ROMANS 5 [†] a Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, b we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2[†]Through him we have also c obtained access by faith into this grace d in which we stand, and e we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3[†]Not only that, but we f rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering g produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5[†]and h hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love i has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6[†]For j while we were still weak, at the right time k Christ died for the ungodly. 7[†]For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8but l God shows his love for us in that m while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9[†]Since, therefore, n we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from o the wrath of God. 10[†]For if p while we were enemies q we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by r his life. 11[†]More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received s reconciliation.
12[†]Therefore, just as t sin came into the world through one man, and u death through sin, and v so death spread to all men because w all sinned— 13[†]for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but x sin is not counted where there is no law. 14[†]Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not y like the transgression of Adam, z who was a type of a the one who was to come.
15[†]But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for b many. 16[†]And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For c the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought d justification. 17[†]For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness e reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
18[†]Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for f all men. 19[†]For as by the one man’s g disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s h obedience the many will be made righteous. 20[†]Now i the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, j grace abounded all the more, 21so that, k as sin reigned in death, l grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
ROMANS—NOTE ON 5:3–4 The people of God rejoice not only in future glory but in present trials and sufferings, not because trials are pleasant but because they produce a step-by-step transformation that makes believers more like Christ.
ROMANS—NOTE ON 5:10 As in v. 9, Paul argues from the greater to the lesser, though here he speaks in terms of reconciliation (the language of friendship) rather than justification (a legal term). Since Christians are now reconciled to God through Christ’s death, they can be assured that they will be saved on the day to come (here “saved,” Gk. sōzō, includes not only justification at the start of the Christian life but also completed sanctification, glorification, freedom from final condemnation, and future rewards). But here the salvation is based on his life. The reference is to Christ’s resurrection, showing that both the death and resurrection of Christ are necessary for salvation (see 4:25). Chapter 6 will develop the theme of union with Christ in his resurrection life.
ROMANS—NOTE ON 5:14 Those who did not live under the law were still judged for their sin, since death held sway over them. Still, their sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, since Adam violated a commandment specifically revealed to him by God. Adam is a type (model, pattern; Gk. typos) of Christ, for both Adam and Christ are covenantal heads of the human race, so that all people are either “in Adam” or “in Christ” (cf. 1 Cor. 15:22). All are in Adam by physical birth, while only those with the new birth are in Christ.
ROMANS—NOTE ON 5:9 Christians are now justified (declared to be in the right before God) by virtue of Christ’s blood, that is, his blood poured out in his death on the cross. Therefore, they can be sure that they will be saved on the day of judgment from God’s wrath.
ROMANS—NOTE ON 5:16 Again the astonishing depth of God’s grace in Christ is featured. The one trespass of Adam resulted in the condemnation of all, but Christ overcame the flood of sin that overwhelmed the world, so that all who belong to him enjoy justification.
ROMANS—NOTE ON 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified. Chapter 5 begins with a ringing affirmation of the objective legal standing of the Christian—that the Christian, through faith in Christ, has been justified and declared righteous by God, once for all. The result of this is that the Christian no longer lives under the fear of judgment and the wrath of God but has peace with God, which is not merely a subjective feeling but an objective reality. See also note on John 14:27.
ROMANS—NOTE ON 5:2 The grace in which we stand refers to the secure position of the believer’s standing (as a blessing of justification), and the hope of the glory of God refers to the promise that Christians will be glorified and perfected at the last day—a hope that results in joy.
ROMANS—NOTE ON 5:7–8 On rare occasions, even a human being will die for a righteous (morally upright) person or for a good person (one who has done much good). God’s love, however, belongs in an entirely different category from human love, for Christ did not die for righteous people or those who have done good for others but for sinners, that is, for ungodly, unrighteous people living in willful rebellion against God. It is not just Christ’s love that was shown in his death but also God the Father’s love. While God’s righteousness and justice led to his plan of salvation through the death of Christ (see 3:25–26), it was his love that motivated this plan.
ROMANS—NOTE ON 5:20 The typical Jewish view in Paul’s day was that God gave the law to counteract the sinful human impulse. In Judaism there was the proverb, “The more Torah the more life” (Mishnah, Aboth 2.7). But Paul points out that the law came in to increase the trespass, probably in the sense that once people had written laws from God, they committed not just “sins” against God’s law in their conscience, but, even more seriously, willful “trespasses” (Gk. paraptōma), like Adam’s first “trespass” against a clear spoken command directly from God (cf. note on Rom. 4:15). Hence, the surpassing excellence of Christ’s salvation is shown in that grace abounded even more than these increasing sins.
ROMANS—NOTE ON 5:5 Followers of Christ have no reason to fear humiliation on the judgment day, for they now belong to God. Indeed, they know that they have received God’s love because the Holy Spirit poured his love into their hearts at conversion.
ROMANS—NOTE ON 5:17 Death ruled the human race by virtue of the one sin of Adam, whereas Christians now stand as rulers because of the work of Christ.
ROMANS—NOTE ON 5:1–8:39 Hope as a Result of Righteousness by Faith. The central theme of chs. 5–8 is that believers in Christ, who are righteous in God’s sight, have a certain hope of future glory and life eternal.
ROMANS—NOTE ON 5:13 Sin was in the world before the Mosaic law was instituted, but it was not technically reckoned as sin before the time of the law. Paul does not mean that people were guiltless without the law, for he has already said in 2:12 that those without the written law are still judged by God (e.g., those who perished in the flood [Genesis 6–9] and those who were judged at the tower of Babel [Gen. 11:1–9]). Since people still died, this shows that they were guilty—as a consequence of Adam’s sin but possibly also as a consequence of having transgressed the universal moral law in their consciences before the written Mosaic law was given.
ROMANS—NOTE ON 5:1–11 Assurance of Hope. Those who are justified by faith have an unshakable hope, knowing they will be saved from God’s wrath on the day of judgment by virtue of Christ’s substitutionary death on their behalf.
ROMANS—NOTE ON 5:19 Because of Adam’s disobedience, all people were made (Gk. kathistēmi, “cause[d] to be”) sinners. Thus, when Adam as mankind’s representative sinned, God regarded the whole human race as guilty sinners, thereby imputing Adam’s guilt to everyone. In other words, God regarded Adam’s guilt as belonging to the whole human race, while also declaring that Adam’s guilt does in fact belong to all. All are therefore sinners, and are born with a sinful nature that is set in the mold of Adam’s transgression.
ROMANS—NOTE ON 5:11 Christians go beyond avoiding God’s wrath and actually rejoice in the same God who would pour out wrath on them (v. 9) were it not for Christ.