Paul keeps talking about ONE, yet we have not considered who the ONE was. Sin had power to bring death and condemnation; but grace did not do away with one sin, only, but all that followed after. The measure of the blessing through Christ was never equal to the damnation of the sin committed by Adam. After the numberless sins were committed after Paradise, the measure of blessing and condemnation was not equal. Where righteousness is there follows life and blessings. Forgiveness of sin was not the only thing bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. Righteousness is MORE than life, it is the root of eternal life!! Before, when he said that “one man’s sins slew all, much more will the grace of one have the power to save,” Paul was showing how death was torn up by its roots, for sin was not torn up by its roots only, but righteousness was given!! Christ did not merely do the same amount of good as Adam evil, but far more and better good.
Paul writes “For if by one man’s sin death reigned by one, then the gift of the One who brought righteousness shall reign in life by one man Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:17 This righteousness was out of proportion to the sin committed. In the original he writes not righteousness wrought by the grace of God, but super abundance of grace. Christ did not do away with sin, only, but added such blessings and promises that to compare these would be a travesty and a tremendous error of judgment!! Man was at once forgiven of sin by the blood of Christ, we were “born again,” John 3:5, and risen again with the old man buried. We are adopted, justified, sanctified, and made brothers and rightful heirs to the King of Kings, having been counted as “flesh of His royalty”!! This was not healing for the wound of sin but health, comeliness, honor, glory, and dignity far beyond our natural state!! Man was not only forgiven, he was advanced far above angels, principalities, and powers both in Heaven and on Earth!! Each of these several blessings was ENOUGH to do away with sin, but God ran all of these together to make the last vestige of sin forgotten “in Christ.” If a man were thrown in prison for a debt of $10 and not only the man but his wife, children, and all his possessions sold and given away; then one came along and not only paid the $10 but $100,000 more PLUS lead the prisoner into the King’s court and allowed him communication in the realm of glory, that man would NEVER remember the initial cost of the $10. Christ paid down FAR MORE THAN WE OWED so that we can see that the payment for sin was not at all the blessing of blessings made, but far more than has been considered who harp continually on the burden of sin placed on the human race by Adam!! We are promised to “reign in life”.!! This explains verse 19. So far beyond the curse of sin righteousness has brought us (with the blessings and promises) that the penalty of sin should not be remembered, contested, or debated!! It is so much the more reasonable that many should find life through the plan of God than that many should be condemned by the sin of one man. The condemnation brought about by Adam’s sin had in it only the punishment of one sin while Christ overcomes all trespasses!! Or, to put it another way; life “in Christ” is far better than death in Adam was condemnation!!
For the Jew to make his brag in the Law was foolishness. For what did the Law offer them? It did not even bring remission of sin while “in Christ” we have remission sin and immortality!! The Law brought in an addition to sin, made sin more understandable, and the consequences of its being made known made the sinner worse for having known the Law!! The Law of Christ not only disarms death and sin but brings those of us who have been baptized into Christ both immortality and eternal life!! Doubt not then for your life “in Christ,” for righteousness brings about a life that only the plan of God could give consideration. True, freeing a man from sin is wonderful (that which the Law could not do) but also making that man the “joint-heir” of Jesus Christ will cause you to see the wonders of that “mystery held in the mind of God from the foundations of the world.”
Had Adam’s sin not shown Satan the “way in” to the vulnerability of mankind, none of us would face the despair sin brings. Since, in Adam, this imperfection abides, Satan has had his way with man since the beginning of time. How sad that in all that period of time man has never figured out the enemy who stands at the door of his heart and not the friend who gave His life to redeem mankind!! Who can comprehend the love of God?
