Adam was the first man ever created by God. He was sent down to Earth and ultimately disobeyed God by eating the apple and acquiring knowledge and sin. Man was enslaved by sin from the very beginning. Christ was then sent down later on to relieve man of this slavery and sinful oppression. If Adam had never sinned and initiated the cosmic force of sin, there would have been no need for Christ to take human form or to die for the sins of humanity. Paul writes, “For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). To clarify, Paul emphasizes that righteousness in the eyes of God comes through believing in Jesus Christ and his crucifixion and resurrection. Therefore, if there was no sin in the world, Jesus would not have had to die to bring salvation, and there would no longer be a Christian religion, but only Judaism that sees righteousness through fulfillment of the law. The idea of salvation through faith alone would not exist. Without Adam there is no sin, and without sin, there is no Jesus Christ. All of humanity paid the consequences for Adam’s actions because they became enslaved by sin. However, Jesus’ actions allowed for that consequence to go unpunished by God.

Jesus was resurrected and therefore conquered death. Ehrman writes, “A person participates in this victory by being united with Christ in his death and resurrection. According to Paul, this happens when a person is baptized” (257). The symbolic process of baptism is that a person is submersed into water, so that their sins may be washed away, and they are born again in the name of Christ. Paul wants those to live by faith alone and be baptized, as both of these events go hand in hand and there is not one of these without the other. Paul’s letter says, “We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:6). Paul wants his community to not only have faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection, but also to go through the ritual of baptism and “die” with Christ to be freed from sin. Paul then goes on to clarify that being one with Christ through baptism does not give a person the right to sin simply because they are “under grace” (Romans 6:15). Paul says that those who are baptized are now enslaved to God and therefore receive the “free gift” of eternal life.