1Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
With this opening sentence in chapter 5, Paul draws together the conclusions of his argument in the previous chapters. There are three time frames in this sentence: past, present, and future. In 3:24, Paul said that sinners are justified “freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Thus, in the past tense, we who believe have been justified by faith. Paul said in 2:5 that unrepentant man is storing up “wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” He also says in verse 10 of this chapter that we used to be God’s enemies. But now, in the present tense, we who believe have peace with God and stand in grace. Paul said in 3:23 that everyone has “sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” But, in the future tense, we who believe anticipate with confident hope that we will be given glory from God.
Paul says in verse 2 that by faith we have been given entrance “into this grace wherein we stand.” The same grace by which we were justified is our permanent security. At the moment we believed, we walked onto solid ground. God who saved us will keep us saved. The word translated “rejoice” in this verse is the same word “boast” used in 2:17 and 2:23. But our boast is not one of self-righteous pride; rather, we exalt God, who has given us this grace.
3And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4and patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
How do the problems in our life fit with the salvation that God has given us? Most of us would like to skip them. Yet, they’re there. Paul says (using the same word “boast”) that we keep focusing on the glory that is ahead even while we’re dealing with the problems. He says that the problems have a God-intended role in making our hope of glory even stronger. The problems change us to be people who have endurance. Then, as we see that we are gaining endurance, we recognize that God really is making us grow. That recognition solidifies our hope that we will be given glory from Him. This hope is worth solidifying because it is a hope that won’t disappoint us. In fact, to prove to us that He will take us all the way to glory, God has given His Holy Spirit to live inside us. That presence in us is the outpouring of God’s love into our hearts. In Ephesians 1:14, Paul says that the Spirit in us is God’s down-payment on the inheritance that He has promised.
This is the first mention in the book of Romans of the giving of the Holy Spirit to those who believe. Paul will return to this topic later in the book.
6For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Verse 5 contained the first use in the book of Romans of the word “love.” Now, in verses 6-10, Paul speaks further about the love of God. Verse 6 says that “in due time” Christ died for the ungodly. In Galatians 4:4, Paul said, But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son.... The timing of Christ’s coming and death were according to God’s plan. John wrote, In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (I John 4:9-10). God sent His Son to die for us “while we were yet sinners.” There can be no greater proof of God’s love for us than that He gave His Son to die for us. We need to hold onto this. When problems come and external circumstances seem mostly negative, we always have unchanging historical proof that God loves us. And He loved us that much while we were His enemies.
If God has justified us from our sins by the blood of His Son, He will indeed save us through Christ from His wrath. Paul spoke of this wrath in Romans 1:18: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness....” If while we were God’s enemies, He reconciled us to Himself through the death of His Son, He will indeed save us “by His life.” The two prepositions translated “by” in verse 10 are different Greek words. God reconciled us to Himself “through” the death of His Son, and He will save us “in” the life of His Son. The meaning of the phrase “in His life” is not explained here. Paul will talk about what it means to be “in Christ” in the next chapter.
11And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
The verb “joy” in this verse was translated “rejoice” in verse 2 and “glory” in verse 3. It is important to note that all three words are the same Greek verb because the first half of this chapter is structured around this repetition. We might see this more clearly if we translated all three in the same way:
“We rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (verse 2)
“And not only so, but we rejoice in tribulations also” (verse 3)
“And not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 11)
Thus, verses 4-10 are a section linked to verse 3. Verse 11 begins a new section, and the remaining verses are linked to it.
Verse 11 says that through our Lord Jesus Christ we have now received the “atonement.” The word translated “atonement” here is the word “reconciliation.” It is simply the noun form of the verb “reconciled” which was twice used in verse 10.
Paul says in this chapter that we rejoice in hope of the glory of God, we rejoice in tribulations, and we rejoice in God Himself.
12Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Paul has just talked about the fact that we who believe in Christ have been justified and reconciled to God and that through Christ we will be saved from God’s wrath. Now, in verse 12, Paul begins his sentence with “wherefore.” That means that he is about to draw a conclusion based on what he has just said. Paul begins his sentence by going back to the garden of Eden to remember that sin entered the world through Adam. He says that death entered the world through sin and that death spread to all people because everyone sinned. But Paul does not finish his sentence. He will later re-start his sentence in verse 19 and then reach his conclusion in verse 21. We might join verses 12 and 21 to give a short form of Paul’s conclusion: “Wherefore... grace [reigns] through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” But in the verses between 12 and 21, Paul will give us an important history of the salvation that God has worked.
13(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
Paul just said in the previous verse that death spread to all people because everyone sinned. Then, in verses 13-14, Paul presents what seems to be a hard-to-solve puzzle. He first says that before the Law was given to Moses, people were sinning but that sins are not counted when there is no law. Paul said the same thing in chapter 4: “...where no law is, there is no transgression” (4:15). In other words, before the Law was given, none of the sins that people committed were counted against them. God did not count their sins because those people hadn’t broken any law. They hadn’t broken any law because there was no law to break.
The puzzle starts in verse 14, when Paul says that death reigned over all those people from Adam to Moses, even though their personal sins were not being counted. Paul also says that those people hadn’t sinned like Adam did. What did Paul mean? He says that Adam prefigured “him that was to come.” That is, Adam prefigured Christ.
Adam prefigured Christ in that neither of them had sinned and Adam was under law like Christ was under Law. Adam was told not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and that if he did, he would die that day (Genesis 2:17). Adam was given a law to keep. Adam failed to keep that law. Like Adam, Christ was born and lived under the Law (Galatians 4:4). But, unlike Adam, Christ did not fail; He kept the Law perfectly.
Paul said in verse 14 that the sins of the people between Adam and Moses were different from Adam’s sin because they had no law to keep. But, they died anyway. Death “reigned” over them, implying a personal reigning agent, Satan. Thus, they died both spiritually and physically. That is the puzzle: if their sins were not counted against them, why did they die?
The answer to the puzzle is that Adam was our representative. God has imputed Adam’s sin to all of Adam’s descendants, including to us today. A similar example of this principle is found in the book of Hebrews concerning an event which occurred in Genesis. In Genesis 14:20, Abraham paid tithes to a King and Priest called Melchizedek. The author of Hebrews says that even though Abraham’s great-grandson Levi had not been born yet, Levi also paid tithes to Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:9-10).
The solution of this puzzle is also important because it explains one of the reasons that it was essential that Jesus be born to a virgin. In these verses in Romans 5, Paul makes no mention of Eve. God has chosen that Adam’s sin be passed through the male, not through the female. If Jesus had had a human father, the sin of Adam would have passed to him, too. Then he could not have been a sinless sacrifice for us. But, as the angel Gabriel told Mary, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). Jesus was not a descendant of Adam through any male parent. He was born without sin and lived under the Law without sin.
15But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 18Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Paul said in verse 11 that we “joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The section which follows that statement is one of rejoicing. Paul contrasts the consequences of the one sin of the one man Adam with the abounding grace of God which brought salvation from many sins, given through the work of the one Man Jesus Christ.
In verse 15, Paul says that by Adam’s transgression, his many descendants died, but that God’s grace abounded to the many. Verse 16 says that out of Adam’s one transgression came condemnation, but that by God’s grace, out of many transgressions of Adam and his descendants came justification. Verse 17 says that by Adam’s sin death reigned through him, but that those who receive God’s grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through Jesus Christ. In verse 18, Paul summarizes by saying that through Adam’s transgression condemnation came to all men, but that through Christ’s act of satisfying God’s justice all men may receive justification that brings life. Finally, in verse 19, Paul restates and completes the comparison that he started in verse 12. He says that through the disobedience of the one man Adam the many were constituted to be sinners, but that through the obedience of one man Jesus Christ the many will be constituted to be righteous. Throughout this section, Paul marvels at the wonder of God’s salvation.
In these verses we see the awfulness of sin and the depths of God’s grace. It only took one sin one time by one person to bring death and condemnation for all people for all time. To overcome that death and condemnation required the sacrifice of Christ. That sacrifice was so wonderful that out of it came grace, justifying, and life for all people of all time who receive that abundant grace and gift of righteousness.
20Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Verse 20 says that law entered in order that transgression increase. How did the Law make transgression increase? We read in verse 13, “For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.” From Adam until Moses, people were sinning but their sins weren’t being counted because there was no law to break. After the Law was given, all of those sins started being counted. We read in 3:20 that “by the law is the knowledge of sin.” When the Law came, people’s personal sins began to be counted, and the Law began to confront them with their guiltiness before God. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote, Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith (Galatians 3:24). With the entance of the Law, accountability increased. But where the sin in our account increased, God’s abundant grace abounded even more.
Verse 21 is a summary and a statement of conclusion that is rich in succinct truth. We read in verse 17 that death reigned by the transgression of Adam. Paul now says that sin reigned in death. “Reign” is a verb that normally has a personal agent. The personal agent behind the reign of sin is Satan. Wherever there is spiritual death, Satan reigns. In Ephesians 2:2, Paul calls Satan, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. But when sin increased (verse 20), God’s grace abounded even more so that grace might reign instead of Satan. The personal agent behind grace is God Himself. Satan rules in the life of every person who is spiritually dead. But God’s grace made a way for Satan’s rule in a person’s life to be broken. Grace reigns “through righteousness.” When a person believes in the Savior, God counts that faith as righteousness, which breaks the sin-and-death trap in which Satan reigns. God takes the throne in the life of every believer in Jesus Christ. The outcome for every believer is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Note: All Scriptures are quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.