All... Or Many? The Ultimate Question Concerning God's Grace

All, or many?

The concepts that can underlie both of these words have often split modern Christianity into two sides:  those that believe the Bible teaches that Christ died for everyone, and those that believe He died only for only a subset of humanity:  the Elect.

Now there are different definitions among Christians for just what "elect" means.  This post won't venture into that topic, but I do want to look at the question of "all" or "many".

Mark 10:45 (NIV)

45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Matthew 26:27-28 (NIV)

27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.
28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

In English anyway, the difference between "all" and "many" is a no-brainer, as they say.  "All" is an all encompassing term that simply means the complete collection of something - of some type of thing.

In comparison, "many" means a less than complete group - a subset of some whole.  It is the opposite of "few", so it includes within its definition perhaps somewhat of a large number of things, but it most certainly doesn't mean "all".  At least that's a common thought at first glance.

A little illustration that I like to give when speaking with people, is to hold up two sets of my keys that I use daily.  First I say, "let me show you "all" of my office keys", and I hold up a fat keychain that has about 20 keys on it.  Then I say, "now let me show you "all" of my car keys", and then I hold up a single key - the only car key I have.  Most people don't get the idea until I start to explain it... they just sort of stare are me like I'm a weird nerd (which I guess I am).

Then I explain that within English, although we may not at first be aware of it, we have the understanding that "all" can be singular or "all" can be plural.  It all just depends on the "things", the category of items of which we are speaking.  But bound up in this is the truth that "many" can also mean "all".  My office keychain has "many" keys on it, but that same keychain also holds "all" of my office keys.  "Many" can also mean "all" in this circumstance because we are talking about my 'office' keys:  a category of things.

"All" can be singular or plural.  "Many" can also mean "all".  It just depends upon what we are discussing.

If you've tracked with me so far, the next thing to consider is this:  Are the same ideas true when considering Semitic, eastern people expressing themselves in a non-Semitic language (Greek)?  In other words, the writings of the New Testament?

Consider this from the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul.  This is 10 verses so I'll break it up a bit and give a running commentary throughout.  But to keep things in context and to read it in a natural flow, here it is first in its entirety:

Romans 5:12-21 (NIV)
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— 
13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 
16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

As is usual with Paul, and in his epistle to the Romans in particular, there is a lot going on in these few verses.

What I want to talk about first is this issue of "all" vs. "many".  Please consider these points:

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— 

Verse 12 lays out what hopefully we all know is one of the core messages of Christianity:  Sin entered humanity through Adam (the one man), and it didn't come to us alone.  Death came with it.  We all 'sinned' because in essence we were all 'in' Adam.  This is true from both a genetic sense and an authoritative standpoint.  Genetic, because Adam was the natural father to all of us - no matter how many generations have passed from him to us.  When he sinned and incurred death, he was changed from how God created him to something different:  a fallen creature.  He passed that state along to us.  We are also in Adam authoritatively.  He was the representative head of the human race.  If you'll remember from Genesis, it was actually Eve that first sinned - so why does Adam get the blame here?  Because he sinned too, but more importantly because he had the overall authority for the human race.  He fell, and we fell with him.  This fall passes through our fathers to us.  If you are human and had a human father, you have this sin problem to deal with.  The good news of the Gospel is that you don't have to deal with it by yourself.  You are not alone.

 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.

This tells us that after Adam's fall, sin is in all of us - even those who did not sin by breaking a command as did Adam.  The proof of this is that death reigns over us.  Verse 12 sets up the maxim that death entered through sin.  The fact that all of us have an appointment with the grave is the proof God provides to us that we are all inherently effected by sin.  God did not create us to die - He us created to live.  The fact of death means that something has gone horribly, horribly wrong - and the point where the wheels came off the truck, the event that introduced catastrophe, was the entry of sin into the human race.

But as I said above, we are not alone in this mess.  Adam, who sinned and opened the door to death for all of us, was a pattern of  'the one to come'.  There is a helper on the way, and Paul describes Him next - as well as His form.

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 

This 'one to come' is a gift.  But the question may remain:  is it truly for all or just for some?

 For if the many died by the trespass of the one man.  Interesting, no?  Fresh off the heels of the concept of 'all', Paul now introduces 'many' as a direct synonym for 'all'.  He can do this in Greek just like I can in English with my keys, because he is talking about a category of things.  In this case, people - humanity as a whole group.

We know that 'all' died because of Adam, so why does Paul switch gears and now replace 'all' with 'many'.  Has he changed his mind that 'all' died in Adam to the idea that just 'a lot', or 'many' died in Adam?  Of course not.  Paul has a purpose in mind, and he lets it play out in the balance of his thought.

Please consider the second half of v. 15:  how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

Is it true that the gift of Jesus Christ is only for 'some'.. 'many', rather than for 'all' (as some would understand the words)?.  Some have made the claim that this is exactly what 'many' in this context means.  They are incorrect.  Not because I say so, but because God says so.  Please read on.

What the Holy Spirit through Paul is doing, is setting up a comparison of relationships so that we can understand God's plan of salvation in Jesus Christ.  One relationship is between us and Adam.  The other is between us and Christ.

Both relationships are a one to many (1:n) relationship.  The idea is that in both cases there is a causative event enacted by one person that then effects many persons.  The "many" are effected by the "one", because of their subordinate relationship to the one.  In the case of Adam, we have both a genetic and an authoritative tie.  In the case of Christ, we have no natural tie.  We can apprehend (grab a hold of) Christ in only one way, and it is the way God has dictated - and that is faith.  In this example given by Paul, faith is depicted as accepting the gift of grace God offers in the sacrifice of His Son Jesus.

There is another thread of thought too.  The Holy Spirit through Paul is also stating, very clearly, an inequality of extent between these two different cause and effect relationships.  It may appear at first as an 'equality' of extent, but in actuality it is an 'inequality' of extent and the inequality is stacked in our favor as sinners.  Please track with me here for a second.

One extent is the extent of sin in mankind.  It entered by the trespass (the breaking of a commandment) by one man:  Adam, and it spread to the whole human race (v.12) - the "many".  There are a lot of us - but we are all in trouble because of one of us.

Every human that has ever existed (the 'many'), are all subject to death through the sin of just one man:  Adam.  This is a one to many relationship, but because of what has gone before we understand that 'many' means 'all' humans (verse 12).

The other extent is the extent of God's grace in the cross of Jesus Christ.  I get excited just writing about it!  By the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, God's gift of salvation (for that is what we are examining here) overflowed to the 'many'.  This is a comparison of extent, but it isn't an equality of extent.  It is much, much better than that.  I do so love how God works!

In beginning v. 15, Paul says "For if..." and then goes on to describe our sin problem because of Adam.  But in the second half of v. 15 Paul says "how much more..." and he then goes on to describe the grace available to us through the cross of Jesus Christ.  "How much more..." goes beyond an equality of extent to an inequality of extent, and the inequality is in our favor.  Why?  Because God loves us so very much.  He loves you so very much.

Humanity was doomed by one man.  But there is another truth to be told:  by the grace of the other 'one' man (the 'last Adam' of 1st Cor. 15:45), God has delivered His grace to the exact same group of people that were doomed by Adam.  That means all of us:  all of humanity.  And yet even more so.  He didn't deliver one kind of grace to some and a different kind to others.  He delivered the only kind of grace He has in the same over abundant quantity to all of humanity.

The word 'overflow' in v. 15 is a wonderful word in any context, but especially this one.  "Eperisseusen" is a word picture of a vessel receiving more liquid than it can hold, and the excess liquid spilling over the sides.  It means to have an excess amount of something.  What God is telling us here is that in comparison to our sin problem we have in Adam, we have an overabundance of grace made available to us through Christ.  And this overabundance through the one man, the gift of God: Jesus Christ, is for the exact same group of people that were doomed by the one man, Adam:  all of us.  Not just some of us, but all of us.  And the grace that is made available to us is homogeneous, not heterogeneous.  God has one kind of saving grace, and that is Christ.  And it is that one Christ that is made available to all who are dead in Adam:  the entire human race.

God is no respecter of persons.  He does not play favoritism in salvation.  He is completely impartial.

If you are a human, God's grace for salvation is available to you.  Not merely just enough, but more than enough.  God has taken care of everything so that there is no shortage of His provision for you in the cross of Jesus Christ.  Truly, God is love.

Some teach that Jesus died only for the elect - a subset of humanity.  They teach that the grace of God made available through Jesus' death on the cross is of an exact amount only for the elect.  The reasoning goes that God would have never sent His son to truly and effectively die for those that would reject Him.  How could God let a portion of His son's sacrifice go to waste?  He would do no such thing they would say.  And they say it quite vehemently.

Just a small question:  what does it matter how forcefully one may teach those things, when God clearly doesn't agree with them?  Is it their salvation, or His?  Did they devise this odd way of saving sinners, or did He?

Does the fact that they teach them with such surety, with such strength, mean that you should believe them, even when God disagrees with them? 

God has given an overabundance of His grace in the cross of Christ, and this gift is for the exact same group that inherited death through sin from Adam.  That means me, and it means you.  It means all of us.

Please don't be led astray by those that claim to speak for God but do not.  Whether they teach what they do out of a hard heart, poor reading comprehension, or an unwillingness to listen to God's Spirit like a child matters little.  What does matter is that they attribute to God things that God has not attributed to Himself.  Avoid such people and teachings.  This doesn't mean that everything they teach is wrong, of course not.  It doesn't mean that they aren't Christians.  But what it does mean is that at a very basic, foundational level - they aren't listening to the Holy Spirit in this area and they aren't preaching God's message.  They are preaching a different message, which in actuality is a different Gospel.  That is not something that should attract a following among God's redeemed people.

16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Verse 16 highlights again the inequality of extent between our doom in sin and our salvation in Christ.  Although the 'gift of God' is applicable to the same exact group as were doomed by Adam, the 'gift of God' is not like the result of Adam's sin.  Why?  Because in the fall God's right and proper judgment fell upon sin and brought exactly what it should have:  condemnation.  God is holy and He must judge and destroy it wherever and in whoever He finds it.  But the 'gift of God' came after many sins, but it brings the gift of righteousness (God's own righteousness He gives to us) so that we can reign in life through Christ.

Please note however that this isn't teaching universal salvation for all men and women.  We know from so many other parts of the Bible there will be those who God must cast into Hell because they will die having rejected God's revelation of Himself.

The key point for this topic in these verses is in v 17:  the word 'receive'.  The Greek word lambano means to take or receive.  Here, since we are talking about God's gift both of and in Jesus Christ, it simply means to receive the gift.  Here lambano is in the active voice, meaning that the subject of the verb is the one doing the action of the verb:  v. 17  "how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ".


God has provided everything necessary for my salvation, and for yours... for everyone's salvation.  He has provided it as a gift.  Why did God use the word gift (dorea) here?  Simply to show that He has provided everything we need as a gift.  It is in no way deserved by us and can in no way be earned or purchased by us.  It is a gift.  Why the active voice for lambano in conjunction with the idea of a gift?  Simply in order to show that like any gift, this gift from God can be received (lambano) or rejected.  We must decide for ourselves.

18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 

V. 18:  God's great gift in Christ brought life for all men, but not all men will accept (lambano) it... tragic but true.  What a waste.
V. 19:  Here again is the explanation of the one to many (1:n) relationships mentioned above.  But because God's grace is a gift (dorea) and must be received by each person individually (lambano), we must understand "many" in both of its possible uses, and this is true because of the context of these verses and the Bible as a whole.

We know that "all" humans died in Adam, so in v. 19 "the many were made sinners" - "many" means "all".  But we also know that not all sinners will accept God's free gift of salvation, so here:  "so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous", we have to understand "many" in its limited sense.  It is indeed a limit, but it isn't a limit imposed by God.  It's a limit imposed by men and women upon themselves.

20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

One of the things that can be noticed about people (if we take the time to look), is that intelligent people are rarely one dimensional.  Typically they have one or a few things they do for support, but they also have other hobbies to occupy their mind and body.

In addition to science and mathematics, Einstein also loved sailing and music.  Thomas Jefferson, politician and statesman, was also a philosopher and had a great passion for archaeology.  James Madison is known as the father of our Constitution (and is the person most responsible for our current form of government), but he also enjoyed horseback riding, reading, writing, and chess.

Well, when examining the revelation given to us by the person with infinite intelligence, God, we see this same kind of multifaceted truth come to light.

The law given by God both represented and did several things.  For instance, the law reflects God's moral character.  He is Holy (completely without sin) and His law reflects that fact.  But even more specifically in looking at the law, we can see that it is a portrait of the perfect human being... that perfect human being is Christ.

At every point of the law, Jesus fulfilled it perfectly and He is in fact the only person to have ever done so because He out of all humanity did only what the Father wanted Him to do.

But the law also served another purpose, and this is what Paul covers here:  the law was given so that sin could be seen for what it truly is.  The law is like a spotlight that shines on us and our natures, and reveals what we otherwise are somewhat blind to:  that we are unholy, we are unrighteous, and that when we see God's standards for these things in comparison to our own nature and behavior, the differences come screaming out at us.  I haven't yet come across anyone who would say they are morally perfect (they aren't totally blind to sin), but they don't truly understand what sin really is and the effects that it has until the law comes and makes those things plain.


And in fact it is this discrepancy between what God requires of us (righteousness), and what we can muster up for ourselves (nothing anywhere close to true righteousness) that sends us running to Him for His own righteousness that He is willing to give us through Christ.  


Unrighteousness (sin) brings death, and in fact the victory of sin over us is apparent in the fact that we all die.  Sin has had its way with us, so truly it reigns over us as creatures.  But thankfully that doesn't have to be the end of the story.

For those that accept (lambano) God's salvation in Jesus Christ, grace will unseat sin from the throne of our lives and it can reign instead.  The righteousness (God's own righteousness) that He has gifted us with through His grace of placing Jesus on the cross for our sins, brings its own just consequence - and that is eternal life.

Sin naturally brings death.  Righteousness (non-sin) naturally brings eternal life.

Whereas because of Adam we are born as sinners and we confirm that sad fact through the actions and attitudes that anyone can see in our lives, we don't have to remain as sinners bound up and owned by death.  We can instead lambano (receive) what God has provided through the gift of His Son, which is exactly what we need:  God's forgiveness of our sin and the bestowal of His own righteousness upon us.  When we allow God's grace to reign, sin can no longer stand.  When sin no longer stands, its consequences no longer apply.  When grace reigns, its natural consequence becomes our future:  eternal life with God through Jesus Christ.

If you have never personally responded to the Gospel of Jesus Christ as God demands, will you do so now?

Realize that God sent His Son to die for you because it was necessary.  All of us have a terrible problem and Jesus Christ is the cure.  Outside of God saving us, we have no hope.

Go someplace quiet and simply ask God to forgive you of your sins through what Jesus did for you, and ask God to give you His own righteousness because you don't have any of your own.  Turn your life over to Him and let Him be your master rather than yourself.  Die to yourself so that you can live with Christ.

You can do this because this is what God has decided for His salvation:  His fallen creations, of their own will, turning from sin and turning back to Him.  You can do it because He enables your faith through the cross of Jesus Christ and the witness of His Spirit to the truth of His Word.

Jesus said that when He was 'lifted up' that He would draw all men to Himself.  It is the grace of the cross that enables your salvation in all ways.

Don't let that opportunity go to waste.