For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. [1Co 15:22 KJV]Does "all" mean "all"? Does only one "all" mean "all", and the other "all" means "not all"? Maybe Paul misunderstood Matt 26:28. Or maybe it wasn't written yet, so he didn't have the full truth.
Paul is not contradicting Our Lord. Paul's writings are superintended by the Holy Spirit, so notions that he did not have the full truth or is unable to understand what Jesus said are foolish.
Please pay careful attention to
in Adam, and
in Christ in these passages.
In 1 Cor. 15:22 the Adam and Christ are named, and it is made explicit that they bring others into the death and resurrection that they themselves experienced:
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. Paul has moved from
metaphor to
typology, clarifying the point made in 1 Cor 15:20.
To be
in Adam is to be part of the group which finds in Adam its representative and leader, which finds its identity and destiny in Adam and what he has brought about for his people.
To be
in Christ is to be part of the group which finds in Christ its representative and leader, which finds its identity and destiny in Christ and what he has brought about for his people.
All humans who have not yet found redemption through faith in Christ remain
in Adam. Those who have entered into the promise of new life, the life of Christ, are
in Christ, and will find that their initial experience of the newness of life was but a foretaste of the ultimate restoration of life that awaits them in the resurrection.
As in Romans 5:12–21, Paul in 1 Cor 15:22 stresses the differences between Adam and Christ. The consequences of the resurrection of Christ (life for all) correspond antithetically to the consequences of Adam’s sin (death for all). The former has broken the power of the latter. However, Paul is not teaching universalism (see 1 Cor. 1:18); the unqualified “
all” of 1 Cor 15:22 who will be made alive is clarified by 1 Cor 15:23 with the phrase “
those who belong to him.” Hence, all
in Adam die; all
in Christ live.
Our Lord's statement at Matthew 26:28 stands and Paul is in complete agreement with it anywhere the writings of Paul appear in Scripture.
AMR