I am not sure, but I think it was Chad Bresson, that recommended John Piper's sermon on Romans 5. We are geatly indebted to whoever it was. It is really a great message. If you know of anyone who struggles with assurance of salvation, tell them about this message. Piper does not mention the New Perspective but his message destroys the basic foundation on which that view rests.Here is a sample. If you haven't gotten anything else, get this. Because this is your life. Right here he says that Adam is a pattern for Christ because the all-important parallel is seen here. What? The parallel here is this: The judicial consequences of Adam's sin are experienced by all his people not on the basis of their individually doing sins like he did, but on the basis of their being in him and his sin being imputed to them. As soon as that becomes clear in Paul's argument, he brings in Christ as the parallel: The judicial consequences of Christ's righteousness are experienced by all his people not on the basis of their doing righteous deeds like he did, but on the basis of their being in him and his righteousness being imputed to them. The Deepest Reason Eternal Life Reigns That is the all-important parallel. The deepest reason why death reigns over all is not because of our individual sins, but because of Adam's sin imputed to us. So the deepest reason eternal life reigns is not because of our individual deeds of righteousness, but because of Christ's righteousness imputed to us by grace through faith. O how much light this sheds on why Paul embarked on this paragraph at all! He did it for the sake of our faith and our assurance and our joy. He did it to underline the fact that our right standing with God and our freedom from condemnation is not based on our righteous acts but on Christ's righteous acts. This is the foundation of the great Biblical truth of justification by grace alone through faith alone. It has rescued thousands of saints from the despair of legalism and the paralyzing fear of imperfection. Christ became obedient even unto death so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). Here is rest for your soul. Here is a message that everyone you will ever meet needs to hear. Christ is our righteousness. Trust him. Trust him. Trust him. Piper's sermon is found at http://www.desiringgod.org/library/sermons/00/062500.html JGR