This is not Universalism
RO61-02

So, this is a very critical area of Scripture. But I'll also tell you that it's one of the toughest areas for exegesis. This is hard, hard digging. It is a very important section. It has vital implications to you personally and eternally. And it has a depth that is not easy just to lay out very quickly.

Well, this certainly, in any case, is a high point in the divine revelation recorded by the genius of the apostle Paul under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We've been looking now at verses 18-19. Verses 18-19 are a final summary statement of the divine plan for resolving the human sin problem which Paul has been explaining all along in verses 12-17. And it would seem that we could get now to verses 18-19, and just go lickety sizzle through them. And lo and behold, there are such vast implications in verses 18-19, that that is not the case. And we cannot breeze through these either.

So, in the last session, we began first 18. This begins by stating that condemnation to hell came upon all mankind because of one original sin by Adam. We would translate the first phrase of verse 18 in this way. (It needs a little change from your King James translation). It literally, in the Greek says, "So then, as by means of one transgression upon all mankind unto condemnation." You may say, "That sounds a little rough. That sounds like words have been left out." That's exactly what has happened. You will remember that this is a technique in the Greek language for putting the emphasis upon certain points. They do it by what's called elliptical construction (an abbreviated construction – an abbreviated expression) where they simply leave out words. And you have to put those in. They're words that are understood that you supply. But because they're not actually there on the page, what is on the page stands out.

So, again, literally it says, "So then, as by means of one transgression upon all mankind unto condemnation." Now if we're going to smooth that out, we indeed will have to add a few words. And then it would read in this way: "So then, as by means of one transgression, there resulted condemnation to all mankind." That feels better, and it conveys exactly what the Greek is saying. We just add the words "there resulted: "So then, as by means of one transgression, there resulted condemnation to all mankind." This, of course, is a reference to the original sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden, where he ate the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Fall

By divine reckoning, we have also found, from exploring other Scripture, that God viewed Adam as a representative of mankind. That's why what he did is credited to our account. He was acting as the representative of all mankind. The result was that every human being born since that time shares the guilt of Adam's fall. So, condemnation, we've been taught in this passage, comes upon all men. We share his fall because he was acting as our representative. Furthermore, we are descended from him. Therefore, we have a seminal transference of what he became to each of us.

A person is destined for hell, in other words, on the basis of moral guilt, which has been imputed to him, not from his own personal sins. Again I must stress to you that 2 Corinthians 5:19 tells us what God is doing with all personal sins: "To wit that God was in Christ reconciling the world." That meant making the world adjustable to Himself – changing the lost world of humanity so that it could again face God, and come into full fellowship with Him. God was reconciling the world unto Himself: "Not imputing their trespasses onto them, and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation." So, the word that we have is: "Tell me your dirtiest sins." I don't really want you to do that, but you think about your dirtiest sins. They're meaningless with God because the death of Christ has carried every one of them as far as East is from the West; buried them in the deepest sea; and, you shall never know or never hear of them, or never see them again. God has taken your personal sins, and imputed them to Jesus Christ. So, they're gone. That's no issue.

The Old Sin Nature

However, by the judgment of God, the woman Eve sinned in ignorance. Therefore, she was tricked into sinning. It was not her deliberate wish to sin. She was deceived by Satan. So, God has kept the one cell in the female body free from the old sin nature. That cell is the ovum with these 23 pure chromosomes. But on the Father's side, the 23 chromosomes contain the genes of the old sin nature. So, the old sin nature is genetically transferred through the father to the child.

Every book on biology has on its very pages the explanation of the virgin birth. In most schools you'll study biology, and the biology teacher won't understand enough about this subject to be able to teach the children why it is that Jesus Christ could be born without a sin nature, and without the thing that's attached to the sin nature, which is Adam's guilt. Adam's guilt is attached to the sin nature. Adam's guilt is one thing. The sin nature is another thing. The two are different. And personal since here are a third thing.

Now the issue with God is that every one of us is born into the human race genetically with the old sin nature. Upon that sin nature, there is Adam's guilt. So, we come into the human race destined for hell. And it is only because God took the virgin Mary and brought a supernatural pregnancy upon her through the fertilization of her pure ovum by God the Holy Spirit. And the result was that a man came into the human race, as Adam originally was. Jesus Christ was born with every cell in His body completely free from the old sin nature.

All the other cells in a woman's body are not free from the old sin nature. Every other cell in a woman's body has the 46 chromosomes. And every cell in her body carries the old sin nature genetically. Only that one cell is completely free within her structure from the old sin nature, and thus Jesus Christ was able to be born as the last Adam, completely free of original sin. Having started free of the sin nature, he did not have that corruption. Having consequently been free from Adam's guilt, which is attached to the sin nature, and having lived His whole life without ever committing a single personal sin, when He came to the cross, He was indeed the perfect Lamb of God, and the only one who could possibly have been qualified to have died for the sins of the world.

Adam's guilt comes to you directly by imputation, and that is why you die physically. That's physical death. Because you are born with an old sin nature, that is why you die spiritually. At the point that you take your first breath, that life hits the body, which has genetically in it the old sin nature, and you go out spiritually like a light. You die immediately. So, you are born physically alive, and you are born spiritually dead. The reason you die physically is because of the ultimate guilt of Adam's sin, which is upon you.

I don't know that we can push this too far, but perhaps we have here a clue as to why Jesus Christ had to die both spiritually and physically in order to provide salvation for us. He died spiritually in order to pay for the spiritual death imposed upon us by the old sin nature genetically within our bodies. He died physically in order to remove the condemnation of Adam's guilt, which was imputed to each of us because of the old sin nature that we inherited from Adam.

It may be that here we have another indication that the death of Christ for our sins required both His spiritual and His physical death. And it may be that each section of His provision deals with this specific area. So, when Jesus died spiritually: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" separated from God the Father and God the Holy Spirit from high noon to 3:00 PM in the afternoon, bearing the sins of the world; bearing the guilt; bearing the old sin nature; and, bearing all of our personal sins and wiping them all out in that time, He died spiritually. He was separated from God the Father, and in that way paid for the spiritual death imposed by our old sin nature. When He died physically then, upon declaring that all was now completed and finished, He paid for the physical death that was imposed upon us by Adam's guilt.

Well, the result of all this is going to be that death is going to be wiped out. He is going to reverse all death. All human death is going to be reversed. All humanity will be resurrected. This extends even to those who have rejected Christ as Savior. They too will be resurrected. But when they're resurrected, they will be resurrected in spiritual death, because the old sin nature genetic structure will still be in their bodies. For this reason, the body will be called a body of corruption. Our bodies now are bodies of corruption, because they have this death-dealing device in our genetic structure. The time will come, the Bible tells us, when we will be resurrected with an incorruptible body – a body of incorruption. Why? Because this is the corruptible feature – the old sin nature. And our bodies will then be genetically free of that sin nature factor.

So, we look forward to a very different physical construction – the very physical situation that will come upon us then. All of the physical ills that you have and all the problems physically that we face are because of this genetic feature within us. If we could remove this from the genetic structure of a human being, we'd wipe out all the disease effects, and all the human breakdown effects, and everything else that assails us physically. It is that sin nature gene within the cells of the human body that are the death-dealing factor.

All right, Jesus Christ, then, was the exception to this whole system. He alone was free from the old sin nature genetic defect, and consequently, that which went along with the old sin nature – the imposition of the guilt from Adam's sin. So, because He did not have a human father, He was a human being that bypassed the old sin nature and Adam's guilt.

Verse 18 begins by making a comparison with the word "as." As we have already seen, it has indicated that there is a comparison here. Let's look at it again. Our translation is, "So then, as by means of one transgression, there resulted condemnation to all mankind." That's the first part of a comparison. Now we begin the second phrase of verse 18, which is the other part of the comparison – the concluding part. It begins with the words "Even so." The word "even" is the Greek preposition "kai." It introduces the completion of the comparison which had been previously introduced by the word "as." The word "so" is the word "houtos." That means "in this way." These first two words are looking back to the first phrase of this sentence: "As something was done in connection with Adam, so also" ("even so").

Now there is something in comparison to Christ: "Even so, by." And the word "by" is again the same word we've had before: "dia." "Dia" here means "by means of." It indicates the cause of justification. As previously we had a "dia" in the first phrase that indicated the cause of condemnation, so then, by means of one transgression (condemnation), now we have "by means of" something else.

Again, we've got a kind of a scrambled translation if you're reading from the King James Version. The King James Version at this point says, "The righteousness of one." But the Greek actually says, "One righteousness," meaning one act of righteousness. And that's how it should be translated. The word "one" is this Greek word for the number one: "heis," referring to a single act of Jesus Christ on the cross for the sins of the world. It is "one righteousness." And we have the word "dikaioma." "Dikaioma" is a word that indicates a result. We know that from this ending on this word: "ma." You'll never in the world discover that from reading the English Bible.

A very important truth is conveyed in these verses . . . that again tells us fantastic things about God's process of saving a human being. It's all structured upon endings of words. Any Greek who read it caught them. He saw them on the page, and he saw the balance of these words one against another. But in English, it's not possible to show that. But I just want you to notice, first of all, the one righteousness (the one act of righteousness) is described with a word that has this "ma" ending. The thing that's important about the "ma" ending is that it always indicates result. It does not indicate an action. It indicates a completed result. The stress is upon the fact that Jesus Christ completed an act of righteousness on the cross, which was in keeping with the demands of divine integrity.

Now there is another word for "righteousness." It looks like this: "dikaiosis:" "dikaioma" over against "dikaiosis." Notice the "sis" ending. That is a critical indicator to us because "sis" talks about action, while "ma" talks about results. Both of these words, you're going to discover, are used in this verse. But right now we're stressing the fact that there was one act of righteousness in terms of a completed act. It has an "ma" ending, and it is not a reference, therefore, to the character of Jesus Christ, nor to the act of God the Father in declaring anybody justified. It refers to the result of an act by Jesus Christ. It stands in contrast to the preceding act of one transgression. That word also, you may remember, ended in "ma" – that word referring to the transgression of Adam. It was a completed transgression act.

So, this sentence, again, is abbreviated to lay emphasis on the act of Jesus Christ rather than His character or His righteousness. We would translate this as: "by means of one act of righteousness." So, the two sides of the comparison are in balance here in verse 18. The word "as" indicates the resulting one transgression as being the ground of condemnation upon all mankind. The words "even so" balance that, indicating that the resulting one act of righteousness is the ground of justification for all. As the one act (the resulting completed act) of transgression brought you a destiny as hell, so on the other hand, the completed act of Christ on the cross brings you a destiny of eternal life in heaven. It's a completed act. That's what's important about the "ma" ending. We're not dealing with something that is a changing condition. We're dealing with something that is a completed result.

Now let's look at the consequences of this righteous act. The words "the free gift came" are not in the Greek Bible. You can see that by the italics in your English Bible. Again, we have an abbreviated construction here, so we do need to put some words in. And again, we can use the same words we did previously in the first part: the words "there resulted." So, the translation would be: "Even so, by means of one act of righteousness, there resulted."

The next word "upon" is the Greek word "eis," which is a preposition. This word is indicating the object which has been affected by Christ's completed the act of righteousness. We can translate this as "to:" "Even so, by means of one act of righteousness that resulted to" somebody: "all ('pas') men" ("anthropos"). "Anthropos" is the Greek word for mankind. It is the word for man, but it is the word for man as mankind, not as a male person.

So, here what Paul is saying is that something resulted as this act of righteousness on the part of Jesus Christ for all mankind. Then again, we have the word "unto," a repeat of that preposition "eis," again pointing the direction of the specific result to mankind of Christ's act of justification. So, you translate this as: "to all mankind:" "there resulted to all mankind." And then the Greek indicates again what resulted. That's where this little preposition "eis" comes in. What resulted was justification. And here we have that other word that we talked about previously – the one with the "sis" ending: "dikaiosis." This word indicates the action of God the Father pronouncing a person justified.

Remember that nobody can go to heaven unless God the Father has, officially as a judge, made a pronouncement upon you and said, "You are justified." And God the Father will not say anybody is justified unless you possess the absolute righteousness of God. That is where the work of Jesus Christ comes in, because the only way you're going to receive the absolute righteousness of God on your credit in God's bookkeeping is by having it imputed to you (given to you) – registered to your account by an act of God alone. He gives it to you out of His grace as the result of your acceptance of His provision of the sacrifice of Christ in payment for that sin.

Now the emphasis this time, because of this "sis" ending here, is not upon a completed result, but upon an action that takes place. And this word stands out in the Greek Bible, because all along you've had this "dikaioma" with the "ma" ending. Then you get to verse 18, and the apostle Paul, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, says, "Now at this point we have to put in "dikaiosis." This is a big difference. This is not an accident. This is not just: "Let's use a different word," but a word that is telling us something very significant. What this word is doing is stressing that justification is a new declaration by God as each sinner receives the gift of righteousness, which is described in verse 17. Verse 17 speaks about the gift of righteousness which we receive by faith. "Dikaiosis" shows that the justification of Jesus Christ does not apply to everyone.

This is not Universal Salvation

Whereas, when it comes to that condemnation in Adam, it's the whole mass of humanity, and God doesn't have to pronounce upon each one individually. The whole mass is condemned. But when it comes to salvation, God has to one-at-a-time decide. Why? Because it is a one-at-a-time acceptance. While the provision of justification is there, not everybody is going to receive it. Some people are going to go to hell because they believe that their works are important. I hope that you have caught the drift . . . that if the thing that sends a person to hell is the condemnation from what Adam did, then our personal sins are not the issue. And if, indeed, the justification that God gives to all mankind who receive His Son is the issue that changes our destiny, then again, our personal sins are not the issue. Did you catch that? It is not your personal sins that are an issue in your being sent to hell. And it is not your personal sins that are an issue in sending you to heaven, or keeping you going to heaven.

So, there are people who say, "Oh yes, trusting in Christ as Savior – that's important. That takes care of your sins and gets you saved. But then you have to keep saved by living a righteous life." That is wrong. Your personal sins don't come into play after salvation, certainly, if they didn't come into play before. If there ever was a time that your personal sins should have affected your destiny, it was before you were a Christian, and they didn't. Now, how in the world are they going to affect it after? That's one of the deep, significant factors in this section of Romans. You're going to hell, friend, because you're born with a defective genetic structure of an old sin nature and the imputed guilt of Adam's sitting upon you. And that's the only reason you're going to hell.

The fact that you do a lot of personal sins only shows that the old sin nature is in you. But that's the root. God doesn't deal with just the fruit (the evidences). He has to deal with the root. And if God deals with the root of the problem, which is your old sin nature, then all of the fruit is going to be taken care of in the process, too. When it comes to justification, God has to pronounce this actively upon each one of us as we accept Christ as Savior. And as you receive that provision, that's the only reason you're going to heaven. It has nothing to do with your personal sins before or after salvation.

Life

So, we would translate the last part of verse 18 in this way: "Justification resulting in life." The idea is a right standing that has to do with eternal life – justification resulting in life.

So, let's put it all together. Here is what verse 18 says in a smooth translation: "So, then, as by means of one transgression, there resulted condemnation to all mankind; even so, by means of one act of righteousness, there resulted to all mankind justification resulting in life." That's a beautiful statement, and it puts the emphasis, in the Greek, very clearly upon two acts. When they left words out in the Greek, it made certain things stand out. And two things stand out in the Greek sentence: Adam did something that brought all my trouble on me, and that brought my eternal death.

On the other side, the abbreviated sentence stresses that Jesus Christ did something for me that brought all the wonders of justification and eternal life for me. And the emphasis is upon these two acts. And that's the thing that you must look upon. Do not look upon the sin itself, or the act of Christ's justification. That's not the issue. The thing that you must look at is the act. This man Adam acted in your behalf. He was your representative. What he did, you suffer the consequences. This man, the God-man Jesus Christ, did something. He acted as your representative. What he did, you benefit by the consequences. And that's the issue.

So, don't get yourself all tangled up with your personal sins, which is not to say that personal sins are not important. Personal sins in the life of a Christian are a very bad thing. And the Bible has a great deal to say about our seeking to avoid personal sins. It makes a very definitive issue about that. But that's because of other reasons. There are other consequences of personal sin. Personal sin does not affect our salvation, but it very much affects our treasures in heaven. It very much affects our happiness now. It very much affects our capability of relating ourselves to other human beings on divine viewpoint principles.

Universalism?

Let's look at the last part of verse 18. The question is: does justification to all mankind, in the last part of verse 18 of this comparison, also mean every human being, just as the first part meant every human being? Is there universal salvation? Are the "to all mankind" the same group? In the Greek, the words are exactly the same. It says, "To all mankind" in reference to both condemnation and justification. If you look at the Greek, the same words are use at the beginning of the verse and at the ending of the verse. So, are we to conclude that the "all" means no limits? Is it universal salvation?

Well, let me call your attention, first of all, to the fact that we have several examples of limitations of words in the Bible. For example, John 3:26 says, "All men come to Him (to Jesus Christ)." Now you know that all men do not come to Jesus Christ. Therefore, obviously, the word "all" is being used in terms of "all within those who accept Him." All those who come to salvation come to it only by receiving Him. That is what is meant.

John 12:32 says, "Jesus Christ will draw all men unto Him:" "I'll draw all men unto Me." Again, you know that everybody is not going to be saved. Otherwise, there would be no reason for the warnings about hell. There'd be no reason for the examples like the rich man and Lazarus, which we have clearly indicated that here is a person in the place of torments. Jesus Christ does not draw all men, but He draws all to Him who are going to heaven – those who are going to eternal life: all those within that category are drawn to Him.

Matthew 2:1 is a good one. This describes the condition at the birth of Jesus that said, "All the world should be taxed (or registered)." Well, was all the world taxed and registered? Was somebody coming over here and checking the American Indians out? The Indians in India – was somebody checking them out? No, obviously not.

So, here's the word "all" used within restrictions of what? The context. It means all those within the jurisdiction of the Roman Empire. We speak in those terms. We use that word "all" in the same way with understandable limitations.

Acts 19:10 tells us about the ministry of the apostle Paul, and it says that: "All who dwell in Asia heard the word." I've heard some pretty powerful sermons about the fact that here's a group of Christians who were so on the ball in visitation and in knocking on doors that everybody in Asia heard about the gospel. Now, that's powerful stuff. Here the Bible says, "All." Does the Bible mean "All" or doesn't it mean "all?" What does it mean? How much is all? That's a beautiful sermon. I get really warm about that. That's a good witnessing verse: "All in Asia nation heard the gospel. Now, let's get going, Christians, and get all in Irving to hear it. No, it obviously doesn't mean that every person who lived in Asia heard the gospel. It just meant that all in the context of those who had been ministered to by the apostle Paul and his associates – all those who came into contact with their lives, they heard the gospel – that limited number.

So, the words mean "all" or "all things" in the context. That determines it, and not without exception. The numerical extent of Adam's condemnation, therefore, is not the same number as those justified by Jesus Christ. Paul makes it very clear, as does the whole New Testament, that only that limited number of all those who are condemned through Adam are justified – who believe the gospel. Only that limited number are justified by the provision of Christ, of all those who are condemned – only that limited number who believe the gospel.

We have this evidence in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, which says, "In flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power." So, Paul is saying that those who are going to escape the eternal destruction of hell are those who have believed the gospel of Lord Jesus Christ. And if you don't believe the gospel, then you're not in that "all" which has been covered by the justification of Christ. You're still in that "all" which have been condemned under Adam.

Verse 18 says, "All of mankind who believe the gospel will be justified as a result of what Christ has done on the cross. The Bible certainly makes it clear that without faith in Jesus Christ, no one can be justified, though such justification is available as a result of Christ's obedience.

You all know Acts 16:31: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved," meaning believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be justified."

Notice Acts 13:39 that says, "And by Him, all that believe are justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses." That's a good verse. Acts 13:39: "And by Him all that believe are justified." Obviously, that "all" has a numerical restriction on it.

Romans 5:17, in the very passage here that we're studying, has itself pointed out that this justification is restricted to a certain group: "And if by one man's offense, death reigned by one, much more, they who receive abundance of grace and the gift of grace shall reign in life by one – Jesus Christ." There's the matter of receiving.

So, the Lord Jesus Christ was born of the human race, but he did not come under Adam's guilt. Adam's guilt was attached to the old sin nature. Christ did not have it. So, Jesus Christ had neither Adam's imputed guilt nor Adam's transmitted old sin nature. What does that tell us? That tells us that there's even a limitation about all those who are under condemnation in Adam, doesn't it? Every time, we read this verse 18 that says that condemnation came upon all mankind, we have to always say, "With the exception of Jesus Christ." So, even the "all condemnation" is not meaning every single one numerically. There is an exception even there because of Christ special birth.

So, the real meaning of all men in both cases is that the "all" refers to all those connected with Adam (Jesus Christ was not); and, the "all" connected with Jesus Christ are those who believe.

1 Corinthians 15:22: "As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive."

These are very distinctly two different classes than that we have in verse 18. We have those connected with Adam. Verse 15 describes them as "as many are dead." Verses 16-17 describes them as "destined to condemnation." Verse 19 said they "were made sinners by the offense of one man." Then in verse 18, there's another group connected with Jesus Christ: "the grace of God, and the gift by grace has abounded." In verses 15-16, they're also spoken of as "those who have received the free gift of many offenses." Verses 16-17 say, "They shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ" Verse 19 says that: "they shall be made righteous." So, they're very, very, very distinctive groups.

Now, very quickly, in the moments that we have left, let's see if we can put this together. Here we have Adam's fall. That was described by the word "paraptoma," which means a completed act on the part of Adam. This produces condemnation for all. And that condemnation, in case you forgot, was "katakrima." And again you notice the "ma" ending. Adam's fall was a "paraptoma." It was a falling from an upright standing. The result was condemnation for all men. That was a "katakrima." And it is a finished condemnation – a result which covers all. Here is a finished fall – a result which covers all.

Now let's go on the other side. We have Jesus Christ – His righteous act. That is described as a "dikaioma;" that is, a completed act of righteousness. It produces something. What was that? Justification? But now we have an active form: "dikaiosis." Adam's fall was a "paraptoma." It was a completed condemnation – the completed result of a condemnation. So we have a "paraptoma" over against a "katakrima." The righteous act of Jesus Christ was a "dikaioma" – a completed act of righteousness. The result is a "dikaiosis" – an active declaring on every occasion that you go to heaven; you go to heaven; and, you go to heaven.

What does this indicate? Well, if you match these up to one another, you say, "Hey, there's another indication on the pages of the Greek Bible that the all who fall are not the same all who are justified. Only those who trust in Christ are justified.

Mormons

In addition to that, we can notice verse 17 that we already pointed out to you that says, "They who receive abundance of grace." And the verb for "receive" is in the present tense, which means repeated action by sinners – one-by-one-by-one receiving, and God saying you're justified; receiving and justified; receiving and justified.

It would have been very bad, very bad indeed, if, in reading the Greek Bible, we should have come across the word "dikaioma" right here for justification. Then we would have had a tough time avoiding the idea that everybody is going to be saved no matter what they do – universal salvation (universalism). But the very beauty of the Greek language (which you'll never see in English, but I hope you'll appreciate now as you read this verse) reminds us that God the Holy Spirit has given us this book. This was not just man. This is a great and fantastic revelation from God Himself.

Thus, the point of verse 18 is that there's a parallel between the way of condemnation through the act of one man, and a way of justification through the act of one man, but it's not the same people in both categories.

I hope that if you are a believer under the act of divine justification, you will praise God and thank Him for that, and be delighted to discover that your personal sins are not involved. That's why your eternal salvation can never be lost again. It's secure. That's one of the reasons.

If you're not a believer; if you're just a nice churchgoing person; if you a nice moral person; or, if you're a nice religious person, then you might have to consider the fact that you stand under Adam's condemnation, and you're going to hell, unless you make the act (you make the move) of receiving on your own part by faith in Jesus Christ: trusting in Him apart from any efforts of your own; any rituals of your own; or, any provisions of your own – trust Him to accept that justification which He has provided. The condemnation is a finished result. The justification awaits your acceptance, and then God declares it to be effective in your case.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1977

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