The Seminal Principle
RO53-02

Justification

Paul has explained in this section on justification how a lost sinner is given the absolute righteousness which he must have to spend eternity in heaven with God. Paul has stressed God's total rejection of human works, and of religious rituals, in providing this absolute righteousness to a sinner. Paul has also stressed the permanence of justification once a sinner has received it.

This is a portion of divine revelation which is of monumental importance to mankind – the portion that we're now going to begin, in Romans 5:12-21. It seems that every new segment of this book is a higher plateau than the one we have gone through before. We think that we have reached absolute, fantastic epitome of Paul's finest hour, and then he goes on to one more that's even better. And this perhaps is it.

As Winston Churchill said, in the throes of World War II, when Britain was at its low point, standing by, waiting for invasion by the German forces, Winston Churchill electrified the nation by the simple little statement that: "If the British Empire should last for 1,000 years, let it be said, as they look back upon us, that this was our finest hour."

So, the apostle Paul seems here in Romans 5:12-21 to have reached his finest hour in the writing of Scripture, because this is a segment of the Word of God which you must understand, or it may cost you your eternal soul. All religious groups which violate the divine method of salvation, which has been taught since Romans 3:21, and here through the fifth chapter – all religious groups which violate the divine method of salvation doom their followers to the lake of fire.

To translate that into terms that are understandable to us, what I am saying is that practically every Roman Catholic is going to end up in hell because his church has taught him a system of salvation which violates this segment of the Word of God on justification (Romans 3:21-5:21). This means that everybody who is in a cultist group, such as Jehovah's Witness, almost to the man, will find himself someday in hell. Unless he was saved before he got into that system, and thus is secure, he will find himself in hell. I'm talking about millions of people. That means that every person who is part of the Mormon group, as fine and moral as many of them are, is almost doomed (to the man; to the woman; and, to the child, to the lake of fire. There is no doubt in Mormonism that the soul that you had before you were born, which is now put into a human body, so that you can have a period of trial upon this earth, means for you to behave yourself and to act in a certain way. Then when you die, you may enter a place of glory – so that you have a salvation by works system.

Every denominational group that tells its people that water baptism, for example, is part of salvation is inevitably dooming its people to the lake of fire. So, we're talking about serious business when we talk about this particular passage of Scripture. There is no finer moment in the Word of God than Romans 3:21 through Romans 5:21, and none finer than Romans 5:12-21. This is it. This is where the explanation is given. This is where the understanding is directly from God on the problem of human sin and going to heaven. You might as well adjust to the sad, sad, tragic condition that there are literally millions upon millions of people on this earth today who think they are going to heaven, and they're doing no such thing. They're not going to get anywhere near it.

That's tragic for them out there. You better bring it down to home, and establish your own situation. You better establish your own position relative to God. You are a fool of the worst kind if you think that you are going to be able to somehow debate this issue with God. You are the most monumental fool that ever walked the face of the earth. God is not interested in your point of view. God is not interested in your logic, and God is not interested in your substitutes for His plan. They will be totally rejected.

God does not take into his heaven those who merely come close to His divine plan with just a little human viewpoint mixed in. I hope that this study thus far has made that clear to you. God does not take into heaven those who at least come close. You have to hit it right on the button. A miss in salvation is as good as a mile.

So, I don't know how you feel, but I think we should have a great deal more compassion, and of concern, and of a sense of tragedy as we look out upon Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses, and the baptismal regeneration crowd, and the Roman Catholics, and the religions of the world, because the whole gang of them have been caught up in Satan's religious system which has substituted man's efforts for what only God can provide him with in terms of justification. And the only reason they don't know better is because someone has not taught them Romans 3:21 through Romans 5:21. If they knew nothing else of the Bible but just this, they would never make the mistakes that are going to cost them their souls forever.

Groups who deviate from this plan are always following some human viewpoint. Every one of these denominational groups, and every one of these cult groups goes back to some man. The baptismal regeneration groups go back to Alexander Campbell in his Churches of Christ that he began. The Mormons go back to Joseph Smith. The Jehovah's Witnesses go back to (Charles Russell). The Christian Science group goes back to Mary Baker Eddy. And right down the line, you have people going back to human authorities that they listen to and believe. The only authority that's going to get you through is the authority of God Himself. So, don't make the mistake of losing your soul on somebody's human viewpoint.

Adam and Jesus Christ

There's a comparison between a process which was set in motion by the sin of Adam and that which was set in motion by the obedience of Jesus Christ. What Adam did in Eden produced sin, condemnation, and death. And that is what characterizes all those who are related in God's eyes to Adam. On the other hand, Jesus Christ produced righteousness, justification, and life. And that is what characterizes these people in God's eyes who are connected to Christ.

This passage reveals that God deals with the human race, as I said, as being related either to Adam or to Jesus Christ. The question for you today is: to whom are you related in the sight of God? Are you related to Adam, or are you related to Jesus Christ? If you die related to Adam, you will go to hell. If you die related to Jesus Christ, you will go to heaven. That is the key factor in salvation.

Let's have a preview of all these verses from Romans 5:12-21 in order to help give you a little bit of an anchor point to put this together. In the context, Paul has been hammering away at the fact that the ground of justification is not in the sinner, but in the merit of Jesus Christ. Again and again, Paul has indicated that what gets you into heaven is not something good in you, but only something which is good and Jesus Christ. He's made it clear that there is nothing good in the sinner. There's only good in Jesus Christ.

God doesn't Treat us according to What We Deserve

So, human logic demands self-effort in order to merit eternal life. And the basis of all this is Satan's religious system. All the cults and all the deceived denominations are under the religious concept that Satan has instilled in the human mind that somehow man is involved in producing his salvation. Self-effort is a natural conclusion of the human mind. That is logical, and man can argue that point. That makes sense on every occasion and on every score to the human mind. But that is what Paul is trying to make clear. It's wrong, wrong, wrong. Self-effort does not count. It merits nothing for eternal life.

So, Paul, therefore, tries to head that off once and for all here in this section of Romans 5:12-21 by a comparison between the effects of Adam and Jesus Christ on humanity. Adam and Jesus Christ each did something, and what they did had a monumental, eternal effect on humanity. And that is what he is summing up in this portion.

Verse 12 begins that comparison. However, verse 12 does not finish the comparison which it introduces. As we get into this, you'll see that what verse 12 introduces is a condition, and then you're waiting for the conclusion, and no conclusion shows up, because the apostle Paul introduces something in verse 12 that causes him to pause in verses 13-17 to explain, so that verses 13-17 are a set of parentheses. So, he begins a statement in verse 12, and then he doesn't finish it. He stops for an explanation in verses 13-17. Then he goes back to the concept that he started, and he finishes it in verses 18-19. So, Romans 5:12 and Romans 5:18-19 sum up the comparison that he is making between Adam and Jesus Christ. Romans 5:13-17 are a set of parentheses in this section. In this case, he's proving something. He's illustrating something that he said in verse 12. Then he finishes the whole thing with verses 20-21 with some incidental remarks about law and grace.

So, the main idea of Romans 5:12-21 is to be found in Romans 12:18-19. They say, "Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men; for all have sinned." Then it stops. There's no conclusion. But drop down to verse 18: "Therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous."

Adam was our Federal Head

Perhaps that's a good word to use. Think of Adam as a federal head. That's the way theology likes to put it. We can understand that. The United States is a federal system of government; that is, the government in Washington makes a declaration, and when it speaks, it speaks as the head of 50 states. It speaks as the head of a federation of 50 states. Thus, we speak of our government as the federal government. It is the government who represents all the pieces underneath. And when it says something, it is speaking for all.

That's exactly what God said is the way that He deals with humanity. As far as human beings are concerned, Adam was our federal head. What he did good was to our benefit, and what he did bad was to our disaster (was to our disadvantage). The same thing is true of Jesus Christ. Since Jesus Christ is also the divinely appointed representative of a new humanity, His obedience to God has affected the whole human race. Righteousness and life has come to all.

So, God says, "There's another group of human beings that I view in Jesus Christ." What Jesus Christ did affects all those that are related to Him. So, the old in Adam's position of sin and death has been broken up with the new "in Christ" position of absolute righteousness and eternal life. And that's what this is all about.

So, we begin with verse 12, and here's what the apostle says. He begins with the word "Wherefore" – "Wherefore, as by one man." "Wherefore" is actually two words in the Greek. It's "dia touto." This first word "dia" is a preposition, and it means "on account of" or "because of" in this case. This word "touto" is what we call a demonstrative pronoun (a pointing pronoun). It means "this." So, we put this together, and the phrase means "on account of this." What this phrase indicates is that an inference is now being introduced based on what has preceded. We might translate it as "it is therefore as follows." An inference; a conclusion; or, an explanation is now being introduced beginning at verse 12, and this word "wherefore" ("dia touto" in the Greek) indicates that to us.

This inference is based upon what has preceded (upon the context). And there is some debate as to how far back the apostle Paul is looking in these conclusions which he is going to draw. Is he just looking at verses 10-11, immediately before? Is he looking at Romans 5:1-11? Or is he looking all the way back to Romans 3:21 through Romans 5:11 (this whole section on justification)? Or is he looking even further back, and going from Romans 1:18 through Romans 5:11 (this whole main section that we have been dealing with)? Well, it doesn't really make any difference. It is probably referring immediately to Romans 5:10-11, but the consequences are the same no matter how far back he is looking.

He is telling us that something is the result as the consequence of what he has taught here. He's been speaking about reconciliation in Romans 5:10-11, and about reconciliation in perpetuity. He has been speaking in Romans 5:1-11 about justification, and he may even have all that in mind. But in any case, verses 10-11 do raise the question of how one man, Jesus Christ, in His death and resurrection has provided a universal and an absolutely certain salvation for all mankind. How can the death and resurrection of one man provide a salvation which is absolutely certain to everyone? And then Paul proceeds to answer the question.

Interestingly enough, he doesn't say, "Well, because Jesus is God." He doesn't say that. He says, "This is true because Jesus is a perfect human being." He appeals to the humanity of Christ, because that's the important thing. We're talking about representative men. Adam is a federal head, and Jesus Christ is a federal head. Each has a group of humanity underneath him. Jesus was representative of man in obedience to God's standard. Adam was representative of man in disobedience to God's standard. So, "dia touto" means "it follows thus," or "it follows in this way. He's going to explain how it is true that what Christ did could so affect all of humanity.

"Wherefore, as." The word "as" looks like this in Greek. It's "hosper." "Hosper" means "just as" or "even as," and it's used to introduce a condition of comparison. The comparison here, as we've already showed you is between Adam and Jesus Christ. "Hosper" introduces that comparison. The conclusion of the comparison would require the word "so" farther down. You would begin this sentence, "Just as by one man ..." Then a little later, you'd say, "So, ... conclusion." But there is no "so." And that's why we say that the sentence stops. The sentence never finishes, because the apostle Paul starts by saying, "Now I'll explain what I mean by that remark." And he puts in this set of parentheses in Romans 5:13-17. Verse 12 is an unfinished comparison.

For the Greek students, you have a protasis here, but no apotheosis. You have similar incomplete comparisons like this in the Bible. This is just a technique of writing. If you want to pursue it, you'll find it in Matthew 25:14. That is another one of these unfinished comparisons. You have it in 1 Timothy 1:3 – an unfinished comparison. Paul makes a statement, then, in verse 12, which leads him to give an immediate explanation in the verses which follow.

So, it follows in this way: "Just as by." And the word "by" is the Greek preposition "dia" which means "through." This is important. This indicates agency. This is explaining to us a causal relationship between a certain man, Adam, and the entrance of sin into the human race. Something that Adam did, relative to sin, affected the whole human race. This word, "dia" is indicating that there's a connection. Adam caused something to happen to all the rest of us.

Adam – Sin

The Greek actually says, "the sin." Aha, now we have something specific. That is an important addition. It follows in this way: "Just as by one human being, the sin entered the world." And, of course, "the sin" is obviously the sin which took place in the Garden of Eden. This was the specific disobedience which is described in Genesis 3. The word "entered" is "eiserchomai." "Eiserchomai" means "to make an appearance," or "to come on the scene." It connotes the idea of invading. So, sin is presented here by "eiserchomai" as just barreling in. Suddenly something came barreling in like a wild animal that's just lying in the bushes, ready to jump upon its prey, and waiting for the opportunity. Sin was always there.

Remember that sin did not begin in Eden. Sin was already present in the universe. Sin was already there with Satan. Satan was already there looking this thing over, analyzing how he was going to bring it into the human race. And the Bible describes that condition as sin like a lion, just waiting to pounce upon its victim – mankind. And it got its chance through this man Adam. So, suddenly it didn't invaded like a tornado force. This is aorist tense, which means that the point that Adam ate the forbidden fruit, the lion was set free to pounce. It is active voice. Sin did the invading itself. It is indicative – a statement of fact. So, sin has thundered into the picture. Since got its chance, and it invaded the human race. And that's what it says.

"Sin entered into." The word "into" is the word "eis," which is a preposition giving direction – showing us the direction it was moving. And what did it move into? It moved into the world (the "kosmos"). "Kosmos" here refers to the world of mankind on planet earth. Sin had already invaded the universe through Satan previously, before humanity came on the scene. Mankind, as a whole now, found that it had violated the absolute righteousness, and a depraved human nature resulted, along with personal sinning. Something happened to the spiritual and the soulish and the physical constitution of Adam. He was changed. He was changed his spirit. He died. He was changed in his soul. He was contaminated. He was changed in his body. He began deteriorating and dying. It had a tremendous, monumental effect upon the whole structure of man.

Worse than that, Adam and Eve could not have any babies now who would not have the same effect upon them. Every consequence upon their spirit; upon their soul; and, upon their body was going to be transmitted to their children under the principle of reproducing after one's own kind. Sin entered the human race.

Death is a Consequence of Sin

Now, what would human viewpoint point tell you? Human viewpoint would tell you that death had to be involved in nature to begin with; and, that death had to be a normal part of human existence. That is wrong. Death is the most unnatural thing in the human experience. There is nothing natural about death. It is a horrible, hideous, ludicrous thing that enslaves human beings. Death is abnormal in every respect. And there was not to be any death whatsoever for human beings.

I heard on one occasion, in a training school at Young Life Campaign in Colorado, a scientist from the Atomic Energy Commission get up and propose the proposition that death was inherent in God's program; that death was there; and, that when He made human beings, some of them had to die. You could see what he was thinking? He was one of these population explosion nuts who thought that God was going to have a problem with people just reproducing and never dying. Of course, it never occurred to him that an omnipotent God, that could make people who could reproduce in the first place, could have plenty of room for them in the second place.

Finally, I raised my hand and asked him what he would say about this Scripture. And I read it to him: "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. But there was no death except by sin. There was no other connection. And he stood (because he was a great graduate of a big Ivy League school), and he shifted from one foot to the other, and he crossed his eyes, and he looked up at the sky, and he hummed and hawed, and finally he said, "Some of you theologians in the group, please help me out. And one of the theologians was sitting right next to me, and his wife reached over and whispered to him, "That's only spiritual death." Her husband shook his head said, "No, it's both." He was a Dallas Seminary graduate, so he knew better. And there was silence in the room.

The theologians couldn't help him because the fact of the matter is, had Adam not sinned, there would be no business for the mortician today. There would be no morticians in our society. The only reason they're there is because Adam opened up a whole new industry for them by sinning. That is the sin. That is the one that triggered the whole mess under which you and I struggle, and the consequences of physical deterioration. Some of you may not feel so good today. Some of you, I suppose you don't, because you don't look too good. But the reason you don't feel too good is right back here. Sin began breaking you down, and eventually you're not going to be able to stay ahead of the breakdown. Up to now, you've been able to keep building up faster than you've been breaking down.

I understand that you keep building up until you're about 18. After you have hit 18, it's downhill. For most of you, the speed is picking up faster and faster all the time. But why is that? That's not God's order. God never intended that people get better and better physically until they're 18, and then they start breaking up in every direction until they die. It was because of sin. It interjected a poisonous factor into the human line that affected us spiritually. It killed us spiritually, and it killed us physically. It is the death, and it is very clearly that: "Sin entered into the world, and death by." And the word "by" is "dia' again: "Death through sin." And again, "sin" is the word "hamartia" that we had before: "through the sin." So, death has been entered into the human race.

Now, this is the picture of the consequence that is drawn, first of all, of our condition in Adam. By one man, sin enters the world, and death comes in by sin, and all of us are affected by it. You may say, "That is really strange." As a matter of fact, you might even say, "That's kind of unfair." I'm suffering from what Adam did. I'm suffering from the fact that Adam could not control his wife. I'm suffering from the fact that Adam could not stay on top of what his wife was doing. I'm having all these problems just because of this weakling in the face of a female.

However, there is a principle, and maybe now is the time for us to stop and get it straightened out. God has created all of humanity. The Bible tells us about that. God created man in innocence. It didn't mean that man had absolute righteousness. It just meant that he was not in conflict with God's standard of absolute righteousness. Man, in his state of innocence, and in his state of perfect humanity, did everything that was compatible with the standard of God. He was not in conflict with God at any point. And we don't know how long he lived in that state. But one thing we do know is that a principle was inaugurated by God in divine reckoning. You can argue this, and tell God that you don't like it, or what you think about it, but it happens to be the way God operates. And if He operates that way, it happens to be the best system possible.

Federal Headship

The Melchizedek Priesthood

However, he was a bonafide priest of God, and he was recognized as such by Abraham when he met him. Abraham knew that this was God's man. And Abraham expressed that understanding by honoring this priest, Melchizedek with 10% of his holdings. He gave him a tithe of what he had.

So, Hebrews 7:4: "Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. The purpose of this passage is to compare the priesthood of Melchizedek with the priest of Aaron. And he goes on and points out in this passage that the priests of the line of Levi (which is where the Aaronic priesthood came from) hold the office of priests, and they receive tithes from the people according to the law; that is, they receive tithes from their own brethren.

Now, the very fact that they receive these tithes indicates that the priesthood is superior to the people. In the Old Testament system, the priesthood was superior to the people. The priesthood was indeed the avenue of access to the living God.

However, taking this same principle (that he who receives tithes is superior to the one who gives the tithes), and applying that back to Abraham, would very clearly indicate that when Abraham subjected himself to Melchizedek, and indicated that by paying tithes to him (giving him tithes), obviously Melchizedek was superior to Abraham. Melchizedek, in the eyes of God, was his representative to Abraham.

Now, eventually, down through the ages, children were born who were descended from the line of Abraham, including the tribe of Levi, which was the priestly tribe. And the Aaronic priesthood came from the tribe of Levi. But one thing that was always going to be true about the tribe of Levi, this Scripture points out, is that they are an inferior priesthood to the Melchizedek priesthood. Why? For the simple reason, the Bible says, that Abraham at one time gave tithes to Melchizedek, and thus recognized that Melchizedek was superior to himself in God's standing.

So, notice Hebrews 7:9-10: "And, as I may so say, Levi also, who received tithes from others (and thus indicates his superiority) paid tithes in Abraham." Levi, who himself receives tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. How can that be? That doesn't make sense. Levi wasn't even on the scene. He wasn't even born. If Levi paid tithes Abraham, that could only mean that Abraham was acting as Levi's representative. And that's what verse 10 says: "For he (Levi) was yet in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him."

So, what this passage is telling us is that once Abraham subjected himself to the Melchizedek priesthood, that priesthood was now superior to any priesthood that could descend through Abraham. So, when the Aaronic priesthood came along, it was an inferior priesthood to the Melchizedek priesthood. The reason for that, of course, was that Melchizedek represented Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is of the Melchizedek priesthood. That's why this presentation of Melchizedek (in words that conveyed that he had no beginning and no ending), is trying to convey the fact that he's a type of Jesus Christ who is eternal.

Consequently, what we see illustrated here in this portion of Scripture is that Abraham, in this case, was the federal head of the Jewish people. And what he did, they did it. Got it? What Abraham did was imputed to all of his descendants. And in this particular case, when he recognized the Melchizedek priesthood, from thenceforward, all other priesthoods descended from Abraham must be inferior to the Melchizedek priesthood.

Incidentally, I'm happy to say that you and I, as believers related to Jesus Christ, since God sees us in Him, we are part of His priesthood. We are part of the Melchizedek priesthood. We are part of that superior priesthood.

The Seminal Principle

This is the principle that you have back in Romans. What Romans is leading up to is to declare to us that God operates the same way in terms of Adam. And that when Adam sinned, what Adam did to himself was exactly what God said he was going to do it himself. God said, "The moment you sin, Adam, you will introduce the factor of death into your experience. And, of course, immediately, Adam died spiritually, as evidenced by his attempts to hide himself from God. And almost 1,000 years later, he then died physically as well. But the whole structure of Adam began breaking down physically from the moment he sinned.

So, death was introduced directly as a result of his sin. Now, you and I are held responsible for what Adam did because we were yet unborn in Adam, and when he did this, he did it as our federal head. He did it as our representative. Consequently, when he sinned and brought the consequences of death into his experience, he brought it upon us too. And that's why you die. That's why you break down physically. That's why you have all the problems that are associated with sin in your soul, because you cannot escape (you cannot elude) what Adam did.

That's why, once the child comes to the age of accountability, he's already a sinner. Adam became a sinner by sinning. We sin because we are born sinners. From then on, Adam's children were all born with a depraved nature. They were all contaminated by this, and it wasn't very long (a few years went by) before the family had a shock. And I mean that it was a shock to discover the oldest son cutting the throat of the younger son with a knife. That is terrible. I mean, that is bestial. That is as depraved as you can get.

So, you may think you're the finest person in the world. But do you see what this does to you? If you're so foolish as to think that you're not so bad, and that you're as good as the next person, so God is going to be kind to you, you're dead already. The very fact that you were born into the human race meant that you were born with three strikes against you right off the bat. That is because God says, "As soon as you come to the age where you can distinguish between right and wrong, and act in your own volition (which usually comes at the time that you can use language, and you can put words together, and you can express thoughts, and volition now is operational), then the stamp of death is imposed upon you, and you are doomed, unless God moves you out from your federal head, Adam, and moves you into your new federal head, Jesus Christ. And that's what Romans is all about – how to get out from the federal head of Adam, which is a place of complete death, into the place of Jesus Christ, which is complete life.

This is such a transforming relationship that it awes us when we see it. How much of the dregs of humanity, and how much of the rottenest kind of bestial human beings have suddenly been taken from Adam, and placed in Christ, and absolutely transformed. What I'm saying is that your health gets better. Your lifespan gets better. Everything about you mentally gets better once you're in Christ and out of Adam. Wonder of wonders, again and again, the transforming power of being in Christ is in contrast to what you were in Adam.

Yet, how do we bring this about? By trying harder; being serious; behaving yourself; promising to do better; doing your penance; or, any number of rituals that you may perform? You can see how foolish that is. That will never take you out from under Adam and put you in Christ. That's the last thing that Paul is trying to hammer home, because when we get to Romans 5:21, that's it. Justification is finished. He's not going to talk about it anymore. He's going to move on to other things. So, this is your last chance to get straight what millions of church members do not understand, and what millions of church members will never understand, and what millions of cultists won't have the faintest notion about, and won't ever get close to understanding. Yet without this, you can never hope to have eternal life.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1977

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