We Are Sinners by Nature, and that Sinful Nature Goes All the Way Back to Adam; What We Lost in Adam, We Regain in Christ
Romans 5:12-21

Lesson 14

background notes

doctrinal / teaching points

1. In Adam, we lost everything.
2. In Christ, we gain everything.

practical application

Remember, there are no appellate courts in the hereafter.

questions

1. The Bible not only teaches that we are sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners by nature. When did we become sinners by nature?
2. As a result of Adam’s sin, we lost everything. What did we lose?
3. Contrast what we lost in Adam with what we gained in Christ.

answers

1. When Adam sinned. See Romans 5:12, 19.
2. We lost life. Death, the penalty of sin, spread to all mankind. Sin was in the world and death is the penalty of sin.
3. In Adam, we die; in Christ, we receive the free gift of salvation and eternal life. In Adam, there was judgment; in Christ, there is justification. In Adam, death reigned; in Christ, believers reign now and will reign with Him in His kingdom. In Adam, mankind was condemned; in Christ, justification is offered to mankind; in Adam’s disobedience, we were constituted sinners; in Christ’s obedience, all who believe are constituted righteous.

discuss / consider

1. Is it fair that we are considered sinners just because Adam sinned?
2. See Romans 5:18. Does this mean that there is universal salvation?

memorize

• “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Romans 5:12
• “The law was added so that grace might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:20-21