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#27.
The one man (5: 12).
pp. 196 200
The first item of teaching in Rom. 5: 12 is contained in the reference to Adam--
"By one man." The most casual perusal of the chapter can hardly fail to bring under
notice the repetition of this feature, and a careful examination shows that in the ten
verses 12-21, there are no less than twelve occurrences of this word "one" in various
connections:--
"By one man sin entered into the world" (Rom. 5: 12).
"If through the offence of one many be dead" (Rom. 5: 15).
"The gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5: 15).
"Not as it was by one that sinned" (Rom. 5: 16).
"The judgment was by one to condemnation" (Rom. 5: 16).
"For if by one man's offence, death reigned by one" (Rom. 5: 17).
"They which receive . . . . . shall reign in life by one" (Rom. 5: 17).
"By the offence of one judgment came upon all men" (Rom. 5: 18).
"By the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men" (Rom. 5: 18).
"As by one man's disobedience" (Rom. 5: 19).
"So by the obedience of one" (Rom. 5: 19).
Emphasis to the extent of twelve references to one subject in ten verses can hardly be
equaled in passages dealing with any other doctrine. What is there in chapters 6:-8: to
demand this forceful preparation? It is found in Rom. 6:, for there we shall learn that
there is something deeper and fuller than substitution, and that is identification, a truth
that is vital to this section of the epistle. Statements such as "Baptized into His death",
"planted together in the likeness of His death", "our old man crucified with Him", "if
we be dead with Christ", which are found in chapter 6:, require substantiation by
something more intimate than substitution. Justification is related to the death of Christ
"for us", but "newness of life", and freedom from "the dominion of sin", are more strictly
the result of identification with Christ.
This doctrine of identification, if it is to be something more than a legal fiction, must
be shown to exist as a fact, and this is demonstrated by the scriptural doctrine of the
organic unity of the human race. Just as we found Gen. 1: essential to the teaching of
Ephesians and Colossians, so shall we find the literal facts of the creation of man vital to
the teaching of Rom. 5: and 8: The essential oneness of the race with Adam is the
insistent note of Rom. 5: 12-21. It re-appears in Rom. 6: in the reference to the "old
man"; we have it in Rom. 7: 14 in the confession "sold under sin", and it is plainly
visible in Rom. 8: 19-21 in the references to the groaning creation and its subjection to
vanity. Eve was created in such a way that she should share this essential oneness of the
race with Adam. The careful genealogies of Gen. 5: and 10: are vital to this truth.
Looked at from this standpoint salvation hangs upon the genealogies of Matt. 1: and
Luke 3:, and Paul found this truth important enough to include in his address to the
Athenians--"He hath made of one (blood) all nations of men."