Romans 5:18

The context

This verse states the Adam and Christ parallel in its most compressed form, after several verses that have already drawn it out at length. Paul has spoken of the free gift and the abundance of grace, and he now puts the two representative acts side by side. The sentence continues into a further contrast in the next verse.

What it establishes

Paul presents the two figures as representative: one act brought a verdict on all, and one act brings a verdict that makes many righteous. The structure of the argument depends on that correspondence.

What it does not establish

The parallel is not exact and the scope of all is disputed. Paul himself qualifies the comparison in the next verses, and whether the second all matches the first in extent is precisely the point argued by universalists and their critics.

Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• How exactly does the death of Jesus secure salvation for anyone when the deaths of countless others matter not a bit in this regard?

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.