Did anyone address that fact that the bible indicates plants were consumed before the fall? Still waiting for agreement or rebuttal.
So when death entered by sin, the death in view must be spiritual, because physical death (of at least plants) existed for sinless plants.
Well, Adam and Eve, and the animals had to eat plants, but I don't know if the scriptures consider plants life per se.
But I agree that Adam and Eve died spiritually when they ate the forbidden fruit. God had warned them that if they ate from this forbidden tree, they would die "in the day that thou eatest thereof".
Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:
for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
So, I believe Adam and Eve spiritually died that very day.
I believe that Romans 5 is speaking of spiritual death only, not physical. Look at the terms used such as sin, offense, judgment, condemnation, justification, righteousness, etc... All these words are legal terms, not speaking of the physical, but judicial.
Now, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 you see the opposite, all the terms there apply to the physical body. This chapter concerns the resurrection of our physical bodies.
So, Adam and Eve died spiritually when they ate the forbidden fruit. However, they trusted God when he called them and came to him, and they believed his promise, so God made skins (an animal had to be killed here) to cover their nakedness. This represents Christ and the righteousness imputed to those who believe. So, Adam and Eve were saved.