Charles Spurgeon Commentary Romans 5:19-20

"For as through the one man`s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous. And the law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly:" — Romans 5:19-20 (ASV)

For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered,

The law of Moses.

For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound.

It was the practical result of the giving of the law that men became greater sinners than they were before, and it was the design of the law that they should see themselves to be greater sinners than before. The law is the mirror in which we see our spots, but it is not the basin in which we wash them away. The law has a provoking power, for such is the perversity of our nature that, no sooner do we hear the command, "You shall not do so-and-so," than at once we want to do it. Our nature is very much like quicklime.

Throw cold water upon it, and immediately it generates heat; acting, as it were, against the nature of what is cast upon it. So, the more God says to a man, "You shall," the more the man says, "I will not;" and the more God says to him, "You shall not," the more the man resolves that he will. "The law entered, that the offence might abound." It reveals the depravity and disobedience of human nature, and lays us low before God as convicted criminals.