What does it mean that sin is not imputed when there is no law (Romans 5:13)?

In Romans 5:12–21, the apostle Paul contrasts Adam (the head of the old, unregenerated human race) and Jesus Christ (the Head of a new creation). Paul begins by discussing the period of time before the Law of Moses was given to Israel. He explains that, because of Adam’s disobedience, sin and death entered the world and spread to everyone. Then, Paul states, “For until the 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 those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come” (Romans 5:13–14, NKJV).

The phrase sin is not imputed means that sin is not counted against someone or held to his account. The verb translated as “imputed” (ellogeitai in Greek) is a legal and financial term that refers to charging someone with responsibility or fault, or crediting or assessing something to one’s account. Paul uses the concept of imputation in Romans 5:13 to describe how God assesses people’s actions—either counting their sins against them or crediting righteousness.

Paul lays out, as a general principle, that “sin is not imputed when there is no law.” This principle proves that that people were not sinless before Moses gave the law, because the effects of sin’s imputation were widespread. Sin existed, and people were held accountable, even in the generations before Moses and the events at Mt. Sinai. The proof is that people died—“Death reigned” (Romans 5:14). Since death existed, starting with Adam, there must have been a law of some kind before Moses. Even before the Mosaic Law was given by God to Moses, people knew right from wrong.

So, before the Ten Commandments were etched in stone, sin was present and death reigned. People’s sin differed from Adam’s, but it was still sin, and the penalty of their sin was a universal human problem. Once God established the Mosaic Law with all its detailed prohibitions, right and wrong were codified, and all sin could be traced to the transgression of a particular law or laws. The coming of the law increased people’s responsibility and their guilt (see Romans 2:1–29). Prior to the law, people still did wrong—they still broke God’s law—and they received in themselves the punishment God required for their actions.

In Romans 5, Paul is carefully building an argument to show how all people, regardless of when they lived in relationship to the Mosaic Law, were in need of God’s grace. Everyone is a lawbreaker. “But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:15, NLT).

Through Adam, every human being is guilty of sin and sentenced to death (Romans 6:23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:1–3). But through Jesus Christ, who is the Head of a new spiritual family, believers experience forgiveness of sin, peace with God, abundant new life, and eternity with Him forever (see Romans 5:1–2; 1 Corinthians 15:22).

In Romans 5:13, Paul teaches that sin has existed since Adam’s time, and the fact that it is imputed to his descendants shows that there has always been a divine law we are responsible to uphold. By explaining this concept, Paul highlights the universality of sin and humanity’s need for God’s grace in every era. After setting the stage, Paul moves on to his central message—that every person needs salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.