Adam & Christ

There are some who say that everyone goes to Heaven when they die. They’re called Universalists. They point to Romans 5:18: “Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.” Certainly, every single person is a sinner because of Adam’s sin. But not every single person becomes justified because of Christ’s atonement. Christ’s atonement is not for all, otherwise the Gospel is totally unnecessary. Why bother preaching the Gospel and being a martyr for Christ, if in the long run, all will be saved? Paul certainly did not think that all men would be saved. His simile with Adam & Christ is not a perfect similitude. The two are not alike in every way. This passage is just a sort of decorative literary device used by the apostle to make his writing a bit more pleasing to the reader. Paul was educated (no doubt in linguistics and persuasive speech), and he is showing some of his education here.

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