Romans 5:18,19

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For 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 5:18,19

In verse 18, Paul very closely parallels what he wrote in verse 16.

Verse 16: And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.

Verse 16 emphasized the judgement that is taking/will take place -  condemnation for those who are under the trespass of one man, and justification for those who have received the free gift.


In verse 18, Paul uses the same words condemnation and justification, but with a slightly different angle or emphasis. Here, I believe Paul is really focusing in on how one man affected many through the fall, and how one man in responsible for justification and life of many.


Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men

One trespass by one man led to, or resulted in, the separation of all men from God. This is very important to understand because it shows that our condemnation is not based on our multitude of sins - even though any one of them would be more than enough to separate us from God forever. Our condemnation runs deeper than this -

our condemnation is rooted not in our individual sins but in our sinfulness itself...a sinfulness that we are born with.

 “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Psalm 51:5

“Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.”
Psalm 58:3



so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

Just like the one trespass leading to condemnation for all men, one act of justification leads to life justification and life for all men.  We must be careful not to take this verse out of context. When Paul talks about 'all men' being condemned, he is saying this:

all men who find themselves condemned can find the origin of their condemnation in the initial trespass of one man.

On a side note: 

The fact that every one of us has willfully sinned proves that, had we been in the garden of Eden, we would have sinned like Adam did - proving that while Adam was the path through which sin and death entered this world (a part of God's sovereign plan), he was a perfect representation of us.

Now, when Paul talks about 'all men' being justified and given life, he is saying this:

all men who find themselves justified can find the origin of their justification and gift of life in the righteous act of one man.

Paul is very clear that we are not justified based on anything that we have done or will do. If we are justified, if we have been given the gift of eternal life - all of that is based solely on the righteous act of Jesus Christ alone. 

We can be sure that salvation is not about addressing individual sins in our lives...salvation (a restored relationship with God) is about our sinfulness that affects our heart and mind being addressed through regeneration. Once regeneration occurs, the individual sins will be addressed.

Therefore, we can also be sure that our ability to be good is not a part of the salvation equation. First of all, we don't have the ability to be good enough, and secondly - Paul laid out for us that our righteousness and eternal life is based on what Jesus Christ has done - not us.

When we start to understand this, we can stop trying to 'be good' and start loving Jesus for what He has done. The more we understand what Jesus accomplished for us through His act of righteousness, the more in love we will fall with Him, the more we will want to serve Him, and the more our lives will reveal God - the purpose of our restoration!


Now, to verse 19:

For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners

This sheds more light on our sinfulness being the problem over our individual sins, which are a product of our sinfulness. One man - Adam - disobeyed God, and because of that, all who came from him were, by nature, sinners.

Keeping in mind the fact that Adam was a perfect representation of us - we have all sinned willfully and would have done the same thing in the garden - look at what Paul wrote in verse 12:

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned

Sin originated with Adam, he was the channel through which sin entered God's creation - sin that brought with it physical and spiritual death. Death then spread to all men because all sinned.  If we look at verse 12 and verse 19 together, we see that sin was passed down from Adam, we are all sinful because of the sin that originated with Adam, yet we are all accountable and condemned based on our own sinfulness because we have all sinned.

Bottom line: man is a sinful creature that is in desperate need of regeneration and restoration!

It's also important to see the emphasis in verse 19 that Paul puts on disobedience/obedience. Adam perfectly represented all mankind when he disobeyed God. This one act of disobedience was enough to cause the fall. The only remedy, the only hope that we have is for someone to live out a life of perfect obedience to God. 

so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous

Jesus Christ is the one man who lived a life of perfect obedience, a righteous life. It's very important to note that righteous means equitable deed, statute, or decision. Not only did Jesus do nothing wrong His entire life, He did everything right. This is the definition of righteous - not only abstaining from sin, but making the active, God-glorifying decision in every situation. This is perfect obedience! 

Since Jesus lived a perfectly obedient life, many will be made righteous - meaning all those who will be dressed in righteousness before God can only attribute their righteousness to Jesus Christ alone.

We are unable to obey God to the degree that Jesus did - and therefore are unable to be counted as righteous based on our own actions. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, has made us righteous by transferring His righteousness - based on His obedience -  to us! 

It's also important to note that Paul says - because of His obedience alone, many are made righteous.  He doesn't say that Christ made it possible for us to become righteous, and all we need to do is quit sinning and live as 'good' as we can. No, Paul says that because of Christ's obedience, many will be made righteous.

The word made in the Greek means to place down (permanently), that is, (figuratively) to designate, constitute, convoy: - appoint, be, conduct, make, ordain, set. This indicates something happening to somebody outside of their ability. Because of Christ's perfect obedience, many will be designated, appointed, ordained as righteous! I believe this reveals a perfectly sovereign God! 

Lord, thank You for Your Word that reveals to us our sinfulness and condemnation, and then Your amazing gift of righteousness and eternal life through Your Son's perfect obedience! I pray that we would every day grasp a little more of who You are, what You have done for us, and how much You love us! Thank You Father - in Your Son's holy name, Amen.