From Adam — death; from Christ — life
http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/romans_e.htm
Bishop Alexander (Mileant).
Translated by Seraphim Larin/ Dr. Steven Bushnell
The Apostle explains that the prime reason for our mortality is not our personal sins but our corrupted nature that we all inherited from Adam.
He expounds on this theme:
The Jews presupposed that people died because they violated God's laws. The Apostle refutes this by pointing out that before the Prophet Moses there were no laws and consequently no laws to violate. Because many people did not have serious laws of conscience, they did not deserve to be punished by death. Yet everybody without exception died sooner or later, including infants. This shows that the death of people is a consequence of their being born with a mortal nature. They inherited this mortality from Adam.
The association between death and sin was established in Eden. Having created Adam and settled him in paradise, God directed: "Of every tree of the Garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17). It is true that biological death existed among animal and plant life before the appearance of the first human and, consequently, before the first sin. One can surmise that as humans have a great deal in common with the animal kingdom, they too are subject to the physical laws of mortality. However, the Bible shows that in creating man in His likeness and image, God intended to free him from the customary laws of decay by creating in Paradise the Tree of Life. Evidently, the fruit from this mysterious tree possessed properties to rejuvenate the organism in such a way as to either remove or compensate for the natural aging process of cells. Incidentally, modern biology knows that not all organic cells are subject to the normal aging process and subsequent death. So, for example, while normal body cells age every time they split and multiply and eventually become worthless to the organism after this cycle had been repeated sixty times, cancer cells can split and multiply a seemingly unlimited number of times. It is possible that by eating the forbidden fruit, something was injected into the human organism that accelerated the aging process of cells. Nevertheless, from the Book Genesis, it is possible to conclude that even after violating God's commandment, Adam could have continued to prolong his physical life by eating of the fruit from the Tree of Life. However, God did not allow this (Genesis 3:24) — as Saint Gregory the Theologian explains it, "so that sin would not become immortal." Sin that resides inside a human being dies with his physical death. In this way, through the Creator's marvelous arrangement, punishment becomes medicine — albeit in part. The complete cure of our nature is dependent upon Christ's Resurrection.
The problem of heredity is quite complicated and the science of biology is only now able to penetrate some of its mysteries. The primal sin damaged the human being not only physically but also more importantly, spiritually. Consequently, after violating the Commandments, the soul yielded its authoritative position to the flesh, which made the human morally impotent and easily submissive to its disorderly physical inclinations. Only a few individuals like Abraham, Moses, the Prophet Elijah, and the like, had the heroic spirit to rise above the moral level of their surrounding environment. Still, as we learn from the Bible, even these righteous figures were not irreproachable in all matters. Without Christ, all mankind would remain doomed to slavery and decay.
However, just as there is a physical inheritance, so is there a spiritual one. Christ became the Forefather of the new, rejuvenated humanity. And the grace of rejuvenation is stronger than the enslaving nature of sin. The Apostle writes:
In other words, Christ's rejuvenating grace reveals its supremacy over sin in that it not only releases a person from his inherited primal sin but also from all his personal sins, as well as curing him of all his spiritual illnesses. From the above, the Apostle goes on to make the following conclusion:
During the times of Moses, moral levels had fallen so far that people ceased to comprehend clearly what was right and what was wrong. The purpose of the Commandments given to the Prophet Moses by God was to assist people to sort out their moral problems and commence to live righteously. However, the Commandments were able to teach and advise only but were incapable of giving a person moral strength to combat temptation. Acting through the very essence of human nature, sin compelled a person to sin consciously in spite of the Commandments. That is why after the era of Moses, the moral condition of humanity became even worse than it was before him, and instead of weakening, sin became even stronger.
But this is all in the past! In the New Testament, the grace of rejuvenation conquers every sin and every passion: ancient Adam gives way to the new Adam — Christ. Before, people lived by the laws of physical inheritance, were moral prisoners of sin and doomed to die. From the New Adam, people are born spiritually rejuvenated, free from the shackles of sin and filled with the power of grace to live righteous lives. Further on, the Apostle explains the way a person unites with the grace of Christ.
Bishop Alexander (Mileant).
Translated by Seraphim Larin/ Dr. Steven Bushnell
Epistle to the Romans
(5:12-21)
The Apostle explains that the prime reason for our mortality is not our personal sins but our corrupted nature that we all inherited from Adam.
He expounds on this theme:
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned — For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him Who was to come (5:12-14).
The Jews presupposed that people died because they violated God's laws. The Apostle refutes this by pointing out that before the Prophet Moses there were no laws and consequently no laws to violate. Because many people did not have serious laws of conscience, they did not deserve to be punished by death. Yet everybody without exception died sooner or later, including infants. This shows that the death of people is a consequence of their being born with a mortal nature. They inherited this mortality from Adam.
The association between death and sin was established in Eden. Having created Adam and settled him in paradise, God directed: "Of every tree of the Garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17). It is true that biological death existed among animal and plant life before the appearance of the first human and, consequently, before the first sin. One can surmise that as humans have a great deal in common with the animal kingdom, they too are subject to the physical laws of mortality. However, the Bible shows that in creating man in His likeness and image, God intended to free him from the customary laws of decay by creating in Paradise the Tree of Life. Evidently, the fruit from this mysterious tree possessed properties to rejuvenate the organism in such a way as to either remove or compensate for the natural aging process of cells. Incidentally, modern biology knows that not all organic cells are subject to the normal aging process and subsequent death. So, for example, while normal body cells age every time they split and multiply and eventually become worthless to the organism after this cycle had been repeated sixty times, cancer cells can split and multiply a seemingly unlimited number of times. It is possible that by eating the forbidden fruit, something was injected into the human organism that accelerated the aging process of cells. Nevertheless, from the Book Genesis, it is possible to conclude that even after violating God's commandment, Adam could have continued to prolong his physical life by eating of the fruit from the Tree of Life. However, God did not allow this (Genesis 3:24) — as Saint Gregory the Theologian explains it, "so that sin would not become immortal." Sin that resides inside a human being dies with his physical death. In this way, through the Creator's marvelous arrangement, punishment becomes medicine — albeit in part. The complete cure of our nature is dependent upon Christ's Resurrection.
The problem of heredity is quite complicated and the science of biology is only now able to penetrate some of its mysteries. The primal sin damaged the human being not only physically but also more importantly, spiritually. Consequently, after violating the Commandments, the soul yielded its authoritative position to the flesh, which made the human morally impotent and easily submissive to its disorderly physical inclinations. Only a few individuals like Abraham, Moses, the Prophet Elijah, and the like, had the heroic spirit to rise above the moral level of their surrounding environment. Still, as we learn from the Bible, even these righteous figures were not irreproachable in all matters. Without Christ, all mankind would remain doomed to slavery and decay.
However, just as there is a physical inheritance, so is there a spiritual one. Christ became the Forefather of the new, rejuvenated humanity. And the grace of rejuvenation is stronger than the enslaving nature of sin. The Apostle writes:
But the free gift is not like the offence. For if by the one man's (Adam's) offence many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift (blessing) is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgement which came from one offence (Adam's) resulted in condemnation (of the descendants), but (now) the free gift (serves as) which came from many offences resulted in justification. For if by the one man's offence death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ (5:15-17).
In other words, Christ's rejuvenating grace reveals its supremacy over sin in that it not only releases a person from his inherited primal sin but also from all his personal sins, as well as curing him of all his spiritual illnesses. From the above, the Apostle goes on to make the following conclusion:
Therefore, as to one man's offence judgement came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (5:18-21).
During the times of Moses, moral levels had fallen so far that people ceased to comprehend clearly what was right and what was wrong. The purpose of the Commandments given to the Prophet Moses by God was to assist people to sort out their moral problems and commence to live righteously. However, the Commandments were able to teach and advise only but were incapable of giving a person moral strength to combat temptation. Acting through the very essence of human nature, sin compelled a person to sin consciously in spite of the Commandments. That is why after the era of Moses, the moral condition of humanity became even worse than it was before him, and instead of weakening, sin became even stronger.
But this is all in the past! In the New Testament, the grace of rejuvenation conquers every sin and every passion: ancient Adam gives way to the new Adam — Christ. Before, people lived by the laws of physical inheritance, were moral prisoners of sin and doomed to die. From the New Adam, people are born spiritually rejuvenated, free from the shackles of sin and filled with the power of grace to live righteous lives. Further on, the Apostle explains the way a person unites with the grace of Christ.
Comments