In Paul’s view sin, following the idea that sin is a cosmic agent, entered the world, because Adam as the first man sinned, sin in this immediate context being an action performed by some one that offends against God, and since Adam was the whole of humanity, those guilty of sin (Judicial model)  therefore consisted all of humanity, “sin came in to the world through one man…and so death spread to all because all have sinned,” (Rom. 5:12). Christ was able to reverse the effects of Adam’s misdeed and to loosen sin’s, as a cosmic agent, power over mankind/individual believer by either having had payment for a person’s transgressions or by having the person participate in his (Christ) victory over sin, through the ritual of baptism.

Paul also compares Christ with Adam by juxtaposing the wide effects of their deeds, that many are effected by them, with the singularity of their persons. The action of one, effects the many. This idea of influential action, corresponds with Paul’s teachings to the Corinthians that what a person does vibrates through out the whole community. In this case, Adams actions brought condemnation to the whole world, while Christ’s brought justification to the same. Further more, because sin was in the world, the grace needed to counter it was needed in the world too. Where sin was/is so grace must also be. Paul expressed this notion in his letter by stating “but where sin increased, graced abounded all the more,” (Rom. 5:20b).

In Paul’s view Christ incorporates an individual in to his (Christ) victory over sin and eath through the act of baptism. Which Paul claimed enabled the believer to die or be freed from sin and to be raised, just as Christ was raised from the dead, from death to a new life. Dying to sin meant to Paul that sin could no longer have any hold or power over a person, since they had been adopted to Christ and were no longer under the law and where there is no law there is no sin. Paul in chapter 5 claimed that the law gave recognition to sin, but now that Christ has adopted a person, that person is no longer under sin and the law, the law being a result of sin, but are instead under grace and Christ.

Paul also equates baptism with the notion of voluntarily entering into slavery under God, who in return for a person subjection to slavery, grants them the ability to become sanctified or god-like and because of that accessed to eternal life.

the idea of a baptized person’s voluntary subjection to God reflects back on to Paul’s claim of Christ humbling himself to become man and on to his own actions of humbling himself to spread the gospel of Christ. In all three cases after the initial humbling an exaltation occurs.