Rom. 5:19 ... "As through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous."
In this important statement Paul by inspiration is talking about two men, two acts they committed, and the consequences of those acts in the lives of other people. The first man was Adam, whom God made from the dust of the ground in the beginning. Placing him to live in the paradise of Eden, God commanded him, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die," (Gen. 2:16-17). In the course of time Adam and Eve, his wife, violated this commandment at the instigation of Satan, disguised as a serpent, and thus became sinners. The penalty of death for sin was executed upon them, though they did not actually die for quite a number of years. In this act Adam lost his innocence and introduced sin as a present reality into the world. All future human beings were thus subjected to the influence of sin. Something also happened to man's moral constitution, producing a weakened spiritual nature which we refer to as "fallen man." Not only was man subjected to the daily presence of sin in his environment, but he hitherto lacked the spiritual power to stand up against it. Thus Rom. 3:23 proclaims that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
The second Man in Rom. 5:19 is Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, who left His place in heaven to dwell for a while on earth among men. He, too, was given a commandment by God to govern His life, for He stated in Heb. 10:9, "Behold, I have come to do Your will." But unlike Adam, Jesus never violated the commandment given Him. Although Satan tempted Him in every way he had tempted Adam, Jesus never succumbed to his enticements. It is affirmed in Heb. 4:15 that Jesus was "tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." Having never sinned, Jesus was not under the penalty of death. Then came about the most wonderful event in all human experience. Jesus took upon Himself the totality of sin of all other people and paid its penalty, death, even death by crucifixion, the most humiliating death of all. Therefore, whereas Adam introduced sin and death into human experience, Jesus established righteousness and eternal life for us.
Contrary to the application many make of this Scripture, it does not teach that when Adam sinned, the entire lot of humanity sinned likewise, since all were genetically present in him. It no more teaches this than it teaches everyone is made righteous in Christ through His perfect life and vicarious death. In spite of Jesus' sacrifice, many people are presently sinners, will continue in that sin until death, and will then be eternally lost. Adam introduced sin and its penalty of death into the world; Jesus introduced righteousness and eternal life. No one is born with Adam's sin and bears its guilt from birth. We enter into sin when we ourselves commit sin, for we are told in Ezek. 18:20 that "the person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity." It is true we inherit Adam's weak nature, a result of his having sinned, just as a child will suffer from the drug abuse of its mother. In that weakened nature, we surrender on many occasions to temptation and commit sin. Jesus' perfect life and atoning death, however, will free us from those sins and avert the penalty which is their due. It is necessary that we put our faith in Christ and obey His gospel. Without this response His work will not avail us. We will continue to suffer the weakness that leads to sin, and practice the sin that leads to eternal death.
