has been expressed by God
in the event of the cross, in Christ's dying for the ungodly, a rarely seen act
of compassion. Thus God's love is "proven" in Christ's death on
behalf of sinners. If this is the case that God justifies the sinner through
the cross then certainly we can be confident that we will not be subject to the
fate of the ungodly in God's judgment. We have been reconciled to God through
the cross of Christ. That being said, Paul adds the almost cryptic statement in vs. 10 that if our reconciliation
with God came through Jesus' death on the cross, how much more so will we
be given eternal life (whatever the form) through his life (ongoing,
resurrected life). Paul indicates a two phase event: we are reconciled with
God through Jesus' cross and we are "guaranteed" eternal
life (and not wrath) through his resurrection.
Romans Chapter 5:12-21 Adam
and Christ
The
opening word "Therefore," signals an outcome of and elaboration
on the work Christ accomplished on the cross according to the
previous passage (vss. 6-11). Paul
now differentiates between Adam and Christ, two human beings whose respective
lives will lead humanity in opposite directions, with Jesus as a
corrective for the first. Through Adam, sin and death as the
ultimate result of that sin come into the world spreading to all (3:9). In somewhat difficult phrasing
Paul writes that although sin was in the world, it was not reckoned (applied)
before the giving of the Law (in all of the references to Law Paul is referring
to Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament). Even though sin was not
considered before the Law, death - the outcome of sin, ruled from Adam to Moses
(who brings the Law). A "sin like Adam's" means the breaking of an
actual commandment given by God. Remember that Adam was "commanded not to
eat of the tree of life, a commandment both he and Eve violated (it
was all her fault, of course!). Before the Law, with this exception for this
specific act, there were no commandments to break, but there was sin (1:18-32).
What
is not clear and is not explained is what Paul means by death (vss. 12-13). Since everyone dies
physically, does he mean everyone before the Law dies a spiritual
death as well? There are a number of traditions concerning Adam in the
Talmud and other Jewish literature. Generally speaking they interpret Adam as
having been the first to enter Hades and to have received the promise of
resurrection. One ancient commentary includes a description of the skins
made for Adam by God being of light and the skin of the serpent fashioned
into Adam's celestial garment. From a Rabbinical perspective Adam (and we
assume Eve) repented of his sin, died and awaits the resurrection of the last
day. Paul's lack of clarity regarding those who are between Adam and Moses (vs. 14) gave rise to considerable
speculation about Jesus' descent into Hades to preach to the dead.
Paul's
comment at the end of vs. 14,
that Adam was "a type of the one who was to come" refers to Jesus as
one, like Adam, through whose life and death many will be affected. Paul
hastens to add that what Jesus did as the agency of the "free
gift" to bring justifying grace to many is by no means like
the sin of Adam which brought death to many. Adam's sin brought
condemnation while Jesus' obedience brought
justification. Through Adam sin exercised dominion in
death while through Jesus, righteousness exercised dominion in
life.
In vss. 18-21 Paul rephrases the
effect of Adam's disobedience leading to the condemnation of all while Jesus'
act of obedience leads to the [possibility of] righteousness for many and, so,
eternal life. He makes the point that with Moses (vs. 20) and the giving of the Law, sin was multiplied by the
introduction of the commandments heretofore absent. The increase of sin was an
opportunity for God's grace to be at work all the more. We notice
here Paul's positioning of the dominion of death over against the
dominion of grace. This is equivalent to Jesus' proclamation of the Kingdom of
God in conflict with the Kingdom of Satan, the great cosmic battle of two world
views, John's positioning of light versus darkness. However, in the next
chapter Paul will need to caution the reader not to misinterpret the idea
of the increasing abundance of sin as giving greater opportunity for grace as
a positive reality.
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