Romans 5 shows us two persons-Adam and Christ. The disobedience of one man is versus the obedience of the One (v. 19). Adam is the first man, and Christ is the second Man. In the Bible, God’s desire is with the second Man, not the first man. Isaac’s two sons were Esau and Jacob. God rejected Esau, the firstborn, and He loved Jacob, the second child (Rom. 9:13). Also, the book of Exodus tells us that God’s ultimate judgment on Egypt was for all the firstborn ones to be killed (11:4-5). The first represents the natural man, while the second represents the spiritual man (1 Cor. 15:46-47). We were in Adam, the first man, but now we are in Christ, the second Man. We were born in Adam, but we have been born the second time in Christ. Our first birth was of Adam, and our second birth was of Christ. Anyone who has had only one birth has not been saved and is not of Christ. Because we have had our first birth in Adam and our second birth in Christ, we are of Christ.
According to Romans 5 we inherited sin and death in Adam (v. 12). Sin brought us under God’s condemnation (vv. 16, 18). As long as we are sinful, we are condemned by God under His righteous judgment. Death brings us into a situation where we are absolutely unable to fulfill any of God’s requirements. Because we are dead, we do not have the ability to be humble or patient according to God’s divine standard. Romans 5 shows us that we were first under a situation in which we were condemned by God and we were also in a situation in which we were absolutely unable to fulfill God’s requirements. Thank God, however, that Christ died for us. His death has solved our first problem. Our being under God’s condemnation is now absolutely over. But today we are still, in a sense, in the second situation of not being able to fulfill God’s requirements.
From Adam we inherited sin and death. From Christ we received righteousness and life (vv. 17-19). Righteousness and life are the two main items we have received in and of Christ. Righteousness is versus sin, and life is versus death. We inherited sin, but we have received righteousness. Righteousness canceled sin. We inherited death from Adam, but we have received life in Christ. Life cancels and swallows up death. Righteousness in Christ is related to His death. Life in Christ is related to His resurrection. He died for our sin, and He was resurrected for us to have life. His death solves the problem of our sin, and His resurrection imparts to us His life in order to vanquish and to swallow up death. On the one hand, we have been reconciled to God by His death. On the other hand, we are now being saved in His life from death. Death is our problem. Having been reconciled, much more, we shall be saved in His life from death (v. 10), which is the inability and disability to fulfill God’s requirements according to His divine standard.
We have to apply this fellowship to our practical daily life. Sloppiness, looseness, and carelessness are weaknesses, and weaknesses are different aspects of death. We are sloppy, loose, and careless because we are weak, and all the weaknesses are aspects of death. We may have the thought that if we could have more freedom, that would be wonderful. But the kind of freedom that we desire may not actually be freedom but looseness.
We have to differentiate freedom from looseness. Looseness is a condition of our daily life in which we cannot help ourselves. We may not be able to help ourselves get to bed at the right time. We may not be able to help ourselves keep things in order. When we are strong and sober in our mentality, spontaneously we are not so loose. When the time comes that we need to smile, we should be able to smile. When the time comes that we need to weep, we should weep. When the time comes that we need to laugh, we should laugh. Looseness means that there is no control. Looseness is death. Freedom is not being under the bondage of anything. When we are free, we do what we feel that we have to do. Freedom is to laugh when we feel we have to laugh and to stop laughing when we feel that we need to stop. When we are free, we are not under the bondage of anything.
We are able to regulate ourselves when we are enjoying real freedom. Our being able to manage a car that we are driving means that we are driving the car in freedom. We can use the brakes when we have to, and we can step on the gas when we have to. To drive in a condition of looseness would mean that the brake or the steering wheel on the car did not work. The real freedom in driving is that the car is absolutely under our control. We need to live a sound, sober, and normal life, and that life is Christ. Christ is so sound, sober, normal, and strong.
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