ACC ~ Romans 5 v12 - 21

OVERVIEW:

Eve sinned before Adam, but she is not culpable in the way that Adam is because Adam is the head of the human race. The result is that we all have inherited a state of sinfulness from which there is no escape. Even Pelagius denied that there were any truly righteous people left in the world after the fall of Adam. Mortality is the natural consequence of sin, which affects even the smallest children. The existence of sin before the coming of the law was recognized by all the Fathers, but it caused them some difficulty in interpretation. Was there a natural law working in the conscience which would have condemned men long before the law of Moses was given? And what about children and others who were incapable of the sort of reflection that conscience demands? Were they excused from the consequences of sin? These questions were disputed.

Paul’s personification of death as a tyrannical ruler struck a chord with the Fathers, who had plenty of experience of both. The Latin text of this verse and some Greek manuscripts had been corrupted by the deletion of the word not. This gave Ambrosiaster the opportunity to use his considerable skills of textual criticism, and it is a pity that he came up with the wrong answer. Augustine saw clearly that the text must refer to all sinners, whether or not they imitated Adam’s sin. Adam’s sin led to the destruction of the entire human race. Christ’s free gift of the grace of salvation is greater than Adam’s sin. How then can it be that not all are saved? The answer is that Christ’s gift is qualitatively greater than Adam’s sin, in that it not only restores what people have lost but also gives them an inheritance in heaven that far surpasses that of Adam in Eden. This salvation cannot be universal, however, because that would deny human free will and be untrue to our experience. In Adam only one sin was condemned, but in Christ many sins have been forgiven—another sign that Christ is greater than Adam. Adam’s sin brought death, but Christ’s forgiveness brings eternal life. Christ’s gift to us is far greater than Adam’s, but it does not automatically extend to everyone as Adam’s did.

There are two spiritual kingdoms in the world. In the first of these, sin is in control. In the second, the grace of God has overcome sin and given those who belong to it the promise of eternal life. The law shed light on sin and therefore increased it by making it more obvious. Grace abounded all the more because it did not merely forgive us our sins but gave us new life as well. Sin is an act of disobedience, which Christ put right by his perfect obedience. Many Fathers found it difficult to accept any concept of what we would call inherited guilt. To most of them disobedience was a personal act, repeated in each individual but not directly inherited from Adam in a way that would make us responsible for his disobedience.

5:12 | Death Spread to All People

FROM ONE MAN TO ALL HUMANITY. ORIGEN: Perhaps someone will object that the woman sinned before the man and even that the serpent sinned before her … and elsewhere the apostle says: “Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived.” … How is it then that sin seems to have come in through one man rather than through one woman? … Here the apostle sticks to the order of nature, and thus when he speaks about sin, because of which death has passed to all men, he attributes the line of human descent, which has succumbed to this death because of sin, not to the woman but to the man. For the descent is not reckoned from the woman but from the man, as the apostle says elsewhere: “For man was not made from woman but woman from man.”

In this context the word world is to be understood either as the place in which people live or as the earthly and corporeal life in which death has its location. It is to this world, that is, to this earthly life, that the saints say that they are crucified and dead.

The death which entered through sin is without doubt that death of which the prophet speaks when he says: “The soul which sins shall surely die.” One might rightly say that our bodily death is a shadow of this death. For whenever a soul dies, the body is obliged to follow suit, like a shadow. Now if someone objects that the Savior did not sin, nor did his soul die because of sin, yet nevertheless his body suffered death, we would answer that the Savior, although he did not himself sin, nevertheless by the assumption of human flesh is said to have become sin. As a result, although he owed his death to nothing else, nor was he bound to anything outside himself, yet for our salvation he voluntarily took on this shadow as part of his incarnation. As he himself said: “I have power to lay my soul down, and I have power to take it again.” . . .

The apostle stated most categorically that the death of sin has passed to all men because all have sinned. … Therefore even if you say that Abel was righteous, still he cannot be excused, for all have sinned, including him. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

DEATH SPREAD. EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: Since the apostle said: “By man death entered into the world,” it was surely essential that the victory over death should be achieved by man as well, and the body of death be shown to be the body of life, and the reign of sin that before ruled in the mortal body be destroyed so that it should no longer serve sin but righteousness. PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 7.1.

HOW CAN GOD CALL ME BACK EXCEPT HE FIND ME IN ADAM? AMBROSE: Although through one man’s sin death has passed to all men, him whom we do not refuse to acknowledge as the father of the human race we cannot refuse to acknowledge as also the author of death. … In Adam I fell, in Adam I was cast out of paradise, in Adam I died. How shall God call me back, except he find me in Adam? For just as in Adam I am guilty of sin and owe a debt to death, so in Christ I am justified. ON THE DEATH OF HIS BROTHER SATYRUS 2.6.

WHETHER THROUGH WOMAN OR MAN. AMBROSIASTER: Paul said that all have sinned in Adam even though in fact it was Eve who sinned because he was not referring to the particular but to the universal. For it is clear that all have sinned in Adam as though in a lump. For, being corrupted by sin himself, all those whom he fathered were born under sin. For that reason we are all sinners, because we all descend from him. He lost God’s blessing because he transgressed and was made unworthy to eat of the tree of life. For that reason he had to die. Death is the separation of body and soul. There is another death as well, called the second death, which takes place in Gehenna. We do not suffer this death as a result of Adam’s sin, but his fall makes it possible for us to get it by our own sins. Good men were protected from this, as they were only in hell, but they were still not free, because they could not ascend to heaven. They were still bound by the sentence meted out in Adam, the seal of which was broken by the death of Christ. The sentence passed on Adam was that the human body would decompose on earth, but the soul would be bound by the chains of hell until it was released. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

CHRYSOSTOM: Paul inquires as to how death came into the world and why it prevailed. It came in and prevailed through the sin of one man and continued because all have sinned. Thus once Adam fell, even those who had not eaten of the tree became mortal because of him. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 10.

SIN PASSED TO ALL. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: If sin entered the world through one human being—Eve—those who say that there was sin in the world before the devil deceived Eve are mad. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

THE DEATH OF THE SOUL. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: “All men sinned” means that they followed the example of Adam. The apostle is here referring to the death of the soul, which is the death Adam suffered when he transgressed, just as the prophet says: “The soul which sins shall surely die.” This sin passed to all men, who transgressed the natural law. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

EVEN CHILDREN. AUGUSTINE: Everyone, even little children, have broken God’s covenant, not indeed in virtue of any personal action but in virtue of mankind’s common origin in that single ancestor in whom all have sinned. THE CITY OF GOD 16.27.

BORN WITH DEATH. AUGUSTINE: When a man is born, he is already born with death, because he contracts sin from Adam. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.12.2.

AUGUSTINE: If the souls of all men are derived from that one which was breathed into the first man … either the soul of Christ was not derived from that one, since he had no sin of any kind … or, if his soul was derived from that first one, he purified it in taking it for himself, so that he might be born of the virgin and might come to us without any trace of sin, either committed or transmitted. LETTER 164.

INFANTS SET FREE FROM SIN’S GUILT BY BAPTISM. AUGUSTINE: As infants cannot help being descended from Adam, so they cannot help being touched by the same sin, unless they are set free from its guilt by the baptism of Christ. LETTER 157.

ORIGINAL SIN. AUGUSTINE: These words clearly teach that original sin is common to all men, regardless of the personal sins of each one. AGAINST JULIAN 6.20.63.

AUGUSTINE: All men for whom Christ died died in the sin of the first Adam, and all who are baptized into Christ die to sin. AGAINST JULIAN 6.7.21.

WHETHER THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS. PELAGIUS: Just as through Adam sin came at a time when it did not yet exist, so through Christ righteousness was recovered at a time when it survived in almost nobody. And just as through Adam’s sin death came in, so through Christ’s righteousness life was regained. As long as people sin as Adam sinned they die. Death did not pass on to Abraham and Isaac, of whom the Lord says: “They all live to him.” But here Paul says that all are dead because in a multitude of sinners no exception is made for a few righteous. … Or perhaps we should understand that death passed on to all who lived in a human and not in a heavenly manner. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

ALL INCUR PENALTY. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Death entered into the first man, and into the beginnings of our race, because of sin, and very soon it had corrupted the entire race. In addition to this, the serpent who invented sin, after he had conquered Adam because of the latter’s unfaithfulness, opened up a way for himself to enter the mind of man: “They are corrupt … there is none that does good.” Therefore, having turned away from the face of the most holy God, and because the mind of man willingly inclined towards evil from its adolescence, we lived an absurd life, and death the conqueror devoured us accordingly. … For since we have all copied Adam’s transgression and thus have all sinned, we have incurred a penalty equal to his. Yet the world was not without hope, for in the end sin was destroyed, Satan was defeated and death itself was abolished. EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

NO ONE IS SINLESS BORN. PRUDENTIUS: Such was the soul’s first state. Created pure

Through sordid union with the flesh it fell

Into iniquity; stained by Adam’s sin,

It tainted all the race from him derived,

And infant souls inherit at their birth

The first man’s sin; no one is sinless born.

THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST, LINES 909-15.

EACH ONE SENTENCED. THEODORET OF CYR: St. Paul says that when Adam sinned he became mortal because of it and passed both on to his descendants. Thus death came to all men, in that all sinned. But each person receives the sentence of death not because of the sin of his first ancestor but because of his own sin. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

ALL INHERIT HIS NATURE. GENNADIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE: Everyone in the following of Adam has died, because they have all inherited their nature from him. But some have died because they themselves have sinned, while others have died only because of Adam’s condemnation—for example, children. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

ALL HAVE SINNED IN IMITATION. OECUMENIUS: So that no one can accuse God of injustice, in that we all die because of the fall of Adam, Paul adds: “and so all have sinned.” Adam is the origin and the cause of the fact that we have all sinned in imitation of him. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

5:13 | Sin Preceded the Law

BEFORE WHICH LAW WAS SIN GIVEN? ORIGEN: We have already said on many occasions that in this epistle Paul mentions many different laws, though most often he is discussing the natural law, which also seems to be the case here. For until the natural law comes, sin is indeed dead. Thus it is that at a particular age, when a per-son begins to be capable of rational thought and to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, then sin, which before that time is considered to be dead inside him, is said to revive, because now he has a law inside him which forbids and a reason which shows him what not to do.

Why does Paul say that sin was “in the world” and not that sin was “in men”? The world includes cattle and other animals, not to mention trees and other things like that, but obviously sin does not dwell in them! It seems to me that here the apostle is referring to those men who are capable of reasoning and are subject to natural laws. Those people who have not yet reached the age of reason are not included in this context.

Another argument against those who think that this [verse] refers to the law of Moses is that in that case, the devil and his angels would be absolved, because where there is no law, sin would not be imputed. And how, before the law of Moses, would the serpent have been condemned or death have entered the world by the devil’s scheming? COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

IN WHAT SENSE WAS SIN BEFORE THE LAW? AMBROSIASTER: Before the law was given, men thought that they could sin with impunity before God but not before other men. For the natural law, of which they were well aware, had not completely lost its force, so that they knew not to do to others what they did not want to suffer themselves. For sin was certainly not unknown among men at that time.

How is it then that sin was not imputed, when there was no law? Was it all right to sin, if the law was absent? There had always been a natural law, and it was not unknown, but at that time it was thought to be the only law, and it did not make men guilty before God. For it was not then known that God would judge the human race, and for that reason sin was not imputed, almost as if it did not exist in God’s sight and that God did not care about it. But when the law was given through Moses, it became clear that God did care about human affairs and that in the future wrongdoers would not escape without punishment, as they had done up to then. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

BEFORE THE LAW OF MOSES, NOT OF NATURE. DIODORE: Sin was in the world before the law of Moses came, and it was counted, though not according to that law. Rather it was counted according to the law of nature, by which we have learned to distinguish good and evil. This was the law of which Paul spoke above. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

LAW DID NOT STOP SIN BUT MADE IT MORE DISCERNIBLE. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: The coming of the law did not remove sin. On the contrary, even though the law was observed and kept by men, sin continued to increase and the law could do nothing to stop it. … So far was the law from being the cure for sin that Paul even says that there would not have been sin at all had there been no law! By “law” Paul means the discernment which comes by both the natural law and the law of Moses. For without this discernment, nobody would be able to call sin by its name, since there would be no way of knowing the difference between good and evil. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

SIN NOT COUNTED WHERE THERE IS NO LAW. AUGUSTINE: Paul said this in opposition to those who thought that sin could be taken away through the law. He says that sins were made apparent by the law, not abolished. He says not that there was no sin but only that it was not counted. Once the law was given, sin was not taken away, but it began to be counted. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 27-28.

THE NATURAL LAW. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: “Before the law” refers to the law of Moses, inferring that sin is not counted where there is no law. This time, however, Paul means the natural law, because of which Cain transgressed and after him those who transgressed the natural law. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

NOT COUNTED TEMPORARILY. PELAGIUS: The law came to punish sin. Before it came, sinners enjoyed at least the length of this present life with less restraint. Sin indeed existed before the law, but it was not counted as sin because natural knowledge had been almost wiped out. How did death reign, if sin was not counted? You have to understand here that it was not counted “for the time being.” PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

SIN STRENGTHENED BY LAW. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The law of Moses was the power constraining the weakness of sinners. It proved to be not the answer to sin but rather a provocation to wrath. For it was necessary for transgressors to undergo the punishments prescribed by the law, and wherever there was transgression, there was also sin. So if sin brought death in its wake, it may undoubtedly be said that death, having been born of sin, was strengthened by this very thing. But when sin was taken away death was also weakened, and it disappeared along with its parent. Therefore there was death in the world until the coming of the law. For as long as the law was valid, the crime of transgression could be laid against those who had fallen, but once the law was removed, the accusation of transgression disappeared as well. Therefore when the guilt ceased, death also came to an end. EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

BEFORE THE LAW CAME TO AN END. THEODORET OF CYR: Paul is not, as some think, accusing those who lived before the law but rather everyone together. When he says “before the law” he does not mean before the law began but before the law came to an end, because as long as the law was in control, sin retained its force. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

SIN COUNTED UNDER THE LAW OF NATURE. OECUMENIUS: When Paul uses the word sin here he is thinking primarily of the transgression of the law of Moses and its commandments, e.g., circumcision, sabbath observance, the food laws, etc. Nevertheless, sin in general already existed in human nature, and it was counted. By this I mean things like murder, robbery, child abuse and so on. … For there was a law of nature which covered things like that. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

5:14 | Death Reigned from Adam to Moses

DEATH AS ROBBER. IRENAEUS: But the law given by Moses … really took away death’s kingdom, showing that death was not a king but a robber, and it revealed death as a murderer. AGAINST HERESIES 3.18.7.

ADAM THE TYPE OF THE SON. IRENAEUS: Paul called Adam “the type of the one who was to come” because the Word, the maker of all things, had formed beforehand for himself the future dispensation of the human race, in union with the Son of God. God predestined that the first man should be of an animal nature with this in view, that he might be saved in the spiritual nature. For since the Word had preexistence as a saving being, it was necessary that what might be saved should also be called into existence, in order that the being who saves should not exist in vain. AGAINST HERESIES 3.22.3.

THE USURPER REIGNED. ORIGEN: It seems to me that Paul’s description of death and its power may be compared to the entry of a tyrant who wants to usurp the authority of the legitimate ruler and after seizing the entrance to the kingdom by the treachery of the gatekeeper then tries to get public opinion on his side. To a great extent he succeeds in this and can therefore claim that the kingdom belongs to him. It was during the rule of this tyrant that Moses, a leader chosen by the legitimate ruler, was sent to the occupied peoples in order to revoke the laws of the civil administration and teach them to follow the laws of the true king. … This leader did all he could to deliver at least some people from the control of sin and death, and in the end he managed to form a nation composed of those who chose to associate with him. At the command of the king, he instituted sacrifices which were to be offered with a certain solemnity, as was only fitting, and by which their sins would be forgiven. And so at last a part of the human race began to be set free from the rule of sin and death. . . .

Many manuscripts read that death reigned over even those whose sin was not like that of Adam. If this reading is correct, then it may be said that it refers to that death which has kept souls in hell, and we would understand that even the saints have passed away because of this law of death, even though they were not subject to the law of sin. Therefore it may be said that Christ descended into hell not only in order to show that he could not be held by death but also that he might liberate those who found themselves there not because of the sin of transgression but merely because of their mortal condition. . . .

What did Paul mean when he said that Adam was a type of the one who was to come? Was he speaking of some future man who had not yet come when he was writing, or was he thinking about Christ, who would have been in the future from Adam’s point of view but was already in the past when Paul was writing? I do not know how Adam can be regarded as a type of Christ, unless it is by contrast. … I think it is better to say that Paul understood Adam as a type of Christ’s second coming. Thus just as death has taken control of this age because of the one Adam, and the entire human race has been subjected to mortality, so in the coming age life will reign through Christ, and the entire human race will be blessed with immortality. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

ADAM’S EATING NOT COPIED. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: Paul’s meaning is that, although Moses was a righteous and admirable man, the death sentence promulgated upon Adam reached him as well, and also those who came after, even though neither he nor they copied the sin of Adam in disobediently eating of the tree. THE CATECHETICAL LECTURES 15.31.

GREEK AND LATIN MANUSCRIPT DIFFERENCES. AMBROSIASTER: Although sin was not imputed before the law of Moses was given, death nevertheless reigned in the supremacy of its own seizure of power, knowing those who were bound to it. Therefore death reigned in the security of its dominion both over those who for a time escaped punishment and over those who suffered punishment for their evil deeds. Death claimed everyone as its own, because whoever sins is the servant of sin. Imagining they would get away with it, people sinned all the more and were more prone to wrongdoing because the world abetted it as if it were legal. Because of all this Satan rejoiced, knowing that he was secure in his possession of man, who because of Adam’s sin had been abandoned by God. Thus it was that death reigned.

Some Greek manuscripts say that death reigned even in those who had not sinned in the way that Adam had. If this is true, it is because Satan’s jealousy was such that death, that is, dissolution, held sway over even those who did not sin. … Here there is a textual difference between the Latin version and some of the Greek manuscripts. The Latin says that death reigned over those whose sins were like the sin of Adam, but some Greek manuscripts say that death reigned even over those whose sins were not like Adam’s. Which of the two readings is the correct one?

What has happened is that somebody who could not win his argument altered the words of the text in order to make them say what he wanted them to say, so that not argument but textual authority would determine the issue. However, it is known that there were Latin-speakers who translated ancient Greek manuscripts which preserved an uncorrupted version from earlier times. But once these problems were raised by heretics and schismatics who were upsetting the harmony of the church, many things were altered so that the biblical text might conform to what people wanted. Thus even the Greeks have different readings in their manuscripts. I consider the correct reading to be the one which reason, history and authority all retain. For the reading of the modern Latin manuscripts is also found in Tertullian, Victorinus and Cyprian. Thus it was in Judea that the destruction of the kingdom of death began, since God was made known in Judea. But now death is being destroyed daily in every nation, since many who once were sons of the devil have become sons of God. Therefore, death did not reign in everyone but only in those who sinned in the same way that Adam had sinned.

Adam was the type of the one who was to come, because even then God had secretly decided to redeem Adam’s sin through the one Christ, as it says in John’s Apocalypse: “The Lamb of God which was slain before the foundation of the world.” COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.”

THE FALL APPLIES TO ALL. ACACIUS OF CAESAREA: Paul said this in order to contradict those who thought that the Genesis story of the fall applied to nobody but Adam himself. For here he says that all have sinned, even if not exactly in the same way as Adam, and that the Genesis account applies to all men. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

IN WHAT SENSE WAS ADAM THE TYPE OF CHRIST? DIODORE: Adam was a type of Christ not with respect to his sin or his righteousness—in this respect the two men were opposites—but with respect to the effects of what he did. For just as Adam’s sin spread to all men, so Christ’s life also spread to all men. Adam was also a type of Christ in another respect. For just as he was the head of Eve, in that he was her husband, so also Christ, being its bridegroom, is the head of the church. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

FALLING FROM AND RETURNING TO PARADISE. JEROME: In the transgression of Adam we have all through sin been cast out of paradise. The apostle teaches that even in us who were to come later Adam had fallen. In Christ therefore, in the heavenly Adam, we believe that we who through the sin of the first Adam have fallen from paradise now through the righteousness of the second Adam are to return to paradise. HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 66.

CRUX OF THE TYPOLOGY. CHRYSOSTOM: Adam is a type of Christ in that just as those who descended from him inherited death, even though they had not eaten of the fruit of the tree. So also those who are descended from Christ inherit his righteousness, even though they did not produce it themselves. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 10.

DEATH THE PUNISHMENT FOR ALL SIN. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Death came to all men not because they committed the same sin as Adam but because they sinned. … Death is not just the punishment for one particular sin; it is the punishment for every sin. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

A TYPE IN REVERSE. AUGUSTINE: This can be understood in two ways: either “in the likeness of Adam’s transgression, death reigned,” or (as surely it must be read) “death reigned over even those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression but sinned before the law was given.” Thus those who received the law may be understood to have sinned in the likeness of Adam’s transgression, because Adam also sinned after having received a law to obey. … Adam is the type of the one who was to come but in reverse, for as death came through Adam, so life came through our Lord. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 29.

CHRIST’S GOOD GREATER THAN ADAM’S HARM. AUGUSTINE: Adam is the type of Christ but in reverse, because the good done by Christ to the regenerated is greater than the harm done by Adam to his descendants. LETTER 157.

WE SIN LIKE ADAM, EVEN IF IN A DIFFERENT WAY. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: Paul wants to show that, although death reigned over everyone before the coming of Christ, it was not able to reign without sin. It reigns over even children, who are not bound by the commandment as Adam was. Paul shows that they sin by their natural condition, because of the weakness of the flesh which was not able to keep the law of God. They did not sin in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, because they sinned against the natural law and not against the commandment as Adam did. How can they be said to be bound when they did not sin in the way Adam did, unless this is meant to show that they were unable to keep the law because of the weakness of their flesh? For it is shown that death reigned over even children, who did not sin as Adam did but did other evil things. They are like Adam in that they sinned, even if they did so in a different way. Adam was the type of the one who was to come, viz., Christ. For just as Adam was the first to transgress the commandment of God and thereby to give an example to everyone who wanted to follow suit, so also Christ, by fulfilling the will of God, is an example to those who wish to imitate him. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

THEODORET OF CYR: Death reigned over even those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s sin. For even if they did not break the same commandment, they did other things which were wrong. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

ALTERNATIVE READINGS. PELAGIUS: This may mean that as long as there was no one who distinguished between the righteous and the unrighteous, death imagined that it was Lord over all. Or else it may mean that death reigned not only over those who, like Adam, broke a commandment—like the sons of Noah who were ordered not to eat the life in the blood or the sons of Abraham, on whom circumcision was imposed—but over those who, lacking the commandment, showed contempt for the law of nature. Adam was a type of Christ either because he was made by God without sexual intercourse, just as Christ was born of a virgin by the aid of the Holy Spirit, or he was an antithetical type, that is, as Adam was the source of sin so Christ is the source of righteousness. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

5:15 | God’s Grace Abounded for Many

THE TYPOLOGY CIRCUMSCRIBED. ORIGEN: It makes no difference that Paul said [in verse 12] that sin spread to all, whereas here he says that the grace and gift of God have abounded for many. In Paul’s usage, all and many are almost synonymous. … Yet Paul refrains from saying that all will benefit from the free grace of God, because if men had the assurance that they would be saved, they would not fear God and turn away from evil.

[In this verse] Paul starts to explain how Adam may be regarded as a type of Christ. Any close similarity between them is obviously absurd, which is why he insists that “the free gift is not like the trespass.” … The judgment on Adam was that through his one sin condemnation came to all men. But in sharp contrast to this, through Christ justification is given to all for the many sins in which the entire human race is bound up. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

“MANY” AND “ALL” DISTINGUISHED. DIO-DORE: At first sight it may seem that this verse contradicts what Paul said [in verse 12] above, for there he spoke of death having come to all humanity, whereas here he says only that many have died. In fact there is no contradiction, because death, although it came upon all because we have all sinned, came only to test and to try everyone. Death does not destroy all sinners automatically but only those who persist in their sins. By saying that “many died” Paul shows merely that many turned out to be unrepentant in their sins. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

THE GIFT UNLIKE THE TRESPASS. AMBROSIASTER: Paul said that Adam was a type of Christ, but in order to assure us that they were not alike in substance, he says that the gift is not like the trespass. The only similarity between them is that just as one man sinned, so one man put things right.

If by the trespass of one man many have died by imitating his transgression, how much more has the grace of God and his gift abounded in those who flee to him for refuge! For there are more who have received grace than who have died because of Adam’s trespass. From this it is clear that Paul was not talking about ordinary death, which is common to us all, since everybody dies but not everybody receives grace. Death does not reign in everyone. It only reigns in those who have died because of the sin of Adam, who have sinned by a transgression like his. Paul is talking only about these when he says that although many have died because of Adam’s sin, many more have received grace. … For both to those who sinned in a way similar to Adam and to those who did not sin in that way but who were nevertheless confined to hell because of God’s judgment on Adam’s sin, the grace of God has abounded by the descent of the Savior to hell, granting pardon to all and leading them up to heaven in triumph. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

WHETHER ONE MAN SHOULD BE PUNISHED FOR WHAT ANOTHER DOES. CHRYSOSTOM: What Paul is saying here seems to be something like this. If sin, and the sin of a single man moreover, had such a big effect, how is it that grace, and that the grace of God—not of the Father only but also of the Son—would not have an even greater effect? That one man should be punished on account of another does not seem reasonable, but that one man should be saved on account of another is both more suitable and more reasonable. So if it is true that the former happened, much more should the latter have happened as well! HOMILIES ON ROMANS 10.

THE GIFT EXCELS. AUGUSTINE: The gift excels in two ways: first, because grace abounds much more in that it bestows eternal life even though death reigns in the temporal sphere because of the death of Adam, and second, because by the condemnation of one sin the death of many came about through Adam, whereas by the forgiveness of many sins through our Lord Jesus Christ grace has been given for eternal life. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 29.

A COMMON AND NATURAL DEATH. [PSEUDO-] CONSTANTIUS: Here Paul clearly teaches that he is not speaking generally of everyone when he says: “Many died through one man’s trespass,” because it is not just sinners but the righteous too who die a common and natural death. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

MISREADING THE ANALOGY. PELAGIUS: The gift is not like the trespass, because one must not give equal value to the type as to the original. Righteousness had more power to bring to life than sin had to put to death. Adam killed only himself and his descendants, whereas Christ freed both those who were then in the body and also succeeding generations. Those who oppose the idea of the transmission of sin try to attack it as follows: “If Adam’s sin harmed even those who were not sinners, then Christ’s righteousness must help even those who are not believers. For Paul says that people are saved through Christ in the same way or to an even greater degree than they had previously perished through Adam.” Secondly, they say: “If baptism washes away that ancient sin, those who are born of two baptized parents should not have that sin, for they could not have passed on to their children what they did not possess themselves. Besides, if the soul does not exist by transmission, but only the flesh, then only the flesh carries the transmission of sin and it alone deserves punishment.” Declaring it to be unjust that a soul which is born today, not from the lump of Adam, bears so ancient a sin belonging to another, these people say that on no account should it be accepted that God, who forgives a man his own sins, imputes to him the sins of someone else. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

ONE MAN. THEODORET OF CYR: Paul calls Jesus a man in this passage in order to underline the parallel with Adam, for just as death came through one man, so the cure for death came through one man as well. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

WHY THE OBEDIENCE IS GREATER THAN THE DISOBEDIENCE. OECUMENIUS: Christ’s obedience was greater than Adam’s disobedience in the following sense. Death, which originated with the sin of Adam, had our cooperation in the sins which we all committed, and so it was able to gain control over us. For if men had remained free of all wrongdoing, death would not have been in control. But the grace of Christ has come to us all without our cooperation and shows that the grace of the resurrection is such that not only believers, who glory in their faith, will be resurrected, but also unbelievers, both Jews and Greeks. Something which works in us against our will is therefore obviously greater than something which works in us with our cooperation. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

5:16 | God’s Gift Brings Justification

CHRIST TRANSFORMED MANY SINS INTO RIGHTEOUSNESS. DIODORE: Paul wants to say that it was because of Adam’s sin, although it was only one, that God condemned many, on account of the fact that they copied Adam. But the grace of the Lord was measured not according to that one sin but according to the many sins which all had committed. Thus Christ transformed many sins into righteousness. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

AMBROSIASTER: There is an obvious difference between the fact that those who have sinned in imitation of Adam’s transgression have been condemned and the fact that the grace of God in Christ has justified men not from one trespass but from many sins, giving them forgiveness of sins. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE GREATER GOOD OF THE FREE GIFT. CHRYSOSTOM: The free gift is much greater than the judgment. … For it was not just Adam’s sin which was done away with by the free gift but all other sins as well. And it was not just that sin was done away with—justification was given, too. So Christ did not merely do the same amount of good that Adam did of harm, but far more and greater good. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 10.

THE ONE GREAT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GIFT AND TRESPASS. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: There is one great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gift in Christ. Adam’s sin brought punishment on all those who came after him, and so they died. But the free gift is different. For not only did it take effect in the case of those who came afterward; it also took away the sins of those who had gone before. It is therefore much greater, because where sin harmed those who came after, grace rescued not only those who came after but those who had transgressed before as well. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

AUGUSTINE: This is the difference: in Adam one sin was condemned, but by the Lord many sins have been forgiven. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 29.

THE EFFECT OF THE GIFT. PELAGIUS: The effect of the gift is greater than that of the sin. From the sin of one righteous man came the judgment of death. Adam never came across all the righteousness which he destroyed, but Christ discharged the sins of many by his grace. Adam was only the model for sin, but Christ both forgave sins freely and gave an example of righteousness. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

5:17 | Abundant Grace Reigns

WHERE DEATH REIGNED, ABUNDANT GRACE REIGNS. ORIGEN: Not only will death cease to reign in those who receive the abundance of grace, but two additional benefits will be given to them. First, Christ will reign in them by his life, and second, they will reign along with Christ. … It must be noted that Paul speaks of the abundance of grace, because it is not possible for someone who has received only one grace, i.e., who has pleased God in only one thing, to enter the kingdom of heaven. … Grace is multiplied and abounds if our conversation is always seasoned with salt and our work is done with the grace of humility and simplicity, and if all that we do is done to the glory of God. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

HOW MUCH MORE WILL GRACE REIGN. AMBROSIASTER: Paul says that death reigned, not that it is now reigning. Those who understand the limits of the law—what the future judgment of God will be—have been delivered from its control. Death reigned, because without the revelation of the law there was no fear of God on earth. But the higher meaning is that, since death reigned from Adam to Moses over those who sinned according to the transgression of Adam, how much more will grace reign by the abundance of God’s gift of life through the one Jesus Christ. For if death reigned, why should grace not reign even more, since it has justified far more people than the number over whom death reigned? COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

NO TRACE OF DEATH. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul speaks of an abundance of grace to show that what we have received is not just a medicine sufficient to heal the wound of sin, but also health and beauty and honor, and glory and dignity far transcending our natural state. Each of these in itself would have been enough to do away with death, but when they are all put together in one there is not a trace of death left, nor can any shadow of it be seen, so entirely has it been done away with. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 10.

GRACE RECEIVED IN PART, AWAITING FULLNESS. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Paul shows just how superior grace is to sin, because while death, which came into the world by the sin of Adam, held full sway, the enjoyment of the gift of grace through Christ has been given to us, through which we shall be raised from the dead and in righteousness cease to sin. But we have not yet received it fully; it does not yet hold full sway. We are still waiting for the life to come, even though we now enjoy it in part. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

AUGUSTINE: “Much more will those reign” pertains to eternal life; “those who receive the abundance of grace” pertains to the forgiveness of many sins. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 29.

PELAGIUS: Righteousness is given through baptism and is not gained by merit. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

5:18 | Christ’s Righteousness Leads to Acquittal

ONE MAN’S TRESPASS. ACACIUS OF CAESAREA: Paul does not mean by this that because one man sinned everybody else had to pay the price for it even though they had not committed the sin, for that would be unjust. Rather he says that from its beginning in Adam humanity derived both its existence and its sinfulness. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

OBEDIENCE OVERCAME DISOBEDIENCE. DIODORE: What was Adam’s sin? Disobedience. What was Christ’s righteousness? Obedience, by which he obeyed the Father in his incarnation and in his suffering for mankind, as the apostle says: “Being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” Thus obedience overcame disobedience and the worse was condemned by the better. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

NO UNIVERSAL ACQUITTAL. AMBROSIASTER: Some people think that because the condemnation was universal, the acquittal will also be universal. But this is not so, because not everyone believes. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

AUGUSTINE: Here Paul returns to his original argument, interrupted [from verse 12]. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 29.

NO REBIRTH WITHOUT SPIRITUAL GRACE. AUGUSTINE: No one is born without the intervention of carnal concupiscence, which is inherited from the first man, who is Adam, and no one is reborn without the intervention of spiritual grace, which is given by the second man, who is Christ. LETTER 187.31.

AUGUSTINE: God wants all those to whom grace comes through the righteousness of the One unto justification of life to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. AGAINST JULIAN 4.8.42.

WHETHER ALL ARE PUNISHED WHEN NOT ALL ARE JUSTIFIED. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: How is it possible for God to condemn all men by the sin of the one Adam when not all men are justified by the righteousness of Christ? But when Paul says “all” he is not speaking generally but means only a large number of each kind. In other words, everyone who is justified is justified in Christ, just as everyone who is condemned is condemned in Adam, and nobody beyond that will be punished. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

PELAGIUS: Death reigned, but so also grace reigned through justification. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

CONTRACTING THE DISEASE OF SIN. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: What has Adam’s guilt got to do with us? Why are we held responsible for his sin when we were not even born when he committed it? Did not God say: “The parents will not die for the children, nor the children for the parents, but the soul which has sinned, it shall die.” How then shall we defend this doctrine? The soul, I say, which has sinned, it shall die. We have become sinners because of Adam’s disobedience in the following manner. … After he fell into sin and surrendered to corruption, impure lusts invaded the nature of his flesh, and at the same time the evil law of our members was born. For our nature contracted the disease of sin because of the disobedience of one man, that is, Adam, and thus many became sinners. This was not because they sinned along with Adam, because they did not then exist, but because they had the same nature as Adam, which fell under the law of sin. Thus, just as human nature acquired the weakness of corruption in Adam because of disobedience, and evil desires invaded it, so the same nature was later set free by Christ, who was obedient to God the Father and did not commit sin. EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

5:19 | Righteousness Through Christ’s Obedience

WHY MANY, NOT ALL. ORIGEN: Why does Paul say that many were made sinners and not that all were when it is clear that all have sinned, as he has just said himself? It is one thing to sin and another to be a sinner. A sinner is someone who, as a result of much sinning, has got into the habit and, I would dare say, the enjoyment of it. In the same way, a righteous person is not someone who has done one or two acts of righteousness but rather someone who has become accustomed to acting righteously and has righteousness in him by habit. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

AMBROSIASTER: Many sinned by following Adam, but not all. Likewise, many are justified by faith in Christ, but not all. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE BENEFITS OF MORTALITY. CHRYSOSTOM: How does it follow that from Adam’s disobedience someone else would become a sinner? For surely, if this were so, such a sinner would not deserve punishment, since his sins would not be his own fault. What then does the word sinners mean here? To me it seems to mean liable to punishment and condemned to death. Why was this done? Paul does not say, because it was not necessary to his argument. … But if you want to know what I think, I would say this: Far from being harmed or condemned, if we think straight, we shall see that we have benefited by becoming mortal, first because it is not an immortal body in which we sin, and second because we have countless reasons for living a religious life. For to be moderate, temperate, subdued and separated from wickedness is what death, by its presence and the fact that we expect it to come, persuades us to do. But following on these or even before these, mortality has brought many other blessings besides. For it has made possible the crown of martyrdom. … In fact, neither death nor the devil himself can do anything to harm us. Immortality is waiting for us, and after being chastened for a little while we shall enjoy the blessings to come without fear. This present life is a kind of school, where we are under instruction by means of disease, suffering, temptations and poverty, as well as other apparent evils, in order to be made fit to receive the blessings of the world to come. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 10.

RIGHTEOUSNESS IS FOR MANY, RESURRECTION FOR ALL. SEVERIAN: Notice that when Paul talks about sin and righteousness he uses the word many, for not everyone sinned before the coming of the law, nor has everyone who has received grace been justified—for “many are called, but few are chosen.” But when he talks about the death and resurrection of the body, he uses the word all. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

AUGUSTINE: This is the figure of the future Adam. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 29.

BY ONE MAN’S OBEDIENCE. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: In this Adam was a type of Christ, because just as by his disobedience death entered the world, so life and resurrection came by the obedience of Christ. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

PELAGIUS: Just as by the example of Adam’s disobedience many sinned, so many are also justified by Christ’s obedience. Great therefore is the crime of disobedience, which kills so many. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

WHETHER SOME DID NOT SIN. THEODORET OF CYR: Note that Paul says “many” and “not all,” for we find some among the ancients who did not sin, e.g., Abel, Enoch, Melchizedek, the patriarchs and those who succeeded in keeping the law. On the other hand, after the coming of grace, there were many who continued to embrace an unrighteous and wicked life. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

5:20 | Sin Increased, Grace Abounded More

THE INCLINATION TO EXCESS. ORIGEN: What Paul means here is that after the natural law had already been established—the law which he calls the law of the mind, which assents to the law of God—another law arose, the law of our members, which promotes the lusts of the flesh and leads men captive, inclining them to desire and excesses, so that sin may abound in them. . . .

Grace abounded all the more, because not only does it absolve us from the sins which we have already committed, it protects us against sinning in the future. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

AMBROSE: When evil had appeared and innocence had been destroyed, there was no one to do good, not even one. The Lord came to restore grace to nature, in fact to give it increase, that where sin abounded, grace might more abound. LETTER 25.

THE HARM OF KNOWING WHAT I CANNOT AVOID. AMBROSE: Sin abounded by the law because through the law came knowledge of sin, and it became harmful for me to know what through my weakness I could not avoid. It is good to know beforehand what one is to avoid, but if I cannot avoid something, it is harmful to have known about it. Thus was the law changed to its opposite, yet it became useful to me by the very increase of sin, for I was humbled. LETTER 83.

THE LAW INCREASED THE TRESPASS. DIODORE: Paul does not mean that the law increased the incidence of sin but rather that once it was given it uncovered sin and showed that it was more widespread than people had thought. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

WHETHER THE LAW SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN GIVEN. AMBROSIASTER: An objector might say: “If the law merely served to increase sin, it should never have been given. If there was less sin before the law came, there was no need of the law.” Obviously the law was necessary to show that sins, which many thought they could get away with, actually counted before God and so that people might know what they ought to avoid.

How could the law have increased sin, when it warns people not to sin? … The law began to show an abundance of sins, and the more it forbade them the more people committed them. That is why it is said that the law was given so that sin might increase. . . .

In order to nullify the pride of Satan, who rejoiced in his victory over man, the just and merciful God decreed that his Son would come to forgive every sin, so that there would be more happiness from the gift of grace than there had been sorrow from the coming of sin. … Therefore grace abounded more than sin. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

GRACE ABOUNDED MORE. CHRYSOSTOM: The law was not given in order for sin to abound, for it was given in order to diminish and destroy the offense. But it resulted in the opposite happening, not because of the nature of the law but because of the weakness of those who received it. . . .

Grace abounded much more, because it gave us not only remission from punishment but forgiveness from sin as well, and in addition, new life. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 10.

DESIRE GREW THROUGH THE PROHIBITION. AUGUSTINE: By this Paul has clearly indicated that the Jews did not know by what dispensation the law had been given. It was not given in order to bring life, for grace brings life through faith, but the law was given to show with what great and tight chains those who thought they could fulfill all righteousness in their own strength were bound. So sin abounded, both because desire grew more ardent in the light of the prohibition and because the crime of trespass affected those who sinned against the law. Whoever considers the second of the four states of man will understand this. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 30.

AUGUSTINE: Prohibition increased lust. It made it unconquered so that transgression might be added, which did not exist without the law, although there was sin. CONTINENCE 3.7.

AUGUSTINE: Grace means that good works are now performed by those who had earlier done evil; it does not make them continue in evil in the belief that good will be given to them in return. GRACE AND FREE WILL 22.44.

WHY LAW CAME IN. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: Here Paul is referring to the law of Moses. For the Hebrews had the natural law, and they received the written law, which is why Paul says that it “entered in.” For they received the law for greater reward, but when by their negligence they failed to keep it, they fell into greater sin. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

THE MEDICINE OF CHRIST. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The law entered in so that the many-sided nature of the fall of those who were under the law might be made clear. Nobody could ever be made righteous because of the weakness of human nature. Rather, everyone condemned themselves by their own crimes of transgression. The law came as the revealer of our common weakness, so that the human race would appear even more clearly to need the aid of the medicine of Christ. EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

A LIGHT TO THE NATIONS. THEODORET OF CYR: Paul says that “the law came in” because he wants to show that God did not leave earlier generations destitute of his providence. But he also gave the law to the Jews, so that by their zeal and dedication to godliness they could act as a light to the other nations. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

A DEBT OF LOVE. PELAGIUS: The amount of sin has been revealed so that the greatness of grace might be known and so that we might pay back a corresponding debt of love. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

5:21 | Grace Reigns to Eternal Life

TWO KINGDOMS. ORIGEN: Paul shows that there are two kingdoms in man. In one of these, sin has taken control and leads to death. In the other, grace reigns through righteousness and leads to life. For it is grace which expels and ejects sin from its kingdom, i.e., from our members. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

AMBROSIASTER: Sin reigned when it saw that it was driving sinners into death, in which it rejoiced, in much the same way as grace will reign in those who obey God. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

NO LONGER RECEPTIVE TO SIN. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Paul says that just as sin once ruled us even against our will, because we were so used to it, so now our zeal for God reigns and will reign in us forever. Since we have been made worthy of eternal life through the resurrection and live in true and certain righteousness, we shall no longer be receptive to sin. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

[PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: Paul said this because the one who is forgiven more will love more. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

THE REIGN OF GRACE. PELAGIUS: Just as the reign of sin was established through contempt for the law, so also the reign of grace is established through the forgiveness of many sinners and thereafter through the doing of righteousness without ceasing. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.