Romans 5:12-21 – Paraphrase

Therefore, even as evil invaded the world through Adam, bringing death with it, so that death became a universal experience, because all are given over to sinning –

In terms of evil and law, obviously evil was well and truly present in the world even before the law was given to the Israelites by Moses. But evil and law go together because evil deeds are not tallied up against anyone when there is no law to name evil deeds and no law to shame those who do them.

Irrespective of who did what and when, death lorded it over the whole word from the days of Adam to the days of Moses. The result was that even those who did not commit an evil deed in the manner like Adam in his misdeed in the Garden still suffered the consequences of his violation of God’s commandments (and Adam is a prototype of the Messiah who was to come).

But God’s grace is a gift and this gift is not like the original disobedience, it is far more powerful and far more effective. For if death and corruption came upon the human race by one man’s violation of God’s commands, then how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus the Messiah, abundantly flow to so many others! God’s gift and Adam’s evil cannot even be fairly compared: The judgment which followed one evil act brought condemnation, but the gift which came later brought about a verdict of righteousness. If, by the moral misdeed of the one man, death reigned supreme and rained its painful effects through that one man on humanity, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant offer of grace and the gift of righteousness conquer death and reign in life through the one man, Jesus the Messiah!

So then, just as one man’s misdeed resulted in condemnation for all people, so also Jesus’ righteous act in his death resulted in a declaration of righteousness and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were lost in the everglades of evil, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be declared and made righteous.

Sorry, forgive the long digression. My point is is that the law was brought in to lure our trespasses into the open where they might be dealt with properly. But where evil increased, grace super-increased, so that, just as evil reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring everlasting life to all through Jesus the Messiah our Lord.