We know that Adam and Christ make up “two Adams” from many places in the Bible. Not least we know it as Pauline theology from First Corinthian 15.

We also know it from Romans 5, but I wonder…

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

So Adam sinned in a way (transgressed) that wasn’t possible until Moses. Why wouldn’t Adam and his transgression be a type of Israel and its greater transgression which brought about the salvation of the nations? The one man and his transgression was a type of the nation and many transgressions.

For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.

As Paul writes later:

So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!…

For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” [from Romans 4]

This is a transitional moment for David. Later, Paul places him squarely with Christ against the Israelite unbelievers. From Romans 11:

And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and bend their backs forever.”

Since Jesus is introduced in Romans 1.3 as “born of the seed of David according to the flesh,” one might guess that David represents the best in Israel all along. But no, after the introduction and before the blessedness of not having sins counted against him in Romans 4, David pretty much stands for unbelieving Israel. For in Romans 2 we read,

You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

And this reminds us of what happened to David after he sinned with Bathsheba.

As Nathan told David: “because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die” (2 Sam. 12.14; NASB).

And so David prays what we now know as Psalm 51, which Paul uses as his next OT quotation to show the unfaithfulness of Israel:

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written,

“That you may be justified in your words,
and prevail when you are judged.”

But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

The story of David and Bathsheba fits perfectly. The reign of Solomon is described in a way that shows that God has completely fulfilled the promises made to Abraham. And how did Solomon come about? David sinned and lost a son before being given Solomon, or, more literally, “Peace.”

Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon Peace. And the LORD loved him and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

For David “would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in” David a coveting for Bathsheba (c.f. Romans 7). Yet God fulfilled all his covenant promises to the Patriarchs not through David’s faithfulness but through this very unfaithfulness, though it required the death of his firstborn son. And so God’s son, the greater David does the same as his infant type:

For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
and sing to your name.”

This too, of course, is from David (2 Samuel 22.50; Psalm 18.49).

A. Romans 1.18-3.20: All humanity degrading from sin to sin and (mentioned briefly) not only is the Jew just as much entangled but the Law brought acquaintance with sin rather than helping the situation.

B. Romans 3.21ff: “But NOW the righteousness of God has been manifested… …to show his righteousness at the present time,”

C. Romans 3.24ff: Christ is put forward as a propitiation.

D. Romans 3.27-31: Faith-law v. Works-law. We don’t overthrow the Law by Faith but rather establish the Law.

A. Romans 7.7-25: Law increased the sinfulness of sin in “me.”

B. Romans 8.1: “There is therefore NOW no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

C. Romans 8.3: “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh…”

D. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

One other possible outcome: personal faith is a mind set on the Spirit.

When I wrote “When Israel’s sin requires a son to die” I thought I was just being fanciful.

But consider the next “as it is written”:

For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written,

“That you may be justified in your words,
and prevail when you are judged.”

As I’ve pointed out before, Paul’s argument in Romans 2 is not that all Jews sin no matter how much they try not to do so. Rather, his argument is that they known throughout the world for being shameless sinners.

But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

The last statement shows that the fullness of time has come for God’s son to die. As Nathan told David: “because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die” (2 Sam. 12.14; NASB). When Israel’s calling is completely inverted, so that they spread blasphemy rather than the knowledge of God, the death of a son is needed to bring the world to resurrection.

Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the LORD loved him and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.

Amos 3.1-2:

Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

“You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.

He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

In Deuteronomy 4 Moses spelled out Israel’s mission to the nations:

Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?

According to Paul, Israel had totally failed to spread this fear of God by his law. Instead of wisdom they had spread blasphemy:

But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

What is obvious here is that Paul spends no time trying to convince Jews that they have indeed broken the Law. Quite the contrary, he writes as one who is sure that they know and admit to the truth of the situation.

What is also obvious is that Paul does not write to people who are trying to keep the Law but are failing to measure up despite all their efforts. He is speaking to people about their nation and its reputation for willfully violating the Law.

So in what way does Paul’s Jew “boast in God”? If Paul had felt compelled to make a case against the Jews that they violate the Law we might suppose that they boasted in keeping the Law. But that is not the case. They boast in having been entrusted with the Law. They boast that they possess the Law and therefore possess, they think, God.

Paul’s message is like John the Baptist’s:

And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.

So the Jew’s boast that they are Jews who have the Law by nature–i.e. by birth. But Paul says that this possession of the Law will not justify them. They are supposed to actually keep the Law.

For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

In Romans (Galatians agrees but has additional arguments because it is addressing people in the Church trying to go back in time in order to go forward), the works of the law do not justify because it is not the hearers of the law who will be justified but the doers of the law. The works of the law mark one out as a hearer of the law, a Jew who is entrusted with the oracles of God. But if one does not keep the law, one’s circumcision will become uncircumcision and, thus, the works of the law do nothing for you.

The law, rather than stopping the spiral of sin to more sin, actually increased the trespass. Those who are designated hearers of the Word who are entrusted with the oracles of God are, if they are unfaithful, worse off than they would have been if they had never received the Law.  Israel as a nation has been unfaithful to the Law as a whole and thus has increased the trespass and increased the wrath of God.

This, Paul argues, was God’s plan all along to save both Jew and Gentile by condemning sin in the flesh of Jesus and putting him forward as a propitiation of God’s wrath.

Therefore, you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things…

For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified…

You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision…

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God…

Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin…

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin…

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin….

Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

 

Paul doesn’t say to “kill” the old Adam in you. He says rather to “put to death” the earthly members, the deeds of the body.

This language refers to execution by an authorized agent (even if that authority is being misused in some cases). You carry out a death sentence on your sinful habits and desires.

And you carry out that sentence first and foremost by understanding that the death of Jesus was the death sentence against your sin. You are free from sin definitively by God’s judicial action in history so that you might behave free from sin in your life.

That’s Romans 6 as I understand it.