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| Of Imputation, Representation, Federal Headship, and Original Sin. |
Of Imputation, Representation, Federal Headship, and Original Sin
“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Rom 5:19).
This is the Bible’s shortest and simplest statement of imputation, representation, federal headship, and original sin.
Read it again.
This is the Bible’s clearest and most concise statement of imputation, representation, federal headship, and original sin.
Read it again.
The two legal transactions are one person acting for many. The disobedient man is Adam. The obedient Man is Jesus Christ.
Read it again.
You should not have any problem with God’s choice of the word many in this verse.
The many that were made sinners prove imputation of Adam’s disobedience to all that die, for the wages of sin is death.
Therefore, since all human persons conceived by mankind die, thus all mankind makes up the many made sinners, for all die.
The many that were made righteous prove imputation of Christ’s obedience to all that go to heaven, for they are the righteous.
The gift of righteousness includes the free gift of eternal life by the free grace of God, which is only given to God’s elect.
Therefore, the many made sinners are all mankind, the whole human family of all descendants from Adam.
And the many made righteous are all the elect, the whole family of God and the brethren of Jesus Christ.
Romans 5 is one of the simplest and most powerful presentations of our salvation and present standing in grace.
Here is a simple outline to break the chapter down just a little for better consideration:
Simple Outline:
5:1-5 Five Present Blessings for Believers after Free Justification
5:6-11 Details of Jesus Christ’s Purchase of Salvation and Blessings
5:12-19 Two Adams and Imputation – Similarities and Differences
5:20-21 Sin and Death Reigned, but Grace and Righteousness Won
We have the great privilege to consider Romans 5:12-21 tomorrow in our first service. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Will you eagerly look forward to hearing it, like the entire nation of Israel gathered to hear Ezra in Nehemiah 8?
These inspired and preserved verses confound our ignorant, rebellious, and wicked world in many different ways.
They deny the world’s ideas of … origins, causes of disease and death, basis for longevity, value of exercise, role of nutrition and medicine, character of God, evil of sin, supernatural revelation, decay and entropy of the universe, etc., etc.
Think about what you fill out when you first visit a new doctor … the most important and most revealing information is requested first … your family’s medical history.
If the world’s scientists and doctors had wisdom, they would know that family history of disease and death should not start with parents and grandparents … but rather with Adam!
Then they would know there is a cause of sickness and death far weightier than anything they learned in biology, actuarial sciences, or medical school.
Romans 5:12-19, though focused on man’s condemnation to death and salvation to eternal life, explains the corruption of planet earth and the universe, the violence of animals, rust on tools in your garage, destructive events of nature, thorns in your garden, human cruelty, proliferation of false and fake news of every sort, etc., etc.
Do you understand the comprehensive value of Romans 5:12-19 for understanding the world and the doctrines of sin, hell, incarnation, salvation, etc.?
If you will teach your children these things, they will have a faith-based worldview that trumps all other worldviews. They will be wiser than enemies, teachers, and the ancients.
They will have a foundation for thinking, studying, interpreting, and living that annihilates the world’s best philosophers and scientists.
I thank God for my parents requiring me to memorize Romans 5:12 before any other verse in the Bible.
Romans 5:12-21 is perfect for communion … for it remembers the death of Jesus Christ … which was His greatest act of obedience.
Do we need a funeral to help us catch a vision of the glory of this passage of scripture, since it describes the origin of death and our salvation from it?
Decay, death, destruction, dysfunction, and violence are everywhere. They are the direct result of Adam’s sin by God’s curse on mankind and the universe.
Salvation by justification, adoption, glorification, and other facets is even more true. They are the result of Jesus Christ’s life, death, and perpetual life.
Romans 5:12-21 is perfect for communion … for by remembering Jesus’ death until He comes for us … we say to God, to Jesus, and to each other:
I believe Adam condemned us by his sin in Eden.
I believe the law of Moses further condemned us.
I believe death is the wages of sin, which I deserve.
I remember Jesus dying by this bread and wine.
I rejoice in what He did for me as the Second Adam.
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