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self, perfectly kept God’s law. So then, “as through one man’s (Adam’s) disobe dience the many were constituted sinners, even so through the obedience of the one (Jesus) shall the many be constituted righteous.” When Jesus lived a holy and perfect-life, He did it as my representative and so I lived a holy and perfect life in Him. When He died He died as my rep resentative and I died in Him. When He rose He rose as my representative and I rose in Him. When He was exalted to the Father’s right hand He was exalted as my representative and I was exalted in Him, and I am now seated “with Him in the Heavenly places in-Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2 : 6 ). The gift of grace in Jesus Christ far exceeds the judgment for sin in Adam: “for the judgment came of one trespass into con demnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses unto justification.” One sin brought condemnation, the one act of right eousness, the atoning death of Christ, brought justification from many sins. “Where sin abounded grace did abound more exceedingly.” “Justification of life,”
i.e., justification that brings life, comes to all men, believer and unbeliever (v. 18), that is to say, all men get life, resurrec tion, through Christ’s one atoning death (cf. 1 Cor. 15:22). To that extent the atoning death of Jesus Christ, the second Adam, avails for the whole race. It brings back what Adam lost by his sin. Whether or not the life that we thus get proves to be “life indexed,” “eternal life” in its high est sense, not only an existence, but a Divine existence, depends upon what we do with the One through Whom we get it. For centuries sin “ (has) reigned in death,” but now for all 'who believe on Jesus Christ, “grace reigns through righteous ness if (i.e., the righteousness of Jesus reckoned unto us) unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The law came in to bring out the real character of man’s sin by bringing abounding trespass that men might see' their need and feel their need of a Saviour. Marvellous indeed is God’s way of justifying sinners in Christ and imparting eternal life to them that believe.
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