For sin was in the world before the law was given;This phrase acknowledges the presence of sin from the time of Adam, long before the Mosaic Law was established. Theologically, this underscores the universality of sin, as seen in
Genesis 3 with the fall of man. The historical context here is the period from Adam to Moses, a time when humanity was governed by natural law and conscience rather than written commandments. This period is significant in understanding the pervasive nature of sin and its consequences, as evidenced by events like the Flood (Genesis 6-9) and the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11). Theologically, this sets the stage for the necessity of the law to define and reveal sin more explicitly.
but sin is not taken into account when there is no law.
This phrase suggests that without a codified law, sin is not imputed in the same way it is when the law is present. This does not mean sin did not exist or have consequences, but rather that it was not charged against individuals in the same judicial sense. This concept is echoed inRomans 4:15, which states, "where there is no law, there is no transgression." Theologically, this highlights the role of the law in making humanity aware of sin (Romans 7:7). It also points to the grace of God, who, in His forbearance, did not count sins against humanity in the same way before the law was given. This anticipates the coming of Christ, who fulfills the law and offers redemption from sin, as seen inGalatians 3:24, where the law is described as a tutor leading to Christ.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
Paul the ApostleThe author of the Book of Romans, Paul was a key figure in the early Christian church, known for his missionary journeys and theological teachings.
2.
The LawRefers to the Mosaic Law given to the Israelites, which includes the Ten Commandments and other regulations found in the first five books of the Old Testament.
3.
SinA central theme in this passage, sin is described as a transgression against God's law and a condition that affects all humanity.
4.
AdamWhile not directly mentioned in this verse, Adam is a significant figure in the context of
Romans 5, representing the entry of sin into the world.
5.
The WorldRefers to humanity and the created order, which has been affected by sin since the time of Adam.
Teaching Points
Understanding Sin's UniversalitySin existed before the law, indicating its pervasive nature and impact on all humanity.
The Role of the LawThe law serves to reveal sin, making people aware of their need for a Savior.
Accountability and GraceWhile sin is not counted where there is no law, God's grace through Christ provides a solution to the problem of sin.
The Importance of Christ's RedemptionChrist's sacrifice addresses the sin problem that existed before and after the law, offering redemption to all.
Living in Awareness of Sin and GraceBelievers are called to live in the awareness of sin's reality and the transformative power of grace through Jesus Christ.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Romans 5:13?
2.How does Romans 5:13 explain sin's presence before the law was given?
3.What role does the law play in understanding sin according to Romans 5:13?
4.How can we recognize sin in our lives without explicit laws?
5.How does Romans 5:13 connect with the concept of original sin?
6.How should awareness of sin influence our daily Christian walk and repentance?
7.How does Romans 5:13 address sin before the law was given?
8.Why is sin not counted where there is no law according to Romans 5:13?
9.What implications does Romans 5:13 have on the concept of original sin?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Romans 5?
11.What does 'Death reigned from Adam to Moses' mean?
12.What defines the nature of sin?
13.What does "Death reigned from Adam to Moses" mean?
14.What happens to children during the Rapture?What Does Romans 5:13 Mean
Setting the stagePaul is in the middle of showing how Christ’s one act of righteousness overcomes Adam’s one act of disobedience (Romans 5:12, 18). To make that contrast clear, the Spirit leads him to explain what happened between Adam and Moses, the period before God delivered the written law at Sinai (Exodus 19–20).
“For sin was in the world before the law was given”• From Adam on, people kept rebelling—Cain murdered Abel (Genesis 4:8), humanity became “only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5), and even the patriarchs lied, deceived, and mistreated one another (Genesis 12:10-20; 27:35-36).
•Romans 5:12 already declared, “just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.” Death’s universal reign proves sin’s presence long before Sinai.
•1 John 3:4 reminds us that “sin is lawlessness,” so wherever God’s moral will is violated, sin exists, written law or not (Romans 2:14-15).
“but sin is not taken into account when there is no law”• Paul is not denying the reality of sin; he is describing how law functions to reckon, record, and expose it (Romans 3:20; 4:15).
• Before the Mosaic commandments, humanity still died (Romans 5:14), showing guilt, yet they were not charged with specific counts in the way Israel later was (Deuteronomy 28).
• The phrase speaks of accounting imagery: without a formal statute, sin is not itemized in a ledger, though it is still deadly. Once the law is given, the violations become definable transgressions (Galatians 3:19).
Why Paul brings this up• To prove that Adam’s original sin, not Moses’ law, is the root issue. All people—from Adam to the last born today—inherit a fallen nature (Psalm 51:5) and need Christ, not merely better rule-keeping (Romans 7:24-25).
• To highlight grace: God’s gift in Christ solves a problem older and deeper than Sinai. Where the law later multiplied the trespass (Romans 5:20), grace abounded all the more through Jesus’ obedience (Romans 5:19).
Implications for us• Moral accountability does not hinge on possessing a printed code; God already holds every person responsible for the light they have (Romans 1:19-20).
• The law’s arrival magnified sin’s seriousness, but it could never cure it. That cure is “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 3:22).
• Understanding this verse guards us from legalism—thinking rules can fix us—and from antinomianism—acting as if sin is harmless. Both miss Paul’s point that Christ alone rescues sinners from the death Adam unleashed.
summaryRomans 5:13 teaches that sin has plagued humanity since Adam, centuries before God gave Moses the written law. While that law later itemized and highlighted specific offenses, death’s reign shows sin was already at work. Paul’s purpose is to magnify grace: if sin’s reach is universal and ancient, God’s gift in Jesus is even greater, offering justification and life to all who trust Him.
(13) So much we can see; so much is simple matter of history, that sin was in the world from Adam downwards. But here comes the difficulty. Sin there was, but why guilt? And why death, the punishment of guilt? The pre-Mosaic man sinned indeed, but could not rightly be condemned for his sin until there was a law to tell him plainly the distinction between right and wrong.
It will be observed that the law of nature (Romans 1:19-20;Romans 2:14-15) is here left out of consideration. In the places mentioned, St. Paul speaks of the law of nature only as applicable to his contemporaries or to comparatively recent times. He does not throw back its operation into the primitive ages of the world; neither does he pronounce upon the degree of responsibility which men, as moral agents, then incurred. This would fall in with the doctrine that the consciousness of right and wrong was gradually formed. It is not, indeed, to be said that St. Paul exactly anticipated the teachings of the inductive school of moralists, but there is much in their system, or at any rate in the results to which they seem to be coming, that appears to fall into easy and harmonious relations with the teaching of the Apostle.
Verses 13, 14. -
For until Law (
i.e. all through the time previous to the revelation of 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 them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression. Though
νόμος, where it first occurs in ver. 13, refers definitely, as appears from the context, to the Law of Moses, yet it is without the article, as denoting the principle of law, of which the Mosaic code was the embodiment; and it has therefore, in accordance with the rule laid down in this translation, been rendered as above. The purport of these two verses, connected by
γὰρ with
πάντες η{μαρτον of ver. 12, is to prove that the primeval sin did really infect and implicate the whole race of mankind. It might be supposed that those only would be implicated who had themselves transgressed, as Adam did, a known command; it being an acknowledged principle of Divine justice that only sin against law of which the sinner is conscious is imputed to him for con-detonation (cf.
Romans 4:15; also
John 9:41). Nay. but the universal dominion of death, the doom of sin, over all alike, whether or not they had themselves so sinned, was proof that sin was all along dominant in the world, infecting all. The Mosaic Law is spoken of as the distinct revelation of Divine Law to man; and therefore attention is first drawn to the fact that before that revelation, no less than after it, death had reigned over all. But is it thus implied that until the Law from Mount Sinai men had been without any kind of law, for transgressing which they were responsible? Not so. That Law is indeed regarded as the first definite enunciation of law under evident Divine sanction, after which, to those that were under it, sin became indubitably and exceeding sinful; but that men are conceived as having sinned previously against law of some kind, appears from the phrase, "
Evenover those (
καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς) who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression,"
i.e. consciously against a known command. This surely implies that some had so sinned; and thus the essential point of the argument is that even over those who had not so sinned (such as the unenlightened and invincibly ignorant, or persons dying in infancy) death had equally reigned.
Who is the figure of him that was to come. This is added so as to bring round the thought to the main subject of the chapter, viz. the reconciliation of all mankind through Christ, to which the scriptural account of the condemnation of all mankind through Adam had, at ver. 12, been adduced as analogous.
Who refers to Adam, who has just been for the first time named;
he that was to come is Christ, who is called, in
1 Corinthians 15:45, "the last Adam." Adam was a type (
τύπος) of Christ in that both represented entire humanity; one as the representative and author of fallen, the other of restored, humanity - the transgression of the one and the obedience of the other alike affecting all (see vers 18, 19). But there is a difference between the two cases; and this is pointed out in vers. 15, 16, 17, which follow.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Greek
Forγὰρ(gar)Conjunction
Strong's 1063:For. A primary particle; properly, assigning a reason.sinἁμαρτία(hamartia)Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 266:From hamartano; a sin.wasἦν(ēn)Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510:I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.inἐν(en)Preposition
Strong's 1722:In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.[the] worldκόσμῳ(kosmō)Noun - Dative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2889:Probably from the base of komizo; orderly arrangement, i.e. Decoration; by implication, the world (morally).beforeἄχρι(achri)Preposition
Strong's 891:As far as, up to, until, during. Or achris akh'-rece; akin to akron; until or up to.[the] Law [was given];νόμου(nomou)Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3551:From a primary nemo; law, genitive case, specially, (including the volume); also of the Gospel), or figuratively.butδὲ(de)Conjunction
Strong's 1161:A primary particle; but, and, etc.sinἁμαρτία(hamartia)Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 266:From hamartano; a sin.is not taken into accountἐλλογεῖται(ellogeitai)Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1677:To charge to, put to one's account, impute. From en and logos; to reckon in, i.e. Attribute.when there isὄντος(ontos)Verb - Present Participle Active - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 1510:I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.noμὴ(mē)Adverb
Strong's 3361:Not, lest. A primary particle of qualified negation; not, lest; also (whereas ou expects an affirmative one) whether.law.νόμου(nomou)Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3551:From a primary nemo; law, genitive case, specially, (including the volume); also of the Gospel), or figuratively.
Links
Romans 5:13 NIVRomans 5:13 NLTRomans 5:13 ESVRomans 5:13 NASBRomans 5:13 KJV
Romans 5:13 BibleApps.comRomans 5:13 Biblia ParalelaRomans 5:13 Chinese BibleRomans 5:13 French BibleRomans 5:13 Catholic Bible
NT Letters: Romans 5:13 For until the law sin was (Rom. Ro) 
