"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous"–Romans 5:19.
While religious folks might not understand the totally depraved condition of the whole human race because of Adam's sin, most professing Christians do believe that we were made sinners because of Adam's disobedience. What they do not believe is that every child of God was made righteous by the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ our Lord. What they believe is obvious proof that they don't believe God. Those who believe that they have gained favor with God because they have been baptized; or, because they belong to a certain religious denomination; or, because they meet on Saturday; or, because they have exercised their so-called free will and have walked the isle of the church (and the list goes on and on), believe they are made righteous by something they have done. Whether they will admit it or not, they are saying they have escaped eternal torment because of an act they have performed. They make the cross of Christ meaningless and count the blood of the covenant, wherewith He was sanctified, a common thing, something that is shared by the whole human race. They are nothing but screaming Ishmaels, products of the flesh. God's children, as Isaac was, are children of promise. And when God is pleased to open our blind eyes; when He, under the preaching of His glorious gospel, gives us faith to believe Him, we not only rejoice in the life Jesus Christ gave at Calvary, we rejoice in the life He lived before He went to the cross. His righteousness has been imputed to us and we see His obedience as ours. Did He keep the law perfectly? So have we, in Him. God demands perfection and He not only sees that in His Son, He sees perfection in all those who are in His Son. Our Saviour not only kept the law of God perfectly all the days of His life, He satisfied the law's last demand by laying down His life for those who were given to Him by God the Father. Jesus Christ was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, and by His obedience we are made righteous. Not one thing can be laid to the charge of God's elect because Jesus Christ, by Himself, purged our sins. Brethren, God is the One who has justified His people. He sees us in Christ, just-as-if-we-had-never-sinned. When God the Holy Spirit delivers us from the power of darkness, we see the obedience of Jesus Christ as our only righteousness. We cease from our own works and find perfect peace by resting in the finished work of Christ. With God-given love in our hearts, we bow down to Jesus Christ and say, Thank you Lord, for saving my soul.