merit, is the ground of our acceptance. There would be some plausi- bility in this interpretation, if it were the doctrine of the gospel that Christ's righteousness is the occasion of our becoming holy, and that on the ground of this personal holiness we are justified. But this not being the case, the interpretation in question cannot be adopted in consistency with the design of the apostle, or the common rules of exposition. 4. This clause is nearly identical with the corresponding one of v. 16, " the judgment was by one (offence) to condemnation." But that clause, as shown above, is made, almost by common consent, to mean that the offence was the ground of the condemnatory sentence. Such, therefore, must be the meaning of the apostle in this verse ; compare also vs. 15, 17, 19.
The second question of importance respecting this verse is, whether the all men of the second clause is coextensive with the all men of the first. Are the all who are justified for the righteousness of Christ, the all who are condemned for the sin of Adam 1 In regard to this point it may be remarked, in the first place, that no inference can be fairly drawn in favour of an affirmative answer to this question, from the mere uni- versality of the expression. Nothing is more familiar to the readers of the Scriptures than that such universal terms are to be limited by the nature of the subject or the context. Thus, John 3 : 26, it is said of Christ, "all men come to him ;" John 12 : 32, Christ says, "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." Thus the expressions " all the world should be taxed," "all Judea," " all Jerusalem," must, from the nature of the case, be limited. In a multitude of cases the words all, all things, mean the all spoken of in the context, and not all without excep- tion ; see Eph. 1 : 10. Col. 1 : 20. 1 Cor. 15 : 23, 51, &c. &c. 2. This limitation is always implied when the Scriptures elsewhere speak of a necessary condition connected with the blessing to which all are said to attain. It is everywhere taught that faith is necessary to justification ; and, therefore, when it is said " all are justified," it must mean all be- lievers. " By him," says this apostle, " all that believe are justified from all things," &c. Acts 13 : 39. 3. As if to prevent the possibility of mis- take, Paul, in V. 17, says it is those who "receive the gift of right- eousness" that reign in life. 4. Even the all men, in the first clause, must be limited to those descended from Adam " by ordinary genera- tion." It is not absolutely all. The man Christ Jesus must be ex- cepted. The plain meaning is, all connected with Adam, and all con- nected with Christ. 5. A reference to the similar passage in 1 Cor. 15 : 22, confirms this interpretation, "As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive ;" that is, shall be made partakers of a glorious resur- rection and of eternal life. Thus the original word and the context require the latter clause of that verse to be understood. The all there intended are immediately called " they that are Christ's," v. 23, i. e. all connected with him, and not numerically the all that die in Adam. 6. This interpretation is necessary because it is impossible, with any