Romans Chapter 5 Vs. 13

 

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Rom 5:13

Man chose to follow the flesh instead of God beginning with Adam. It is impossible to break the law however, if there is no law. If there is no speed limit, you could drive a hundred miles an hour and not be arrested. If the speed limit is 55 and you go even 65 you are probably going to get a fine to pay. You would be breaking the law. Until Moses, there was no law written down.

Verse 12 tells us all men were regarded as sinners, but because there was no explicit list of commands, there was no strict accounting of their specific points of violation.

From Adam to Moses was the period where God had not yet given the Mosaic Law. Imputed can also be translated “reckoned” or “counted”.

Though sin entered human experience through the act of Adam’s sin (in which the entire human race participated seminally), sin expressed itself repeatedly in people’s actions (cf. Gen. 6:5-7, 6:11-13) from the point of its entrance “until” (not before, as the NIV has it) the Law was given. However, as Paul had already said, “Where there is no Law there is no transgression” (Rom. 4:15). This does not mean that sin does not exist unless there is a Law. It means that sin does not have the character of being a transgression apart from Law and therefore sin is not taken into account (lit., “imputed, reckoned”) as such.