Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

Dueling Dominions

Bryan Schneider · September 5, 2026

Romans 5:12-21

sharonrpc.org/sermons/dueling-dominions

Main points

Adam acted as humanity’s representative: through his one transgression, sin, condemnation, and death spread to all his descendants.
Death reigned even before the law was given at Sinai because God’s moral law was already written on the human heart and every person also bears actual guilt.
Christ is greater than Adam. His righteous obedience and sacrificial death secure the free gift of justification, abundant grace, and eternal life for those who receive him by faith.
Believers do not earn God’s favor through stronger effort. They begin with the grace already given in Christ and live from that grace with assurance, gratitude, and peace.
Romans 5 presses a personal question: are you still under Adam’s dominion of sin and death, or are you resting in Christ under the reign of grace and righteousness?

How does Paul’s comparison between Adam and Christ explain both humanity’s condemnation and the believer’s justification?
Why did death reign from Adam to Moses even before the law was written at Sinai?
Where do you see yourself trying to earn God’s favor instead of receiving and resting in Christ’s righteousness?
How do Christ’s active and passive obedience answer Adam’s disobedience?
What evidence in Romans 5 shows that Christ’s grace is greater than Adam’s offense?
Which dominion are you under, and what are you presently trusting as the basis of your answer?
How should the Lord’s Supper strengthen a Christian’s assurance, gratitude, and joy in the finished work of Christ?

Covenant head: A representative whose actions count for those united to him. Adam represents fallen humanity; Christ represents those who receive him by faith.
Original sin: The guilt and corrupted nature inherited from Adam’s first sin, from which our own actual sins proceed.
Imputation: God’s accounting of guilt or righteousness to another. Adam’s guilt is counted to his descendants, while Christ’s righteousness is counted to believers.
Condemnation: God’s just verdict of guilt against sin, bringing death under Adam’s fallen dominion.
Justification: God’s free declaration that a sinner is righteous because Christ’s obedience and satisfaction are received by faith alone.
Active obedience: Christ’s lifelong, perfect obedience to God’s law, including his victory over every temptation.
Passive obedience: Christ’s willing submission to suffering and death as the Lamb who laid down his life for his people.
Dominion: The ruling power or kingdom under which someone lives: either the reign of sin and death in Adam or the reign of grace and life in Christ.