From: Romans 5:12, 15b, 17-19, 20b-21
Adam’s Original Sin
[15b] For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace
of God and the free gift in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for
many. [17] If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one
man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free
gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
[18] Then as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man’s
act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. [19] For as by one
man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by One Man’s obedience many
will be made righteous.
[20b] [W]here sin increased, grace abounded all the more, [21] so that, as sin
reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Commentary:
12-21. Four important teachings are discernible in this passage:
1) Adam’s sin and its consequences, which include, particular death (verses
12-14); 2) the contrast between the effects of Original Sin and those of the
Redemption wrought by Christ (verses 15-19); 3) the role of the Law of Moses in
relation to sin (especially verses 13, 20), anticipating what is explained more
elaborately in Chapter 7; 4) the final victory of the reign of grace (verses 20-21).
These teachings are closely connected by one single idea: only Jesus Christ can
justify us and bring us to salvation. The Apostle refers to Adam as a “type of the
One who was to come”, that is, Jesus, the Messiah, who is the true head of the
human race; and he also stresses that Christ, by His obedience and submission
to the Father’s will, counters the disobedience and rebellion of Adam, restoring to
us—superabundantly—the happiness and eternal life which we lost through the sin
of our First Parents.
Here we can see the clash of the two kingdoms—the kingdom of sin and death and
the kingdom of righteousness and grace. These two kingdoms were established,
the first by Adam and the second by Christ, and spread to all mankind.
Because the superabundance of Christ’s grace is the more important factor,
Adam’s sin is referred to in no great detail. St. Paul takes it as something
everyone is familiar with. All Christians have read about or been told about the
account of the Fall in Genesis (Genesis 3) and they are familiar with many
passages in Sacred Scripture which confirm and explain something which is
self-evident—that all men are mortal and that the human race is subject to a
whole series of afflictions (cf. Sirach 25:33; Wisdom 2:23-24; Psalm 51:7; Job
14:4; Genesis 8:21; etc.).
12-14. This passage can be elaborated on as follows: just as sin entered the
world through the action of a single individual man, so righteousness is attained
for us by one man—Jesus Christ. Adam, the first man, is a type of the “new Adam”:
Adam contained within himself all mankind, his offspring; the “new Adam” is “the
first-born of all creation” and “the head of the body, the Church” (Colossians 1:15,
18) because He is the redeeming Word Incarnate. To Adam we are linked by
flesh and blood, to Christ by faith and the Sacraments.
When, in His infinite goodness, He raised Adam to share in the divine life, God
also decreed that our First Parent would pass on to us his human nature and with
it all the various gifts that perfected it and the grace that sanctified it. But Adam
committed a sin by breaking God’s commandment and as a result he immediately
lost the holiness and righteousness in which he had been installed, and because
of this disloyalty he incurred God’s wrath and indignation and, as consequence,
death—as God had warned him. By becoming mortal and falling under the power
of the devil, Adam “was changed for the worse”, in both body and soul (cf. Council
of Trent, “De Peccato Originali”, Canon 1). From then on Adam and his
descendants pass on a human nature deprived of supernatural gifts, and men are
in a state of enmity with God, which means that they cannot attain eternal
beatitude.
The fact of Original Sin is a truth of faith. This has been stated once again
solemnly by [Pope] Paul VI: “We believe that in Adam all have sinned. From
this it follows that, on account of the original offense committed by him, human
nature, which is common to all men, is reduced to that condition in which it
must suffer the consequences of that Fall [...]. Consequently, fallen human
nature is deprived of the economy of grace which it formerly enjoyed. It is
wounded in its natural powers and subjected to the dominion of death which is
transmitted to all men. It is in this sense that every man is born in sin. We
hold, therefore, in accordance with the Council of Trent, that Original Sin is
transmitted along with human nature, “not by imitation but by propagation”, and
is, therefore, incurred by each person individually” (”Creed of the People of God”,
16).
Our own experience bears out what divine Revelation tells us: when we examine
our conscience we realize that we have this inclination towards evil and we are
conscious of being enmeshed in evils which cannot have their source in our holy
Creator (cf. Vatican II, “Gaudium Et Spes”, 13). The obvious presence of evil in
the world and in ourselves convince us of the profound truth contained in
Revelation and moves us to fight against sin.
“So much wretchedness! So many offenses! Mine, yours, those of all mankind....
“Et in peccatis concepit me mater mea!” In sin did my mother conceive me!
(Psalm 51:5). I, like all men, came into the world stained with the guilt of our
First Parents. And then...my own sins: rebellions, thought about, desired,
committed....
“To purify us of this rottenness, Jesus chose to humble Himself and take on
the form of a slave (cf. Philippians 2:7), becoming incarnate in the spotless
womb of our Lady, His other, who is also your Mother and mine. He spent thirty
years in obscurity, working like everyone else, at Joseph’s side. He preached.
He worked miracles.... And we repaid Him with a cross.
“Do you need more motives for contrition?” ([Blessed] J. Escriva, “The Way of
the Cross, IV, 2).
13-14. Both the commandment imposed by God on Adam, and the Mosaic Law,
threatened the transgressor with death; but the same cannot be said of the
period between Adam and Moses. In that period also people did sin against the
natural law written on every person’s heart (cf. 2:12ff). However, their sins “were
not like the transgression of Adam”, because the natural law did not explicitly
bind under pain of death. If, nevertheless, they in fact had to die, this proves,
the Apostle concludes, that death is due not to personal sins but to original sin.
It is also proved, the Fathers of the Church usually add, by the fact that some
people die before reaching the use of reason, that is, before they are capable of
sinning.
Death is a consequence of original sin, because that sin brought with it the loss
of the “preternatural” gift of immortality (cf. Gen 2:17; 3:19). Adam incurred this
loss when, through a personal act of his, he broke an explicit, specific command
of God. Later, under the Mosaic Law, there were also certain precepts which
involved the death penalty if broken (cf., for example, Exod 21:12ff; Lev 24:16).
In the period from Adam to Moses there was no law which stated: If you sin, you
shall die. However, people in that period were all subject to death, even those
who committed no sin “like the transgression of Adam”, that is, what is termed
“actual sin”.
Therefore, death is due to a sin—original sin—which attaches to each man, woman
and child, yet which is not an “actual sin”. This original sin is the cause of death,
and the fact that everyone dies is the proof that everyone is affected by original
sin. The Second Vatican Council sums up this teaching as follows: “The Church,
taught by divine Revelation, declares that God has created man in view of a
blessed destiny that lies beyond the limits of his sad state on earth. Moreover,
the Christian faith teaches that bodily death, from which man would have been
immune had he not sinned (cf. Wis 1:13; 2:23-24; Rom 5:21; 6:23; Jas 1: 15),
will be overcome when that wholeness which he lost through his own fault will
be given once again to him by the almighty and merciful Savior. For God has
called man, and still calls him, to cleave with all his being to him in sharing for
ever a life that is divine and free from all decay” (”Gaudium Et Spes”, 18).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
5.56mm