Romans 5:12-21 (Quoted from NLT)

 12-17 “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world.  Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. (13) Yes, people sinned before the law was given.  But it was not counted as sin because there was not any law to break. (14) Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did.  Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. (15) But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift.   For the sin of this one man, Adam brought death to many.  But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.  (16) And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin.  For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.  (17) For the sin of this one man, Adam caused death to rule over many.  But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man Jesus Christ.”

 18-19 “Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s on act of righteousness brings right relationship with God and new life for everyone. (19) Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners.   But because on other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.”

 20-21 “God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were.  But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.  (21) So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

 My comments:  Adam was a symbol of Christ, and the human race was condemned and died because of ONE man, Adam’s sin.  Prior to the law being given, the King James Version says in verse 13, “… sin is not imputed when there is no law.”  Even though people’s sins were not counted against them because they had no law, everyone still died because once the curse of death was set in motion, it came upon all people.  Just as death and condemnation came on all people through Adam, righteousness also comes on people that accept Christ because of ONE man, Jesus, and HIS obedience.  Grace is a GIFT.  I like the way the KJV words verse 20 “Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound.  But where sin abounded, grace did MUCH MORE abound.”  The law was given to show us how sinful we are, and that we need a Savior.  So we know we are sinful, but through Christ we are given grace, even WHEN we sin.  That doesn’t seem logical, but that’s what verse 20 says.  The concept of  being given more grace the more we sin seems so ridiculous that in the next chapter the question is asked, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?”  Of course the answer to that is, absolutely NOT.   I won’t go into the rest of what it says, because that is tomorrow’s passage, but verse 20 makes the point that God’s grace is bigger than ANY sin we can commit, and our salvation and right standing with God is not based on our behavior, but on our faith. Now, I believe once we are saved, then right behavior WILL follow as evidence that we have a changed heart and we have become a new creation, because faith without works isn’t really TRUE faith. As James tells us in James 2:26 “…faith without works is dead.”  A true believer WILL have good works and try to please God, and act like Christ; but the fact still remains that God’s grace is bigger than any sin we can commit, and our right standing with God is based on our FAITH in Jesus, and not on our behavior, just like death came on all people because of Adam’s sin, and not because of our sin.  We were condemned because of Adam, but we are made righteous because of Christ.