“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death, and so to all men death penetrated, whereupon all sinned -. because Until the law, sin was already in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, from Adam until Moses, death also reigned over those who had not sinned in the same transgression as Adam, who is a model of the one to come.”
Rom 5:12-14

Adam to Moses

The first step concerns a review of the law. With the word “for” Paul inserts a reason for what he has just written before. It is an intermediate sentence that we can understand and appreciate only if we have understood the first part.

We already saw that the widespread idea of original sin is misleading. It is not sin that is passed on from generation to generation, but mortality – and therefore death. It is this death within us that makes us continually miss our goal – we cannot help but sin. We lack the glory of God.

It is a defect that has crept into this world since Adam and from which we cannot free ourselves. We are not born bad or corrupt, we are not sinners by nature, but we were destined to sin by “the death within us.” This sticks with us and we cannot solve this on our own. Paul writes accordingly, “and so death pervaded all men, whereupon all sinned” (Rom 5:12).

Now it comes to the intermediate sentence, which begins with “for until the law sin was already in the world”. Rationale. From Adam to Moses, sin was already in the world. It’s obvious. But this circumstance is significant because, “Sin is not imputed when there is no law.” This is about the relationship of sin and death. The doctrine of original sin says that people die because they sin. But if sin is not imputed, no one from Adam to Moses should have died because no one is condemned until there is a law. This is exactly what Paul emphasizes here, “Nevertheless, from Adam until Moses, death reigned also over those who had not sinned in the same transgression as Adam.”

Although no sin was imputed, nevertheless, from Adam to Moses, all people died. People also died who did not sin into the same transgression as Adam. This is, so to speak, the “death blow” for the doctrine of original sin. Paul here reinforces his statement from verse 12. Death penetrates first.

Inclusion based on God’s action

Paul is a realist. He just sees the world much more clearly in the light of God’s revelation. Let’s carefully always consider the context. As in Romans 4, here he again resorts to a situation before the law. The subject is not Moses, not sin at that time, but the atonement through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 5:10-11). It is about the effect of Adam’s deed on the one hand and Christ’s deed on the other. This is what the apostle wants to make clear here. Adam was “a pattern of things to come” (Rom 5:14). Adam’s deed affected all humankind. Christ’s deed does likewise. In the next verses this will be shown in more detail.

Central here is reconciliation, made possible by God’s justice. With this, Paul leads out into freedom. He justifies why and for what the situation has changed. If we read along with Scripture and follow Paul’s words, we will be led through this transition. Freedom is the result. God’s righteousness will have an effect. Confidence is encouraged. The Gospel speaks of inclusion, not exclusion.