Very few people realize that, according to the Bible, the eternal destiny of every human being in heaven or in hell is a consequence of what two and only two people did in the history of the world.
I suppose most people, even many professing Christians, think that God judges everybody as an individual, without regard to anyone else acting for you. If you will be a good person and do mostly right things, you will go to heaven. If you are an especially bad person and do horrible things, you will go to hell. It all depends on what’s in your heart and how you live your life. We’re all on our own. If I’m not mistaken, that is what most people think.
The Bible teaches something else entirely, something you’ll never accept unless you’re willing to take God’s Word for it instead of your own thoughts about what is right and wrong. That is where faith comes in. You must trust in the Lord to be saved, and that doesn’t contradict what I just told you about the all-important two people.
Briefly, the Bible says that God appointed two and only two great representatives of the human race, the first man Adam and the Lord Jesus Christ, called “the last Adam” (1 Cor 15.45). Both were on probation, and the spiritual failure or success of both had consequences for themselves and all they represented. As the old Puritans used to say, “In Adam’s fall we sinned all.” It is just as true that Christ’s victory belongs to everyone He represents. Here is a brief biblical passage that teaches this.
18 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 justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
The apostle Paul is strongly asserting the basic principle of spiritual representation by these two men. God sees every human being not as an isolated individual but as someone with a representative. Your destiny depends on your legal and spiritual union with one or the other of these two men. If you are and remain “in Adam,” to use Paul’s terminology, you are under God’s wrath and shall be condemned on Judgment Day. If you are “in Christ,” your justification (being “declared righteous;” the opposite of condemnation) is a present reality and a future certainty. Let’s look more carefully at these two verses in Romans.
Adam Failed and We Were All Condemned in Him
Referring to the same event, Paul mentions “the offense of one” and “one man’s disobedience.” That first disobedient man was Adam, as Paul says in verse 14, again mentioning “Adam’s transgression.” This Adam was a literal, historical person, the first human being God created and placed in the Garden of Eden, with clear instructions not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon the threat of death for disobedience. This is the familiar story from Genesis 2–3.
By God’s appointment, Adam was not just a private person. He was being tested as a stand-in for the whole human race. When Adam sinned, God condemned not only Adam but also all his descendants. Paul affirms this by saying that through Adam’s sin, “judgment came upon all men to condemnation,” and, “by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners.” In a previous verse, Paul says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (v. 12). Because Adam sinned, God cursed the whole human race, and all human beings are born legally guilty and spiritually corrupted, Christ only excepted. This is what the theologians have called “original sin.”
Sure, everyone also commits “actual sin,” and we are also responsible for that, but our first problem is that Adam’s guilt has been charged against us before we even have our first conscious thoughts about moral choices we make.
That is the bad news the Bible breaks to us. Now here is the good news.
Christ Triumphed and Gained Justification for All He Represents
Paul is making a comparison between Adam and Christ. He uses the phrase, “even so,” or, in a similar way. Let me paraphrase it for you:
Just as everyone was condemned to death by Adam’s sin on their behalf, in the same way people will be justified and live as a free gift by Christ’s righteousness for them. Just as Adam’s disobedience made many others sinners, in the same way Christ’s obedience shall make many people righteous in God’s sight.
See, this means there is hope of salvation for sinners like us, because the righteousness we need is not something we must do to earn salvation, but it is a righteousness that is Christ Himself and what He accomplished on the behalf of all who will ever trust in Him. Adam failed when he was tempted by the devil in Paradise; Christ triumphed though He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. Adam broke God’s law and provoked God’s wrath. Christ kept God’s law and won His favor, even eternal life, for the elect.
The Bible clearly says that whoever believes in this righteous Lord Jesus Christ, this Savior who died on the cross for sinners, will be saved. Now how is that consistent with what else I said, that the eternal destiny of every human being is a consequence of what either Adam or Christ did? I can easily explain that. You don’t need to do anything to be condemned in Adam, because we are all born that way. And trusting in Christ is not doing something to earn God’s favor. Rather, it is giving up forever on trying to earn God’s favor by being good and doing good, and to count on Christ instead to be my whole hope for righteousness. Faith is looking away from myself and anything I can do to Christ alone for salvation as God’s free gift to me.
So are you lost in Adam or saved in Christ? You can know by answering this question: Am I still trying to save myself, or am I trusting Christ alone?