Why do we need justification by faith? Where did the need begin?
Justification by faith and faith alone is needed because Adam's fall brought sin and death into the human race. Paul explains that by one man sin entered the world, and death passed upon all men, for all have sinned. The need began in the Garden when Adam fell, making humanity sinners born spiritually dead.
Les teaches that justification is by faith and faith alone, and that the need for it began back in the Garden when Adam fell and death came with sin. Because of that fall, the human race is faced with a dilemma: people are not only sinners but also in a circumstance of death. Spiritual death has already taken place—we are born dead. Paul's conclusion is that by one man, Adam, sin (the old Adamic nature) entered into the world, and death came with sin; so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned. Until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned as a king from Adam to Moses at the giving of the law, even over those who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression—they were not faced with a tree and forbidden fruit.