From Romans 5:11 to Romans 5:12, there is a major transition from justification to sanctification. These terms describe two different aspects of the salvation God gives us through Christ. Let us be sure we know the difference between these two terms:
Justification is God's permanent verdict of acquittal.
Sanctification is a dynamic process of spiritual growth into Christlikeness.
Justification is God's deliverance from the legal penalty of our sins against Him.
Sanctification is God's deliverance from the practical power of sin over our lives.
Christians soon discover that although they have been forgiven, and experience some good changes, they still have something deep within them that is still highly allergic to God, desiring to rebel against Him and exalt oneself. This is what Paul calls "indwelling sin" or our "sin-nature" (see Romans 7:18-23).
When you discover this reality, you can respond in one of three ways:
Biblical teaching concerning justification is "milk" — relatively easy to understand. Biblical teaching concerning sanctification is "meat" — more difficult to understand, as Romans will continue to show.
Yet it is God's will for every Christian to be able to understand and apply this teaching, because Paul writes this section to all the Christians in Rome, just as he did concerning the previous section on justification.
The first thing to understand is how we got into this problem of our sin-nature. This is why Paul starts with a description of two humanities.
Read Romans 5:12. The first part of the verse should be familiar to most of us. The "one man" through whom sin and death entered the world is Adam (see Genesis 2 and 3). When he disobeyed God's command concerning the fruit of the tree, that was sin (see Genesis 2:17). And the result was death (see Genesis 3:19).
But what about the second part of 5:12? Did death spread to all of us because we sinned like Adam did — or because we sinned with Adam? This is where the "meat" starts. As strange as it may seem, Paul is saying that death spread to all of us because we sinned with Adam. We know this for several reasons:
Read Romans 5:13-14. Paul is saying that people between Adam and Moses died even though they did not sin like Adam did in the sense of violating a direct command warning of death for disobedience. Why? Because it spread to them from Adam.
Read Romans 5:15. Why do Adam's descendants die physically? Because of the transgression of Adam.
Paul states this same truth very clearly in 1 Corinthians 15:21-22.
We inherit death as a consequence of Adam's choice to revolt against God. Why? Because we were "in Adam" when he did this. We were not conscious, of course, but because we descend from him biologically, his choices affected us in certain profound ways.
Theologians call this "federal headship," which means that the choices of the ancestor affect all of his descendants in certain profound ways. Although this concept seems strange, perhaps even offensive to our hyper-individualistic culture, it is a fact of human existence that is inviolably operative.
My last name is DeLashmutt. This is an Americanized form of a French name, de la Chaumette. My research indicates that the de la Chaumettes were French Protestants, who were severely persecuted in France during the 1600's and 1700's. Many immigrated to America to escape this persecution. I theorize that my ancestors survived the persecution by successfully immigrating to America, and I have two excellent lines of evidence to support my theory: I exist, and I live in America. In fact, because I was "in'' my ancestors, there is a certain sense in which I can say that I escaped persecution and that I came to America.
This is what Paul is arguing in Romans 5. Because the whole human race was "in Adam" when he rebelled against God, we all participated in that rebellion with him, and we all inherit the consequences for his rebellion.
Why is this important for understanding sanctification?
Because it explains where we got our profound spiritual problems — and because it points the way to God's radical solution to those problems.
But first we must understand the consequences we inherit from Adam.
Paul mentions three such problems in Romans 5:15-19.
The first consequence we inherit from Adam is death. This death refers not only to physical death, but also to spiritual death, which is separation from God. God warned Adam that on the day that he ate of the fruit, "dying, you shall die." In other words, there was an immediate spiritual death, separation from God, followed by an eventual physical death.
This explains why we all die physically, and why we are not born knowing God. Instead, from our earliest years, we sense that we are alienated from God in varying ways and degrees until we meet Him through Christ.
We also inherit condemnation. This does not mean that God holds us guilty for what Adam did; the rest of scripture denies this (see Romans 1 and 2). Rather, it means that because we are born into the world separated from God and with a tendency to rebel against Him, which we all act on, we are born inevitably headed toward sin and judgment.
Lastly, and most importantly for our study of sanctification, we inherit a sin-nature from Adam (5:19a) — an in-born inclination to rebel against God, make ourselves our own gods, use others for our own desires, and so on. We do not get this primarily from our environment, but from Adam — it is his nature bequeathed to us and in our hearts from birth (see Mark 7:20-23). This is a dark picture, but it is also our reality.
If you are a student of history, you know that this is the major theme that consistently overshadows the minor theme of human goodness and nobility. Contemplating whether or not humanity has a future, the atheist Bertrand Russell's conclusion is the same as Jesus': "It is in our hearts that the evil lies, and it is from our hearts that it must be plucked out."
If you are a parent, you know that your young children do not have to be taught how to lie, manipulate, covet, or delight in hurting others. They do these things naturally and from a very early age. They have to be taught not to do this. Something is deeply wrong and spoiled from the beginning.
Since our spiritual problems are constitutional and inherited, no amount of positive self-talk, behavioral conditioning, or religious discipline will ever uproot them. Since we inherit them from our federal head and his wrong decisions, the only real solution would be to somehow get a new federal head who did things right so we could inherit the blessings from this. God is not interested in merely reforming the old human race; His remedy is much more radical than that. His remedy is to create a whole new human race from a new federal head. And this is exactly what God has done through Jesus Christ.
Re-read Romans 5:14b. Adam was a "type" — a picture of Him who was to come — Jesus Christ. In other words, Jesus was a new federal head, the inaugurator of a new humanity. This is why Paul elsewhere calls Jesus the "last Adam" (see 1 Corinthians 15:45).
And because Jesus is the last Adam, His descendants inherit a blessing that is exactly the opposite of the curses inherited by Adam's descendants.
Read Romans 5:17. All who descend from Adam are subject to death, as seen in earlier verses. But all who descend from Jesus will reign in life, both personal union with God in this life and eternal life in the next.
Read Romans 5:18. All who descend from Adam are subject to condemnation, as seen in earlier verses. But all who descend from Jesus receive God's gift of justification.
Read Romans 5:19. All who descend from Adam receive a sin-nature, as seen in earlier verses. But all who descend from Jesus receive new resources to be made righteous.
Ultimately, when Jesus returns, His descendants will have their sin-natures eradicated. In this life, we still retain our sin-natures, but we receive a new nature that motivates us to follow God, and a new relationship with our sin-natures that removes its authority over us.
The obvious question is: How do you become a descendant of Jesus? He had no biological children, and physical re-birth is impossible anyway. Here is the wonderful difference between descent from Adam and descent from Jesus:
You become a descendant of Adam by physical birth, which is completely apart from your choice. But you become a descendant of Jesus by spiritual birth, which is completely by your choice.
This is exactly what Jesus taught. Take a look at the conversation He had with Nicodemus in John 3. When Nicodemus asked how to gain entrance into God's kingdom, Jesus told him he had to be born again spiritually (see John 3:3-6). And the same gospel tells us how to do this (see John 1:12). Inclusion into God's new family is not something you get from your parents or from religious effort. It is a gift that God gives to everyone who receives Christ.
Paul emphasizes this same point in 5:17 "those who receive". Have you made this choice? You can do this today by simply calling out to God and saying: "Please adopt me into your family so I can have your life, your acceptance, and so you can make me righteous."
