{17} Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto {x} justification of life.

(17) Therefore, to be short, as by one man's offence the guiltiness came on all men to make them subject to death, so on the opposite side, the righteousness of Christ, which by God's mercy is imputed to all believers, justifies them, that they may become partakers of everlasting life.

(x) Not only because our sins are forgiven us, but also because the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us.

People's New Testament

5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one. By Adam's offense, which brought the sentence of death on all our race.

Even so by the righteousness of one. Jesus Christ.

The free gift came upon all to justification of life. This passage shows that Christ's death brought for all men that had been lost by Adam's sin. Adam's sin brought (1) Natural death. (2) Spiritual death to all who continued in sin. Christ's death brings (1) Life for all. All shall be resurrected from the dead. (2) Therefore it brings the full pardon of the sin of our race in Adam. (3) Therefore all infants and irresponsible persons are now sinless. (4) It brings eternal life to all who are freed from Adam's sin, and have no personal sins of their own. (5) It brings the opportunity of forgiveness of personal sins through the gospel, and hence, of securing eternal life.

Wesley's Notes

5:18 Justification of life - Is that sentence of God, by which a sinner under sentence of death is adjudged to life.

King James Translators' Notes

by the offence...: or, by one offence

by the righteousness...: or, by one righteousness

Scofield Reference Notes

Margin offence

Sin. See Scofield Note: "Rom 3:23".

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

18. Therefore-now at length resuming the unfinished comparison of Ro 5:12, in order to give formally the concluding member of it, which had been done once and again substantially, in the intermediate verses.

as by the offence of one judgment came-or, more simply, "it came."

upon all men to condenmation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came-rather, "it came."

upon all men to justification of life-(So Calvin, Bengel, Olshausen, Tholuck, Hodge, Philippi). But better, as we judge: "As through one offense it [came] upon all men to condemnation; even so through one righteousness [it came] upon all men to justification of life"-(So Beza, Grotius, Ferme, Meyer, De Wette, Alford, Revised Version). In this case, the apostle, resuming the statement of Ro 5:12, expresses it in a more concentrated and vivid form-suggested no doubt by the expression in Ro 5:16, "through one offense," representing Christ's whole work, considered as the ground of our justification, as "ONE RIGHTEOUSNESS." (Some would render the peculiar word here employed, "one righteous act" [Alford, &c.]; understanding by it Christ's death as the one redeeming act which reversed the one undoing act of Adam. But this is to limit the apostle's idea too much; for as the same word is properly rendered "righteousness" in Ro 8:4, where it means "the righteousness of the law as fulfilled by us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit," so here it denotes Christ's whole "obedience unto death," considered as the one meritorious ground of the reversal of the condemnation which came by Adam. But on this, and on the expression, "all men," see on [2200]Ro 5:19. The expression "justification of life," is a vivid combination of two ideas already expatiated upon, meaning "justification entitling to and issuing in the rightful possession and enjoyment of life").

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:15-19 Through one man's offence, all mankind are exposed to eternal condemnation. But the grace and mercy of God, and the free gift of righteousness and salvation, are through Jesus Christ, as man: yet the Lord from heaven has brought the multitude of believers into a more safe and exalted state than that from which they fell in Adam. This free gift did not place them anew in a state of trial, but fixed them in a state of justification, as Adam would have been placed, had he stood. Notwithstanding the differences, there is a striking similarity. As by the offence of one, sin and death prevailed to the condemnation of all men, so by the righteousness of one, grace prevailed to the justification of all related to Christ by faith. Through the grace of God, the gift by grace has abounded to many through Christ; yet multitudes choose to remain under the dominion of sin and death, rather than to apply for the blessings of the reign of grace. But Christ will in nowise cast out any who are willing to come to him.