Romans 5:10-12
5:10 a saved through the life of his Son: Believers already share in the new life that Christ provided through his resurrection (6:11 b). Through this vital connection with Christ, believers will also be spared from God’s wrath in the last day (see also Col 3:4 c).5:12 d Adam is both the name of the original man, Adam, and a Hebrew word that means “human.” Paul emphasizes the solidarity of Adam with the human race.
• sin entered the world: The significance that Paul ascribes to this act, and the parallel that he draws between Adam’s sin and Christ’s act of obedience on the cross, makes clear that Paul views Adam and his sin in the Garden of Eden as historical fact.
• everyone sinned: Death is universal because sin is universal. It is not clear when or how everyone sinned, but Paul later attributes the condemnation of all people to the sin of Adam, their representative (5:18 e).
• Jewish tradition is divided on the relationship between Adam’s sin and the sin and death of human beings generally. Some texts emphasize a solidarity between Adam and all other people, as in “when Adam sinned a death was decreed against those who were to be born” (2 Baruch 23:4). Other texts insist that people die because of their own sin: “Adam is, therefore, not the cause, except only for himself, but each of us had become our own Adam” (2 Baruch 54:19).
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