Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
No one wants to believe that they are evil. We aren’t perfect. We make mistakes. We want to do good, but we fall short. Sometimes we even admit that we are sinners; we miss the mark, so to speak. But are we evil? Surely we are not. I mean, I may not be perfect, but I wouldn’t classify myself as evil. I have done bad things, but I’ve never murdered anyone. I’m not as bad as Hitler, for example. He was evil. I may not be perfect, but I am good, and I’m certainly no Hitler.
Yes, you are. You are Hitler, and so am I. No, we are not good; no one is righteous, not even one.[1] Mankind is called to be perfect: Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.[2] You are a murderer, at least by the standard of Jesus. He said that murder begins in the heart: But I say to you whoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment.[3] You and I are serial murderers of the greatest magnitude by this standard. Much to our consternation, this standard is God’s standard; being merely “not Hitler” certainly does not come close to hitting the mark. We are, by our very nature in fact, sinful and unclean. Children of wrath, scripture calls us. We were, by nature, children of wrath, walking according to the course of this world, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.[4] We were conceived in sin and born in iniquity;[5] the inclination of the human heart is toward evil from youth.[6]
Don’t believe me? Consider a baby; we like to think them innocent, just as we like to imagine ourselves to some degree. They haven’t done anything yet. They haven’t even developed the capacity to think rationally. Yes, and do they need to be taught anger and selfishness? From their first breath they think only of fulfilling the desires of the flesh; the mind will come later. They are acting according to their corrupt sinful nature. They are curved inward, focused only on themselves. And, from the time of our conception, we are subject to death, which scripture calls the wages of sin. Such is the case with every man born into this world. So immersed are we in our own sinfulness, so thorough is our corruption, that we must be taught how corrupt we are from Holy Scripture; we cannot grasp the severity of our situation by our senses or reason. Through one man, Adam, sin entered the world, and death spread to all men, because all sinned. By what action did all men sin? By coming into existence; by taking on flesh, a human nature which had been corrupted and cursed because of Adam at the fall.
We don’t like this assessment of our situation because we don’t like the idea of imputed guilt. We don’t want to be held responsible for the sin of another. We didn’t sin, Adam did; why should we be condemned? The reason is that we are sinners just like Adam, because we are of his corrupt substance. We inherited his fallen nature: Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD…” Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Able his brother and killed him.[7] The proof of this is in the fact that death is a reality for all people, from the youngest infant to the oldest person living. Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam.[8] By Adam’s offense, we all died; by Adam’s disobedience we were made sinners.[9]
So we are all utterly corrupt and sinful creatures. What can we do about it? Some would say we have the ability to do something to atone for our sins. The reality is that there is nothing we can do. Since the time of the fall of man we have been trying to do something to fix our sin problem; Like Adam and Eve we have been trying to cover the nakedness of our sin, not with fig leaves, but with imagined works of penance. The gimmick is simple: we prescribe some work for ourselves to perform that seems difficult, pious, and sacrificial; but these works always seem to be something that we are capable of doing, or at least we think so when we dream them up. Most of the time we can’t even live up to the man-made rules, whether it’s prayers, pilgrimages, acts of charity, or self-flagellation. We end up going back on our promises to make up for our sins, or at the very least, changing the terms so that our penance is a little more “doable”. Eventually we get tired of doing the good deed, of giving the money, of going to church, of saying our prayers, of walking old ladies across the street, or whatever we have come up with to make ourselves look good to God. The end of this road of self-justification is failure and despair. The devil is more than happy to help us down this road, and to supply us with false methods of atonement, so we stay focused on ourselves, and our sin.
But God tells us that the gift is not like the offense. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many trespasses resulted in justification.[10] Through Adam’s offense judgment came to all men; through Christ’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.[11] Before the foundation of the world God the Father resolved to reconcile that world to Himself through the Son. Atonement for us comes through the death and resurrection of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. He is the propitiation for our sin, and the sin of the whole world.[12] While we were God’s enemies, Christ died for mankind. Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures; He was buried, and He rose again the third day, according to the scriptures;[13] He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
The gift of forgiveness and life comes through Christ by His death and resurrection. We are connected to Christ, and His death and resurrection through Baptism. Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection. And, just as the work of atoning for sin is Christ’s alone, so is the work of baptism. In baptism, God’s promise of forgiveness, coupled with the physical element of water, washes away our sins.[14] It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.
[1] Romans 3:10
[2] Matthew 5:48
[3] Matthew 5:22
[4] Ephesians 2:3
[5] Psalm 51:5
[6] Genesis 8:21
[7] Genesis 4:1, 8
[8] Romans 5:14
[9] Romans 5:15, 19
[10] Romans 5:16
[11] Romans 5:18
[12] Romans 3:25; Titus 2:14; 1 John 1:7; 2:2
[13] 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
[14] Acts 22:16; Titus 3:5; Revelation 1:5
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