Romans 5:18 - Exposition

So then, as through one trespass (rather so than "by the offence of one," as in the Authorized Version) the judgment came upon all men unto condemnation, so also through one act of righteousness (so Revised Version. The expression is δἰ ἑνὸς δικαιώματος , contrasted with the preceding δἰ ἑνὸς παραπτωματος ) the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life, i.e. conferring life. " Declaratio Divina ilia, qua peccator, mortis reus, vitae adjudicatur, idque jure " (Bengel). Here, as was observed under Romans 5:15 , the phrase used is εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους , not εἰς τοὺς πολλοὺς , thus indisputably denoting universality of effect, as of the παράπτωμα , so also of δικαίωμα . But there is no verb to make clear the force of the preposition εἰς . It may denote the result to which a cause tends, without implying its inevitable accomplishment. Thus ( Romans 7:10 ), εὐρέθη μοι ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ εἰς ζωὴν , αὕτη εἰς θάνατον , where the same preposition expresses both the intended result of life and the actual result of death.