August 30, 2026, Morning Service
Condemnation Or Justification
Pastor Greg Isom
As we begin this morning in Romans 5:12, the word “therefore” causes us to look backward. Paul is basing what he says next on the foundation of what he revealed to us in verses 1-11, which took us four messages to digest. We established that we are justified by our faith which grants us peace with God, access to His grace and an ability to rejoice in the hope of God. He then revealed to us the process in which we build that hope; tribulations lead to perseverance which leads to character which gives a hope that will not disappoint. We then saw last week how God loves us unconditionally; “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Paul also revealed to us that for those who do not accept the free gift and salvation and choose rather to live and die in their sins, God’s wrath (judgment) will be imputed unto them. He finished with this verse:
Romans 5:11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
By accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we die out to ourselves and choose to follow Him and His teachings, and we will miss the wrath of God we deserve. Through Jesus we instead receive “reconciliation” with our Creator. It is our choice to make. Having established all of that, Paul now moves forward with verse 12 .
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—
We all are very familiar with the story of the “original sin” of Adam we read this morning for communion. The Garden of Eden was perfect and Adam and Eve were given instructions to “tend and keep it” (Gen. 2:15) and God Himself would walk and talk with them in the cool of the evening. The relationship between God and His creation was perfect being without sin. BUT through temptation first Eve disobeyed God and then Adam followed suit in eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Sin enters the garden and the world was never the same. Adam and Eve were removed from the intimate presence of God, blocked from eating of the tree of life, and life became much more difficult. Paul is again reminding us that each of us are born into the sin of Adam, or call it the nature to sin. Sin is an inevitable part of each of our lives; “all sinned” and with that sin comes the consequences for us all; death. On our own, with sin in our life, we are separated from God with no way to restore our broken relationship. Paul continues and notice how this section is in parenthesis showing he is straying a bit off the path to make his ultimate point.
Rom 5:13-17 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. (14) Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. (15) But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. (16) And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. (17) For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
Paul has been explaining to us that the law does not bring salvation and now he also show us that breaking the law does not bring death, but that comes through disobeying God. From Adam to Moses there was no law to disobey, but men died because of their disobedience (sin) in their lives inherited from Adam. He tells us that through Adam’s disobedience we now all face judgment and condemnation. BUT through the grace of God and His free gift to us, Jesus, we can now be justified through Him. He then explains how Adam was a “type of Him who was to come.” Through Adam’s sin, death came to everyone, but through Jesus we “receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”
Adam’s act of disobedience brought condemnation to all (all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God)(Rom. 3:23) and through Jesus’s act of obedience we have access to justification if we choose it. Sin is a deep discrepancy between who we are and who God created us to be. Jesus makes it possible for us live out to the potential God created us for freeing us from our sin that separates us from Him. Paul now summarizes these thoughts (therefore):
Romans 5:18-19 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. (19) For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
Let’s did a little deeper into what I underlined in verse 14; Adam is a “type of Him who was to come.” The OT is full of “types and shadows” of things that are revealed to us in the NT fully illuminated for our complete understanding. Paul is telling us that Adam is a type of Jesus in that through him something was given to everyone. Adam’s gift was not so good as his disobedience brought to us condemnation. Jesus, however, through His obedience brought to all of us justification. We are all born into Adam’s physical family line, reaping the results of his sin. We have inherited his guilt, a sinful nature (the tendency to sin) with the consequences of God’s judgment. BUT GOD offered us the free gift of Jesus, giving us an option to trade judgement for forgiveness. We are now able to trade our sin for Jesus’ righteousness. We were all born into Adam’s sinful nature with no choice. But now, Jesus offers each of us the opportunity to enter into His spiritual family, a family line that begins with forgiveness and leads to eternal life. It is our choice to make as we choose by faith. If we reject this adoption into Jesus’ family we die in our sins and are separated from God for eternity. It is our choice; condemnation or justification.
Romans 5:20-21 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, (21) so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Once the law entered at the time of Moses, it simply magnified what great sinners we actually are by exposing all of our sinful ways and nature to us. The law opened our eyes of just how far short of perfection we all are. The law was a steep cliff leading to God that seemed impossible for us to climb alone. The purpose was to show us we cannot do this on our own, we need help. We realized that we are sinners in need of a Savior; enter the grace of God. Jesus left the comfort of the top of the cliff (heaven) and came down to us. In offering Himself up for us, He then carries us to top of the cliff. In our sins we are helpless and hopeless to enter heaven. But with Jesus and the grace of God we can “reign through righteousness to eternal life;” being justified by our faith in Him.
As we close this up I want to return to Paul’s comparison of Adam and Jesus. Adam was created to “tend and keep” the garden God had created. He was given clear instructions and he chose to disobey. In doing so he did not fulfill the purpose God created Him for. He not only let God down, but also let down his bride who he was supposed to be looking out for. Why did he choose to be quiet when Eve took her bite of the forbidden fruit? Why did he not step up and stop her, rebuking the serpent? Rather than step up for what is right, he chose to be silent. That is exactly what society today wants Christians to do; be quiet. The time has come that we need to be bold in our faith and speak out and call sin exactly what our Bible calls it, “sin.” Speak not in a condemning matter, but with love offering the truth in the face of our enemy’s lies.
Compare that to Jesus who came to earth with a specific purpose. He faced every temptation that we are exposed to, but stood up to our enemy and did not yield. When He saw the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, He called them out for it. He spoke truth in the midst of lies. He was faithful throughout His entire journey, without sin. His purpose was greater than what any other man will ever face and He completed it with His death, burial and resurrection. He did not let His Father down nor did He let us down. He stood up to our enemy and endured the consequences of our sins. He did not stand by in silence, He stepped in and saved His Bride from the wages of her sins by taking her place. Today we can choose whose example we want to follow. One of Adam, who chose the road of disobedience that led to condemnation. OR we can choose to follow Jesus and follow the road of obedience and submission that leads to justification. I choose the Jesus Way.