Lesson 11: Death in Adam, Life in Christ – 5:12-21
 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.
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.
15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.
17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

One of the tremendous truths of justification by Jesus Christ’s sacrifice is our freedom from slavery to sin. Leaving sin behind was not possible before Jesus gave us new life; but now, with His Spirit living in us, we have His power available to help us avoid temptation – see 1 Corinthians 10:13.


Sin did not come into the world when the Law was given; it had been here since Adam and Eve’s decision to disobey God. The Law did not bring death into the world; people had been dying since Adam and Eve’s time.

In our verses today we will see several contrasts between Law and grace and their effects on our lives. Verse 15 tells us they are opposites – one brings death and the other brings life.

Verse 16 says one man’s sin brought condemnation and death to the rest of humanity; but Jesus’ one sacrifice offers forgiveness and justification to all people who accept Him.

Verses 17-18 say one man sinned, and death came to everyone; but through Jesus eternal life is offered to everyone.

Verse 19 says one man’s disobedience made all of us sinners. Now one Man’s obedience can make us righteous.

Verse 20 says the Law increased sin as people realized what sin truly was when they measured themselves according to God’s standard rather than according to their own. But where sin was great, God’s grace was always found to be greater.

Verse 21 says sin’s kingdom is death but grace’s kingdom is eternal life through Jesus Christ.


We can never be free from slavery to sin as long as we are trying to keep the Law. We can never be free from slavery to sin as long as we try to do it on our own. Freedom from sin comes only – I repeat, only -- as we follow Jesus. You may ask, does Jesus want us to follow the Ten Commandments? The answer may surprise you – no, He does not. He wants you to follow Him. When we follow Him we begin to do the things named in the Law without thinking about it because we are becoming more like Him as we follow Him. We are free from always having to think about what is right or wrong because we are concentrating on what He asks of us. We discover, at the end of the day, as we give thanks to Him for what He has done through us, that we have learned to love Him a little more and we have learned to love our neighbor through our actions. We find we have experienced joy and peace and love and goodness, we have been gentle and kind and forgiving and caring – all produced through us simply because we have followed Him.

*When have you experienced living the Christian life simply by following Jesus rather than by following the Law?