Romans 2:12

2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law ¹  will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Romans 3:23

3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 6:15

The Believer’s Enslavement to God’s Righteousness

6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not!

Romans 5:16

5:16 And the gift is not like the one who sinned. ²  For judgment, resulting from the one transgression, ³  led to condemnation, but ⁴  the gracious gift from the many failures ⁵  led to justification.

Romans 5:12

The Amplification of Justification

5:12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people ⁶  because ⁷  all sinned –

Romans 5:14

5:14 Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type ⁸  of the coming one) transgressed. ⁹ 

[2:12]  ¹ sn This is the first occurrence of law (nomos) in Romans. Exactly what Paul means by the term has been the subject of much scholarly debate. According to J. A. Fitzmyer (Romans [AB], 131-35; 305-6) there are at least four different senses: (1) figurative, as a “principle”; (2) generic, meaning “a law”; (3) as a reference to the OT or some part of the OT; and (4) as a reference to the Mosaic law. This last usage constitutes the majority of Paul’s references to “law” in Romans.

[5:16]  ² tn Grk “and not as through the one who sinned [is] the gift.”

[5:16]  ³ tn The word “transgression” is not in the Greek text at this point, but has been supplied for clarity.

[5:16]  ⁴ tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

[5:16]  ⁵ tn Or “falls, trespasses,” the same word used in vv. 15, 17, 18, 20.

[5:12]  ³ tn Here ἀνθρώπους (anqrwpou") has been translated as a generic (“people”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.

[5:12]  ⁴ tn The translation of the phrase ἐφ᾿ ᾧ (ef Jw) has been heavily debated. For a discussion of all the possibilities, see C. E. B. Cranfield, “On Some of the Problems in the Interpretation of Romans 5.12,” SJT 22 (1969): 324-41. Only a few of the major options can be mentioned here: (1) the phrase can be taken as a relative clause in which the pronoun refers to Adam, “death spread to all people in whom [Adam] all sinned.” (2) The phrase can be taken with consecutive (resultative) force, meaning “death spread to all people with the result that all sinned.” (3) Others take the phrase as causal in force: “death spread to all people because all sinned.”

[5:14]  ⁴ tn Or “pattern.”

[5:14]  ⁵ tn Or “disobeyed”; Grk “in the likeness of Adam’s transgression.”