Let’s Talk about Sin! —Lectionary Reflection for Lent 1A (Romans 5:12-19)

 

Romans 5:12-19 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

¹² Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned— ¹³ for sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. ¹⁴ Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam, who is a pattern of the one who was to come.

¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. ¹⁶ And the gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the gift following many trespasses brings justification. ¹⁷ If, because of the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. ¹⁹ For just as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

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                There are Christian communities that love to talk about sin and some that don’t. It’s not that either of these polarities embraces sin, though Luther is said to have called for Christians to “sin boldly,” but some communities feel like too much emphasis is placed on sin. When you place too much emphasis on sin that can lead to unhealthy obsessions. Much of the Christian community espouses a belief in some form of original sin. It doesn’t have to involve genetics, but for some reason, we seem to be predisposed to sinfulness. The season of Lent seems to be a good season to contemplate the origins of sin and its resolution. Lent is a season of contemplation, and for many, a season of fasting as a way of purifying oneself before entering Holy Week.

                When it comes to the question of sin and its resolution, chapter 5 of Paul’s letter to the Romans is a good place to start. The reading for the first Sunday in Lent takes us to Romans 5:12-19, which may seem a strange place to start since Romans 5:1-11 appears on the Third Sunday of Lent. The first eleven verses focus on God’s grace that leads to the transformation of sinners who are reconciled through Christ’s death, while our reading lays out the reason why Christ’s death leads to reconciliation. Our reading offers up several contrasts between Adam—though Paul, at least here, does not explicitly name Adam, but that is easily presumed—and Christ. The contrasts include death and life, sin and grace. The reading begins with this word, which I am sharing from the Common English Bible:  “Just as through one human being sin came into the world, and death came through sin, so death has come to everyone, since everyone has sinned” (Rom. 5:12 CEB). Paul begins with an acknowledgement that sin and death came into the world through one human being. That person would be Adam. He links death to this “original” sin. While death comes to every through sin, and that being Adam’s sin, the question that emerges here concerns Paul’s acknowledgment that everyone has sinned. Therefore, while Adam’s sin might have gotten things off to a bad start, opening creation to the power of death, is it not probable that we share in this death because we also sin? Is it nature or nurture? Or better, might we want to think of the dominion of sin and death as a system?

                Things get tricky here if we bring biology into the conversation. Some folks find it difficult to embrace the scientific theory of evolution because it calls into question the existence of a historic Adam. Now, if we see the figures of Adam and Eve as icons, representative figures, rather than historical figures, then evolution becomes less of an issue. As for me, I see Adam being an iconic, representative figure; thus, I am comfortable with evolutionary theory. As for whether that undermines Christ’s role in reconciling humanity to God, I don’t believe that is a necessary inference. Death is both a physical and spiritual quality, especially if we see sin and the accompanying death as a system of death that we participate in (sin). By overcoming death in his death and resurrection, I believe Jesus overcomes the power of death, liberating us from its dominion. But getting back to the role spiritual death plays in our realities, I think it behooves us to consider what Paul means when he writes that we experience death because we sin. We are all culpable, spiritually, for our participation in the system.  

                We need to address how this particular passage came to play such an important role in the conversation about why people sin. The answer involves St. Augustine, who interpreted Romans 5:12 in biological terms, such that the proclivity to sin and the death that accompanies it is passed on from one generation to the next, such that one is born into sin and death. Augustine’s interpretation of the passage is related to the way it was translated into Latin, which was rendered, when translated into English, “in whom all sin.” One of the unfortunate implications of this view is that sex became equated with sin, such that it should be limited to acts leading to procreation (without passion). More modern translations based on the Greek tend to go with “because all have sinned.” That is significant, especially if it allows us to move away from Augustine’s view of sexuality.

                The way I have long understood this passage involves not inherited sin (genetics) but the existence of a system of domination that envelopes all of us, such that we live in a context of universal sin. It is that system that Christ overcomes both through his life and teachings, and through his death and resurrection. Paul continues his word about sin, noting that it existed in the world prior to the giving of the law. Thus, sin is not the same as breaking one of the law; sin was not acknowledged before the coming of the law, but as Michael Gorman points out, Paul was more interested in the reality of sin than its origin. “Paul’s main point in these two verses (vs. 13-14), however, is that Sin existed and that Death ‘exercised dominion’ (NRSV) or ‘reigned’ (NIV, NAB, NET, ESV) over humanity even before the law of Moses entered the scene and allowed for violations to be reckoned as such” [Gorman, Romans, p. 159]. Thus, the law has a purpose in that it allows us to recognize where we have fallen short. In other words, the law functions as something like a diagnostic tool, letting us know where healing grace needs to be applied.

                Beginning in verse 15, the focus turns to the offer of grace, the free gift that overcomes the results of the trespass of the one man (Adam). Paul wants the reader to know that the free gift is much more powerful than the trespass. That gift comes through Christ, such that while the trespass brought judgment and condemnation, the free gift brings with it justification. It would be important to note here that Paul is making a contrast between the trespass that incorporates the many under its dominion and the grace that comes through Christ, bringing liberation (justification). In other words, if I read Paul correctly, he doesn’t teach “limited atonement.” If we’re all enslaved in the system through one trespass, we’re set free through the grace offered by the other. Paul affirms here that the grace offered by Christ is abundant. It’s not a scarce resource to be hoarded, but rather it is meant to be shared widely, such that the “free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:17).

                When I read Paul’s letters, especially Romans, I notice that he likes to repeat himself, perhaps for effect. Therefore, in verse 18, Paul finds a new way to contrast Adam and Christ, with Christ serving as the second Adam, undoing what the first Adam did. Again, it seems appropriate to understand Adam as a representative figure who encompasses/incorporates all of humanity, at least in Paul’s scenario. Therefore, the one trespass leads to the condemnation for all, even as “the one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all” (vs 18). Then in verse 19, Paul restates this premise in slightly different wording, such that one man’s disobedience made everyone a sinner, but through one man’s “act of righteousness,” the many are made righteous.   

                In verse 20, Paul again brings in the law, pointing out that once sin was identified through the law, it multiplied. It didn’t lead away from sin and death; it seemed to escalate participation. That’s the bad news. The good news, on the other hand, is that in Christ, grace now reigns. Death’s hold on the system has been broken through Christ’s death, such that grace now has dominion through the process of justification, which leads to eternal life (it begins now!). As Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 15, King James Version: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor 15:22 KJV).

                We might not like talking about sin, but it’s useful, especially if we think in terms of participating in systems of death. We can get hung up on our mistakes, errors, etc., which leads to feelings of guilt. That can prevent us from fully embracing the good news that in Christ the dominion of death has been overcome, such that all are made alive in Christ. As Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 5, in Christ all things are made new. That’s worth celebrating as we begin our Lenten journey.