The Adam-Christ Parallel

In Romans 5:12-21, Paul teaches the Adam-Christ parallel. Adam’s disobedience was reckoned to all people. That is why all people have been condemned to death. But now Christ has fulfilled all righteousness, lived without guile, perfectly fulfilled the demands of the law, and all of this on behalf of mankind. Just as Adam’s disobedience is reckoned to all people, so Christ’s righteousness and obedience is reckoned to all people. A verdict of acquittal has come for all people, a righteousness to life. “So then, just as one trespass led to a verdict of condemnation for all people, so also one righteous verdict led to life-giving justification for all people” (5:18).

Note how Paul repeats and drives home the consequences of sin and what God’s grace entails thanks to Christ’s acts of salvation:

• “So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, so also death spread to all people because all sinned” (5:12).
• “But the gracious gift is not like Adam’s trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of this one man, it is even more certain that God’s grace, and the gift given by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ, overflowed to the many!” (5:15).
• “Indeed, if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through the one man, it is even more certain that those who receive the overflowing grace of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ!” (5:17).
• “The law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace overflowed much more, so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (5:20-21).

The unconditional gospel, then, proclaim a justification, a verdict of acquittal, through Christ’s completed work. It is about an undeserved pardon of all people, an overflowing mercy which has the power to give eternal life, to awaken faith in sinners who would otherwise be lost. But most people turn away from the gospel. They are blind to the fact that they are on their way to eternal destruction (Matt 7:13). They do not want to admit they are spiritually sick and therefore need the doctor, Christ, the only one who can heal them (Matt 9:12).

When Paul teaches that Christ’s righteous act of salvation has led to “one righteous verdict,” “life-giving justification for all people” (5:18), he is not saying that all people receive the wonderful gospel which gives life. Paul teaches that not all people receive the gospel and are saved. If people do not receive this complete gift which is extended to them in the gospel, they reject their only rescue, the righteousness which counts before God. The free gift is of no benefit to them (cf. Heb 4:2-3). In their unbelief they remain under God’s wrath and are lost forever (cf. John 3:16-18, 36).