Bible Truth #216 - Romans 5:15

Romans 5:15

But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.

I’ve heard some say that there are places in the Bible where many means all and all means many - the verse above being an example. To that, I reply that you must take the verse in context with what God says in the rest of His Word!

I would first like to point out that the word preceding many is “the” - it is a definite article. This means that “the many” is a specific group of people and it is NOT to be applied out of context in generic principle to all who ever lived or will live.

Second - as I’m sure most Christians believe, every human being ever born is spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1, 2:5; Colossians 2:13). They are born with the old sinful nature because of Adam and therefore need to be redeemed. There is no one who is innocent, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). So in the passage above when Paul writes of the same group, “the many died” and then a few words later “the gift... abound to the many,” it is obvious he is talking about the same group - the ELECT of God!

Did all the Elect (the many) die? Yes. Did all mankind die? Of course, but did all mankind receive the gift of grace? Of course NOT! Then it should be clear that “the many” in both instances are the same particular group - the Elect of God. This is similar to the following analogy: If Fred, Tom, Jim, and Larry all went to the ballgame, is it not also true to say that Fred & Tom went to the ballgame? Of course. If the four went to the ballgame, certainly the two did also.

The phrase “the many” is also used in verse 19 of this chapter and the same principle is applied to this verse as well. “The many” is referring to a particular group.

I have not looked at every instance where it is said by some that “many” and “all” are interchangeable but I’d be willing to say that is not true based on the principle I just outlined.

Bottom line - many and all are not interchangeable. As my pastor has said - the Greek language is beautiful and very specific. And yes, the definite article “the” IS in the Greek.