Death pervaded the whole human race, inasmuch as all men have sinned. But, its effect is vastly exceeded by the grace of God and the gift that came to so many by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:12, 15 NEB).

Paul puts it more succinctly in 1 Corinthians 15:21: "As by man came death, by man comes also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive." William Barclay explains: "Sin had man in its power. There was no hope. Into this situation there came Jesus Christ, and he brought with him something that broke through the old situation ... man was ruined by sin and rescued by Christ."

The Bible is very specific in its declaration of the fact of sin, and the fact of rescue in Christ. But the modern person has denied the fact of sin, and…