EXEGESIS OF ROMANS 5:12-17

Exegesis of Romans 5:12-17

TABLE OF CONTENT

INTRODUCTION1

BACKGROUND AND SETTING3

CONTEXT OF THE PASSAGE4

IMMEDIATE CONTEXT4

LARGER CONTEXT5

COMMENTARY ON THE PASSAGE7

Verse 127

Verse 139

Verse 1410

Verse 1511

Verse 1612

Verse 1713

CONCLUSION13

REFERENCES16

APPENDIX19

Appendix A: Bible Lesson Based on Romans 5:12-1719

Appendix B: Block Diagram of Romans 5:12-17 (NASB)21

Exegesis of Romans 5:12-17

INTRODUCTION

Paul's letter to the Romans is by many measures a unique epistle in the pages of the Bible. While the focus for this paper is a key passage found in Rom. 5:12-17 regarding the sin of Adam resulting in death and the free gift of grace through Jesus resulting in life, in order to set the stage for an in-depth analysis, one needs to understand the strong effect Paul's writing has had on central figures of the church. Indeed, its impact on conviction, repentance and salvation of human beings is undeniable.

It can be stated without reserve that throughout history, Romans has served as “a catalyst for reform and new life” . The story is told of a young man with many unanswered questions in the fourth century A.D. who felt led to pick up a Bible and read the first portion of Scripture before him. His eyes fell on these words: “Not in revelry and drunkenness, not in licentiousness and lewdness, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Rom. 13:13-14, ESV). This young man was St. Augustine, and he described how in a moment, “the light of confidence flooded into my heart and all the darkness of doubt was dispelled(Mounce, 2001).”

Paul's epistle is one of the theologically richest books of the Bible. It is not for naught that a popular evangelism method is called “The Roman Road”. The verses used are all taken from Romans and constitute an impressive and effective tool to show someone who doesn't know Jesus Christ as Lord why his sinful condition requires a Savior. As Seifrid writes, Paul's “message to the church at Rome is nothing more than a proclamation of the Scriptures that have been fulfilled in the incarnate, crucified, and risen Christ”.

The original story of man becoming disobedient to God is shown through mankind's idolatrous behavior and fall, described in Rom. 1:18-32, Adam and his transgression, described in the passage reviewed in this paper in Rom. 5:12-21, and the human struggle with God's law, as explained in Rom. 7:7-25. These passages all tell the narrative of Genesis 3 without specifically quoting that text. As such, clearly Paul's message was one that would have been understood by his Jewish contemporaries, yet would cause confrontation due to its introduction of the Messiah as having come in the person of Jesus. Yet not just Paul's Jewish audience had difficulty in interpreting his words. A very similar response is generated even to this day regarding Romans and, more specifically, to the passage at hand, Romans 5:12-17. Many scholars have passionately debated this particular passage by offering widely differing critical and theological opinions regarding virtually every point ...