V12 → “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned:”
“entered” → (ice er’ kho my) entered in, arose
“and death by sin” → By sin entering in the world, death came along with it
Adam and Eve experienced spiritual death upon sinning and the curse of sin brought physical death as well
“and so death passed upon all men” → All men have experienced both spiritual and physical death
“for that all have sinned” → Because all men have sinned, all men have experienced death.
Romans 3:23 → “For all have sinned…” [Each individual is guilty of their own sin.]

V13 → (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Sin predated the law → What kind of sin existed if there wasn’t the Law?
Genesis 6:5-13 → The sin of man was described and wickedness and violence.
God has established a common, moral understanding of evil within mankind.
Adam received the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 12 → Pharaoh acknowledged the immorality of adultery.
“imputed” → There were no commandments addressing matters of sin.
Humanity did not have a Law from God dealing with trespasses.

V14 → “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the
similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.”
Regardless of a law against sin, man still experienced death. [This is the curse of Adam’s sin.]
Death is the result of Adam’s sin.
“even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression”
Even when there was no law present against sin, man still dealt with the problem of death.
Every man born after Adam has inherited Adam’s position.
Man is not in the garden with God, he is in the fallen world, under the reign of sin.
Man did not have a way of escaping the rule of death and being reunited with God.
Even after the Law was given to Moses, death still reigned.
Man could only hope in a resurrection from the grave (sheol). [Psalm 16:10]
“who is the figure of him that was to come” → Adam brought the reign of death upon all man.
Adam ushered in one reign, Christ will usher in a different reign.

V15 → “But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much
more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto
many.”
“But” → adversative particle: relating to the preceding words [Although death reigned due to Adam…]
“not” → negative statement: [In Greek, two negatives do not always mean a positive, context is key.]
“For if through the offence of one many be dead” → “many” = (polys) can also mean all
Paul is comparing the trespass of Adam to the free gift in Christ.
Just as one man, Adam, brought death into the world to all men; by one man, Christ, has grace been brought into the world to all men.
It is important to note that Paul is not teaching universalism.
Grace is being offered to all, but they may not all accept the grace gift.


V16 → “And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but
the free gift is of many offences unto justification.”
The gift did not come through sin as the judgment to condemnation did.
This condemnation was to death. [Death reigned even when sin was not imputed.]
“the free gift is of many offences unto justification.”
Paul does not address the offence of Adam by which man must be justified.
Instead, Paul addresses the many offences of the individuals from which they were justified.
“justification” → (dikayomah) made righteous

Verse 17 → “For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of
grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)”
The end of Paul’s parenthetical statement.
“For if by one man’s offence death reigned…” → Paul’s focus is not Adam’s sin being upon all men.
Paul’s focus is Adam’s sin resulting in the reign of death to all men.
“the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ)”
Through Adam, death reigned, through Christ, life shall reign”

Verse 18 → “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the
righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”
“as by the offence of one judgement came upon all men to condemnation”
Genesis 3:17-19,22-24 → Man was prevented from taking of the Tree of Life and living forever.
Adam’s curse changed man's location.
No longer did he have access to life, he lived under the rule of death.
The free gift of Christ overcomes the curse of Adam to offer justification for men unto life.

Verse 19 → “For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous.”
“made” → (kathistamee) appoint, designate, set
The student of the Bible has a decision to make concerning the interpretation of this verse.
1) Interpret this verse to mean that all of humanity is guilty for Adam’s sin.
This has not been taught at any point prior to this passage.
What about Psalm 51:5? → The context is very specific to David.
Specifically the conception of David. [Its about the act, not him.]
It is contradicting to God’s position in Ezekiel 18:20
The point of this chapter is that God judges individuals.
Man does not carry the sins of their father.
If this position is taken, one must greatly change their interpretation of a number of passages.
2) Can this passage be interpreted in such a way that does not teach original sin?
It is my position that you can.
When Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he gave that knowledge to all of his descendents.
Each man has had a choice, to do good or do evil.
Each person, because we are not perfect and holy as God is, at some point in their lives choose to do evil.
Therefore, Adam’s sin did result in all of humanity becoming sinners.
However, they are guilty because of their individual sin, not Adam’s.