Paul continues in verse 17 to contrast the affects of Adams trespass and Christ's sacrifice.
For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man
Paul has said many times in this passage that death came through Adam. I wanted to take a minute and look a little at the word through. In the Greek, the word through, or by, means the channel of an act. Adam was the channel, or the path, through which sin entered the world. As a result of this path, sin was passed down through Adam to anyone who was born from him - which Paul has been explaining. In this verse, we see that death (a result of sinfulness) has reigned through Adam as well.
The word reigned is Paul's emphasis in verse 17. In the Greek, reigned means to rule, as a king over his kingdom. So often we like to think that, while we are sinful, we have the power to choose right or wrong, to choose good or bad - this allow us to feel better about our situation. However, Paul says that death reigns over us - death is our ruler.
But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed Romans 6:17
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Romans 6:20
The word slaves is also translated servants, and means: a slave (literally or figuratively, involuntarily or voluntarily; frequently therefore in a qualified sense of subjection or subserviency): - bond (-man), servant.
In our lost state, death is our master, and we are subject to it, we have no power over it. Death reigns over us, and no matter how 'good' we try to be, we ultimately experience both physical and spiritual death leading to the eternal death - complete separation from God, torture for the soul.
It's also important to note that this is all the result of one man's trespass...not many trespasses by that one man, and not many trespasses by many men...one man's single trespass.
Was it a terrible trespass that was committed? Was someone murdered, did someone commit adultery? Spiritually yes, but from a human perspective, the terrible trespass was disobedience to God - an unacceptable sin in light of God's perfect character, with deadly results.
As Paul has been doing throughout this passage, he moves from the condemnation to the hope:
much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man
He begins this contrast with a phrase he has used previously: much more much meaning a lot, or in abundance, and more meaning better, to a greater degree. So we can be confident in what Paul says here. While death has the power to reign over us, to be our ruler, in our condemned state - there is something that contains power - in more abundance and to a greater degree - over death and sin.
How do we experience the power over this death that rules over us? By receiving the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness. Any who receive the abundance (meaning surplus, or superabundance in the Greek) of God's never ending grace, and are clothed in His perfect righteousness, will have been released from the chains of bondage that have enslaved us from birth.
If we are released from the power of sin and death that has condemned us from birth, what are we released to? We are released from bondage to freedom, from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, from eternal death to eternal life!
Death is the absence of life, and through Adam, sin and death entered the world - meaning that we were separated from true, eternal life. Now, Paul is telling us that, by receiving God's never ending, free gift of grace and righteousness, we can be re-united with eternal life - that being a personal relationship with an all loving, all powerful, eternal God!
We must also notice that, while once death reigned over us, those who receive the free gift will reign in life! God's children are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness. We are no longer ruled by death, but we are co-heirs with Christ, who has conquered death and rules over it.
having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. Romans 6:18
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:16,17
Being adopted into God's family, we now reign in life - no longer condemned by anything but sustained by the power of God's grace and counted as righteous by His free gift!
Paul told us that through Adam (he was the path or channel through which) death and sinfulness entered the world. Now, this amazing truth: through the one man we are able to now reign in life - the one man being Jesus Christ. This is a comparison Paul makes between Adam and Christ. While the results of their actions were very different, it was through one man that death entered, and through another man that life is now offered.
We can never move away from the fact that it is through Jesus Christ, God's Son, that eternal life through reconciliation with God is made possible. Jesus Christ is our Savior because He is the path, or channel, through which we can experience the free gift - He is the only way. As Paul said, through one man, has the abundance of God's grace, the free gift of righteousness, and the possibility of reigning with Christ in life, been made possible!
Being ruled over and subject to eternal death, or reigning with Christ in eternal life - Paul has laid out the two options - there is no middle ground. Where do you stand? Have you accepted Christ and been adopted as His co-heir, or do you remain a slave to evil one?
What a good exposition.. God bless you and keep up the writing... Reader fro, Nigeria
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