Romans 5:15-21

¹⁵Jesus Christ came later, and he did something a lot different from the wrong thing Adam did. That one man, Adam, he went wrong, so many people have to die. But this other man, Jesus Christ, he is different. He makes many people alive. God gives us this life. He is very good to us even though we are not good enough for him. Jesus did much more for us than Adam did.

¹⁶And we get something from Adam that is a lot different from the good thing that God gives us. Adam did just one bad thing, and from that now we all go wrong, so God has to punish us. But what God did is different. He is good to us and gives us life. It doesn’t cost us anything. So he will not punish us but he will call us his friends.

¹⁷We know about that one man, Adam. He did something bad, so now lots of people die. But we also know about that other man, Jesus Christ. He did something good, so now lots of people will live properly, for ever. God is really good to them now, and he makes them good too. Jesus did a much better thing than Adam did.

¹⁸After Adam went wrong everybody did bad things so God has to punish everybody. But then Jesus did something really good, and so now God will not punish us but will let us be his friends and live for ever.

¹⁹That one man Adam did wrong. He did something God told him not to do, and from that now many people do wrong things. But that other man, Jesus, did something good. He did everything God told him to do, and from that he now makes many people good.

²⁰The law came and showed people that they did wrong. But this didn’t stop them, they still did wrong. Yes, people keep on doing more bad things, but at time same time God keeps on being more good to people.

²¹It is like this. We can’t stop ourselves doing bad things, so we all have to die. But our leader, Jesus Christ, did something really good for us, so now God is good to us too. And he also makes us good, so we will live for ever.