Romans 5:14
14 Nevertheless [alla] death [thanatos] reigned [basileuo] from [apo] Adam [Adam] to [mechri] Moses [Moseus], even [kai] over [epi] them that had [hamartano] not [me] sinned [hamartano] after [epi] the similitude [homoioma] of Adam's [Adam]
transgression [parabasis], who [hos] is [esti] the figure [tupos] of him that was to come [mello]. KJV-Interlinear
14 Yet death reigned from Adam
to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam,
who was a type of the one who was to come. ESV
We have already seen that where there is no law, there
can be no violation of law. A violation of law is a sin, spiritually speaking.
The result of sin is death. However if there is no law, and therefore no
violation, then there is no sin, and therefore there is no death.
The law as written by Moses, came about 2500 years
after Adam. From the time of Adam to the time of Moses there was no written
Mosaic law. However, we know that death occurred from the time of Adam, to the
time of Moses. Therefore, since death occurred, then sin had to have occurred,
which means that there was a violation of the law, which had not yet been
written in the sense of what Moses wrote.
So Paul is explaining, that what Moses wrote, was not
the beginning of an initial law, but merely the documentation of the law that
had already existed.
We saw in the previous verse, that death occurred
without the imputation of Adam sin, which means that people committed sins of
their own, and did not die merely because of Adams sin. However, we know that
in Adam all have sinned, therefore everyone who is the descendent of Adam,
which means the entire human race, is automatically a sinner right from the
beginning of their birth.
However, Paul does not mention infants. And we know
that infants do die because of one reason or another. And that their death
could not have occurred because of a sin they committed, because they would
have no opportunity to commit a sin.
However, because they are descendents of Adam, then
Adams sin is transmitted to each person born, therefore establishing the basis
for their potential death at a young age.
Adam is said to be a type. This means he is a pattern
from which Jesus will follow when he enters the world at his first birth.
However, Adam failed, but Jesus did not fail. Adam did
not live a perfect life, however, Jesus did live a perfect life, demonstrating
that the perfect life is possible, however man is incapable of fulfilling that possibility.
This verse is clear in that death occurred because
people sinned, but death also occurred when people did not sin, after the
pattern of Adam. The word similitude, refers to, in the same way, or after the
same pattern.
Adam walked in the garden with Jesus Christ.
Adam received instruction from Jesus Christ.
The obvious instruction in view here is the
prohibition of eating from a single designated tree.
Adam had only one law, which was the prohibition of
eating the fruit from that single tree. Adam made a conscious decision, and
violated the law, and ate from the tree, and therefore committed the first sin
of human history. Death followed that action.
Other people following Adam, sinned in similar manner.
Which means they committed sins by making decisions to sin.
Adams sin was a rejection of God’s command. All sin is
a rejection of God’s command.
God is truth, and any rejection of God, is a rejection
of truth, and that rejection is in effect sin.
Sin results in death, and death is a separation from
God.
Without a solution to sin, that death would be
permanent and eternal. However, God came up with a plan to solve the problem of
sin, and that plan incorporated the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. That
work paid the price of sin, and man’s faith, or belief in that work, which is a
belief in the person of Jesus Christ, fulfills the reconciliation of man’s
relationship back with God.
These
studies, are a part of the massive daily study web site at DailyBibeStudy.Org,
that is easily accessible, and are written, so that you can come to Christ if
you have not done so already, and therefore not be lost forever.
And
if you have already believed in Christ, then these studies are written so you
can learn and understand and grow in your spiritual life, so that you can come
to the full knowledge of Christ, so that you can fulfill your meaning and
purpose in life as God intended for you, and so you can qualify for a
phenomenal eternal reward which you will have forever.
To
ignore this opportunity to pursue a daily study means you will be incomplete,
unfulfilled and you will lose out, big time.
The
Daily Bible Study is online, making it possible as never before in all of human
history, to advance in ones relationship with God, through Christ, and to
complete yourself beyond your imagination.
But
you have to decide to make that commitment.
No one else can study for you.
You have to do that yourself.
