Unlimited: Many Made Righteous
Sep 28, 2022 956
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous (Romans 5:19).
Paul now makes the connection between the first and second Adams through their obedience. The first Adam disobeyed and many were made sinners. The second Adam (Christ) obeyed and many will be made righteous.
The story of the disobedience of the first Adam is well known to us. But what of the obedience of the second Adam? What is the obedience of Christ to which Paul is referring?
Have you been made righteous by Christ?
I used to think that this referred to the entire life of obedience which Jesus lived while on earth. I used to think that this was what saved us, specifically since he had given us an example of how to live obediently to God, and as we followed that example, we would be saved. But how wrong I was!
The “obedience” of Christ in this verse must obviously refer to the “death” of the Son (v.9) and the “righteous act” (v.18) where exactly the same parallelism is being used in the argument. Christ’s obedience refers clearly to the obedience of the cross (Phil 2:8). This is Christ’s great saving act, and the basis of our salvation – and nothing else.
Spiritual Application
Have you been made righteous by Christ? The only way you can be “made” righteous is when Christ’s righteousness is credited to your account.
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