Romans 5:15, 16.

Still, we can take comfort in knowing that the perfect man, Jesus, could produce an opposite result. What is the result? We see the answer in Paul’s mention of “a declaring of [men of all kinds] righteous for life.”​—Rom. 5:18.

9. God was doing what in declaring men righteous, as mentioned at Romans 5:16, 18?

⁹ What is the sense of the Greek words underlying the expressions “declaration of righteousness” and “declaring of them righteous”? One Bible translator wrote of the concept: “It is a legal metaphor that makes a quasi-legal point. It speaks of a change in a person’s status in relation to God, not of an inner change in the person . . . The metaphor pictures God as the judge who has reached a decision in favor of the accused, who had been brought before God’s court, so to speak, on a charge of unrighteousness. But God acquits the accused.”

14, 15. What reward was placed before those whom God declared righteous, but what did they still need to do?

¹⁴ Think what a gift it is for the Almighty to forgive the sin a person inherited as well as the wrongs he committed! You could not count how many sins individuals committed before becoming Christians; yet, on the basis of the ransom, God can forgive those sins. Paul wrote: “The gift resulted from many trespasses in a declaration of righteousness.” (Rom. 5:16) The apostles and others receiving this loving gift (being declared righteous) would have to continue to worship the true God in faith.