Mark 13, you are closer than you think to understanding Romans 5, you are asking the right questions.
Rom 5:12 says death passed upon all men because that all men have sinned. This is speaking of spiritual death, and it is speaking of personal sin. As Albert Barnes the theologian asked, how is it possible that men sin any other way?
In verse 13 and 14 Paul is proving that all men between Adam and Moses had law. Now, there was only one law, not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and these men could not possibly break this law as the tree was secured by an angel.
Nevertheless, men died. Why? Because they broke the law written on their hearts that Paul explained in Romans 2. You saw this, and you are correct. Paul said they were "without" law, but then said they were a law unto themselves.
So, Paul is not saying that Adam's sin was unconditionally imputed to us, he was saying all men conditionally die because all men have sinned whether there is a written law or not. And their death proves this.
Scripture says that God never imputes the sin of the father to the son.
Eze 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Now, once you see that Paul is saying death is conditional (and it is, the wages of sin is death) then you will understand this passage quite differently.
Adam is the example, or father of sin and death. If we follow his example and sin as he did, the penalty of death will be imputed to us.
Jesus is the example, or father of faith and life. If we trust God as he did, we will have righteousness imputed to us.
Some folks say God cannot have faith, but they are mistaken. Jesus willingly died and entrusted his spirit into his Father's hands to raise him up as he had promised in the scriptures.
Luk 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Look up the word "commend", it means to entrust. So, Jesus had faith, he trusted his Father to raise him up as promised.
So, both death and life are conditional. You must sin as Adam did to die, you must believe as Jesus did to live. That is basically what Paul is showing in this passage.
Where folks go wrong is assuming that Adam's sin is imputed to us. Therefore you do not have the exact like/unlike design in this passage. Once you see that both life and death are conditional, there is no contradiction. God does not impute anyone's sin to another as shown in Eze 18:20.
As far as Eve, we do not have any evidence that God directly commanded her not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, so it is not a stretch to believe she was taught by Adam. The fact that she made an error when repeating this law seems to imply she was not taught well. The scriptures also say she was deceived, where Adam was not. Adam knew exactly what he was doing and was therefore accountable.
There are other possible answers, both Adam and Eve are called "Adam" in Gen 5:2. This is possible, but I think unlikely.
And though this may be politically incorrect, scripture seems to imply that women do not have as much spiritual discernment as men, and are forbidden to teach men. I don't know if this is what scripture is really saying, but it does seem to hint at this.
1 Tim 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
That said, there are many women who are much more spiritually mature and knowledgeable than men, Timothy himself was instructed in the scriptures by his grandmother and mother. So perhaps I am off base here.
You are on the right track. I do not claim to be infallible, simply compare what I have said to scripture and ask God to give you understanding.
Rom 5:12 says death passed upon all men because that all men have sinned. This is speaking of spiritual death, and it is speaking of personal sin. As Albert Barnes the theologian asked, how is it possible that men sin any other way?
In verse 13 and 14 Paul is proving that all men between Adam and Moses had law. Now, there was only one law, not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and these men could not possibly break this law as the tree was secured by an angel.
Nevertheless, men died. Why? Because they broke the law written on their hearts that Paul explained in Romans 2. You saw this, and you are correct. Paul said they were "without" law, but then said they were a law unto themselves.
So, Paul is not saying that Adam's sin was unconditionally imputed to us, he was saying all men conditionally die because all men have sinned whether there is a written law or not. And their death proves this.
Scripture says that God never imputes the sin of the father to the son.
Eze 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Now, once you see that Paul is saying death is conditional (and it is, the wages of sin is death) then you will understand this passage quite differently.
Adam is the example, or father of sin and death. If we follow his example and sin as he did, the penalty of death will be imputed to us.
Jesus is the example, or father of faith and life. If we trust God as he did, we will have righteousness imputed to us.
Some folks say God cannot have faith, but they are mistaken. Jesus willingly died and entrusted his spirit into his Father's hands to raise him up as he had promised in the scriptures.
Luk 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Look up the word "commend", it means to entrust. So, Jesus had faith, he trusted his Father to raise him up as promised.
So, both death and life are conditional. You must sin as Adam did to die, you must believe as Jesus did to live. That is basically what Paul is showing in this passage.
Where folks go wrong is assuming that Adam's sin is imputed to us. Therefore you do not have the exact like/unlike design in this passage. Once you see that both life and death are conditional, there is no contradiction. God does not impute anyone's sin to another as shown in Eze 18:20.
As far as Eve, we do not have any evidence that God directly commanded her not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, so it is not a stretch to believe she was taught by Adam. The fact that she made an error when repeating this law seems to imply she was not taught well. The scriptures also say she was deceived, where Adam was not. Adam knew exactly what he was doing and was therefore accountable.
There are other possible answers, both Adam and Eve are called "Adam" in Gen 5:2. This is possible, but I think unlikely.
And though this may be politically incorrect, scripture seems to imply that women do not have as much spiritual discernment as men, and are forbidden to teach men. I don't know if this is what scripture is really saying, but it does seem to hint at this.
1 Tim 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
That said, there are many women who are much more spiritually mature and knowledgeable than men, Timothy himself was instructed in the scriptures by his grandmother and mother. So perhaps I am off base here.
You are on the right track. I do not claim to be infallible, simply compare what I have said to scripture and ask God to give you understanding.
