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Rom. 8: 3: "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh" did do. Christ must become one with
us, before we can become one with Him. Bethlehem must come before Calvary. He
must be the firstborn of Mary, before He can become the firstborn from the dead.
Returning to Rom. 5: 12-14, we seek, exactly, the truth that it contains, and we find
that it is summed up in the words of verse 16, "death reigned". The whole argument of
Rom. 5: 12-21 is to show the end of the reign of sin and death, through Adam, and the
establishment instead of the reign of grace, through righteousness, unto life through Jesus
Christ our Lord. This reign of sin and death is the uppermost thought in Rom. 6::--
"Death hath no more dominion over Him" (Rom. 6: 9).
"Let not sin reign in your mortal body" (Rom. 6: 12).
"For sin shall not have dominion over you" (Rom. 6: 14).
"Ye were the slaves of sin" (Rom. 6: 20).
Rom. 7: introduces an added dominion, namely, that of "law", for, as I Cor. 15: 56
says, "the strength of sin is the law":--
"The law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth" (Rom. 7: 1).
"I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me" (Rom. 7: 21).
"I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing
me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members" (Rom. 7: 23).
Rom. 8: shows the one, and only, way to freedom from this dominion:--
"The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death" (Rom. 8: 2).
The four outstanding words of chapters 5:, 6:, 7: and 8: are, chapter 5: Death,
chapter 6: Sin, chapter 7: Law, and chapter 8: Spirit. In chapter 5: it is a matter
of death and life, in chapter 6: of sin and righteousness, in chapter 7: of law and
grace, and in chapter 8: of flesh and spirit.
Death reigns because of sin. That is the outstanding fact of Rom. 5:
Its glorious
sequel in Christ is given in the closing verse:--
"That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 5: 21).
Death by sin.
This is the statement of Gen. 2: 17, "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt
surely die." It is the solemn assertion of Rom. 6: 23, "The wages of sin is death". So
important is this doctrine and so far-reaching its effect that we shall count no effort too
great that leads us into clearer understanding. Let us therefore first address ourselves to
the consideration of the various words used for death, and the various ways in which they
are employed in these chapters. We shall first give every reference as it stands in the