Audio commentary on this verse

Note 1 at Ro 5:12: Paul had already made a strong case for salvation by grace through faith. He used a comparison that illustrated just how great God's grace is (see note 14 at Ro 5:7). Here he used another comparison to make this same point. He began making this point in this verse but inserted a parenthetical phrase in Ro 5:13-17. Therefore, to get the complete thought Paul was expressing, it helps to skip from Ro 5:12 to 5:18.

He was saying that in the same way that we inherited the sin nature independently of our actions, we also inherit God's righteous nature, not based on our actions, but through the new birth. The reasoning is that if we became sinners through what one man did, then we can also become righteous through one man, the Lord Jesus Christ.