Romans 5:13 – Sin and transgression 

For until law sin was in the world, yet sin is not being taken into account when there is no low.

Sin was introduced into the world through Adam (: 12) and people have been sinning ever since. They are mortals and goal missers. Sinning did not begin from the moment the law was given to Israel through Moses. For the twenty-five hundred years from Adam to Moses, sin was already in the world. However, from the law did sin get an extra character. From then on sin became transgression (4:15). Violations are charged and then sanctions and penalties follow.

What we call ‘the Old Testament’ refers to “the old covenant,” that is, the Covenant of Sinai (Jer. 31:32). But it would not escape us that in terms of length of time, the period before Sinai lasted about a thousand years longer than the time from Sinai to Christ. Indeed, most of the Hebrew Bible is about those last fifteen hundred years, but time-arithmetically it is relatively short.

The importance of these considerations is that it makes it clear that “sin” and “transgression” are two different concepts. All people are sinners. With or without law. And for all those people there is hope in Christ!

Delen: