Romans 5:1
Δικαιωθέντες οὖν ἐκ πίστεως εἰρήνην ἔχομεν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν διὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ,
Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paraphrase: Now dear friends, I have explained to you that both gentiles and Jews are guilty before God and under His wrath and condemnation. I have showed you how all these can receive God’s gift of righteousness simply by putting their faith in Jesus. I have showed you how this way of justification opens the door of God’s mercy to both the circumcised and the uncircumcised without any requirement that they keep the laws of Moses. Now I want you to think, my dear brothers and sisters, about this glorious privilege which we have received. What difference does this make now that we are right with God; that we have come under His love and favor and are no longer under His condemnation? Well the first thing is that we have peace with God. It’s a peace that is given us when we are brought into union with Jesus Christ, and it is something inexpressible. (Philippians 4:7)
Comments:
It’s interesting that ἔχωμεν has better support than ἔχομεν. RWP says ἔχωμεν is “beyond a doubt” the correct reading. Most other scholars, however, insist that the correct reading must be ἔχομεν because of the context. Metzger suggests that since ἔχομεν and ἔχωμεν would have been pronounced the same, that perhaps Tertius heard ἔχωμεν and wrote that, but Paul really intended ἔχομεν.
Calvin (p484): And first it must be remarked, that as long as there is a separation between Christ and us, all that he suffered and performed for the salvation of mankind is useless and unavailing to us. To communicate to us what he received from his Father, he must therefore become ours, and dwell within us. On this account he is called our “head,”(a) and “the first-born among many brethren:”(b) and we, on the other hand, are said to be “grafted into him,”(c) and to “put him on:”(d) for, as I have observed, whatever he possesses is nothing to us, till we are united to him.
Romans 5:2
δι’ οὗ καὶ τὴν προσαγωγὴν ἐσχήκαμεν τῇ πίστει εἰς τὴν χάριν ταύτην ἐν ᾗ ἑστήκαμεν, καὶ καυχώμεθα ἐπ’ ἐλπίδι τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ·
Through whom even access we have by faith into this grace in which we stand and we boast in hope of the glory of God.
Paraphrase: Now by this union with our blessed Savior, we gain full access to God. Jesus is the One who ushers us into God’s presence. No longer does God stand ready to strike us down in His wrath. (Romans 1:18; 2:5, 8; 4:15) When we stood before God on the ground of the covenant of works, He was our judge and executioner (Romans 6:14-15; Galatians 5:4), but all that has changed. Now we stand before God on the ground of a covenant of grace and with our Savior leading us to God. (Ephesians 2:18; ) Now God is our loving Father, and our standing in God’s courtroom has completely reversed. We enter His glorious tribunal without fear; indeed, we have a perfect confidence that God looks on us with favor. (Esther 4:11; Hebrews 4:16; 10:19) All this, dear friends, leads us to be done with boasting in our own power and genius. (Romans 2:17, 23; 3:27) All our boasting is in the God whom we love and who has given us this new standing by which we also have a good hope of entering into His glory. (Romans 8:18)
Comments:
Romans 5:3
οὐ μόνον δέ, ἀλλὰ καὶ καυχώμεθα ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσιν, εἰδότες ὅτι ἡ θλῖψις ὑπομονὴν κατεργάζεται,
And not only, but even we boast in afflictions knowing that affliction works patience,
Paraphrase: But some of you may not be able to recognize this or to benefit from the joy of this great privilege. You are going through difficult times. You experience the reproach and ridicule that is heaped on us because of our allegiance to Christ. Perhaps you wonder about God’s favor to you since you are experiencing so much hardship. Well brothers and sisters, when you are tempted to lose hope, consider your standing with God, the Great Creator of heaven and earth. We are in a covenant of friendship and peace with Him. What else needs to be said? What could there possibly be on earth which would cause us any anxiety when we consider our standing before the Great God of heaven? In fact, even the painful trials which you now experience actually work for our good. I appeal to your own experience; tell me, what effect did these trials have on your character? Did they not bring you to exercise in a greater degree the virtue of patience and steadfast endurance? (Mark 13:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; 21:7; James 1:3) Are you not learning more and more to live and to conquer in the strength of the risen Christ? (Philippians 3:10)
Comments:
Emperor Claudius expelled all the Jews, which would include the Christians, from Rome in 49ad. (Acts 18:2) Clearly, by this time (6 or 7 years later), Christians have returned to Rome and are worshipping there. See Schaff (p295). Farrar writes (p186):
For to the mass of the heathen, as I have said, their very persons [the Jews] were hateful from the mere fact that they were Jews. And so far from escaping this hatred, the [Christian] missionaries were certain to be doubly hated as Christian Jews. For during the first century of Christianity, the ancients never condescended to inquire what was the distinction between a Jew and a Christian. To them a Christian was only a more dangerous, a more superstitious, a more outrageously intolerable Jew, who added to the follies of the Jew the yet more inexplicable folly of adoring a crucified malefactor. It is to the supposed turbulence of One whom he ignorantly calls Chrestus, and imagines to have been still living, that Suetonius attributes the riots which cost the Jews their expulsion from Rome. The stolid endurance of agony by the Christians under persecution woke a sort of astonished admiration; but even Pliny, though his candid account of the Christians in Bithynia refutes his own epithets, could only call Christianity “a distorted and outrageous superstition;” and Tacitus and Suetonius, using the substantive, only qualify it by the severer epithets of “deadly,” “pernicious,” and “new.” See also his excursus 14.
Romans 5:4
ἡ δὲ ὑπομονὴ δοκιμήν, ἡ δὲ δοκιμὴ ἐλπίδα.
and patience [works] proof, and proof [works] hope,
Paraphrase: Furthermore, when you persevere through painful trials, your character is put to the test. In other words, your character is shown to be the genuine article. It’s just like a smith who purifies his metal by fire. (Zechariah 13:9; Malachi 3:3; 1 Peter 1:7) Now it can be clearly seen that your character really is a genuine work of the Holy Spirit and not some clever fabrication. (2 Timothy 3:5) Furthermore, if you have this kind of Spirit-worked character, then you know that your hope for eternal life is sure and certain. (1 John 2:28-29) The work that God has begun in you, He will surely see it through to completion. (Psalm 138:8)
Comments:
Lightfoot (p285): The substantive means in the New Testament either (1) ‘the process of testing or proving,’ 2 Cor. 8:2; or (2) ‘the state or disposition so ascertained, the tested quality,’ ‘value,’ Phil. 2:22, 2 Cor. 2:9, 9:13, 8:3, though in all these passages the first meaning might stand. This latter is probably the signification here.
Romans 5:5
ἡ δὲ ἐλπὶς οὐ καταισχύνει· ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκκέχυται ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου τοῦ δοθέντος ἡμῖν.
and hope does not disappoint because the love of God is poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who is given to us.
Paraphrase: This hope will not disappoint you; why? Well look at your character; its ruling principle is love. How did that come to be? Dear friends, we know that this kind of love can only come from God. (1 John 4:7-8) It was our ascended Lord who poured out the Holy Spirit on us (Acts 2:17, 33; 10:45); and by this Spirit, we are baptized in God’s love. (Galatians 5:22) Indeed, our hearts are so filled with God’s love that we overflow with love for others. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7; Galatians 5:14) Now our hope of entering into God’s glory is strengthened all the more because we can clearly see that it is God who worked this change in our character; it is God who gave us this love and compassion for others.
Comments:
Dodd (p74): The meaning of this very fundamental statement is not simply that we become aware that God loves us, but that in the same experience in which we receive a deep and undeniable assurance of His love for us, that love becomes the central motive of our own moral being (cf. 1 John 4:19: We love because He loved us first). Since the nature of God Himself is love, in giving us love He imparts to us something of His own nature, or, in Pauline language, His Spirit. Thus love is (here, as in 1 Corinthians 12:31–13:1) the primary ‘spiritual gift.’ It is at this point that the originally legal and forensic concept of justification decisively enters the sphere of moral experience. That which justifies is the love of God for the undeserving (see what follows), and in justifying us that love becomes the moral principle by which we live.
Romans 5:6
Ἔτι γὰρ Χριστὸς ὄντων ἡμῶν ἀσθενῶν ἔτι κατὰ καιρὸν ὑπὲρ ἀσεβῶν ἀπέθανεν.
For Christ, while we were still weak, at the time died for the ungodly.
Paraphrase: Consider what God has done for us. (John 3:16; 1 John 3:16; 4:9, 10) When we were under the old covenant, we were faltering and ready to perish. (Romans 8:3; Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 7:18, 28) We had no strength or ability to live up to God’s expectations. But then God acted; it was the time for His love. (Ezekiel 16:8) He acted at exactly the right time. (Galatians 4:1-5) He sent His Son to die for those who had violated His laws and broken the covenant (Isaiah 24:5; 33:8; Jeremiah 11:10; 31:32); and by this sacrifice (Ephesians 5:2; Hebrews 7:27; 9:26; 10:12), our guilt is removed and we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 4:6-7)
Comments:
Whitby shows (p25) how the language here must be understood to mean a substitution. For υπερ, see GGBB p383, Crawford (p495), and Robertson (p630).
Christ’s death a sacrifice; see Vos (p97).
Romans 5:7
μόλις γὰρ ὑπὲρ δικαίου τις ἀποθανεῖται· ὑπὲρ γὰρ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ τάχα τις καὶ τολμᾷ ἀποθανεῖν·
For hardly on behalf of a righteous [person] someone would die; for on behalf of a good [person], possibly someone would dare to die.
Paraphrase: Let me say more about this sacrifice which Jesus made for us. Occasionally, we hear of a person sacrificing his own life to save the life of someone whom they love dearly. People always have a lot of affection for the kind, thoughtful, and generous person, and they are willing to go to great lengths to save them from danger. On the other hand, we hardly ever hear of someone sacrificing his life to save someone who conforms to all the laws of the land. While people might have respect for such people, these “by the book” folks just don’t garner as much sympathy from the general populace.
Comments:
Note the contrast here between a righteous man and a good man. Lightfoot clarifies (p286), at length, the difference.
Romans 5:8
συνίστησιν δὲ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀγάπην εἰς ἡμᾶς ὁ θεὸς ὅτι ἔτι ἁμαρτωλῶν ὄντων ἡμῶν Χριστὸς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀπέθανεν.
But God exhibits His own love to us, in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us.
Paraphrase: But neither of these scenarios applies to what God did for us. The depth of God’s love for us is shown in that He gave His only begotten Son to die for us even while we were in a state of rebellion against Him!
Comments:
Romans 5:9
πολλῷ οὖν μᾶλλον δικαιωθέντες νῦν ἐν τῷ αἵματι αὐτοῦ σωθησόμεθα δι’ αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς.
Therefore, much the rather being justified now by His blood, we shall be saved through Him from wrath.
Paraphrase: Now if Jesus’ death brought us this glorious blessing of justification and if this new standing before God is a present reality for us, then surely we can have every confidence that, in the future, when we come to stand before God’s great white throne of judgment, we will not be cast out of God’s presence. (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9; 2 Thessalonians 1:5–10) We will not be condemned by His justice, but God will recognize the work of His Son on our behalf and will save us. He will surely give us an entrance into His glory. (Romans 5:2)
Comments:
On blood, see the comment here.
This verse uses the analogy of the law court. The next verse, that of freindship, conflict, and reconciliation.
Romans 5:10
εἰ γὰρ ἐχθροὶ ὄντες κατηλλάγημεν τῷ θεῷ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, πολλῷ μᾶλλον καταλλαγέντες σωθησόμεθα ἐν τῇ ζωῇ αὐτοῦ·
For if being enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much the rather being reconciled, we will be saved by His life.
Paraphrase: Furthermore, think of this. If God gave His only begotten Son to die for us, thereby satisfying His own justice and removing His wrath against us, then surely He will go on to complete our salvation and to bring it to a full end. It is unthinkable that God would make such an incredible sacrifice and then abandon the whole project. Surely, we can be confident that He will not leave the work of our salvation unfinished in light of all that He has already done for us. In fact, Jesus died for our salvation, and we praise God for that, but now go on to think of His resurrection. Jesus has returned to life, has returned to heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father. (1 Peter 3:22) Do not think for a minute, brothers and sisters, that He sits there idle or that He has forgotten about us. (John 14:19; Ephesians 1:22; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Revelation 1:18) On the contrary, we know that He is constantly interceding for us. (Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 2:1) Furthermore, we remember how He baptized us (Acts 1:5; 2:33) and continues to baptize us with Holy Spirit to cleanse us from every impurity. (Ezekiel 36:25-27; Titus 3:5; 1 Corinthians 6:11) This is why we can have a perfect confidence that God will work out our salvation to the very end; He will never abandon us. (Psalm 138:8)
Comments:
The reconciliation mentioned here is what is often referred to as “the finished work of Christ.” This does not mean that sinful man has laid aside his enmity against God. It is true that the language of Scripture is always, as here, that man is the one who is reconciled “…we were reconciled to God…” but what does this mean? God’s initial attitude towards humans is wrath as the previous verse states. The attitude of sinners towards God is here said to be enemies. For reconciliation to happen in our understanding, both sides have to be reconciled. Denney, however, affirms (p144) that the Greek word “reconcile” does not necessarily mean a full reconciliation of both sides. That something like this is the meaning here is clear because the very next verse speaks of us receiving the reconciliation. Thus, we conclude that “being reconciled to God” is to be understood this way. God has removed all legal obstacles which stand in the way of a sinner’s full reconciliation to God. Because of the death of Christ, God can now forgive the sin of any person and bring them to lay aside their enmity against God. When this work of grace takes place and the sinner embraces God in true faith, then full reconciliation is realized. Stuart asserts (p198) that the Scriptural view of reconciliation is, that the offending party becomes reconciled to the offended party. There are two reasons for rejecting this:
- The very next verse calls the offending party to receive the reconciliation. Until this reception happens, the offending party remains an enemy of God. The reconciliation spoken of in this verse must be referring to God’s anger against man being propitiated. (Romans 3:25)
- In Matthew 5:24, we have a parallel case. The offending party is bringing a gift to the altar and suddenly remembers that his brother is offended with him. (Matthew 5:23) The offending party is commanded to leave the altar and to “be reconciled to his brother” and then to return and offer up his gift. Clearly, the reconciliation which Jesus commands here is to bring the offended party to the place where he can lay aside his quarrel and embrace his brother in peace. The offending party has no quarrel against the brother.
See also Stott, The Cross of Christ, 194; Smeaton p152, Meyer on this verse p191; Fuller p661. Lightfoot disagrees (p288) completely.
Romans 5:11
οὐ μόνον δέ, ἀλλὰ καὶ καυχώμενοι ἐν τῷ θεῷ διὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, δι’ οὗ νῦν τὴν καταλλαγὴν ἐλάβομεν.
And not only but even we boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom now the reconciliation we received.
Paraphrase: What amazing love this is. Who can possibly comprehend the height and depth of this love? (Romans 8:39) It is in this love that we make our boast. The world has nothing like it. We boast in our Father and His love in sending Jesus for our salvation (John 3:16); we boast in our Lord and Savior who was willing to die for us (Hebrews 10:7), whose death satisfied God’s justice (Romans 3:25), and who now abides with His church by the Holy Spirit. (John 14:17; 1 John 3:24; 4:13) Now, my friends, it only remains for us to take refuge in this finished work. We don’t need to add anything to it (Romans 4:4-5; Galatians 2:21); we don’t need to do anything except to cast ourselves upon it with a full confidence that God loves His Son (Luke 9:35) and will save us because of what Jesus did in our place. Until we embrace this benefit with a believing heart, however, we are lost forever and the wrath of God abides on us. When we do embrace what God has done for us, however, then we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)
Comments:
Believers receive reconciliation; they do not make it.
Romans 5:12
Διὰ τοῦτο ὥσπερ δι’ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου ἡ ἁμαρτία εἰς τὸν κόσμον εἰσῆλθεν καὶ διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ θάνατος, καὶ οὕτως εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους ὁ θάνατος διῆλθεν ἐφ’ ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον—
On account of this. Just as through the sin of one man, sin entered into the world and through sin, death and in this manner to all men, death passed because all sinned–
Paraphrase: Now to move on. Previously, I had said that our justification is in Christ. (Romans 1:3; 3:24; 5:11) Let me circle back to that truth and say more about it. The best way to do this is to go back to the beginning and to consider how we came to be under the wrath of God in the first place. We know that sin made its entrance into our world through Adam’s violation of the covenant (Hosea 6:7) which God had made with him in the garden of Eden. Because of his covenant breaking, God punished him with death even as He had promised, “in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) This punishment fell on Adam and Eve but was extended to all who are in Adam, even the entire human race. They were all punished because they all sinned. Yes, when Adam sinned, all the future generations of mankind sinned in him and were therefore punished with him.
Comments:
What is the connection or is there any connection between these verses and what precedes? Dodd suggests that Paul is here dealing with the question of how Christ’s work can be effective for others. Romans p78–79. Stifler suggests (p87) that Paul is addressing the doubts of those who struggle to accept the fact that a salvation by faith in Christ can really save.
“Paul makes three points as the sure ground of hope: (1) afflictions will not destroy, but strengthen it (vs 2–4); (2) it has a sure basis in God’s love toward the justified man (vs 5–11); (3) as man’s relation to Adam never fails to bring death on account of his one sin, so the believer’s similar relation to Christ cannot fail to secure everlasting life on account of Christ’s one righteous act at the cross (vs 12–21). Many commentators have entitled this chapter the “Fruits of Justification.” This fails in both logic and history. Paul’s first readers would be amazed to hear him speak here about fruits. Their cry would be, Is this method safe? Doing no works of law, what assurance does this faith in Christ’s work give one for the future?
Wardlaw (p357): The Apostle does not seem merely to pursue the previous train of thought, but rather to pause and sum up;—to close a branch of his subject by bringing it to a point in a kind of recapitulation.
Death here should be interpreted in its broadest possible sense; see Edwards p308.
Fitzmyer believes that Adam in Genesis is a symbolic man, not a real historical person. Nevertheless, he adds this about Paul: “Paul treats Adam as a historical human being, humanity’s first parent, and contrasts him with the historical Jesus Christ.” Romans 407. On the Jewish theology of the day as it pertained to Adam, see the right column p176. See also 4 Ezra 7:118 here.
Fitzmyer: Hamartia [sin] is the personified malevolent force, Sin (with capital S), hostile to God and alienating human beings from him; it strode upon the stage of human history at the time of Adam’s transgression (Romans 6:12–14; 7:7–23; 1 Cor 15:56) and has dominated “all human beings.” Romans, 411.
The reason the last clause because all sinned cannot be referring to each person’s own sin is because Paul has just said that sin entered into the world through the sin of one man, not by each person’s own actual sins. He repeats this same thought when he says that by one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners. (Romans 5:19) Paul’s teaching in these verses cannot be properly understood apart from the concept of solidarity. The older terminology was that Adam and Christ were “common persons.” Goodwin (p74):
Adam, as you all know, was reckoned as a common public person, not standing singly or alone for himself, but as representing all mankind to come of him. So as by a just law, what he did was reckoned to his posterity whom he represented. And what was by that law threatened, or done to him for what he did, is threatened against his posterity also. …these two [Adam & Christ] between them had all the rest of the sons of men hanging at their girdle; because they were both common persons… cf Dodd, Romans, 79.
Whitby argues (p26) from the context that this phrase cannot mean because. He defends the “in whom” translation. Robertson says (p963) that εφ ω is causal and so almost all translations and commentaries.
Romans 5:13
ἄχρι γὰρ νόμου ἁμαρτία ἦν ἐν κόσμῳ, ἁμαρτία δὲ οὐκ ἐλλογεῖται μὴ ὄντος νόμου,
For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not charged when there is no law.
Paraphrase: Before I continue with that thought, however, you might wonder how we can know that all people sinned in solidarity with Adam and are held responsible for the sin which he committed. Let me explain. Consider all those people who lived prior to God’s giving the law on mount Sinai. We know that these people were sinners because they all died, and death is God’s punishment for sin. (Romans 6:23) The question is, for what sin were they punished? A person cannot be charged for doing something when there was no law forbidding what he did. People are held guilty for violating the laws of God, but God had not yet given His law. So the question remains; what sin had these people committed for which they were punished with death?
Comments:
See Edwards’ very interesting paraphrase of these verses p344.
Romans 5:14
ἀλλὰ ἐβασίλευσεν ὁ θάνατος ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ μέχρι Μωϋσέως καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς μὴ ἁμαρτήσαντας ἐπὶ τῷ ὁμοιώματι τῆς παραβάσεως Ἀδάμ, ὅς ἐστιν τύπος τοῦ μέλλοντος.
But death reigned from Adam until Moses and on the ones sinning after the likeness of the transgression of Adam who is a type of the coming One.
Paraphrase: We know that all these people who lived prior to God’s giving the law died. In fact, death had its way with everyone of them because all of them eventually died, even those who lived to a very high age. (Genesis 5:5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 27) Even those people who had never committed any kind of actual transgression died. Adam and Eve violated a clear command of God (Genesis 2:17; 3:6) and were punished with death, so it makes sense to us that they died. But what about all the others who had not sinned like this? Why did they die? During this time, many infants died, some even before they could take their first breath. What sin had they committed which brought down on them this punishment of death? Clearly, they were not punished for any transgression of the Mosaic law since that had not yet been given. Well the answer is that all these died because they were in Adam or were in solidarity with Adam. This is how we can know that all people sinned in Adam as I said previously. When Adam sinned, we sinned; Adam is guilty so we are guilty; and for this guilt, we must receive sin’s punishment which is death.
Now if this is all I had to say, then our outlook is truly grim and most miserable; but, praise God, there is a Second Adam. This is the One I want to say more about as I said previously. Now here is my point; the first Adam is a type of the Second.
Comments:
This is the Bible’s doctrine of original sin; see Edwards. Owen (p9): With us the doctrine and conviction of it [the doctrine of original sin] lie in the very foundation of all wherein we have to do with God, in reference unto our pleasing of him here, or obtaining the enjoyment of him hereafter. It is also known what influence it hath into the great truths concerning the person of Christ, his mediation, the fruits and effects of it, with all the benefits that we are made partakers of thereby. Without a supposition of it, not any of them can be truly known or savingly believed.
We make no attempt… to clear up this Doctrine, which approaches as nearly as well can be to complete mystery, and leans upon relations between the Head of an intelligent Race and that Race which are probably “knowable” by the Eternal alone. Moule, Romans, p262
Romans 5:15
Ἀλλ’ οὐχ ὡς τὸ παράπτωμα, οὕτως καὶ τὸ χάρισμα· εἰ γὰρ τῷ τοῦ ἑνὸς παραπτώματι οἱ πολλοὶ ἀπέθανον, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἡ χάρις τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἡ δωρεὰ ἐν χάριτι τῇ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐπερίσσευσεν.
But not as the trespass, in this manner even the gift. For if by the trespass of the one man, the many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by grace abounded to many by [the act] of the one Man, Jesus Christ.
Paraphrase: You might wonder how the first Adam was a type of the Second. Let me explain this. First, I will show you three ways that Adam and Christ differ. The first of these pertains to the gift which each of these men brings to all those who are in him.
| Adam’s gift is death. He broke the covenant and brought down God’s punishment upon himself and all those who are in him. God’s punishment for sin was death. (Genesis 2:17; 3:19; Romans 6:23) | Christ’s gift is life. He kept the terms of the covenant perfectly (Hebrews 10:1-10) and brought God’s gift of righteousness (Romans 1:17; 3:21) to all His. By this righteousness, believers in Christ have their sins forgiven, the sentence of death is revoked (Romans 8:1), and they are given eternal life. (John 11:25-26; Romans 5:21; 6:22-23; 8:10-11) |
Comments:
For these verses, I took my interpretive key from the first clause of both this verse and the following which contrasts the first sin with the gift; i.e. Adam’s covenant breaking and its effect with the second Adam’s covenant keeping and its effect.
The many οἱ πολλοί is synonymous with the all men πάντας ἀνθρώπους in Romans 5:18.
τῇ here is an orphan article and is parallel to the τῷ … παραπτώματι before. τῷ τοῦ ἑνὸς παραπτώματι is Adam’s act; the τῇ is Jesus act. The two are clearly in parallel here.
Romans 5:16
καὶ οὐχ ὡς δι’ ἑνὸς ἁμαρτήσαντος τὸ δώρημα· τὸ μὲν γὰρ κρίμα ἐξ ἑνὸς εἰς κατάκριμα, τὸ δὲ χάρισμα ἐκ πολλῶν παραπτωμάτων εἰς δικαίωμα.
and not as through one man sinning the gift. For on the one hand, the verdict from one man to condemnation, but the gift from many trespasses unto a justification.
Paraphrase: In the second place, think again about this “gift” which Adam and Christ bring to their own.
| Adam’s gift was a guilty verdict. Because he broke the covenant (Genesis 2:17), God pronounced him cursed. (Genesis 3:19) Now all those who are in Adam have a legal standing which is terrible; they are in a state of rebellion. | Christ’s gift, on the other hand, is a not guilty verdict because He gives to all His a perfect righteousness. This means that all those who are in Christ are justified which is all the more astounding when we consider that those who are in Christ have committed many more sins than Adam ever did! Now these sinners have a perfect legal standing with God. |
Comments:
What is the contrast here? Many commentators focus on the one sin of Adam and the many trespasses of the justified. The problem with this is that then the contrast is between the justice and grace of God instead of between the first and second Adam. In this view, God’s justice is displayed in condemning Adam for his one sin and God’s grace is displayed all the more in justifying those who had committed many sins. It’s no longer a contrast between the first Adam and the second Adam which I take to be the central meaning of this section. Thus, I see the contrast between the condemnation (a guilty verdict) from Adam and the justification (a not-guilty verdict) from the second Adam.
Romans 5:17
εἰ γὰρ τῷ τοῦ ἑνὸς παραπτώματι ὁ θάνατος ἐβασίλευσεν διὰ τοῦ ἑνός, πολλῷ μᾶλλον οἱ τὴν περισσείαν τῆς χάριτος καὶ τῆς δωρεᾶς τῆς δικαιοσύνης λαμβάνοντες ἐν ζωῇ βασιλεύσουσιν διὰ τοῦ ἑνὸς Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.
For if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through the one, much more those who are receiving the abundance of the grace and of the gift of righteousness in life shall reign through the one Man, Jesus Christ.
Paraphrase: Now the last contrast. This time I want you to focus on who is king.
| Adam sinned; and as a result, Death came to power and took his place on the throne. This world is full of cemeteries because every living person has to die; no one is exempt. Everyone is subject to the tyrant Death. | Christ came to this earth and put believers back on the throne. By His resurrection from the dead, He drove Death out and gave life back to every believer. God gives the gift of righteousness to every believer; their sins are forgiven; their guilt is removed; and as a result, they are no longer ruled by Death but have eternal life. (John 5:24) In Christ, every believer has conquered death (Romans 6:9; 1 Corinthians 15:54) and reigns with Christ. (Revelation 5:10) |
Comments:
οἱ is the article of λαμβάνοντες.
Romans 5:18
Ἄρα οὖν ὡς δι’ ἑνὸς παραπτώματος εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους εἰς κατάκριμα, οὕτως καὶ δι’ ἑνὸς δικαιώματος εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους εἰς δικαίωσιν ζωῆς·
Consequently, as through one trespass to all men unto condemnation, in this manner even through one righteous act to all men unto justification of life.
Paraphrase: Now take another look at Adam and Christ and see how they are similar. This time, the similarity is in the way or the method which God used. Let me explain. God made a covenant with Adam and required from him perfect obedience. (Genesis 2:17) Adam, however, did not act for himself alone; he was the head and representative of all human persons. This just means that every person, by his physical birth, is bound up with Adam. If Adam succeeds, then all those who are in Adam also succeed. If Adam fails, then all those who are in him also fail. Now this is also true of Christ. He is the other head or representative, and He represents all those who are “in Christ.” Now note the similarity here. All those who are in Adam received their status before the law in the same way as those who are in Christ.
| First, consider Adam’s trial by the covenant of works. We know the history; he violated the covenant, failed miserably, and God pronounced him guilty. This legal status, however, was not just Adam’s. It was transmitted to all those who are in Adam even though none of them actually committed the sin which Adam did. This is how all men came to be under God’s wrath and condemnation. | Now, consider Jesus’ under the same trial. He obeyed the covenant perfectly (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 7:26; 1 John 3:5); and God pronounced Him not guilty. (Matthew 3:17; 4:1-11; 17:5) Now in the same way that God imputes Adam’s guilt to all those who are in Adam, God now imputes righteousness to all those who are in Christ. They did not themselves perfectly obey God’s law, but God imputes to them the righteousness (Philippians 3:9) of their Head and Representative. This is the similarity I want you to see between Adam and Christ. |
Comments:
Blass says (p273) that Ἄρα οὖν is a strengthened form of just αρα.
The interpretive key to this verse is bound up in the ὡς and the οὕτως.
δικαιώματος is a noun and means a righteous act; δικαίωσιν is a verb and represents the action of the judge when he announces his verdict of not guilty. In the next verse, we have δίκαιος which is an adjective meaning righteous or just. By understanding this verse in light of the covenant of works, we are better able to understand the language of Paul here when he compares Adam’s one trespass with Jesus’ one righteous act which brings justification. Jesus record of perfect obedience is His answer to the demands of the covenant of works and is seen here as a single entity just as Adam’s eating of the fruit was a single act which violated the covenant.
Christ’s success over against Adam’s failure is most clearly given us in His temptation. (Matthew 4:1-11)
Romans 5:19
ὥσπερ γὰρ διὰ τῆς παρακοῆς τοῦ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου ἁμαρτωλοὶ κατεστάθησαν οἱ πολλοί, οὕτως καὶ διὰ τῆς ὑπακοῆς τοῦ ἑνὸς δίκαιοι κατασταθήσονται οἱ πολλοί.
For just as through the disobedience of one man, the many were set down as sinners. In this manner, even through the obedience of the One Man, the many were set down as righteous.
Paraphrase: And this is how we come to be reconciled to God. Note, it is not by personally keeping the law ourselves and thus earning the right to be declared righteous. On the contrary, we are justified in Christ in the same way we were originally condemned in Adam. The human race was condemned, not because they had personally violated the covenant of works as Adam had done, but because they were pronounced or declared guilty by the righteous Judge, who is God the Father. This verdict of Guilty was based on the fact that all men were in Adam; and if you are “in Adam,” then you share Adam’s guilt as will receive his punishment. Now our reconciliation to God takes place in the same way. We are not reconciled to God because we have ourselves personally kept all the terms of the covenant of works. On the contrary, we are reconciled to God because God pronounces or declares us righteous. He can do this because we are in Christ and if we are in Christ, then we share Christ’s legal status. Our relationship before the law changes from guilty to righteous, not because we kept the law perfectly but because we have been freely given, by God’s grace, Jesus’ perfect, legal status which He earned by His own perfect obedience to the law. Now because of this change in status, we are reconciled to God and enjoy His favor again.
Comments:
καθίστημι is often used with an object complement.
Caspar Hodge opens up (p1462) the biblical idea of imputation which is so necessary to an accurate understanding of these verses.
Romans 5:20
νόμος δὲ παρεισῆλθεν ἵνα πλεονάσῃ τὸ παράπτωμα· οὗ δὲ ἐπλεόνασεν ἡ ἁμαρτία, ὑπερεπερίσσευσεν ἡ χάρις,
Now the law came in alongside in order that the trespass might abound and where sin abounded, grace super-abounded.
Paraphrase: Before I had told you how sin entered the world and death through sin. (Romans 5:12) Sin is the worst intruder this world has ever known, but now see what God does. God’s law now makes an entrance and comes in alongside this dreadful intruder. What is the result? Now sin is seen for what it really is. Remember that the covenant God made with His people at Sinai required them to obey if they were to receive the land of Canaan; and in that sense, this covenant was like the works-based or merit-based covenant which God made with Adam in the garden of Eden. (Genesis 2:17) How well did Israel do under this covenant? Well, when we read the history of Israel, we can see just what an utter failure they were. On every page, we read of Israel’s failure, their idolatry, their unfaithfulness, their rebellion, and their constant lapse and relapse into sin. They kept the terms of the covenant no better than Adam did. (Hosea 6:7) Their constant failure made clear to them that they had no power to throw out this intruder; their condition was utterly hopeless. Now, this is why God gave them His law. God didn’t mean for His people to find favor with Him via this covenant. On the contrary, God intended to show them just how strong sin was. He wanted them to have a clear picture of this intruder and how utterly unable they were to drive him out of their life. (Romans 3:20; 7:7, 13; Galatians 3:19) Thanks be to God, however, that this is not the end of the story. After convincing Israel of their inability to live up to God’s law, God made a new covenant with His people. This covenant was based on grace. The terms of this covenant do not depend on what we do for ourselves but on what God does for us. Now we see a new reality; we see that as strong as sin is, God’s grace is stronger. Israel was not able to drive sin out of their life, but God’s grace is able to do this.
Comments:
Fitzmyer on this verse: “As in the case of Hamartia [sin] and Thanatos [death], so now Nomos [law] is personified and treated as an actor on the stage of human history.”
Moffat (p231): “Law slipped in to aggravate the trespass.” Calvin (p214):
He [Paul] indeed teaches us, that it was needful that men’s ruin should be more fully discovered to them, in order that a passage might be opened for the favor of God. They were indeed shipwrecked before the law was given; as however they seemed to themselves to swim, while in their destruction, they were thrust down into the deep, that their deliverance might appear more evident, when they thence emerge beyond all human expectation. Nor was it unreasonable, that the law should be partly introduced for this end—that it might again condemn men already condemned; for nothing is more reasonable than that men should, through all means be brought, nay, forced, by being proved guilty, to know their own evils.
Romans 5:21
ἵνα ὥσπερ ἐβασίλευσεν ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ, οὕτως καὶ ἡ χάρις βασιλεύσῃ διὰ δικαιοσύνης εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν.
in order that just as sin reigned in death, so in the same manner grace might reign through righteousness unto life eternal through our Lord.
Paraphrase: Now what is God’s purpose in all this? It is this. Because of God’s law, we now see clearly that when we live under sin’s tyranny, this tyrant leads us to death and finally to eternal death. But there is another lesson. When we enter the kingdom of God, we come under the lordship of Jesus Christ. The covenant by which God administers this kingdom has grace for its rule, not our merits. The result is that sin’s hold on us is broken. Why? Because by our union with Christ, we receive His perfect righteousness, and we know that death can only dominate those who are under sin’s dominion. (1 Corinthians 15:56) Now having received the perfect righteousness of Christ, what can that old tyrant do to us? What charge can sin bring against us? (Zechariah 3:1-2; Romans 8:33-34) He has nothing to say, and that is why he is dismissed. Now, we rejoice in the lordship of Jesus our King. God’s grace gave Him to us; God’s grace brought us into His kingdom; God’s grace imputed to us His perfect righteousness; and God’s grace gives us eternal life. Now we sing with the people of God, “I will not die, but live, and tell of the works of YHWH. He has disciplined me severely, but He has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to YHWH. (Psalm 118:17-19) What is the sum of it all? Just this: sin’s reign brings death; Jesus’ reign brings life!
Comments: