On Sunday morning, Cole Tuck taught one of the clearest, most liberating explanations of Romans 5 you will ever hear. He demolished the idea that we are guilty because of Adam’s sin and showed instead that death spreads to all men “because all sinned” – personally, knowingly, willingly. Adam did not pass down guilt; he passed down awareness (the knowledge of good and evil). We die because we, like Adam, eventually choose disobedience with open eyes.
Yet where Adam’s one act opened the floodgates of sin and death, Jesus’ one act of righteousness slams those gates shut and opens an even greater floodgate – super-abounding grace. One man’s disobedience made many sinners; one Man’s obedience makes many righteous. The damage of the first Adam is real, but the gift of the Second Adam is infinitely greater. Grace doesn’t just cancel the debt; it overwhelms it. This is the gospel in its raw, triumphant power.
Talking Points
- We are not condemned because Adam sinned. We are condemned because we sin. “Death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom 5:12). Ezekiel 18:20 is still in the Bible: each person bears his own sin.
- Adam’s sin brought the knowledge of good and evil into human experience. Their eyes were opened; now ours are too. That awareness is what makes us accountable – not inherited guilt.
- Children are innocent until they reach the point Paul describes in Romans 7:9 (“I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died”). There is an age of accountability. God does not punish the innocent.
- Adam is the head of the old creation → death reigns. Christ is Head of the new creation → grace reigns through righteousness to eternal life.
- The math of the gospel is gloriously unfair in our favor: One trespass → condemnation for all. One act of righteousness → justification and life for all who receive it. Sin increased → grace superabounded (hyper-perisseuō – “overflowed beyond measure”).
- If Jesus’ single act of obedience is enough to justify the many who believe, then my obedience is not the ground of my salvation; it is the fruit of it. We are saved by Christ’s work alone.
- The gospel is not “Jesus + your effort.” It is “Jesus. Period. Full stop. Grace that superabounds.”
This lesson sets people free from false guilt over Adam, from infant guilt theology, and from works-righteousness – and it magnifies the triumph of Christ’s obedience. Grace doesn’t just balance the scales; it shatters them and hands us the victory.
Superabounding Grace – that’s the heartbeat of Romans 5. Let the church say it loud.