God is The Saviour of All Mankind -
Yet why don't most Christians really believe this?
By
Gerry Watts
In this article (or treatise), I'm going to state plainly and simply, without going into long detailed explanations, what I know God's Word declares about His plan and purpose for ALL humanity - which is, simply put, that He will save and reconcile ALL His enemies. I'm going to be bold and unflinching in declaring what I know to be true, and I feel very strongly about it, perhaps more than any other subject. If you wish to seek out these things in more detail, and see the evidence laid out in more depth, then I would suggest that you take a look at the many articles on this site which will help you in this regard. Links to some of these articles are included below. I will break things down into two parts: The Message and The Good News and Divine Logic. This second part gives 7 points that reveals the Divine Logic to prove that God will ultimately save all mankind - which is the Good News.
The Message
The Church (or more accurately, Christendom or the Christian religion, which includes the true people of God, the Body of Christ, as Wheat amongst the darnel) is under a great burden of grief, particularly those who have truly had the love of God poured into their hearts by His Holy Spirit. This huge load of depression and grief is primarily due to one thing - namely, the belief in Eternal Torment in Hell for all unbelievers. Anyone, with any love in their heart, who seriously takes the time to really dwell on this awful doctrine, one of the worst doctrines to ever enter the beliefs of any religion, it will be sure to drive you to such a place of torment and sorrow, to be virtually unbearable. This grief and pain will naturally overwhelm any real sense of joy brought about by hearing the Gospel - the Good News of God in Jesus Christ! I know......because I was in that place once, many years ago.
Many have turned away from God because of this diabolical doctrine - and in some respects, I don't blame them! It is interesting to note that Charles Darwin called Everlasting Punishment "a damnable doctrine" - and He was right! (See An Enlightening Quote from Charles Darwin). It is the height of injustice to believe that a loving and just God, Who has already paid the price for Sin and Death in Christ's Sacrifice on the cross, and Who alone is Sovereign over ALL things, would then condemn the majority of His stubborn children (who are all in Adam) to a sickening place of torture and torment from which there is no escape........EVER! If this were truly the case, then ultimately there is no hope for the majority of mankind who die not knowing Christ......even though they ultimately had no choice in the matter in the first place, because they weren't amongst 'the Chosen ones!' Scripture clearly talks about believers being chosen before sin even entered the world!
'...according as He chooses us in Him before the disruption of the world, we to be holy and flawless in His sight, in love designating us beforehand for the place of a son for Him through Christ Jesus.....in Him in Whom our lot was cast also, being designated beforehand according to the purpose of the One Who is operating all in accord with the counsel of His will...'
(Ephesians 1:4-5, 11 CV)
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him....No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
(John 6:44; Matthew 11:27 NIV)
And what about those throughout history who have never heard the truth that is in Christ, not to mention babies and children and mentally impaired people? Will God burn alive the most hideous criminal along with the good, kind people of this earth (who often live a life of love more than the majority of the religious) without making any distinction in their sentence? This would make a mockery of the truth that 'all will be judged in accordance with their acts.' (Revelation 20:12-13). And what about those who have suffered awful, horrific things in this world due to the wickedness of others? Are they about to face even worse torture and suffering in Hell - that will never end - just because they don't know Christ or because they belong to another religion in which they were raised as children? There are numerous questions that could be legitimately raised here - and Christians need to face them head on and not keep avoiding them.
Now......if the Hell doctrine is true, then all of this makes God out to be worse than any human dictator or tyrant that has ever walked this planet! Would any sane father torture his child 'forever' in an oven, just because they were stubborn! I think not......unless they are seriously sick in the head! Therefore, if we, though we are inherently wicked, know how to treat our children with love, mercy and grace, even when using corrective discipline or chastening, HOW MUCH MORE THEN will the Father treat His stubborn children justly - even in His wrath.
And talking of being a little ill in the head, I recently saw a documentary on BBC in which Louis Theroux (a journalist) spent some time with the Westboro Baptist Church Family in Kansas, USA. Basically, they came across as a very disturbed family in some respects, many of whom are very angry and hateful, and very proud and arrogant. They have a real issue against homosexuals and the US military, and they go around picketing military funerals, amongst other roadside places, waving banners that say things like 'God hates Fags' 'Thank God for 9/11' and many other antagonising things about, what they see as, God's 'judgments' - and of course, they love talking about Hell, somewhat very casually at times. They seemed to believe that virtually everyone except them is going to Hell forever - and they were very glad about that - though they had to warn people first! This is a prime example of religious madness - even though many of them seemed quite 'normal' in other ways - and it became clear to me that this is the real fruit of believing in the doctrine of Eternal Hellfire. It leads to a form of insanity and spiritual blindness.
Now I'm not saying that I agree with sin and lawlessness - far from it - and I believe that there is a place for God's wrath against all wickedness (and there is a huge amount of sexual perversion in the world today that will need to be judged, pedophilia being one of the worst), nevertheless, the ultimate message of the Bible is one of Love and Grace. It is this Love and Grace that will eventually triumph over all sin and death. The truth is: the more you understand the Light, the more you hate the darkness - but the darkness is not so much 'out there' - it is in our own hearts. And Love conquers all!
In fact, even though I don't agree with everything that Louis Theroux does on his programs, in this instance he was making far more sense than the 'Christians' - and he certainly had a little more insight then they! Yet this kind of attitude and behavior from those claming to be Christians is extremely sad - and also very sickening! Every Bible-believing Christian should take a long, hard look at what they really believe - particularly about Eternal Hell. The doctrine of Eternal Torment in Hell can only lead to bad fruit, for it is not based on a spirit of love and righteousness and justice. As Jesus said, "Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks." He also said the following, which those at Westboro Baptist Church should take to heart.
He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts (evil reasonings), sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "
(Mark 7:20-23 NIV)
The common objection by preachers and teachers to the statement that 'Hell is unjust and unbiblical, and it doesn't exist' is 'Well, it's in the Bible....so are you arguing with God? Do you think you know better than God? Sorry, mate, but you're in grave heresy!' This objection is, in fact, a cover-up for their ignorance, whether deliberate or not, of the true nature of God and His wonderful plan of salvation. Jesus showed us the full extent of the Father's love, grace and mercy while He was on earth......and do you think He will then blatantly contradict all He taught about 'forgiving and loving your enemies' while he torments them in hell-fire forever? He would be the greatest hypocrite of them all.....if this were truly the case, which, thank God, it isn't!
Scripture, especially the NT, is particularly clear about the fact that God loves ALL and He is the Saviour of ALL. And, yes, it also speaks of judgment and condemnation, and there are a number of texts that speak of 'the fire of Gehenna' and Hades, the place of the dead. There is also mention of 'eternal punishment' and 'everlasting destruction' etc, etc......BUT THESE WORDS AND PHRASES HAVE TO BE UNDERSTOOD IN THE ORIGINAL GREEK LANGUAGE THROUGH ACCURATE TRANSLATION, AND THEN SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED. The advice of Paul in 2 Timothy 2:15 to 'rightly divide the word of truth' needs to be particularly applied here, perhaps more so than any other doctrine.
The truth is this: Jesus, nor the apostles, ever mentioned the traditional 'Hell' or 'fiery Underworld' which, in fact, originated from the various idolatrous religions of the nations, as far back as ancient Egypt. The only time in which Jesus appeared to speak of a fiery underworld is in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. But we must realise that this is a parable and it is loaded with figurative language, some of which Jesus had deliberately borrowed from the teachings of the Rabbi's to emphasise His point about the judgment to come. Nevertheless, it is not to be taken literally, as some think.
And secondly, the Latinized English words 'forever, everlasting, eternal,' etc, are NOT the intended meaning of the original Hebrew and Greek words and phrases usually mistranslated as such. (For further information, see Is There Really a Hell?). For those who wish to see some examples where the original Hebrew and Greek words (olam and aeonian) are clearly NOT everlasting, click Here.
In the ancient East, and especially throughout the Bible, Time was viewed more in terms of a circle or figure of 8 in which there is a beginning and an end and a beginning again. Put another way, Time is like the sea, if you will, where the distant horizon and all beyond it is obscure. As you travel onwards, whether you look backward (into the past) or forward (into the future), the horizon of Time remains obscure. The Hebrew word olam (commonly rendered forever, everlasting, etc) essentially means obscure or hidden, something that cannot be seen, or something indefinite (This is made evident in Strong's Concordance). The thought of Eternity in a literal, linear sense is not taught in the original Scriptures, nor is the notion that Time will end and Eternity will commence. The nearest it gets to talking of 'forever' is, for example, saying '...of His kingdom there shall be no end.' This truly is Infinity. In fact, the words 'forever' and 'eternity' are commonly used today to mean something that lasts a long time or something that goes on indefinitely. For example, 'It seemed like forever' or 'I had to wait an eternity' or 'that was ages ago.' This is the way it should be understood in the Bible.
Nevertheless, Scripture does reveal that God has a Purpose and Destination for the Ages (or Eons) of Time, and everything that belongs to the eons is called (transliterated from the Greek) Eonian. For further study, see God's Plan of The Ages and How Many Ages are There? ; and concerning various translations of the Bible that are more faithful to the Original, see The Concordant Version.
Also, there isn't any mention of 'Hell' or Gehenna in the book of Acts, or Paul's writings, or Peter's writings. If the doctrine of Eternal Hellfire is so important and necessary to the preaching of the gospel, then why don't we find it clearly presented by the Apostles and the early Church? That's because this doctrine was not a part of the original gospel of grace.
What is taught, though (particularly through Paul), is that ALL mankind are under the condemnation of the First Death, brought about by the First Adam, and only through Christ can anyone escape the Second Death. ALL mankind are in the First Death right now, in this life. Yet believers, as Firstborn sons, have crossed over from Death to Life; that is, even now, in spirit, they are Firstfruits of a New Humanity and a New Creation; and these 'overcomers' are the only ones who are promised not to be injured by the Second Death (Revelation 2:11).
Anyone who wishes to know the truth in this matter can search these things out. Yet the majority of preachers and teachers today (and this has largely been the case since the time of the 4th Century AD, when the era of the Latin Church Fathers began) have a serious case of 'selective hearing.' What I mean by that is this. When it comes to numerous other doctrines, some of which are 'pet' doctrines, they readily present the facts for us to chew over, and they carefully and meticulously examine the original words and phrases of the Hebrew and Greek, bringing out all possible meaning, to clarify and prove their point.......yet when it comes to our present subject of Eternal Hell, they do the very opposite by rejecting the hard facts, whereby they continue to say "Jesus spoke the most about Hell, and all unbelievers are going there.....It's in the Bible!"
I saw a classic example of this earlier today as I was briefly flicking through the Christian TV channels on Sky. This preacher was talking on the Book of Revelation and he was bringing out some interesting facts.....until he started talking about the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. Then he went drastically downhill in relation to truth and sound interpretation. The other thing that really disturbed me was that while he was contemplating such a serious subject as this, he made jokes about people knowing about Hell as soon as they get there! This light-hearted, confused, black humour (or whatever you want to call it) had most of the audience laughing and clapping! What the HELL is that about? It's blatant, cold-hearted mockery is what it is! I think the reason preachers make light of it sometimes, with most Christians doing the same thing, is because, if you dwell on it long enough, the harsh reality of this abominable doctrine would drive you insane and totally rob you of your joy! Where's the Good News in that!
Think about all your family and friends, not to mention the suffering mass of humanity, who, according to this sickening 'traditional' doctrine, if they are not true followers of Christ, will be eternally separated from the good things of God for eternity.....and you will never see your loved ones ever again! WHAT KIND OF GOOD NEWS IS THAT?! WHERE'S THE VICTORY OF CHRIST JESUS IN THAT!? WHAT KIND OF GOD IS THAT!?
That is not the God and Father I know. And it is not the Jesus I know. The Good News or Gospel really is GOOD NEWS! God's Name is being brought into disrepute amongst the nations because of this awful doctrine of Eternal Hell, whereby He is commonly portrayed as an angry tyrannical monster who has lost sight of true love and justice.
'As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles (nations) because of you.'
"And now what do I have here?" declares the LORD.
"For my people have been taken away for nothing,
and those who rule them mock,"
declares the LORD.
"And all day long
my name is constantly blasphemed.Therefore my people will know my name;
therefore in that day they will know
that it is I who foretold it.
Yes, it is I."How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
"Your God reigns!"(Romans 2:24 and Isaiah 52:5-7 NIV)
Yet, in the same way as Israel refused to believe that God would bless the nations, so the Church refuses to believe that God will bless all mankind. And one of the root causes of the ignorance and denial of this wonderful truth by most Christians, especially the leaders, is self-righteousness and pride - as well as the fear of man. They want to boast before the Lord that they chose to be saved so they can take pride in the fact that they are now amongst God's elite people who are going to heaven......while the rest are going to hell. I've heard many Christians say to me, "If all will be saved, then what's the point in being a Christian, going to church, etc, etc." They are really missing the point of why Jesus died AND rose again, and what the purpose of life is truly all about. (See The Purpose of Life). We are to be Royal Priests, Royal Sons of God, ruling over, and serving, the rest in the ages to come, bringing chastening AND ultimate reconciliation between God and mankind.
Yet ultimately, NO ONE can boast before God for their faith or choice or even their good works. It really is a level playing field....ground zero for all.
'But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.'
(Ephesians 2:4-10 NIV)
Another common objection to the teaching of the salvation of all is that 'it waters down the gospel and discourages evangelism.' This couldn't be further from the truth! In fact, it is the belief in Hell that actually waters down the gospel because the tough discipleship teaching of Jesus (when taken seriously, as it should be) would mean that, in reality, only a small portion of 'Christians' will actually be saved as overcomers! Therefore, the NT teaching has to be toned down a bit to make sure as many get saved from the 'fiery Hell' as possible. The result is abused grace, lawlessness, and error! And, secondly, in no way should it discourage evangelism because ALL need to hear the gospel of the kingdom, because this is the only way anyone gets to hear about Jesus the Messiah (Romans 10:12-15). We (that is, believers) have something that everyone needs - a Messiah and Saviour! And ALL will be held accountable before God for how they've lived....so judgment is coming and people need to hear about it! Yet it is only as we are led by the Spirit of God can we do ANY good work for God - and it is only God who saves anyone anyway!
I have seen a number of TV evangelists who, for the most part, are in such a mental and emotional state of turmoil and obvious torment due to the Hell doctrine that they come across as emotionally and mentally unstable, doing everything possible to save people by ranting and raving, shouting and screaming, crying, begging, getting angry, etc! Is this how Jesus and the apostles really behaved? Not to my knowledge they didn't! There isn't any peace in such a state of mind and soul.......and this is not the ideal behaviour of an ambassador of Christ, who truly knows the Love and Sovereignty of the Father.
The Good News and Divine Logic
Here is the Good News laid out plainly for all to see. All you have to do is follow the Divine Reason or Wisdom - and believe!
1) God is the Saviour of ALL mankind, especially of believers, and Christ's atoning Sacrifice is concerned with the sins of the whole world. Therefore, through the cross, Christ will draw all mankind to Himself.
"Faithful is the saying and worthy of all welcome (for for this are we toiling and being reproached), that we rely on the living God, Who is the Saviour of all mankind, especially of believers. These things be charging and teaching."
(1 Timothy 4:9-11 CV)
We are told here in no uncertain terms that God is the Saviour of ALL mankind. This is a 'faithful saying and worthy of all welcome,' and Paul tells Timothy to be 'teaching these things.' We are NOT told that God is the possible Saviour or potential Saviour......No.....He IS the Saviour of ALL mankind. We are NOT told that he is the Saviour of some of mankind, but of ALL MANKIND.
Now.....if God is the Saviour of ALL mankind.....then He has to actually save ALL mankind to be the Saviour of ALL mankind....otherwise, simply put, He is not the Saviour of ALL mankind at all! He either is the Saviour of ALL or He isn't! Now, this is not that complicated to understand and believe, is it?
And we are also told that God is especially the Saviour of believers. It does NOT say solely or only of believers......but especially of believers. This is because believers are the special, chosen portion of mankind that will rule with Christ in the ages to come, and they will be given age-abiding (or eonian) life. This is the life of the Kingdom ages to come, promised only to believers. To put it another way - this LIFE is immortality.
Here are some other texts that declare that God, through Christ, is the Saviour of ALL.
".....now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world." (John 4:42 NIV)
"But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." (John 12:32 NIV)
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world....God is love. (1 John 4:14, 16b NIV)
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2 NIV)
'For thus God loves the world, so that He gives His only-begotten Son, that everyone who is believing in Him should not be perishing, but may be having life eonian.....He who is believing in the Son has life eonian, yet he who is stubborn as to the Son shall not be seeing life, but the indignation (wrath) of God is remaining on him." (John 3:16, 36 CV)
In this last text, the classic John 3:16, we see how it shows the Greek tenses, as it reads in the Concordant Literal Version, that God loves the world. That is, whether in the past, the present, or the future, the fact remains that God LOVES the WORLD! This will never, ever change because 'God is LOVE.' And, according to 1 Corinthians 13:7-8, LOVE NEVER ENDS or GIVES UP.
This means that, even though His wrath or indignation will remain on the stubborn ones in the coming ages, so that they shall not be seeing life during that time, while they are receiving their chastening judging, nevertheless, God will never stop loving them.....and He will eventually save them. This is Good News! (By the way, Matthew 25:46 which usually reads 'eternal punishment' should read more accurately 'eonian chastening.' There are a number of other texts that refer to this chastening judging. For further study, see The First Resurrection and Judgment and the Second Resurrection and Judgment).
In the meantime, believers shall not be perishing when the Day of the Lord arrives nor shall they be perishing in the Second Death, but they shall be enjoying age-abiding life (more on the Second Death later for those who don't know what it is). This 'perishing' that is mentioned above must be something much more than just dying, for even believers physically die, though they are promised eonian life (...has life eonian) when Christ returns. Therefore, the perishing, the wrath remaining on them, not seeing life, the second Death, etc, are all referring to the same thing - the 'eonian (age-abiding) chastening' mentioned in Matthew 25:46 and elsewhere.
2) God wills (or chooses or decides or wants or purposes) that ALL mankind be saved and come into a full realisation of the truth that is in Christ Jesus.
'...our Saviour, God, Who wills that all mankind be saved and come into a realization of the truth.'
(1 Timothy 2:4 CV)
'He is patient with you, not wanting (lit. intending) anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.'
(2 Peter 3:9 NIV)
Now, who's will or choice or decision or intention is Supreme - God's or man's?
The simple answer: God's Will, of course!
Jesus taught His followers to pray 'God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.' Ultimately, God's Will will be done for He is truly the Almighty God and Creator of ALL, the Sovereign of the Universe. He is operating all things in accord with the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11). Therefore, during the ages to come, ALL mankind will eventually be saved through repentance and faith in Christ Jesus because...... God wills it! In fact, contrary to what is usually believed and taught by the majority of Christians, Scripture never talks of God's creatures having an absolute 'free will.' That is an illusion! Our wills are relative to higher powers - particularly God's power! God is The Potter, and we are the clay! He really is Supreme! For further study, see Almighty God versus Almighty Self and Is our 'Free Will' really a Free Will?
3) There will be a Restoration or Renewal of all things, leading into a New Creation. This will be achieved during the glorious Kingdom ages to come, called 'the ages of the ages.' This Restoration of all creation shall truly begin when Messiah Jesus returns to this earth in the much-prophesied Day of the Lord. When this occurs, the whole of creation will be liberated from its bondage to corruption and brought into the freedom of the children of God, as the sons of God are revealed. These sons, along with The Son of God, are the firstfruits of a spiritual new humanity, a new creation.
"The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God...Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."
(Romans 8:19-23 NIV)
"He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as He promised long ago through His holy prophets."(Acts 3:21 NIV)
"...at the renewal of all things when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne..."(Matthew 19:28 NIV)
4) This Restoration of all, mentioned above, will ultimately lead to Universal Reconciliation, meaning that ALL creatures in the heavens and ALL on the earth shall be reconciled to God through the cross. This is the Father's ultimate goal and purpose for ALL His creation, for ALL those originally made in His image.
"And He is the Head of the body, the ecclesia, Who is Sovereign, Firstborn from among the dead, that in all He may be becoming first, for in Him the entire complement delights to dwell, and through Him (i.e. Christ) to reconcile all to Him (i.e. God) (making peace through the blood of His cross), through Him, whether those on the earth or those in the heavens."
(Colossians 1:18-20 CV)
This awesome text of scripture, written by the Apostle Paul, clearly states that Christ Jesus, the King of all kings, the Firstborn of a new humanity, risen from among the dead, is the Channel through Whom God will reconcile ALL to Himself. This Reconciliation is achieved by making peace through the sacrificial blood of Christ's cross. That is, the price for humanity's original sin-debt in Adam has been paid in full! The Mission has been accomplished! (John 19:30). God is now conciliated to the world, not reckoning their offences to them - although justice is still coming on the sons of stubbornness to pay them in accordance with their acts or works.
'For there is one God, and one Mediator of God and mankind, a Man, Christ Jesus, Who is giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for all (the testimony in its own eras)...'
(1 Timothy 2:5-6 CV)
"For the love of Christ is constraining us, judging this, that, if One died for the sake of all, consequently all died... So that, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: the primitive passed by. Lo! there has come new! Yet all is of God, Who conciliates us to Himself through Christ, and is giving us the dispensation of the conciliation, how that God was in Christ, conciliating the world to Himself, not reckoning their offenses to them, and placing in us the word of the conciliation. For Christ, then, are we ambassadors, as of God entreating through us. We are beseeching for Christ's sake, "Be conciliated to God!"
(2 Corinthians 5:14, 17-20 CV)
Now, going back to Colossians 1:18-20, we are told very clearly who the recipients of this Reconciliation are - they are 'all those in the heavens and all those on the earth.' This is evidently referring to ALL those who are inherently estranged from God, and are therefore His enemies, hence, they need to be reconciled to God as Father. That is, all spiritual beings in the heavens and all mankind on the earth will ultimately be reconciled to God - and this is Universal Reconciliation. In case anyone has any doubt as to its meaning, or you may think that it's taken out of context or something, read the preceding verses of Colossians 1:15-17. The whole of creation is in view, not just believers. The position of believers is being considered in verses 21-23.
5) All who are dying in Adam (that is, ALL humanity) shall also be resurrected to life in Christ (that is, ALL humanity), but each in his own order, not all at once. Only true believers, who are Overcomers in Christ, are promised a part in the First Resurrection, which will occur at Christ's Return.
"For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified (made alive). Yet each in his own class..."
(1 Corinthians 15:22-23 CV)
"Consequently, just as the result of one trespass (offence) was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness (one just award) was justification that brings life for all men. 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 (just)."
(Romans 5:18-19 NIV)
Paul now makes it very clear as to what he has been saying so far. You can't get much clearer than this! It's amazing that so many Christians refuse to see this and instead they try to change the intended meaning. It is a simple equation that a child could understand.
One man, Adam, brought condemnation to all mankind as the result of his one offence.
One man, Adam, disobeyed and as a result the rest of mankind, the many, were made sinners.
Now on the other side we have this.
One Man, Jesus, will bring life and justification to all mankind as the result of His one act of righteousness (or one just award).
One Man, Jesus, obeyed and as a result the rest of mankind, the very same many as are affected by the First Adam, will be made righteous.
Now take careful note here of the clear parallels in Romans 5:18-19: that the ONE man, Adam, is contrasted with the One Man, Jesus; and ALL of mankind are clearly said to be the MANY. So the MANY = ALL MANKIND, while both Adam and Jesus are singled out as the ONE: Adam being Head of the Old Humanity, and Christ being Head of the New Humanity, both representing Firstborn Sons. Yet the MANY, ALL MANKIND, who have suffered the consequences of Sin and Death because of Adam, shall also be justified, that is, made righteous, and given LIFE because of Christ!
THIS IS THE GOOD NEWS! THIS IS THE HAPPY EVANGEL OF GOD'S GRACE! THIS IS THE GOSPEL OF GOD AND THE LORD JESUS CHRIST! This is what Christ's suffering and Sacrifice has achieved!