17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Verse 17 presents the third contrasting parallelism between Christ and Adam.
17 For if [assumed true—since], because of one man’s trespass [Adam’s original violation of God],
The Greek grammar indicates that this statement of death reigning because of Adam’s transgression is a true statement (first class condition). Verse 17 is the basis for verse 16; the evidence for the condemnation of Adam’s posterity and the grace gift of God’s own righteousness from Christ is this verse. This confirms verses 12 and 14 as true.
death reigned [at one point in the past when Adam sinned—aorist] through that one man [Adam],
Adam’s sin brought the curse of physical and spiritual death upon all men. Universal death is the consequence of universal sin in Adam. Death came upon all not due to any sin of their own but by virtue of their sin in Adam. Death is a tyrant dominating over every person.
He 2:15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
God originally intended that Adam rule over the earth as a theocratic king, but his sin caused death to reign over him. Death is supreme; no one escapes its sovereignty without the grace of God.
much more [greater degree]
This is the fourth use of “much more” in this chapter:
the “much more” of salvation from wrath (5:9)
the “much more” of God’s keeping power (5:10)
the “much more” of Jesus federal headship over Adam’s headship (5:15)
the “much more” of what God does to Christian life (5:17)
Jesus provided salvation for all those “in Adam,” but He saves those “in Christ” by accepting His provision by faith. The issue here is one of degree.
We get what we deserve by sin—death. Grace, however, does not operate on what we merit. It functions on superlative generosity. God’s principle of justice and absolute righteousness was satisfied by the death of Christ on the cross.
PRINCIPLE:
God’s grace operates on superlative generosity over any sin or condition of sin.
APPLICATION:
The triumph of Christ in the Christian life is far greater than what slavery to sin did in mankind.
The deed of Adam and the deed of Christ issued in two different dynamics: the dynamics of sin produced death and grace offers provisions for time and eternity. Death was despotic domination. The individual is not in control, but sin and death are. Sin is the method whereby death brought man under its power. Death is dominant. It not only ends our physical life but it reigns over life itself; it destroys lives.
Jesus, however, does not take people by force. His is an offer of grace. He makes His power available to all. To settle for anything short of grace is to sell ourselves short. This is the polar opposite to slavery to sin.
All this is a reversal of the role of master and slave. We now reign with Christ’s life in time. We now have the right to make right choices for God. True, many Christians do not live this life, but we cannot confuse true Christian living with a substitute. Christians are free to draw on this Christian life like they would withdraw from a great resource in a bank that is in their account. Yet many live miserly lives. We can live as kings but we choose to live like paupers.
As a believer who are my ancentor
Rotimi, as a believer you have two ancestries: 1) your heritage from Adam with its sin capacity is still there albeit it has been rendered inoperative (Ro 6). This is what the Bible calls the “old man.” 2) you also have a new generation called the “new man,” or your beginning with new life in Christ.
PLS I NEED more explanation on what you mean by one is inoperative and the other is a new generation. Which is more powerful and is suppose to be in charge
Rotimi, The Greek word translated “inoperative” is translated in a number of ways. A few verses later we have it in Romans 6:6 “knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” The words “might be done away with” means inoperative. Inoperative carries the idea that the individual has been disabled but not killed. This word was used for a horse what was hamstrung, that is, cut his calves so that he cannot jump the fence. When Jesus died on the cross he rendered inoperative our sin capacity so that it does not have the strength that it had before a person’s salvation.
My term “new generation” simply means regeneration, that is, the salvation of the soul that Christ changed the moment he became a Christian.
As believers does our natural ancestors still have any effect on our life
Rotimi,
The Bible makes it clear that God does not hold us accountable or guilty for the sins of our ancestors (Dt 24:16; Jer 31:29,30; Ezek 18:1-4). However, this does not imply that we do not suffer for the sins of our ancestors (Ex 20:5,6; Jer 32:18). We were all raised in a culture whereby our parents made mistakes or even have done extreme things that affect their children. All these influences affect us to some degree in our current physical and spiritual lives. We may commit their same sins. However, it is never right to blame our sin on generational sin. Paul said, “forgetting those things which are past.” We can do that because Christ has paid for our sins past, present and future. It violates God’s forgiveness for us to constantly dig into the past. This does nothing but make us ashamed, the shame that Jesus took on the cross.
It is dangerous to remain trapped in the curse of generation sin. Jesus freed us from sins of both the past, present and future (1 Pe 1:18,19).
PLS, what you say about ps142:7 David ‘S cry for freedom from his soul
Rotimi, David was in a desperate situation. He liken it to being in prison. His use of the phrase “bring my soul out of prison” simply means He is asking God to deliver him from his difficult situation. There were people trying to harm him; he asked God to deliver him from these people. David did not ask to be freed from his soul but from being trapped in the prison of his problem.
Pls, how can i walk in the reality of the new generation
Rotimi, I am blessed that you want to walk with the Lord. Start with the first of the links and then in the second take your time to go through the studies: https://versebyversecommentary.com/articles/christian-maturity/