Sin & Death – Romans 5:12-14
Bethel Baptist Church – David Rising
Romans 5:12-14; September 6, 2026 Sunday AM
Sin & Death
If you have experienced death in your family or among your friends, you know how difficult it is. I think we all have some kind of experience with death. It is a sting. It feels wrong even though we know it is just part of the reality of this world.
I must admit that as a pastor at times, I get very angry at death. I see what it does to a family. I see what it does to a remaining spouse. I see how devastating it is at the graveside. Even with all of our theology which we know is true and does give us great comfort, still there is the immediate and long-term loss that hurts very badly.
I imagine you have felt the same way. The aging process is cruel. We prefer our pictures from 15 years ago. We like to pretend it does not happen. The decay principle is difficult. It is unstoppable on earth.
Why is there death? Will science be able to figure it out one day? Should we cryogenically suspend our bodies?
The text we examine today will explain the connection between death and sin. We have seven points today. Pray.
In verses 12-21 Paul will compares and contrast Adam and Jesus. Before he formally does that, he will lay out some important principles in verses 12-14. That is our task today.
First, we must recognize that …
1. Sin entered the world through Adam (5:12a)
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—
12Διὰ τοῦτο ὥσπερ δἰ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου ἡ ἁμαρτία εἰς τὸν κόσμον εἰσῆλθεν
The first part of this verse makes the first point. Paul begins with ‘therefore’ and explains why reconciliation was necessary.
You will probably see in your bible a dash at the end of the verse 12. You may then see verses 13-17 set in parentheses. Verse 18 picks up the flow of thought from verse 12 where Paul repeats his point and then makes the contrasting point in terms of Christ.
We have to wade through his long argument before we get there. Paul is notorious in a good way for stuffing lots of good things into one paragraph.
And so verse 12 begins by teaching us that sin entered the world. This is the big problem in our world. It was not there at the beginning when God created. Rather, it entered the world.
God is perfect and holy and He cannot tolerate the presence of sin. God is light, John says, and in Him there is no darkness at all. Scripture teaches throughout that sinners must be cleansed in order to approach God. We see that in the tabernacle, in the temple, and in the church.
Paul says that the means by which sin entered the world was by one man. It came through human agency. It did not come from the environment. It came by flesh and blood who disobeyed God’s command.
By the work of one man – Adam – sin entered the world.
You notice that Adam is not named in verse 12, but he is named in verse 14.
In Genesis 3 we see the serpent – Satan – speaking to Eve. Eve is tempted by the serpent and then convinces Adam to take of the fruit. They both eat of the forbidden fruit, but Adam takes the hit.
God made clear to Adam in Genesis 2:17, before Eve existed, that he could eat freely of every tree of the garden, save one. He could not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God promised that in the day he would eat of that tree, he would surely die.
And so they did eat of that fruit. They did disobey God’s command. As a result of Adam’s sin, sin entered into the world.
It is apparent in Genesis 3 that Eve was not alone when she was confronted by the serpent. Genesis 3:6 says Adam, her husband, was with her. He was the first husband who just stood there and did nothing when trouble was taking place.
Eve saw that the fruit of that forbidden tree was good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and something desirable to make her wise. And so she took of the fruit and gave it to her husband. He also ate of the fruit.
The result of that disobedience was that their eyes were now opened and they knew they were naked. They had a new self-awareness that resulted in the first clothes. Their relationship with each other changed, and their relationship with God changed.
God was walking in the garden in the cool of the day and now Adam and Eve found it necessary to hide from the presence of the LORD God among the other trees of the garden.
Of course, the LORD knew what had happened, but he called to them and asked where they were. Adam responded and admitted that he was afraid because of his nakedness, and so he hid.
The LORD asked him how he knew he was naked, and then asked if he had eaten of the forbidden tree. Adam told the LORD it was the woman, and so the LORD speaks to Eve. Eve then blames the serpent, and so forth. We know the story. The blame game is nothing new.
Adam sinned against God and as a result sin entered the world. That is Paul’s theological take on Genesis 3.
Many people like to sit back and endlessly muse why God would allow this to happen. We can try to be super smart with that line of questioning, but the scripture is clear that He did allow it to happen.
God permitted sin to enter the world He had created perfectly. Clearly the serpent – Satan – was already deceptive, and his influence did affect Eve and Adam.
Sin as a “thing” came into the life of Adam and Eve, and all of their children then inherited this “thing” scripture calls sin.
People don’t usually like to discuss “sin,” but it is not very hard to make the case that sin is in the world.
Just look around us. Just look in the mirror. It is everywhere, and it is the root problem of all that is wrong in this world.
So that’s point #1 – sin entered the world through Adam.
The second point shows us the result of sin:
2. Death is the result of Adam’s sin (5:12b)
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—
καὶ διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ θάνατος,
Death also entered the world as a consequence of sin. God did say that in the day that Adam would eat of the fruit of that tree, he would surely die.
Some might argue that Adam and Eve did not in fact die. Yes, they did continue to live physically, but they did die.
Their spirit changed, and they were now spiritually dead. Their relationship with God forever changed, and they were now aware of their own nakedness – their own shame. They now recognized that there was a problem.
This personal shame illustrated by nakedness is also one big reason we should cover up. We are sinful creatures, and only within the proper context should we handle this.
Adam and Eve’s lives would be cut short and their physical bodies would eventually give out.
Death had entered the world, and it would be devastating.
Sin and death did not stop with Adam and Eve. We see how sin and death affected their family. In Genesis 4 we see that Cain murdered his brother Abel.
It did not take long for sin to take root and bring forth bitter fruit.
At the end of Genesis 4 we also see how sin spread quickly in Cain’s family and his genealogy is filled with arrogance, violence, and the sure evidence of the spread of sin in the world.
Sin and death were not introduced by God at creation. Rather, death came about as a result of sin entering the world by Adam’s disobedience to God.
Notice a third point:
3. Death has spread to the entire human race (5:12c)
καὶ οὕτως εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους ὁ θάνατος διῆλθεν,
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—
It is truly amazing how quickly sin and death spread. When we come to Genesis 6, we see that sin has spread over the world like cancer and God responded in judgment to that sin by wiping out the entire planet, save Noah’s family.
The wickedness of man was so great that Genesis 6:5 tells us that “every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” That is comprehensive!
God was sorry that He made man, but He was gracious to Noah. He set Noah apart for His purposes, and of course through Noah the earth was repopulated.
Did the flood judgment eradicate the sin and death problem?
God blessed Noah and his sons, told them to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 9:1ff). God made a promise to Noah that he would not destroy the world ever again with water.
But it did not take long before sin showed up again in the form of a family problem (Genesis 9:18-28) resulting in the curse of Canaan, the son of Ham – one of Noah’s three sons.
Scripture records genealogies of both the godly and ungodly line, but all have been affected by sin and all stand in need of God’s grace.
In time, God chose Abram and eventually the nation of Israel came into existence and so forth. If we trace humanity after Adam to the present time, we see that sin and death have obviously entered the world.
Death is a reality, but it was not the way it was supposed to be. Sin has crept into our very DNA, corrupting us all, bringing us all eventually to death.
Mankind tries and tries to prolong our lives by inventing new technologies, new drugs, new therapies, but no one has been able to stop the inevitability of death. The smartest people and the greatest concentration of wealth will not overcome sin and death.
What Paul is presenting here in Romans is the solution for sin and death which only comes through Jesus Christ.
Romans 5 shows us how Adam ruined it for everyone, but also how a second Adam, Jesus Christ, brought us the solution.
Notice a fourth point at the end of verse 12:
4. Everyone sins (5:12d)
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—
ἐφ̓ ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον·
The bible is clear that we are born sinners as a result of Adam.
We are not only born sinners, but we also actively sin.
We have a double problem. We are sinners by birth, and we sin.
Sinners sin. We sin because we are sinners.
Dogs bark because they are dogs. Dogs don’t become dogs because they bark.
We don’t become sinners just because we sin. We are born sinners and we sin. That’s a double problem.
Much debate exists in the commentaries over this little phrase. KJV has “for that all have sinned.” NKJV, NASB, ESV “because all sinned.”
This teaches us that sinning is the result of sin entering the world. Every human being has sinned because every human being is born a sinner.
Paul says in Ephesians 2:1 we were “dead in trespasses and sins.” In verse 3 we “were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”
The problems of this world are not personality problems, not education problems, not economic problems. None of these things are the root problems. They are symptoms of the deeper problem we all have. We are by nature sinners.
And so, verse 12 gives us four points:
1. Sin entered the world through Adam
2. Death is the result of Adam’s sin
3. Death has spread to the entire human race
4. Everyone sins
Having said that, Paul now anticipates the hand that someone raises in class. Notice verses 13-14 and then we’ll make our fifth point:
13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam,
Paul’s parenthetical statements here follow the implied question, which is point #5:
5. Objection implied: how were people liable before the Law of Moses?
Does not the guilt of sin require a stated law that someone breaks?
God gave Moses the Law much later, and so someone might ask: how can someone break the law when the law had not yet been given?
To put it into modern terms – if there is no speed limit, how can I be pulled over for speeding?
If God had not formally revealed the law which states you shall not murder, how could someone be held liable for murder if they did murder someone?
That is the kind of question Paul anticipates and now answers. It is a good question.
Paul answers that implied question and this is our sixth point today:
6. Answer: Sin still existed in the world (5:13-14a)
13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
13ἄχρι γὰρ νόμου ἁμαρτία ἦν ἐν κόσμῳ, ἁμαρτία δὲ οὐκ ἐλλογεῖται μὴ ὄντος νόμου,
Even before God revealed the Law to Moses, sin was still in the world. Sure, there was no written, formal declaration like there was in the written law of Moses, but still sin was in the world.
Notice the phrase “but sin is not imputed [counted by God] when there is no law.” Daniel Davey says of this phrase:
“The rarely used verb (ἐλλογεῖται < ἐλλογέω, “to count”) is a bookkeeping term that means ‘to put in the ledger’; consequently, God will not put sin ‘on one’s ledger’ if there is no prohibition. But Paul’s main point must be kept clear; sin was pervasive in the human world before God gave the law to Moses.”
This can sound confusing, but Paul is teaching us overall that sin did not begin to exist at the time of Moses, after the first person broke a law. No, sin was already in the world.
Some speculate that God must have communicated to people His standards so that they had some kind of idea of where God drew the line.
This could be, but we don’t have a record of it in the bible. We do have specific commands that God gave people before Moses, but we do not have a codified, organized Law such as we have with Moses. Nevertheless, Paul argues here, sin was in the world and people were accountable for their sinful actions.
Paul already raised this issue in Romans 2 when he spoke about those who have sinned without law will still perish without law (Romans 2:12). Romans 2:14 implies that God has put within our human nature some sense of right and wrong, and even on that basis judgment awaits those who have done those sinful things.
And so Paul teaches in verse 13 that sin was in the world even before the law was given. He now proves his point. Notice the first part of verse 14:
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam,
14ἀλλὰ ἐβασίλευσεν ὁ θάνατος ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ μέχρι Μωϋσέως καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς μὴ ἁμαρτήσαντας ἐπὶ τῷ ὁμοιώματι τῆς παραβάσεως Ἀδὰμ
Even though the people who lived from the time of Adam until Moses did not have the Law and thus did not disobey some specific command that we know about, they still sinned and died.
Death reigned.
That proves that sin was in the world.
That phrase about not sinning according to Adam’s sin refers to breaking a specific command such as Adam was given. God told Adam specifically not to eat of that one tree, and of course he did sin and did eat it. He transgressed.
Other people were not given that specific law, or presumably other similar commands, and yet they still died because of their sin.
Paul is building his argument and we will see soon how he compares the first Adam with the second Adam, Jesus.
The last phase of verse 14 gives to us our 7th point, and it is a point we will carry through the rest of this chapter:
7. Adam is a type of Christ (5:14b)
Adam… who is a type of Him who was to come.
ὅς ἐστιν τύπος τοῦ μέλλοντος.
Adam is a type, a pattern, an example, a model of Jesus who eventually came. This does not mean that Adam is a mirror image of Jesus, but rather his actions are similar in that they had an effect upon many.
In the remaining verses of Romans 5, Paul will compare and contrast Adam and Jesus and show how their work affected others.
Application
1. Use the biblical terms “sin” and “death” to discuss with others the problems of this world. You may surprise people when you do, but you might have a more productive conversation rather than getting stuck in politics and other nonsense.
2. That conversation naturally leads to a discussion about Jesus. Thus, it is important that we grasp as best we can the content of Romans 5. Read ahead and let’s get these concepts into our minds and conversations.