Romans 5:12 - "12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned." - NIV

 

Introduction

Romans 5:12 is a passage commonly used to prove that because of the doctrine of Original Sin, the earth must be young.

 

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man,

and death through sin,

and in this way death came to all people,

because all sinned. - NIV

 

The argument is that if Evolution is true, then death did not enter the world through Adam's sin, scripture is untrue, and redemption in Christ is turned on its ear. Similar to 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, it is a powerful argument, but is it true?

 

The Greek

The word Paul uses for death is thanatos. It is a noun, derived from the word thnesko, which is a stronger form its primary word, thano, which means "to die", either literally, or figuratively. In other words, Paul could be referring to physical death, but he could be referring to a spiritual death as well.

 

What Kind of Death?

Romans 5:12 is the leader for a passage on the death we suffer for Adam's sin. It is similar to the argument based on 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, that if physical death is only here on account of Adam's sin, then Evolution is false. However, Paul clearly believed that death is not the sting of sin; sin is the sting of death (1 Corinthians 15:56). This implies that people could die before Adam, but they did not die in sin, and so death had no sting.

 

The idea that anyone died before Adam -- in sin or not -- would appear contrary to Romans 5:12 when subsequent verses like Romans 5:14, 5:17, and 5:21 talk of death so specifically. However, was Paul talking of physical death? Or did he mean mankind's separation from God?

 

Living in Death

If Romans 5:12-20 is a treatise on the origins of physical death, then it creates several oddities that need to be explained.

 

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man,

and death through sin,

and in this way death came to all people,

because all sinned. - NIV

 

The NLT translation says that death spread to all people. This is commonly thought to be a physical change, passed on through child birth, such that people would be mortal, as opposed to Adam, who was originally immortal.

 

One problem in this interpretation is that God gave Adam the Tree of Life (Genesis 2:9), which would keep Adam alive as long as he ate of it (Genesis 3:22). This implies that Adam was created mortal, and when he sinned he was simply deprived of the Tree of Life. But, if Adam's body was already mortal, and his descendents would already be mortal, then what is the death that entered the world through Adam? Paul explains in the next verse...

 

13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given,

but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law.

14a Nevertheless, death reigned... - NLT

 

Nevertheless. In other words, one would expect death to reign in a world of people committing sins, but they weren't committing sins, or rather God was not charging them with it. So, this was a death that did not require "sins of commission" by anyone but Adam, yet his descendents were in sin.

 

14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses,

even over those who did not sin by breaking a command,

as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. - NLT

 

In other words, all people sinned, but not all sinned by breaking a command. In fact, even when God provided His Ten Commandments, it was only to the Israelites. The death ruling Adam's descendents was not through sins of commission; their death was through a sin of submission.

 

A sin of submission is where mere exposure or inclusion in a situation separates you from God. The Mosaic Law provides several examples, where purification is required before entering God's presence, even when due to actions of obedience... such as removing a dead body from a public area. In the case of our passage above, the sin of submission that separates mankind from God is birth.

 

When Adam was created, God came into the presence of mankind, using Adam as their proxy. When Adam sinned, Adam was separated from God, and mankind lost their proxy. True, mankind had been "separate" from God before (meaning apart), but now they were separated (meaning removed). This is the death Paul speaks of. Read Romans 5:1-11, which speaks of our reconciliation in Christ, and moves naturally to the death we are reconciled from in verse 12, a death that did require a sin of commission (vv. 13-14) by anyone but Adam, and specifically effected mankind from Adam on.

 

All Versus Many

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. -NLT

 

Didn't verse 12 say "all"? Did Paul mean many here? Yes, because Adam was not the first person; he was the first to be separated from (i.e., removed from the presence of) God. Adam brought this separation to mankind as a whole, including those alive at the time, and all who would be born from then on. Those who lived and died before Adam were never connected to God. So even though they were spearate (i.e., apart) from God, they were never separated (i.e., removed) from God. Hence, Adam did not bring death to all but to many, just as Jesus does not give grace to all but to many.

 

Does this conflict with with Paul's use of "all" in 1 Corinthians 15:22? "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." Not at all. To summarize:

 

1)People have physically died since before Adam. They were never joined to God, so were never separated from God.

2)God came into Adam's (and by extension, mankind's) presence.

3)When Adam sinned, he and those after him (the many) were removed from God's presence (Rom. 5:15).

4)From then on, all further peopel died in sin (1 Cor. 15:22), a sin of submission.

5)Christ will eventually resurrect all (1 Cor. 15:22), even those who physically died before Adam.

6)Of those resurrected, many will receive grace (Rom. 5:15).

 

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 free gift leads

to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. -NLT

 

In other words, not only does Christ redeem us from the sin of submission under Adam, He even redeems us for our own sins of commission. Paul goes on [emphasis added]...

 

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,

or all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. -NLT

 

- - -

 

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. - NLT

 

Conclusion

People were alive and dying before Adam. However, they did not die in sin, because they had no commands to break and no connection with God to break. Adam would be the first. The first to connect with God; the first to be separated from God. That separation was spread to the world through Adam and Eve (Romans 5:12, Genesis 3:20) throughout mankind, bringing condemnation. Christ brings reconciliation.

 

[12/23/2011 - Corrected typos]