Romans, Part 24

Much more then, Paul continued, because we have now been declared righteous (δικαιωθέντες, a form of δικαιόω) by his blood, we will be saved through him from God’s wrath (ὀργῆς, a form of ὀργή).1  I had a tendency to think of this as present or future wrath.  That may also be true, but as he continued his discussion of how sin entered the world and how the Lord Jesus’ one righteous act was the agency through which came righteousness leading to life for all people,2 it is evident that the past tense of the wrath revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness3 was on Paul’s mind.

So, because we have now been declared righteous (δικαιωθέντες, a form of δικαιόω) by his blood, we will be saved through him from 1) the impure desires of human hearts,4 2) dishonorable passions,5 and 3) depraved minds,6 as well as the sins associated with God’s wrath in Romans 1:18-32For if while we were enemies we were reconciled (κατηλλάγημεν, a form of καταλλάσσω) to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled (καταλλαγέντες, another form of καταλλάσσω), will we be saved by his life?7  Though I may be reading too much into the text I think it is possible to gauge Paul’s progress through his troubles and affliction by the word translated reconciled above.

To the married I give this command – not I, but8 the Lord – a wife should not divorce a husband (but if she does, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled [καταλλαγήτω, another form of καταλλάσσω] to her husband), and a husband should not divorce his wife.9  Here in 1 Corinthians reconciliation seems almost like the second best choice to remaining unmarried if a wife divorces her husband.  This I assume was written before Romans.  After Romans, in 2 Corinthians, I encounter the word translated reconciled again (2 Corinthians 5:17-21 NET).

So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away – look, what is new has come! [TableAnd all these things are from God who reconciled (καταλλάξαντος, another form of καταλλάσσω) us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation (καταλλαγῆς, a form of καταλλαγή) [Table].  In other words, in Christ God was reconciling (κκαταλλάσσων, another form of κκαταλλάσσω) the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us the message of reconciliation (καταλλαγῆς, a form of καταλλαγή).  Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea through us.  We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled (καταλλάγητε, another form of καταλλάσσω) to God!”  God made the one who did not know (γνόντα, a form of γινώσκω) sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) of God [Table].

Not only this, Paul continued in Romans, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation (καταλλαγὴν, another form of καταλλαγή).10  I don’t see any particular problem with reading Paul’s attitude toward our reconciliation with God back into the reconciliation of a wife with her husband.

So then, Paul continued, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned11  Thus began a contrast between Adam and Jesus.  A similar contrast can be found in 1 Corinthians 15.  In fact the contrasting mate to this opening statement is found there rather than in Romans.

Adam

Jesus

So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned…

Romans 5:12 (NET)

[the Lord Jesus] must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet [Table].  The last enemy to be eliminated is death.

1 Corinthians 15:25, 26 (NET)

Paul’s rationale for this particular contrast is more apparent in 1 Corinthians.

Adam

Jesus

For since death12 came through a man…

1 Corinthians 15:21a (NET)

…the resurrection of the dead also came through a man.

1 Corinthians 15:21b (NET)

In his letter to the Romans Paul veered away a bit from this same presentation.  First, he offered the following explanation (Romans 5:13, 14 NET):

…for before the law was given, sin was in the world, but there is no accounting (ἐλλογεῖται, a form of ἐλλογέω) for sin when there is no law.  Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type of the coming one) transgressed Table.

In other words, not everyone transgressed the specific command God gave to Adam alone before Eve was created, You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard [Table] (including the tree of life), but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die [Table].13  After Adam disobeyed God and gained knowledge of evil he had sons and daughters in his own likeness, according to his image.14

But the gracious gift (i.e., reconciliation) is not like the transgression,15 Paul returned to his contrast of Adam and Jesus.

Adam

Jesus

For if the many died through the transgression of the one man…

Romans 5:15b (NET)

…how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the many!

Romans 5:15c (NET)

And the gift is not like the one who sinned.16

Adam

Jesus

For judgment, resulting from the one transgression, led to condemnation…

Romans 5:16b (NET)

…but the gracious gift from the many failures led to justification.

Romans 5:16c (NET)

For if, by the transgression of the one man, death reigned through the one…

Romans 5:17a (NET)

…how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ!

Romans 5:17b (NET)

Consequently, just as condemnation for all people came through one transgression…

Romans 5:18a (NET)

…so too through the one righteous act came righteousness leading to life for all people.

Romans 5:18b (NET)

For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were made sinners…

Romans 5:19a (NET)

…so also through the obedience of one man many will be made righteous.

Romans 5:19b (NET)

Now the law came in, Paul explained, so that the transgression (i.e., the breaking of specific commandments as Adam did) may increase, but where sin increased, grace multiplied all the more17

Adam

Jesus

…so that just as sin reigned in death…

Romans 5:21a (NET)

…so also grace will reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 5:21b (NET)

Eternal life can be a difficult concept for those of us socialized in the value and necessity of death.  Perhaps the easiest way to present that socialization is through the 2011 film “In Time.”  Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer) served as the objective character in the movie and presented the normative assumption, “Everyone can’t live forever.  Where would we put them?”  Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried), the convert from the dark side concurred, “We’re not meant to live forever.”  Her father Philippe (Vincent Kartheiser) said, “everyone wants to live forever,” but in his role as the personification of evil that meant only foolish people want this, and that desire will always keep evil men like Philippe Weis in power.  Philippe quipped, “for a few to be immortal, many must die.”  And the protagonist Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) countered, “No one should be immortal if even one person has to die.”

Paul, however, paired eternal life with the gift of God’s credited righteousness.  Once God’s righteousness begins to take root and flourish in one the possibility and desirability of eternal life (not mere immortality) become obvious.  This same contrast in 1 Corinthians complements the contrast in Romans.

Adam

Jesus

For just as in Adam all die…

1 Corinthians 15:22a (NET)

…so also in Christ all will be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:22b (NET)

The first man, Adam, became a living person”…

1 Corinthians 15:45a (NET)

…the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

1 Corinthians 15:45b (NET)

Here I can relate this contrast to Jesus’ explanation to Nicodemus, I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God [Table].  What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not be amazed that I said to you, “You must all be born from above.”18

 

Addendum: March 28, 2024
According to a note (27) in the NET, Paul quoted from Genesis 2:7 in 1 Corinthians 15:45. A table comparing the Greek of Paul’s quotation to that of the Septuagint follows.

1 Corinthians 15:45a (NET Parallel Greek)

Genesis 2:7b (Septuagint BLB) Table

Genesis 2:7b (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐγένετο ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος Ἀδὰμ εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν

1 Corinthians 15:45a (NET)

Genesis 2:7b (NETS)

Genesis 2:7b (English Elpenor)

The first man, Adam, became a living person the man became a living being the man became a living soul

Tables comparing the Greek of 1 Corinthians 7:10 and 15:21 in the NET and KJV follow.

1 Corinthians 7:10 (NET)

1 Corinthians 7:10 (KJV)

To the married I give this command—not I, but the Lord—a wife should not divorce a husband nd unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:

1 Corinthians 7:10 (NET Parallel Greek)

1 Corinthians 7:10 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

1 Corinthians 7:10 (Byzantine Majority Text)

Τοῖς δὲ γεγαμηκόσιν παραγγέλλω, οὐκ ἐγὼ ἀλλὰ ὁ κύριος, γυναῖκα ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς μὴ χωρισθῆναι τοις δε γεγαμηκοσιν παραγγελλω ουκ εγω αλλ ο κυριος γυναικα απο ανδρος μη χωρισθηναι τοις δε γεγαμηκοσιν παραγγελλω ουκ εγω αλλ ο κυριος γυναικα απο ανδρος μη χωρισθηναι

1 Corinthians 15:21 (NET)

1 Corinthians 15:21 (KJV)

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

1 Corinthians 15:21 (NET Parallel Greek)

1 Corinthians 15:21 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

1 Corinthians 15:21 (Byzantine Majority Text)

ἐπειδὴ γὰρ δι᾿ ἀνθρώπου θάνατος, καὶ δι᾿ ἀνθρώπου ἀνάστασις νεκρῶν επειδη γαρ δι ανθρωπου ο θανατος και δι ανθρωπου αναστασις νεκρων επειδη γαρ δι ανθρωπου ο θανατος και δι ανθρωπου αναστασις νεκρων

1 Romans 5:9 (NET)

7 Romans 5:10 (NET)

9 1 Corinthians 7:10, 11 (NET)

10 Romans 5:11 (NET)

11 Romans 5:12 (NET)

12 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the article ο preceding death. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.

13 Genesis 2:16, 17 (NET)

14 Genesis 5:3 (NET) Table

16 Romans 5:16a (NET)

17 Romans 5:20 (NET)

18 John 3:5-7 (NET) Table