Faith Triumphs
1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, u we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. v 2 We have also obtained access through him w by faith into this grace in which we stand, x and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, y but we also rejoice in our afflictions, z because we know that affliction produces endurance, a 4 endurance produces proven character, b and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us, c because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts d through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Those Declared Righteous Are Reconciled
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time, e Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. 8 But God proves f his own love for us g in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 How much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by his blood, h will we be saved through him from wrath. i 10 For if, while we were enemies, j we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. k 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation. l
Death through Adam and Life through Christ
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, m and death through sin, n in this way death spread to all people, o because all sinned. 13 In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to a person’s account when there is no law. p 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression. q He is a type of the Coming One. r
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of the one man s Jesus Christ overflowed to the many. 16 And the gift is not like the one man’s sin, because from one sin came the judgment, t resulting in condemnation, but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification. 17 Since by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life u through the one man, Jesus Christ.
18 So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is justification leading to life v for everyone. 19 For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, w so also through the one man’s obedience x the many will be made righteous. 20 The law came along to multiply the trespass. y But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more z 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, a so also grace will reign b through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
5:1–2. After the blessing of justification for sinners (3:21–31), and after the blessing of the Gentiles’ becoming members of God’s new covenant people (4:1–25), Paul draws a conclusion (“therefore”) in 5:1–2a of the revelation of God’s saving righteousness through Jesus Christ: peace with God. The sinners of 1:18–3:30 have been granted peace with God, as they have come to faith in God and in his work of salvation in Jesus Christ.
5:3–10. Paul’s second boast is that Christians can rejoice in their sufferings (5:3a), because suffering for the sake of the gospel leads to endurance, which in turn develops Christian character, which in turn bolsters the hope of sharing the glory of God (5:3b–4). This chain (hope → suffering → endurance → character → hope) is the basis for Paul’s assertion that “hope will not disappoint us” (5:5).
5:11. Paul’s third boast is that Christians have confidence in God himself. This is based on the work of Jesus Christ and is the result of the sinner’s reconciliation, which they enjoy now, in the present. God himself, in the beautiful work of Father, Son, and Spirit together, has initiated the reestablishment of the broken relationship between humanity and God.
5:12. Romans 5:12–21 concludes the first major part in Paul’s letter and prepares for the second part, in which Paul explains the reality of the revelation of God’s saving righteousness in the life of believers. In this section, Adam stands for the sinfulness of all humanity (1:18–3:20), while Jesus Christ stands for God’s solution to the problem of the human condition (3:21–5:11).
5:13–17. Paul interrupts his contrasting comparison at the end of verse 12 (until 5:18). He needs to clarify the place of the law. In 5:13–14 Paul addresses the relationship between sin and death in the time from Adam to Moses. Sin existed in the world before the law was given, which is proven by the fact that the people who lived in the time between Adam and Moses both sinned and died. During this time, sin existed, but it could not be quantified and punished as transgression of the law. It was rebellion against God, albeit not in terms of breaking the Mosaic law, even if people did not violate a specific commandment, as Adam did. The larger point is that Adam provided a type of Jesus Christ, the second Adam (1 Co 15:47–48). Adam is a pattern because he is the representative of the old epoch. He is the man who inaugurated the history of the human race as a history of idolatry and disobedience. His fate reveals the effective universality of sin.
5:18–19. Paul completes the contrasting comparison between Adam and Jesus Christ. Adam’s sin led to the condemnation of every single human being, while Jesus’s righteous act, his obedience to the point of death on the cross (cf. Php 2:8), leads to the giving of life to sinners who receive what they have lost because of their sin (5:18). The phrase “justification leading to life for everyone” cannot mean that every single human being is saved as a result of Jesus’s death (universalism), especially since Paul affirms a future judgment of the wicked. The character of Jesus’s obedience is universal in the sense that it is available to all, but only those who acknowledge Jesus as Lord (5:11), who are “in Christ” (3:24; 6:11; 8:1), benefit from his death and resurrection. In 5:19 Paul restates and explains verse 18: Adam’s disobedience resulted in the sinfulness of humankind, while Jesus’s obedience resulted in God’s saving righteousness being extended to sinners.
5:20–21. Paul’s conclusion clarifies again the role of the law and summarizes God’s purposes in the history of salvation. The Mosaic law was added to the already-existing nexus between sin and death, with the result that the trespass increased (5:20). The increase of sin, which the law caused, is the specific definition of sin as transgression of the will of God revealed in the law. As sin did its work with universal effectiveness, God’s grace proved all the more powerful. The increase of grace, which results from Jesus’s obedience, is the restoration of life to justified sinners. Thus the history of humankind, seen as history governed by God, is a history of salvation in two stages. The time when sin ruled, consigning people to death, is followed by the time when grace rules, extending to sinners righteousness and eternal life, on account of the work of Jesus Christ our Lord (5:21).