Audio commentary on this verse

Note 3 at Rom. 5:14: If God was not bringing judgment upon man's sins until the time of the law of Moses (see note 2 at v. 13, p. 771), then why were men still dying. Isn't death the wage of sin (Rom. 6:23)? Why were men still dying if their sins weren't being counted against them?

Sin has a twofold effect. It is not only a transgression against God, worthy of His judgment, but it is also the inroad of Satan into our lives. Romans 6:16 says, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? If we yield to sin, we also submit ourselves to Satan, the author of that sin.

This is why men were still dying even though God was not bringing His judgment on their sins. Satan was the one who had the power of death (Heb. 2:14), and it was Satan through sin who was causing men to die. As sin multiplied on the earth, the life span of man decreased, not because of God's judgment, but because of the effects of sin on the human race.

Therefore, we can see that even when God doesn't judge sin, sin is still deadly. This is why the New Testament believer should resist sin. God doesn't bring judgment on His children for their sins (see note 11 at Rom. 4:8, p. 762) but Satan will. The Christian doesn't live holy in order to avoid God's judgment, but so that our enemy won't have any access to us.

Note 4 at Rom. 5:14: The people from Adam to Moses had not sinned in the same way that Adam had because they didn't have a direct commandment to violate as Adam did. They were living under their own conscience which was enough to make them guilty (see note 2 at Rom. 1:18, p. 744). However, it was not until the time that God revealed the commandments through Moses that man once again began to violate direct commands of God (Rom. 4:15).

Note 5 at Rom. 5:14: The Greek word translated "figure" here is "tupos" which means "a type; figure; pattern" (W.E. Vines). Paul is saying that Adam was a type of Jesus in the sense that in the same way sin entered the world through one man, so righteousness entered the world through one man, Jesus.