one man's obedience

Romans 5:19 "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."

Salvation is based upon one thing and one thing only, and that is what Jesus Christ has done for us. All of humanity owed a debt to GOD which it could never pay. Romans 5:13-14 says "Sin was in the world before there were any laws. But no record of sin can be kept when there are no laws. Yet, death ruled from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin in the same way Adam did when he disobeyed." Sin entered the world and contaminated the human race when Adam ate of the forbidden fruit. Many have speculated as to what exactly that fruit was, to put it simply, the forbidden fruit was the act of disobedience! Not everyone had the opportunity to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that Adam ate from, but all have been partakers of the fruit of disobedience! The reason that disobedience comes so naturally is that we are all the sons and daughters of Adam. When he sinned, he passed that inclination toward sinful behavior right on down to us.

GOD gave man a set of laws in the Ten Commandments. Through this Law would come the knowledge of sin. All these laws do, however, is reveal what is down on the inside of us. When we examine our lives in the light of these laws we see how far away we are from GOD'S standard of holiness. When we attempt to keep these laws we find, as did the Apostle Paul, that when we would do good that evil is present with us. The good things that we desire to do, we fail to do. The evil things that we desire to abstain from, we can not! Why? Because we are all sold under sin! The Scripture says, "by one man's disobedience many were made sinners." Notice how our selfish actions can directly impact others!

There is, however, light at the end of this dreadfully dark tunnel. Our text stated," For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." Where Adam failed Jesus succeed. The Bible says that Jesus was tempted in all points just as we are, yet without sin. HE is humankind's first and only sinless man! Notice the Scripture says that it was by the "obedience" of one that many shall many be made righteous. Philippians 2:8 says that Jesus "humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." HIS obedience led HIM to the Cross where HE paid the debt that we owed, but could not pay. Jesus paid that debt in full! Now, just as through Adam's disobedience many were made sinners, so through Christ's perfect obedience we are made righteous.

Today, if you realize that you have never made Jesus the LORD and Savior of your life, I encourage you to do so now. If you feel compelled to do so, it is the sweet Holy Spirit of GOD dealing with you. Don't push HIM away because tomorrow is promised to no man. The Scripture says that "TODAY is the day of salvation. Why put it off any longer? Remember how Adam's selfish act impacted so many other people? Who knows what impact our selfish act of rejecting the LORD when HE beckons us to come will have on others. If you want Jesus to save you simply tell HIM that you realize that you are a sinner on your way to hell without HIM. Receive the truths that I have given to you from HIS Word and receive Christ into your heart by faith. Surrender your life to HIM by confessing HIM alone as your LORD. If you do that, HE has already taken care of all the rest. Through HIS obedience YOU have been made righteous!