The Good News of Romans 5:12-21
By Jonathan Mitchell
This study will be a verse-by-verse commentary, based upon my translation of the Greek text. We have elsewhere offered comments on Rom. 5:1-11, and we suggest reading that first, since this is a continuation of Paul's presentation. Otherwise, we advise at least reading those verses in the NT text. We see the following remainder of Rom. 5 as both a history of humanity from Adam to Christ, and an overview of how Christ reversed the effects of Adam's disobedience.
We will set the state of Paul's reasoning, here, by quoting the previous verse (5:11) in order to understand the "this" to which the opening phrase of verse 12 refers:
"And not only that, but further, we also are now folks constantly celebrating, speaking loudly and boasting within, and in union with, God, THROUGH our Owner (or: Lord; Master), Jesus Christ - through Whom we NOW receive (or: actively seize; grasp; take-down and hold by hand) the action of being transformed: this change from enmity to friendship (or: this full exchange of being changed to be in line, consistent and compatible, where we are totally other, than we were; the reconciliation; this commensurate exchange; the change, [induced by the action of God,] which came down [upon us]):"
12. Because of and through this (or: Therefore; That is why), just as through one man (or: So it is that, even as through the act or agency of one person,) The Sin (or: the failure, miss of the target and deviation from the goal) entered into the aggregate of humanity (ordered system of religion, culture, society and government; or: world; cosmos), and through The Sin (failure; the mistake; the miss of the target; the deviation) The Death [also], in this way The Death thus also passed through in all directions (or: came through the midst causing division and duality; went throughout) into all mankind (or: into the midst of humanity; or: to all people), upon which [situation, condition, and with the consequential result that] all people sin (or: everyone failed, missed the target, fell short of the goal; or: all make mistakes and deviate from the path)
The first phrase Because of and through this (giving a double rendering of the force of the preposition, 'Dia') tells us that what he is about to say is based upon what he established in vss. 1-11. Now he moves into an analogy, accessing the Garden of Eden story in Genesis as one side of a verbal equation: the disobedience of Adam and the consequences that followed. We will see the full equation described and the two sides contrasted in vss. 15-19, below. But now he rehearses the sequence of the cause and then the universal effects of the first, debilitating side that began with The Sin.
Sin, with the definite article, The Sin (which alerts the hearer to the eating of the forbidden fruit - The Disobedience, we might say), is personified as something that entered into the aggregate of humanity (or, the world, the ordered system, etc.). But the main point of this verse is that the Sin was the vehicle for The Death (also personified, or presented as a force or law) to enter and pass through in all directions (again, the preposition dia- prefixed to the verb "pass; came; went"). Since a central concept of the preposition is "two" or "divide" (from di-) I expanded its significance with the rendering: "came through the midst causing division and duality."
So, The Death (of which Yahweh warned Adam) "went throughout into all mankind," or, it came into the midst of humanity and to all people. The two prepositions that follow this statement have caused much theological debate, but when rendered literally, with an explanatory insertion, the picture is very clear. These prepositions make the following clause dependent upon what just went before: the dispersion of death. The prepositions are eph' (upon) and ho (which). Upon which what? Here I inserted the bracketed "[situation, condition, and with the consequential result that]." Here Ben Witherington III admits, "Eph ho could certainly have a consequential force meaning 'with the result that'" (Conflict & community in Corinth p 146). All people sin because of the situation of death that has pervaded all humanity. The verb is aorist, so it can also be a simple past tense. Thus, the expanded renderings:
a) everyone failed, missed the target, fell short of the goal
b) all make mistakes and deviate from the path.
As a "past tense," the action of sinning, etc., is pictured as having been done in Adam, of which all people are members. The view of it as present gives us the picture of individuals so doing. So, we do not have a doctrine of "original sin" being passed down, but death being passed down - and the result is universal sin. The death is the "disconnect" (from conscious union with God; of the branch from the Vine), and because of "the disconnect" from the flow of spiritual life, we "mind the flesh" - which Paul instructs us is "death" (Rom. 8:6).
E.P. Sanders cites comments presented by Max Kadushin as he makes the point that, with the character of Rabbinic thought being a part of an "organic complex," the concepts are "woven among themselves" in such a way that they "may yield different interpretations of the same experience." As an example, Kadushin says,
"At one time, the Rabbis declare that Adam's sin is responsible for the presence of death (not sin) 'until the end of all generations,' a view determined by the concept of corporate justice; at another, they say that each man dies because of his own sin, a view determined by the concept of individual distributive justice; and at still another time, instead of regarding death as a calamity, they state that it is a moral purgative for the world, a view determined by the concept of chastisement" (Organic Thinking, quoted by Sanders, "Paul and Palestinian Judaism," p 73).
I suggest that Paul was arguing in this verse from the position of Kadushin's first illustration. We find in 2 Baruch 54:15, "... Adam sinned first and has brought DEATH upon all who were not in his own time..." (The OT Pseudepigrapha, Vol.1, Hendrickson Publishers, 2013, translated by A.F.J. Klijn, p 640; emphasis mine).
Another observation to consider in this passage is Paul's use of Adam, as he also does in 1 Cor. 15:45-49. Referencing Adam is "creation language." 2 Cor. 5:17 refers to the Christ realm and a "new creation."
13. - for until (or: you see, up to the point of; for prior to) Law (or: custom; code), sin (failure; missing of the target; deviation from the goal; "derangement" - Schleiermacher) continued existing within the ordered System (world of religion, government, economy and culture; or: organized societies; or: cosmos; or: in union with an aggregate of humanity), yet sin (failure; missing; deviating) is not continuing to be logically considered (normally being taken into account, calculated, or being put on one's account or ledger; or: constantly to be included in a collection or by thought), there being (or: existing) no law, code or custom. [cf Jas. 1:15]
Paul inserts this clarifying note, and then continues with his argument in vs. 14. It was only the Law that held trespasses against folks (Jn. 5:45): God did not (2 Cor. 5:19). The Law had its place and purpose, but it was like what you have found in my translation: a parenthetical insertion (Gal. 3:17-19). There is no Law needed in order to have a family relationship with God. So, with the coming of grace and the new arrangement, there was no score to be settled - just people that needed to be resurrected (Eph. 2:1), cleaned up and set into the journey of God with the life of His Spirit pointing them in the right direction, which had to do with relationships, not rules. With love and acceptance, not ordinances and division. Abraham was God's friend (Jas. 2:23) - and God made a promise to him. But his failings were not tallied up against him. He was logically considered to be in a right relationship with God - one of faith, trust and loyalty. But a law inserts a barrier and the letter kills the relationship: it is the strength of sin (1 Cor. 15:55).
14. But nonetheless The Death reigned (or: holds royal and kingly rule) from Adam as far as, and as long as, Moses [= Law], even upon those not sinning (failing to hit the target; deviating from the goal) upon [B and other MSS: within] the result of that which is conformed to (or: upon the occasion of the effect of the similarity of, or in the likeness of) the stepping aside (or: the transgression) of Adam - who is, and continues being, a replication (an impress; a pattern; a type; a prefigure) of, and from, the One being repeatedly (or: always; or: progressively) about to … [be (?) come (?) do something (?)] (or: the One habitually impending) (or: -- which exists being an impression made by a blow from the [situation; Person; creation; realm; arrangement] progressively being about to [exist]).
The Death is personified, and its sway over people is made analogous to the reign of a king. There was no direct correlation between it and how folks failed to hit the target; it held royal sway and kingly rule over humanity. We see, as we saw in vs. 12, that it is death that is the culprit that was in the cup given to Jesus (Mk. 10:38; Mat. 26:39) which "was drunk down and swallowed into Victory" (1 Cor. 15:54). He did this to rid us of death and give us His life.
Now Paul makes an interesting statement about Adam. Adam is, and continues being, a replication of, and from, the One... Like all OT figures, symbols and types which prefigured the Messiah, Adam was one of these. We see that he, like Christ, was representative of the masses of humanity. His one deed affected all humanity - and so did Christ's work on the cross. Paul will make this association clearer in the following verses, as he develops this equation of opposites. Adam was intended to be made in God's image and likeness (Gen. 1:26): he was made as an impress, a pattern, a replica. We can look at his place in the divine plan and see a corresponding reflection in the Messiah. But Christ became the last, or 'eschatos', Adam, the Second Humanity.
"Adam was a type of Christ... with respect to the effects of what he did. For just as Adam's sin spread to all men, so Christ's life also spread to all men" (Diodore, Pauline Commentary from the Greek Church, Ancient Christian Commentaries, Vol. 6, ibid p 142).
We see embodied in God's Anointed One the sense of the impending, the expectation, the One known to be always coming and going (Rev. 1:8, JMNT) who rides the clouds that are driven by the Wind of the Spirit. He is "the One being repeatedly (or: always; or: progressively) about to." His purposes and plans bring excitement and a sense of expectation. He is Life. He, the "Ever-flowing, is (or: continues being) the One (or: He) who is continuing about to loose me from out of the midst (or: to deliver me; to unbind or untie me)." (Job 19:25, LXX, JM). He is the One habitually impending!
15. Yet to the contrary, [it is] not in the same way [with] the effect of grace (result of favor; the thing graciously given) as [it was with] the effect of the fall to the side (or: = the result of the stumbling aside and the offence is not simply balanced out by the result of the joyful gift of grace - the gratuitous favor). For you see, since (or: if, as is the case,) by (or: in) the effect of the fall to the side (the result of the stumbling aside and the offense) of the one THE MANY (= the mass of humanity) died, MUCH MORE (= infinitely greater) [is] the Grace of God (God's Grace; favor which is God), and the gift (or: gratuitous benefit) within Grace - a joy-producing act of Favor - by that of the One Man, Jesus Christ, surrounded (or: encircles) into encompassing superabundance (extraordinary surplus and excess) into THE MANY (or: those MANY; = the mass of humanity).
Now Paul begins to paint the contrast, the new reality. With the Messiah and His age, it is "not in the same way [with] the effect of grace (result of favor; the thing graciously given) as [it was with] the effect of the fall to the side." To the contrary, there is complete contrast. And now Paul sets up his equation, and with both sides of the equation we have the same group which he calls here: THE MANY. It is the same group in both cases, for as he says in 1 Cor. 15:22,
"For just as within Adam ALL keep on (or: everyone continues) dying, in the same way, also, within the Christ, ALL will keep on being made alive (or: in union with the Anointed One, everyone will one-after-another be created with Life)."
Notice this comparable equation. The "equal" sign is the phrase, "in the SAME WAY." Within the work of the cross (which moves all from Adam and into Christ) we see the effect of the fall to the side reversed. This is salvation, deliverance, the freeing of the slaves (which is all humans), and life from the dead.
But unlike a mathematical equation, the Grace of God (God's Grace; favor which is God) and the gift (or: gratuitous benefit) within Grace - a joy-producing act of Favor far outweighs, or is infinitely greater than, what Adam's trespass did to all humanity. Or as Barth says, "there is no equilibrium" in this comparison, for the entire passage "is concerned with emphasizing a distinction" (The Epistle to the Romans, p 176). He continues,"The dualism of Adam and Christ, between the old and the new, is not metaphysical but dialectical. The dualism exists only in so far as it dissolves itself. It is a dualism of one movement, of one apprehension, of one road from here to there" (ibid p 177).
The work of the cross, by that of the One Man, Jesus Christ, surrounded (or: encircles) into encompassing superabundance (extraordinary surplus and excess). This is meant to shock the audience with this extreme expression. Pause and consider what Paul just said: the finished work of Christ surrounded (or: encircles) into encompassing superabundance (extraordinary surplus and excess). And what does this mean? His positive work of salvation achieved superabundantly more than what Adam's sin did. And not only that (to use Paul's rhetoric), ALL of this encircling abundance is imparted into THE MANY, that is, INTO the SAME GROUP (all mankind) that was affected by Adam's sin. The picture could not be clearer.
"We can point out that Paul believed Jesus, as Messiah (King/Christ), embodied Israel (it was a common understanding that the King stood in for the people), which allows for the transition from Adam to Jesus, encompassing Moses (who was standing in for Israel in this construct) in the process.... Effectively, the covenant had been provided to all people through Adam, who represents all of humanity. Though this is probably an uncommon way of looking at God's covenant dealings, and though it seems somewhat counter-intuitive on its surface, we can actually insist that God's original covenant had been made with the whole of humanity, with Adam representing the whole" (David Byrd, Believing in Him pt 47, 12/22/11).
"But the grace of Christ has come to us all without our cooperation and shows that the grace of the resurrection is such that not only believers, who glory in their faith, will be resurrected, but also unbelievers, both Jews and Greeks. Something which works in us against our will is therefore obviously greater than something which works in us with our cooperation" (Oecumenius, Pauline Commentary from the Greek Church, Ancient Christian Commentaries, Vol. 6, ibid p 145).
He now goes into a more detailed explanation of the two contrasting sides of the equation, adding further elements of God's gift to humanity. First of all, the effect of the gush and flow (note the picture of excess abundance in these words) of the gratuitous gift (which is God's grace, His Spirit, our inclusion in Christ, life from the dead, freedom from slavery, the covering over of our nakedness and mistakes, as well as the cleansing through His blood) is NOT like the results of Adam's one failure (the disobedience of eating fruit that he was told to avoid). So, in what way was it different?
In humanity's case, one failure led into the separating, an evaluation and a verdict from God that would have a commensurate effect upon mankind. It was exactly what was in the warning that God gave to Adam: eat the fruit from this tree and you will die. The death was not a physical one, but rather an inner death which immediately brought fear and shame (Gen. 3:7-9), and then an eviction from the Edenic arrangement - which was being in a watered garden with fruit at one's disposal and communion with God - into the harsh reality that existed outside this secluded paradise. Israel followed Adam's early pattern when God exiled them from their "land flowing with milk and honey" (Ex. 33:3).
Let us examine the terms effect of the decision and judgment (kri-ma) and commensurate effect of a decision (kata-kri-ma). The first is normally just rendered "judgment," and the second is normally rendered "condemnation."
Judgment is the effect or result (indicated by the -ma ending) of an evaluation which leads to a decision. The second word is the same as the first but with the added prefix kata-, which signifies either the direction "down" (and in the case of judgment would mean a decision "against" someone), or it means "on the same level; commensurate; corresponding to; along the line of; following the pattern of." These meanings are given in the parenthetical expansion. The effect of God's decision, and the resulting judgment upon Adam brought "a corresponding result of a negative evaluation which fell in line with the decision and followed the pattern which divided [us] down." This dividing us from the primal "holy of holies" brought us, metaphorically, from heaven (enjoyment of God's immediate presence) to earth (the estranged, alien existence of pain, hard toil, and death). So what Paul is saying, here, is that God's grace is NOT like what we had up to that point experienced. So now let us look at Paul's great contrast to the prior human predicament:
The second clause of this verse, "But on the other hand, the effect of the grace (the product of the gratuitous favor and the resulting joyous benefit) [is] from out of the effect of many falls to the side (result of many stumblings-aside and offenses) into the effect of a rightwising deliverance, into covenant inclusion in the Way and making things right," begins to illuminate our understanding of the work of Christ. In unpacking this rhetorical mouthful, observe that the effect of God's grace (the product of His gratuitous favor) came, and is, from out of a particular situation: humanity's many falls to the side - many offenses. The very predicament of our lost and destroyed state of being was the situation from which God made the Light (Christ) to shine forth from out of the darkness where humanity resided (cf John 1:4, 5; 2 Cor. 4:6; Gen. 1:3, 17).
And where did this effect of grace lead? We quote it again: "Into the effect of a rightwising deliverance, into covenant inclusion in the Way, and the making of things to be right." This is God's justice and His redemption of mankind. Keep in mind that Paul is presenting his argument in terms of the whole of creation, and all of mankind. Individuals are of course included, but Paul is following the pattern that God created. God's dealing with Adam included every individual of whom he was the representative. His saving of Israel from Egypt included every individual. The lack of faith of ten Israelites kept all of Israel from entering the promised land for forty years. The sins of the leadership in Israel had effects upon the entire nation, leading to exiles. And likewise, we will observe that the obedience of the One (Jesus) had commensurate effects upon the Many.
Paul uses parallel phrases: into a commensurate effect of a decision, and, into the effect of a rightwising deliverance into covenant inclusion in the Way and making things right. Once again, we see the contrast in Paul's imbalanced equation. The one side of the "equal sign" is negative; the other side is positive. To give a clearer view of the positive phrase, let us ponder the alternate renderings:
a) the result of a liberating placing into right relationships within the Way pointed out
b) the effect of an Act (God in Christ) of justice
c) an effect of equity
d) a just award
e) a result of fairness, removal of guilt, and justification, while being turned in the right direction
f) an amendment of what was wrong
g) the effect of covenant inclusion and participation.
The final option, g), I owe to N.T. Wright (Romans for Everyone) and to the writings of David Byrd. The perceptions of the aspect of deliverance and liberation for dikaiosune and its cognates I owe to Douglas A. Campbell (The Deliverance of God, An Apocalyptic Reading of Justification in Paul, 2009). This view complements my literal rendering "the result of a placing into the Way pointed out." The Way (Christ) is the new arrangement (or, covenant) of rightwised and right-relational living of the new creation, into which we have been born.
Paul continues his explanations of the human predicament, and then God's solution to our otherwise hopeless situation. Here he uses the analogy of an empire (one that the Romans could well understand) and the reigning and ruling of a king. Prior to the advent of the Messiah, The Death reigned (note the rhetoric of personification). There was no democracy of "FREE-will" under its reign - there was only slavery. But now the better arrangement (cf Heb. 7:19, 22; 8:6; 11:35) has come with the resurrection of the Messiah, and Paul uses the contrasting terms, much more, rather. Rather what? The peoples - the masses of humanity - will continue reigning within and in union with LIFE, through the One who rightly bears God's image: Jesus Christ, the risen Messiah.
How will they reign? "In continuously receiving and seizing upon (or, taking in hand - this implies living a life, walking the Path) the surrounding superabundance of the Grace and of the gratuitous GIFT of the liberated Rightwisedness." I also gave the ablative function of the noun: "from the gift of the liberated Rightwisedness," and the appositional function: "which is the gift of the liberated Rightwising." This last phrase can also be rendered in the following ways:
a) of the solidarity in fair and equitable treatment
b) from the placement in right [covenant]-relationship in the Way
c) of the justification and freedom from guilt while being turned in the right direction and made right.
Paul has restated vs. 16, informing us that the effect of the liberating Rightwising is the gift of liberated Rightwisedness - or the state and condition of having been rightwised by his grace. In terms of corporate membership, this signifies covenant inclusion and participation.
Soak in the phrase, "reigning within, and in union with, LIFE." This is the state of being that He came to give us, and it is the present sphere of our existence,
"For you see, within the midst of and in union with Him we continuously LIVE (or, as a subjunctive: could be constantly living), and are constantly moved about and put into motion, and continue existing (experiencing Being)" (Acts 17:28).Notice that Paul was not speaking to believers in that Acts context. He spoke of the new reality of which even some Greek poets had a perception. This all came to be and exists "through the One: Jesus, the Messiah."
"Jesus marks the transition of the ages. Whereas death reigned because of the covenant transgression of the first Adam, that age has been brought to an end. Life now reigns through the covenant faithfulness of the second Adam. In Him, a new creation has begun. A new humanity has been brought into existence..." (Byrd, ibid).
Kirk rightly describes "Paul's framework of justification as a function of union with Christ" ("Unlocking Romans, Resurrection and the Justification of God," 2008 p 226).
Again, Paul hammers down this point in his argument! Now he is saying that the consequence of what he has just said is that just as we have seen the effect of the Genesis story, which is that Adam's failure came into all mankind,
"THUS ALSO - in the same way, through one just-effect and the result of one right act (Jesus dying on the cross to give us His Life) which set [all humanity] right and in accord with the Way pointed out... [entering] into ALL MANKIND (into the midst of all people, [impregnating] the whole race of human beings) [all are brought] into a setting-right which is Life and a liberating, rectifying rightwising from, and pertaining to, Life."
This condition and state of being comes from the Life of Christ.
The whole of mankind was moved from the first Adam and into the last Adam (Who was birthed from death to be a Life-giving Spirit - 1 Cor. 15:45). That rightwising act came from the Life of God that was in the Messiah via His union with the Spirit of God. In the resurrection, this Life put humanity into a new arrangement, and then turns them in the right direction, bringing equity and justice, and sets things to right (N.T. Wright's phrase). The resulting fairness and solidarity (which includes peace) is Life (as the appositional rendering offers, "an expression of fairness and equity, which is LIFE") - eonian life, the life of the Age of the Messiah.
19. For you see (or: In fact; It follows that), JUST AS through the heedlessness and unwillingness to listen or to pay attention, resulting in disobedience (or: the erroneous hearing leading to disobedience) of the one person, THE MANY (= the mass of humanity; [note: cf Weymouth NT in Modern Speech, 1909 Edition]) were rendered (established; constituted; placed down and made to be) sinners (failures; ones who diverge and miss the target; outcasts), THUS - in the same way - ALSO, through the submissive listening and paying attention resulting in obedience of the One, THE MANY (= the mass of humanity) will continue being rendered, caused to be, and made to fully stand in the sphere of, "set-right folks" (or: placed down and established [to be] just ones; constituted folks who have been rectified and rightwised to be people in the Way pointed out; made to be righteous ones who are guilt-free, fair, equitable, and rightly-turned in the solidarity of covenant relationships).
The "one person" who was heedless and unwilling to listen or pay attention, was the first Adam. The One who was submissively listening, paying attention, and then obedient, is Jesus Christ.
In my translation I have put some words in all capitals to aid the reader in seeing the correlation that Paul puts into another restatement of his argument: JUST AS... THUS ALSO; THE MANY... THE MANY. In the same way, and just as, one person (Adam) was unwilling to listen or pay attention, and thus was disobedient, so ALSO, through the submissive listening, paying attention and ultimate obedience of Jesus Christ, THE MANY, i.e., the mass of humanity, will continue being set right - "each person within the effect of his or her own class or division" (1 Cor. 15:23).
What must be seen here is that the term, THE MANY, refers, in both cases, to the same group of people: all those who are descended from Adam. In vss. 15 and 19, the definite article is used with the noun. The KJV omits the definite article, and simply reads "many," which can simply mean "a lot of people." But in vs. 15, the same group (The Many) that died is the same group (The Many) unto which the Grace abounds. Likewise, here in vs. 19, The Many, who were made to be sinners, is the same "The Many" will continue being "made to fully stand in the sphere of, 'set-right folks (etc., in the parenthetical expansion)'." We maintain that the last clause refers to an Act that God does (the divine passive) which transforms people by placing them within the Last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45) making people "they also that are heavenly" (1 Cor. 15:48b, KJV). Those who bear and wear the image of the dusty person "can and should [B reads: will continue to] also bear and wear the image (likeness; form) of the Added, Imposed, Heavenly One (or: belonging to the One having the quality and character of the finished, perfected atmosphere; or: from the fully-heaven [sphere]; of the added-sky person). (1 Cor. 15:49). "We shall all be changed" (vs. 51b), and Death will be swallowed up in Victory (vs. 54). And 1 Cor. 15:57 informs us,
"But Grace and joyous Favor [is] in God (or: by and with God) - the One presently and progressively (or: in the process of) giving this Victory (or: continuously bestowing the overcoming; [cf 1 Jn. 5:4; Rev. 2:13, et al]) to us, in us, and for us, through our Lord (Owner; Master), Jesus, [the] Christ!"
"This is, according to Paul, what has actually been effected by the work of Christ. In Him men are lifted into a new order in which goodness is as powerful and dominant as was sin in the order represented by Adam; or, rather, it is far more powerful and dominant.... [and] His obedience will make all the rest actually righteous. The latter is his real point in the present argument" (C.S. Dodd, The Epistle to the Romans, The Moffat NT Commentary, p 82, 83, brackets mine).
The obedience of the One refers to Jesus' death on the cross. On this passage of Rom. 5:12-21, Barth comments:
"Christ is contrasted with Adam as the goal and purpose of the movement.... The life which springs from death is wholly pre-eminent over the life which engenders death and is enclosed by it. There is a death which is the death of death: and this is the theme of the Gospel (1:1, 16). The Gospel is the power of God, the power of the Resurrection" (The Epistle to the Romans p 166).
In regard to vss. 18 and 19, Barth speaks of, "... the secret of divine predestination, by which all human history is constituted anew and given a pre-eminent and victorious meaning. As a consequence of the righteousness of Christ there comes - justification of life - unto all men. Here is the negation of all negation, the death of all death, the breaking down of all limitations, the rending asunder of all fetters, the clothing of men with their habitation which is from heaven (2 Cor. 5:2). For all men death is swallowed up in victory (1 Cor. 15:55) and mortality is swallowed up by life (2 Cor. 5:4) .... In the light of this act of obedience there is no man who is not - in Christ. All are renewed and clothed with righteousness... and placed under the affirmation of God" (ibid pp 181, 182).
20. Now Law and custom at one point entered in alongside (or: intruded into the situation by the side) to the end that the effect of the fall to the side (or: so that the result of the offense and the stumbling aside) would INCREASE to be more than enough (should greatly abound and become more intense). But where the Sin (the failure; the divergence and missing of the target: this deviation and error; the "derangement") INCREASES (or: abounded to be more than enough; becomes more intense) THE GRACE ("the act producing happiness, which is granted as a favor" - Jim Coram) at once super-exceeds (or: hyper-exceeded) over and above, surrounding to excessive abundance and overflow,
Notice the parallel of the first clause to the first clause of vs. 12, above. First sin entered into the aggregate of humanity and the system of the world, and then later Law and custom entered in alongside. The purpose of the entrance of this second (Law) was like the purpose of fertilizing a plant: increase. God's plan was to make the dark contrast even greater and darker, so that with the coming of the Light (Grace) and the Day (Christ) the new Reality would shine all the more. So, if we want to see the effect of the fall to the side and the offense to INCREASE and become "more intense," then just focus on and teach folks the Law. This was God's purpose - His end in view - for the Law: that the result of the offense and the stumbling aside would increase. But with all this fertilizer everywhere - with the Sin increasing to be more than enough - The Grace at once super-exceeds the sin; the act producing happiness, which is granted as a favor, "hyper-exceeded over and above" and surrounded humanity with an excessive abundance and overflow of grace. God's remedy was far greater than the illness, incomparably greater.
Here, Paul has restated his arguments of vss. 15-19, emphasizing again the "much more" and the "abounding" of vss. 15 and 17.
21. to the end that JUST AS the Sin (the failure; the erroneous act; the deviation and digression which issued in missing the goal) at one point reigned (or: ruled as king; exercised sovereign sway) centered in, within the midst of, in union with, and in the sphere of, the Death, THUS SO (or: in THIS way) also the Grace and joyous favor would reign (should rule as king; can exercise sovereign sway) through a flowing together in rectifying, eschatological deliverance that created rightwisedness (or: by means of being rightly-turned into an existence with equity in covenantal solidarity of right relationships which accord with the Way pointed out; through a liberating, rectifying Justice-[expression]) [which leads] into, and results in, LIFE which belongs to, pertains to, and has the characteristics of, the Age (or: eonian life; Life of the Age [of Messiah]; a life for the ages) - through Jesus Christ, our Owner (Lord; Master).
Consider the purpose phrase, "to the end that." This is a continuation of his point in vs. 20. And here we see the correlating phrases, JUST AS... THUS SO (or: in THIS way), in Paul's parallel construction of comparison and contrast. Having just focused on the Sin, he revisits his metaphor of a king ruling his subjects, and puts the Sin on the throne within, and in union with, the Death (and Barth adds here: "and we are dead" - ibid p 170). Just as these have co-reigned over humanity, in THIS way - that is, to the same extent and degree - THUS SO now the Grace (personified here, as a figure of thought) and joyous favor of God, brought by the eschatological deliverance through the death and resurrection of Jesus, would reign and can exercise sovereign sway through rightwisedness, or, covenant solidarity, the very opposite of the sin and the death. This is the kingdom of God on earth. This rightwised existence is the Life of the Age of the Messiah, who is Lord of all. Carefully mark the final phrase through Jesus Christ, our Owner. We cannot achieve this on our own efforts, or by self-realization, or by anything else apart from Jesus the Messiah. That would be like trying to produce fruit while not being joined to the Vine, or trying to function as a member while be separated from the Head of the body. It just won't work - it will be like eating from the same tree of which Adam partook. God's wisdom that comes from union with Him is the very opposite from wisdom gained by the experience of good and evil. The latter brings death; the former brings Life.
The universal sweep of Paul's words in this passage may, for some, be hard to receive. But consider what he said in two verses of Rom. 11:
32. For you see, God encircles, corrals, encloses, coops up, shuts up on all sides, and locks, ALL mankind (everyone; the entire lot of folks) together into disbelieving incompliance (unpersuaded disobedience; unconfident mistrust; a lack of being convinced), to the end that He could (or: would; should) mercy ALL mankind (may make everyone - all those folks - recipients of mercy)!
36. Because, forth from out of the midst of Him, then through the midst of Him (or: through means of Him), and [finally] into the midst of Him, [will be] the whole of created existence (or: [is] everything; [are] all things; or: = Because He is the source, means, and goal/destiny of all things - everything proceeds into the center of Him)! By Him (In Him; To Him; For Him; With Him) [is] the glory (the assumed appearance; the manifestation of that which calls forth praise; the reputation; the notion; the opinion; the imagination; the credit; the splendor) on into the ages, eras and eons [cf Eph. 2:7]. It is established (Amen; So be it; Count on it)!
All this will continue happening "within the continuously oncoming ages (the indefinite time periods progressively coming upon and overtaking [people] in continuous succession)" (Eph. 2:7a).
Jonathan
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