In Romans 5:12-21, Paul introduces the idea of Adam being the head of humanity. That is, what Adam had was passed on to everyone else, as a free gift, as it were. Adam passed on sin and death to us because everyone was in Adam, the representative of the human race. Being in Adam, we feel his condemnation; we feel his separation from God and the need to get back. (Thus the world religions.)
Then Paul introduces another head, Jesus (“the one Man” in Romans 5:15). The idea of a single head that we derive our being from creates a shocking twist when it comes to Jesus the righteous. Paul presents Him as an alternative to Adam, as being a new representative of the human race.
When we believe in Christ as the only one who could remove the effects of Adam in our lives, then we are placed in Christ. Christ, as the head of a new creation, then passes on His blessings to us as Adam had passed on his curse to us.
Adam passed on his sinful state (5:12). Christ passes on His righteousness 5:17). Adam passed on condemnation (5:18). Christ passes on justification (5:18). Adam gave us death (5:17). Christ makes us reign in life (5:17).
Adam made us slaves of sin, but Christ makes us slaves of righteousness (6:16). As slaves of God, devoted to Him, we work out our holy life over time, which results in eternal life. We receive life more abundant in place of Adam’s death. This is the heritage of those who are in Christ Jesus.
It’s significant that this teaching was carefully laid out in the very first epistle in the New Testament, in Romans 1-8. This teaching forms the foundation for how we view the commandments in the NT. If we don’t grasp what we get for free from being in Christ, we’ll follow the NT commandments in order to be good enough to earn the blessing. Thus we’ll strive to attain something God has already given us in Christ.
When I read the Bible, I am not applying the teachings to my life in order to become righteous. Rather, I am already pronounced righteous, so I read to find out how to live out what Christ says is already true of me.
Since by God’s grace I am counted as “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6), I can cut off the sensations and thoughts that bring feelings of rejection and depression. Those latter are carryovers from being in Adam. Those traits died with Christ, having been crucified and buried with Him.
When such thoughts come to mind or steal over the heart, we may recognize them and count them as crucified, and then present our minds and self to God as His tool to use (6:11-13). We reject slavery to sin in favor of slavery to God. We assert what God says is true about the new creation. This is acting on the truth by faith.
We make a mistake when we check our experiences against what the Bible says and warp the biblical text to make it match up with what we feel. When we do that, we don’t live by faith but by feelings. We do not internalize the blessings that are given by grace, so we try to attain them by the law, that is, by doing good behavior. Thus we do not produce fruit, for fruit only comes as we live by faith.
The crucifixion of the old us from Adam is the only spiritual remedy for a spiritual problem. We are told, “So reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (6:11).
God calls us saints, so we read the Bible to learn how a believer lives that way, and cut off the wretched inheritance we received from Adam. That is counting our Adamic-derived selves dead to sin.
The Bible tells us what to do, not that we may become better people, but to act out what God calls us to be. When the Bible tells us not to do something, it is identifying the old nature from Adam that has no place in those in Christ. We can put them off as we stand watch against them and crucify them. We crucify them by counting them dead, then rise in resurrection life in faith by counting ourselves alive to God as belonging to Him.
Romans 5-6 are pivotal chapters that take us from our position in Adam to our place in Christ. We die to the representative of Adam that we may live according to the head of the new creation, the “last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45). In this way, Jesus Christ is God’s final solution to the problem of sin and death.
Look what God declares of you in Christ from the book of Romans:
- The called (1:6)
- Beloved of God (1:7)
- Heir of the world (4:13)
- Instruments of righteousness (6:13)
- Servants of righteousness (6:18)
- Slaves of God (6:22)
- Spiritually minded (8:6)
- Sons of God (8:14)
- Children of God (8:16)
- Heirs of God (8:17)
- Joint-heirs with Christ (8:17)
- More than conquerors (8:37)
- Vessels of mercy (9:23)
- My people (9:25)
- Children of the living God (9:26)
- Living sacrifice (12:1)
- Dearly beloved (12:19)
- Servant of the church (16:1)
Now from this identity you have in Christ, read the Bible to learn how to put off the old man who existed before accepting Christ, and put on the new creation you are in Christ.
