Imputation Revisited - 1 Cor. 15
Imputation Revisited - 1 Cor. 15
Okay, let's keep this easy cause that's how I roll.
You put forth this idea that we "sin in Adam". I don't see that in Romans 5, but I see it here, and it isn't talking about sin at all. It's talking about physical death and the resurrection of the dead.
1 Cor. 1:21-22 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
I like it simple too. Let's start with correcting the citation above to 1 Cor. 15:21-22.
Why is it that no one seems to be dealing with the symmetry of Paul's argument:
Paul in Romans 5 is not speaking about man's actual sin after Adam. For if every person contracts his own guilt by becoming a sinner by sinning, then one wonders why Paul bothers to form a comparison between Adam and Christ. Surely you do not intend to imply that we contract our own righteousness by being righteous? I hope not. The symmetry of Paul's comparison between fallen Adam's innate corruption and Our Lord innate righteousness, and the respective imputations of sin or righteousness upon man, is inescapable. Given what Paul has actually written, comparing Adam and Our Lord, it then follows that our innate and hereditary depravity and our Lord's innate and hereditary righteousness, imputed to us, is what is being referred to in Romans 5.
If we do not contract guilt by
imputation, but instead
become guilty by actually sinning, then we do not contract righteousness until we actually make ourselves righteous.
This is the only conclusion of denial of the logical symmetry of Paul's argument, which is exactly why he formed the argument the way it was formed...including to illustrate the overlooked (in this thread) absurdity of assuming by just sinning more that grace will abound more in forgiveness. Yikes!
In the passage, 1 Cor. 15:21-22 Paul has moved from metaphor to typology, clarifying the point made in v. 20.
1 Corinthians 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead,
and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
1 Corinthians 15:21 For since by man
came death, by man
came also the resurrection of the dead.
1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
The fact that Paul introduces Adam into his argument without any clarifying explanation suggests that he assumes some knowledge of the biblical story found in Genesis 1–3. He may have taught it to them himself when he founded the church in Corinth. To be
in Adam is to be
part of the group which finds in Adam its representative and leader, which finds its
identity and destiny in Adam and what
he has brought about for his people. To be
in Christ is to be
part of the group which finds in Christ its representative and leader, which finds
its identity and destiny in Christ and what he has brought about for his people.
All humans who have not yet found redemption through faith
in Christ remain
in Adam. Those who have entered into the promise of new life, the life of Christ, are
in Christ, and will find that their initial experience of the newness of life was but a foretaste of the ultimate restoration of life that awaits them in the resurrection. The expressions
in Adam and
in Christ reinforce the idea of corporate solidarity that is found in the
firstfruits metaphor (1 Cor. 15:20) as well. We are
in Adam because he was our head and representative, and because we partake of his nature. And we are
in Christ because He is our head and representative, and because we partake of His nature through the indwelling of his Spirit. In Paul’s
two Adams scheme, Christ represents all those under the
covenant of grace (the elect), but not the entire human race— those who are
in Adam. This can be seen by the comparison between the effects of sin, and the effects of Christ’s resurrection. Adam represents the
entire human race. Jesus represents
all those given Him by the Father (John 6:37; John 6:39; John 10:29; John 17:11-12; John 17:9; John 17:22; John 18:9). The
two Adams stand in stark contrast to one another.
Paul’s use of the future tense—will be
made alive—stresses the future, as-yet-unfulfilled aspect of Christ’s redeeming work, in keeping with where the argument is going in vv. 1 Cor: 15:23-28, where we are brought right to the ultimate consummation in which the reign of sin and death is completely demolished. The following verse, 1 Cor. 15:22, makes it clear that by “
being made alive” Paul has in mind the resurrection since those who belong to him will be made alive (resurrected) “
when he comes.”
As in Romans 5:12-21, Paul stresses the differences between Adam and Christ. The consequences of the resurrection of Christ (life for all) correspond antithetically to the consequences of Adam’s sin (death for all). The former has broken the power of the latter. Note that Paul is not teaching
universalism (see 1 Cor. 1:18); the unqualified “
all” of 1 Cor. 15:22 who will be
made alive is clarified by 1 Cor. 15:23 with the phrase “
those who belong to him.”
The fact that Christ, the
firstfruits, has already been made alive clarifies that the new life of which Paul speaks is the
resurrected life which has been the
subject of this entire chapter. It also becomes evident that Paul is not concerned in this chapter with any resurrection of the unrighteous to judgment, but is fully focused on the question of the resurrection of the righteous, and of Christians in particular. Those who belong to Christ clarifies that
not all the dead will enjoy the resurrection life Paul is describing here, but only those who are Christ’s (including the faithful people of God who died before Christ’s first coming). The expression also reinforces the idea of
corporate solidarity that was already introduced with the
firstfruits metaphor in 1 Cor. 15:20 and reiterated in the concept of “
in Adam” and “
in Christ” in 1 Cor. 15:22. Further, there is no suggestion that Christ would come to take his people away (as in dispensational rapture eschatology); the idea is that
believers (and
creation) will experience their ultimate renewal and glorification upon Christ’s return.
Clearly, as you noted, the 1 Cor. 15 passage is about bodily resurrection of those in Christ, but it is not divorced from passages elsewhere about those already
resurrected in Christ, born-anew, right now, which explains the fact that Paul tells us elsewhere that we have been sealed by the Spirit (
Romans 5, 2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30) and that the Holy Spirit is the
firstfruits (Rom. 8:23) and the
first installment,
deposit,
down payment, (2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5; Eph. 1:14) on what we are to experience once our redemption has been fully consummated. The veritable
now, not yet often spoken of in Scripture.
Because of what Jesus has already done for us in conquering death and the grave, this establishes what is yet to come—that we too will be raised bodily from the dead on the last day. This is why Paul can speak of Christian believers as
presently seated and raised with Christ in heavenly places. The first coming of Jesus Christ and his resurrection ensures that in the present age, every Christian believer is
already raised with Christ. This is what we mean when we speak of the
now/not yet distinction found throughout the New Testament. Because we are
in Christ and
already seen as seated with Him in heavenly places, we can be assured of the promise of the
not yet—the resurrection of our bodies.
AMR
