This statement reveals who we are as humans - sinful, mortal creatures. This in turn reveals our need for something bigger than us, a Savior that can rescue us from our condemned state.
I think the first thing we need to notice about this verse is that it begins with "therefore" - meaning we need to look back to what Paul has written previously that would lead into this verse. When looking back, we see that Paul just finished explaining, in detail, our reconciliation through faith in Christ - which addresses our need for rescuing by a Savior. Before that, he explained in detail our lost and condemned state before Christ.
A verse that jumps out that ties into verse 12 here is 3:9 - "...for we have charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin."
Paul then goes on to quote Old Testament scripture that explains how sinful and evil we as lost people really are in our condemned state.
In Romans 3:9 and Romans 5:12, Paul is explaining clearly to the Jews in his audience that, without faith in Christ, they are just as condemned as the Greeks. This was so crucial for the Jews to understand, because they were convinced that their heritage and their adherence to physical laws set them apart and gave them an advantage at Salvation over the Greeks.
Paul's message is that we have all equally inherited sin, we are all equally condemned, and we are all in equal, desperate need of a Savior.
sin came into the world through one man
So, how did sin come into the world through one man? The account of Adam and Eve in the garden is well known, but I want to reference it here briefly so we know exactly what Paul is talking about.
God's Commandment:
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
Genesis 2:16,17
Satan's Temptation and the fall:
But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. Genesis 3:4-7
Interrogation and sinful excuses:
But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
Genesis 3:9-13
The punishment:
To the woman he said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.
Genesis 3:16-18
Ultimately, mortality:
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
Genesis 3:19
We can see, from Genesis, that Adam and Eve sinned before God, and received their just condemnation. When their eyes were opened, Adam and Eve were separated from God - their relationship was fractured and now in need of restoration. This separation would be passed on from generation to generation, as we all are now born with a sinful nature that separates us from God. We are all in need of Jesus Christ to restore this relationship with God for us.
David writes about this sinful nature inherited from the womb:
Psalm 51:5 - Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Psalm 58:3 - The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
Now, in Romans 5:12, God confirms through Paul that we truly are sinful and lost, having inherited this sinful nature passed down from one man - Adam - who was a perfect representation for all men, and acted as any other man would have acted.
and death through sin
We already looked at Genesis 3:19, where God told Adam and Eve that they would return to the dust that they were made of. Not only did sin lead to death, but it requires death as a payment, or in order for reconciliation to occur.
Paul writes later on in Romans: For the wages of sin is death... (6:23).
In Hebrews we read this: ...without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. (9:22)In Genesis 3:21: the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
- here God used animals as a temporary sacrifice, using their skins as a temporary covering of the sin and shame that Adam and Eve now carried.
Sin, meaning anything unrighteous in God's eyes (1 John 5:17), or anything that does not meet His perfect standards, which in turn glorifies Him, is completely offensive to Him, and He cannot tolerate this in His presence (Habakkuk 1:13).
Therefore, in order to have a restored relationship with Him, we need to know the reconciliation through His Son that Paul talks about in Romans 5:11!
and so death spread to all men because all sinned
Adam was a perfect representation of all men, we are all guilty and justly condemned before God. Since this sin nature has been passed on to all men, so has death - both in the physical and spiritual sense. We all remain mortal, but there is hope because Jesus not only provides hope for spiritual life, but He conquered even physical death by rising from it! He is the only answer to our sinful, lost state - as Paul will go on to explain.
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