Romans – Section 3 – Chapter 5Romans 5:1-21

GRACE AND ASSURANCE

I. Paul’s argument from 3:21-4:25 = Grace is the only effective way of salvation. A. Romans 5 is the conclusion of Romans 3:21-4:25. B. 3:21-4:25 = the essence of grace as the free gift of God’s righteousness to

sinners, a righteousness established by the propitiatory sacrifice of Jesus Christ and received by faith apart from works of law.

1. Example 1: Abraham was justified by faith. 2. Example 2: David declares in Psalms that a man is blessed if he’s

declared righteous apart from the law.

TE: Now, in Chapter 5, Paul sets forth the most important immediate result of justification by faith, namely, assurance of salvation.

II. (5:1-11) ASSURANCE OF PERSONAL SALVATION

Romans 5:1-11 – 1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

A. (5:1-2) Justification by faith is the Key to Assurance1. (5:1) “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have

peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” = Paul’s summary of his argument in the previously cited verses.

a. JUSTIFIED = The verb is aorist (past) tense, indicated that justification is an event that has already occurred in the experience of Paul’s Christian readers.

i. We should understand that this act produces a continual state of being justified so that we stand as a forgiven person.

ii. Notice Paul says, “Through faith” which indicates how a person comes INTO justification and REMAINS in justification.

iii. QUESTION : What happens if a person “loses” faith?b. QUESTION : If Justification is the CAUSE, what does Paul says is the

effect? (The effect of our justification is “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ).

i. We live in a state of peace where God is no longer our enemy.

ii. God’s righteous love initiates a process of reconciliation leading to a state of friendship.

iii. QUESTION : According to verse 10, what is the key element of this reconciled relationship? (“the death of his son”)

c. KEY PHRASE : This peace with God is an OBJECTIVE state, not a subjective feeling. However, we may infer that peace in our minds is the natural consequence of being at peace with God and KNOWING it.

d. QUOTE : Jack Cottrell writes, “Only when we understand that we are justified by faith apart from works of law (3:28) can we have this inner peace, which is a basic element of assurance of salvation.”

2. (5:2) “through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand” = It was through our Lord Jesus Christ, the cause of our salvation, that makes this peace with God possible.

a. “This grace” must refer specifically to something in the preceding verse. Paul is referring to the state of justification and peace with God.

b. “This grace” is a state that is entered into and in which one STANDS.

c. QUESTION : Paul says, “We have gained access by faith.” If grace isn’t something that can be earned, how do we gain it? (This kind of translation suggests personal accomplishment rather than a free gift. The word for gained or access is better translated “entry” or “introduction.” The idea is that we were granted entrance into this state of grace by Jesus Christ.).

d. “In which we now stand” = continuing, abiding existence with the state of grace. We are firm and secure in this state rather than tentative and precarious. We are “standing.”

3. (5:2) “and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God” = this hope is referring to our final revelation of God’s majesty and splendor. In Colossians 1:27, it is called the “hope of glory.” The hope of glory isn’t something that we want to happen, but something that God has PROMISED will happen (see 2 Tim. 1:12)

a. “rejoice” = brag, boast, exceeding with great joy. Paul uses this word in a negative sense earlier in the writing (2:17, 23, 3:27, 4:2).

b. We are not anxious or fearful of the future day of judgement… it is something we rejoice in? QUESTION: The question is, why? (because we’ve been given God’s free gift of grace through faith in Christ!)

B. (5:3-5) Tribulation of Believers do not nullify assurance1. (5:3) “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings”

a. “sufferings” = afflictions, hardships, or the experiences of life that press down upon us and crush us both physically and mentally (hunger, war, disease, death) as well as spiritual sufferings directed towards Christians.

b. QUESTION : How kind of action does Paul say he has towards these sufferings?

c. Paul seems to be suggesting that our sufferings increase our hope, not that we should seek sufferings out nor that God is causing us to suffer, but we recognize this present suffering is inevitable for Christians and God is able to use it in such a way that adds to our assurance (see Romans 8:28).

2. (5:3-4) “Because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope”

a. Suffering produces perseverance = patient endurance, steadfastness, the ability to bear and to bear up under whatever comes along. Sufferings do not automatically produce perseverance, but when we enter into such sufferings while holding onto the promises of God, he himself works endurance within us and through them and for them.

b. Perseverance works Character = process of testing or trying or proving something. It is “proven character.” Sufferings are like a test, which, when endured by the strength which God supplies results in a quality of life and character that has been tempered and purified and demonstrated to be pleasing to God.

c. Proven character produces hope = We are Christians are consciously aware that we have stood up under the trial of our sufferings, and that God has been with us and has not allowed us to be defeated by them. This gives us more confidence in God because not even the worst tribulations can separate us from the grace of God and prevent us from inheriting eternal life.

3. (5:5) “And hope does not disappoint us” = disappoint = “does not cause us to be ashamed” = we won’t feel humiliated and shame in the face of mocking and ridicule from the enemies of Christ.

4. (5:5) “…because God has poured out his love into our hearts…” = Out hope is certain because it is grounded upon the reality of the love of God.

a. “into our hearts” = soul/spirit/inner man. It is our conscious inner life. God’s love becomes present within our inner life and in a sense present to our consciousness.

b. How so? “by being poured out into our hearts” = abundance. 5. (5:5) “by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” = given to each

Christian at Baptism (Acts 2:38; Titus 3:5-6). a. QUESTION : How does the Holy Spirit pour God’s love into our

hearts?i. First, as the divine author of Scripture, the Holy Spirit

pours out the knowledge of God’s love into our hearts through the biblical testimony to the atoning sacrifice of Christ, which is the greatest possible demonstrate of God’s love (John 3:16; 15:13; Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:8-10.

ii. Second, The Holy Spirit pours the love of God into our hearts as the agent by which the blessing of redemption are applied to us in the initial moment of our salvation.

iii. Third, the Holy Spirit pours out God’s love into our hearts by strengthening our inner conviction of the certainty of God’s love for us personally.

iv. CLARIFY : We must be careful to think that the Holy Spirit gives us some extra-Scriptural subjective experience of God’s love. While the Holy Spirit is sharpening our awareness of faith in God’s love, this isn’t separated from the word of God and inner dwelling received at Baptism.

TE: Paul is now going to clarify his point about assurance by pointing out that our assurance is grounded in God’s love for us. God’s love is the foundation for our assurance…

C. (5:6-8) Christ Died for Us While we were still sinners1. (5:6) “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless,

Christ died for the ungodly”a. How do we know the love of God has been poured into our

hearts? Because we’ve heard the Gospel of the cross. b. First, we were “powerless” = asthenes = weak, helpless, without

strength. We were incapable of godly goodness. We were unable to save ourselves.

c. Second, we were “ungodly” = asebes = wicked. We were in a state of opposition to God and his law and were totally undeserving of His forgiveness.

d. What happened? “Christ died for the ungodly” = in the place of the ungodly, Christ died. This is substitutionary atonement.

2. (5:7) “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly die”

a. I think the righteous man and good man refer to the same type of person. Paul basically says the same thing in two different ways.

i. First = negative = scarcely will anyone die for a righteous man.

ii. Second = positive = well, maybe, possibly, someone could be found who would do this. This would be a rarity! We might as well give up and try to find anyone willing to die for a wicked and unjust person!

iii. This is the point Paul is making, “Christ died for the ungodly.” God’s love is magnified even more!

3. (5:8) “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”

a. Our condition in the mind of God when he determined to give his only begotten son to be the propitiation for our sins: “Sinners.”

b. QUESTION : What more could God do to show us that he really and truly loves us? This actually PROVES God’s love for us!

PAST PRESENT FUTUREIn the past we were powerless (6), Ungodly (6), Sinners (8), and verse 10 says enemies of God.

However, now, we are justified (1,9), at peace with God (1), Standing in Grace (2), Rejoicing in Hope (2, 11), Rejoicing in suffering (3), God’s love in our hearts (5), Holy Spirit within us (5), Under Christ’s blood (9), Reconciled to God (10, 11).

In the future, we’ll be in the Glory of God (2), Saved from wrath (9), and Fully saved (10).

D. (5:9-11) Our Hope is even more secure now that we are His friends1. (5:9) “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more

shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” a. Opening words in Greek: “Therefore much more” = emphasizing

his conclusion from the fact stated in verse 8 which is the greater element of his argument. He’s arguing from the greater in verse 8 to the lesser in verse 9. “If that, certainly this!”

b. “Now” justified = present stage of our spiritual odyssey. Where are we now? We are not only standing in grace (2), but justified! This is an aorist participle referring to the past act in which God declared us righteous resulting in the continuing state of being justified.

c. “By his blood” = crucifixion when Christ put himself in our place and suffering the enteral wrath of God for us. God counts us as righteous because he accepts Christ’s payment of our penalty in

our place. We stand in justification because we are now standing under his blood, which is over us as a shield from God’s wrath!

d. KEY PHRASE : To stand in GRACE is to stand under the BLOOD.e. “how much more SHALL (future) we be saved from God’s wrath

through him” = this refers to our final salvation in the day of judgement. As Christians, we are ASSURED that God’s wrath is not our destiny. This is GOOD NEWS!

2. (5:10) “For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”

a. “Enemy of God” = worst possible state for a person. This includes the sinner’s hostility and hatred towards God (See Col. 1:21). HOWEVER, it also includes God’s hostility toward the sinner. Both attitudes must be removed in reconciliation!!!

b. Paul’s point is that even while we were in this state of mutual hostility, God took the initiative to eliminate the enmity and bring about reconciliation between the warring parties. God existed in a tension.

c. In God’s eternal wisdom, he was able to find a way to give full expression to his righteous wrath and enmity while at the same time offering reconciliation to sinners.

d. QUESTION : How was this accomplished? (Through the death of His Son. This allowed God to pour out his wrath upon Jesus instead of upon us. Thus, through the death of Jesus God’s wrath is satisfied and his own enmity is set aside. This is the first step to reconciliation.

e. The second step is to confront sinners with the reality of what God has done, and to persuade them to give up their own enmity toward him and allow him to cancel his enmity toward them personally (5:11; 2 Cor. 5:20). Only when this takes place does the actual state of reconciliation begin. This is the point in time when the peace with God happens.

f. Here is Paul’s argument, “If God has done so much for his enemies, what will he not do for his friends?” Being his friends, how much more can we now count on him to take us on to the final state of glory!!! God is NO LONGER against us, HE IS FOR US.

g. How are we saved in the future? “Through His Life” = Christ’s risen and glorified life as he exists at the right hand of the Father.

3. (5:11) “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

a. “Not only is this so” = “not only will we be saved in the future” but…

b. “We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ” = our lives are filled with rejoicing NOW. Paul is reminding us that our salvation is not just in the future, but it is now!

c. KEY PHRASE : We are constantly overwhelmed with JUBILANT EXULTATION as we think about what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.

d. “Through whom we have now receive reconciliation” = TEN TIMES through these 11 verses we’ve covered the basis for our assurance and praise… Jesus Christ. It is what he, not ourselves, has done. He is the source and the basis for our salvation.

E. (5:12-21) The All-Sufficiency of the Death of Christ (The main point is NOT Adam’s sin and its effect upon the human race, but Christ’s atonement and its effect upon the human race).

Romans 5:12-14 – Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come” (NASB).

1. One Sin of One Man (Adam) Brought Sin and Death to All (5:12-14). a. (12) “Therefore” = “In view of what has just been said about the

saving power of the death of Christ” = Let’s illustrate the power of the one death of Christ.

b. (12) “Just as sin entered the world through one man” = Adam, along with Eve, was responsible for introducing sin to the world (Gen. 3:1-7).

i. QUESTION : Why is Adam singled out? (Because he was appointed as the head of his family and is responsible).

ii. “Sin” = not the specific act, but the principle or power of evil and lawlessness that enters like an invading force and takes root in the hearts of its willing victims.

iii. “The world” = mankind, the sphere of human beings; sin had already entered the world of angels through the sin of Satan (1 John 3:8) as well as the world of humankind for Satan was in the Garden (Gen. 3:1-7; Luke 10:18; Job 1:7; Revelation 12:7-9; 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim 2:14).

iv. What is the Point Paul is making? As Adam as the one source of Sin entering the world, Christ is the one greater source of salvation coming to the world.

c. (12) “And death through Sin” = QUESTION: What Kind of Death is Paul referring to? (We have three options: Physical, Spiritual, Eternal).

i. It seems to be obvious Physical Death is in View here (13-14). If anything else was imposed upon humanity, that must come from verses 15-19.

ii. The entire point of this section is that all individual human beings die because of the one sin of Adam.

iii. We need to think of Adam’s sin and death in the sense of crime and penalty, not cause and effect. God had decreed beforehand that if Adam sinned, mortality would be the penalty.

d. (12) “And in this way death came to all men, because all sinned…” =

i. QUESTION : What did Death come to? (“All men”)ii. QUESTION : Why did Death come to all men? (All men

sinned) iii. “Came” = went through, spread, permeated. Death made

its way to each individual member of the race like a father’s inheritance among his children.

iv. “because all have sinned” = Adam sinned, but everyone else sinned as well in the representative sense, not the personal sense. We inherit what happened to Adam’s body when he sinned by virtue of that physical relationship.

v. Consider Hebrews 7:9-10. We have Levi paying tithes representatively through the one act of Abraham in paying Tithes to Melchizedek. Paul’s point in this passage is that Melchizedek is greater to Levi and His priesthood because Levi, in a sense, gave to Melchizedek through Abraham (representatively). All those who follow Abraham would be of a lesser and different priesthood.

vi. It is important to clarify that to sin representatively in Adam, with the result bring physical death, does not infer personal sin resulting in eternal death imputed to humanity.

vii. QUESTION : Does this passage teach original sin? (mini section)

Let’s define original sin: The doctrine that every child is conceived and born sinful, and born condemned to death and eternal punishment. This doctrine teaches that in addition to physical death, Adam’s first sin brought severe spiritual consequences upon all his natural descendants. But does this passage teach original sin?

First, asking this question assumes Paul’s main subject here is Adam and His sin and its consequences. But that is not the case. Paul’s main subject is Christ’s death and the universal,

all-sufficient consequences of that saving event. The point is not to emphasize Adam’s sin, but what happened as a result of Christ’s work.

Secondly, it doesn’t really matter what content anyone feels compelled to infuse into the text because Paul’s main point is this: “Whatever the whole human race got (or would have got) from Adam has been completely cancelled out for the whole human race by the gracious atoning work of Jesus Christ, “The one act of righteousness” (5:18) has completely intercepted, nullified, negated, canceled, and counteracted whatever as destined to be ours in Adam.

Thirdly, if anything, Romans 5:12-21 teaches a doctrine of original grace. No child is actually conceived and born under the curse of Adam’s sin. This passage teaches that every child is born under the grace of God, born saved, “born free” from all the spiritual effects of Adam’s sin, and born with the guarantee of ultimate freedom from all the physical effects of that sin be means of the resurrection unto glory. God began to apply this original grace to the first generation of Adam’s own children in the same way that the result of the cross were applied retrospectively to believing Adults in the pre-Christian era (3:25).

What other Bible Passages point to original sin? The one’s often quoted are:

Psalm 51:5, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” 1) First, David does not apply the sin and iniquity to himself. The phrases “in iniquity” and

“in sin” are used to modify the act of being conceived and the act of being born. It is possible that the sin belongs to the mother. A similar way to think of it would be “in drunkenness did my husband beat me.”

2) Secondly, these phrases are may describe the pervasiveness of sin in the world into which David was born.

3) Thirdly, the major theme of the Psalm of David is repentance for his own sins. David seems to single himself out in a Psalm of lament. Notice the focus is on David’s OWN PERSONAL SINS (1-4) and not an inherited sin.

4) Basically, David is expressing the depths of his own sin in a dramatic, poetic way. It is a psalm after all! “I’m so sinful, I was even conceived in a sinful way!” David is using the writing style of a hyperbole or exaggeration for emphasis. This is the same for Psalm 58:3.

Ephesians 2:3, “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest” (NASB).

1) Paul uses “children” in a figuratively, denoting a figurative family group who share the characteristic of being under wrath and condemnation of God. He is not using children in the literal sense, “As children in our youth, we were under condemnation.”

2) Paul is referring to the pre-Christian state. First, he speaks to the Gentiles in verses 1-2, “You.” Then, he includes the Jews themselves, “we.” In both cases, he is describing the group in their state before they came to Christ. The main point of Paul is that

unbelieving Gentiles and unbelieving Jews are thus part of the same spiritual family, the family of the damned.

3) How did they get his way? What about the expression, “By nature?” Does this imply that every person is born into a sinful, wrathful state?

The word nature is physis in the Greek, used in the Dative form and translated “by nature.”

It refers to the nature or essence of something, or that which belongs to the very nature or identity of something.

When Paul says we were “by nature children of wrath” he is referring to the pre-Christian state of lostness. As a non-Christian, this is our identitiy.

This implies NOTHING about how we got that way. It is not our eternal nature to be children of wrath, it is not our created nature to be children of wrath, nor are we divinely appointed as children of wrath.

How did non-Christians get this way? The text explains it (verses 1-2). It was our personal sins (1), “You were dead in Your (not Adam’s) trespasses and sins in which You walked (not inherited) according to the course of this world…” Notice in verse 5 Paul says we were “dead in our (not Adam’s) trespasses and sins.”

e. (13) “…For before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law”

i. So we have two main points that have been made thus far: (1) That death is the result of sin and (2) that the death of all is the result of the sin of one man, Adam.

ii. Here in verse 13-14, Paul is anticipating a point raised by a Jew, ‘But wait a minute. If the Mosaic Law didn’t exist during the time period of Adam to Moses, and death comes from sin, why did people die?”

iii. Paul is expecting his audience to remember from Chapter 1 that there was a law, the moral law, and man was held responsible for this law.

iv. We know “where there is no law there is no transgression” (4:15) and Law was not given until the time of Moses. Thus, even though in the pre-Mosaic period people did things that were sinful, they could not be held accountable for them because there was no law. BUT THE WHOLE POPULATION IN THIS PERIOD DIED ANYWAY, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of Adam’s offense. Why? Because in some way, humanity sinned representatively in Adam and thus spread to all men.

v. Let’s read the passage again…

Romans 5:13-14 – “13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come” (NASB).

vi. QUESTION : Was there sin in the world before Moses’ Law? (Yes! Gen 6:5, 11; 8:21; 18:20; Exod 9:27. We have the law of sacrifice given to Cain and Abel. There is the law against murder in Genesis 9:6. There are laws of right and wrong in Genesis 26:5. We also know that Noah was a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5).

vii. Paul says, “Sin was not taken into account” = an accounting term and means ‘to enter into the ledger or into the account of someone.’ But, since the people between Adam and Moses did suffer the penalty of death (14a), and they didn’t have the Mosaic Law, they must have died as a result of some other means.

viii. What about babies and young children who didn’t sin according to the Mosaic Law or Moral Law? Why did (and do) they still die? Look what Paul says in verse 14…

ix. (14) “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam.”

x. The only explanation is that death was passed onto the race because Adam sinned. In some way, all of humanity sinned in Adam representatively, not personally, and inherited death as the universal punishment for Adam’s sin. Physical death is personified as this tyrant who dominated overall and gained access to those men who lived before the Law of Moses was given. Why? Because Adam sinned.

xi. “even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam” = they did not break a commandment like he broke. They did not deliberately transgress a distinct commandment.

It should be pointed out here that there were many distinct commandments given to creation as previously cited (sacrifice law, murder law, etc).

This group did not sin voluntarily, deliberately, and personally. However, everyone sinned in Adam representatively.

The whole point of Paul’s argument is that Adam’s sin is the cause of the death of all, even upon those who did not sin like him. We already know that those who sin deliberately deserve death (Romans 1:32; Those who died in the Flood; Those who died in Sodom and Gomorrah).

Here is how Jack Cottrell paraphrases this passage, “We have said that all die because of Adam’s sin. But what gives us reason to think this? Let’s consider first of all a common assumption. Some who agree that Adam must be the source of human death base this conclusion on the fact that people died between Adam and Moses, before the Law was given; and we know God does not hold people accountable for their sins where there is no law. Thus (so the argument goes) since people died then, they must have died because of Adam’s sin. Now, at first glance, this argument seems sound, but I’m sorry to say that it does not hold together. Why not? Mainly, because it assumes that there was no law in this period between Adam and Moses; but this is not true. You will remember my clear teaching that there was a law during this period, and people knew that by breaking this law they deserved God’s wrath. So if we are going to show that all die because of Adam’s sin, we must find another argument. Let’s stay with the period between Adam and Moses. In their era (as in other times of course), death came to all human beings, even over those not old enough to commit personal sins like the sin of Adam. The fact that infants sometimes die is all the proof we need for the truth that all die because of Adam’s sins” (NIV Commentary on Romans, College Press, Jack Cottrell, pages 197-198).

TE: Now that Paul has set up the contrast to Adam, he now introduces Christ as the comparison to Adam. What is his point?

2. Christ and His Sacrifice Are greater than Adam and His Sin (5:15-17).

Romans 5:15-17 – But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. 16 The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. 17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (NASB).

a. (15) “But the gift is not like the trespass” = Paul now enters the comparison between the Gift of Christ and the Trespass of Adam.

i. “Tresspass” = a false step, straying from the path, departing from the norm.

ii. “Gift” = charisma = gracious result that flows unto all from the one saving act of Christ, in contrast with the devastating result that comes upon all from Adam’s trespass.

iii. QUESTION : What is this gift, this gracious result? Most likely it is the gift of righteousness (5:17), the imputed righteousness of Christ that results in justification (5:16, 18) and life (5:17-18).

b. (15) “For if the many died by the trespass of the one man”

i. “Many” = is equivalent in scope to “all men” in verse 12 and 18.

ii. Here, it is used in contrast with “one” = what the one-man Adam did had consequences for many men.

iii. “died” = aorist (past) tense pointing back to the first sin of Adam as the time when all came under the sentence of death.

c. (15) “How much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!”

i. “much more” = from the lesser (Adam) to the greater (Christ). This is the infinitely superior effectiveness of Christ’s act.

ii. God’s grace and the gift that came by the one man, Jesus Christ, reached out to embrace all who have been affected by Adam’s sin, and has completely cancelled and nullified the total consequences of Adam’s sin.

iii. But wait, there’s more! Paul isn’t attempting to show that Adam is equal with Christ, but that Christ is “much more.”

iv. KEY IDEA : The one saving act of Christ not only saves the entire race from whatever consequences have come upon us because of Adam’s sin; It is also able to OVERFLOW to us in that it can cancel out the consequences for our own personal sins as well!

v. It truly is, “MUCH MORE.”d. (16) “Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s

sin…” i. The emphasis is on the infinite superiority of Christ’s work.

His saving act is much more efficacious than Adam’s sin since it not only nullifies the universal results of that one sin but also is able to cancel the consequences of the personal sins of the many.

e. (16) “The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification”

i. One Sin unto judgment = results from the single sin of one man.

ii. The gift unto justification applies not only to this one sin, but to many personal sins as well (and thus is quantitatively superior).

iii. QUESTION : What is the result of each man’s act? (Judgement = This refers to the sentence of punishment. When Adam sinned, the sentence was passed. On the other hand, the free gift that comes from Christ, imputed righteousness, brought justification.

iv. QUESTION : What does Paul mean that the judgement resulted in “condemnation?” (It may be fair to say that Paul is speaking here not only of physical death, but also eternal death. But does this open the door or original sin? Not at all, because Paul’s point is that the act of Christ cancelled out Adam’s penalty, but much more, potentially our own sins as well. Christ completely cancelled out this condemnation, so that in its enteral element it is never applied).

f. (17) “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man” = Death reigns as a powerful and destructive sway over the affairs of human beings. Also, “reigned” is in the aorist tense which points to a past time when death began to reign, aka, Adam’s sin.

g. (17) “how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ”

i. Paul is personifying death in verse 17. He’s basically saying, “If death reigned like that, think about how you’ll reign if you’ve received God’s abundant provision of grace AND the gift of righteousness in Christ!”

ii. “abundant provision” = overflow; extend far beyond the scope of Adam’s sin and are able to offset the “many trespasses” of verse 16.

iii. “much more” emphasizes the quantitative superiority of Christ’s work.

iv. Here is the idea, “If the weaker cause (Adam’s sin) can have universal effects, surely the more power cause (Christ’s cross) can have even greater and wider effects” (Cottrell, 203).

v. Adam’s sin effected ALL; so does the work of Christ insofar as it cancels the results of Adam’s sin for ALL. To deny this point jeopardizes the main point of this whole passage, the ALL-sufficiency of Christ’s cross.

vi. Rather than be slaves to the tyrant of death, those who receive the gift will “reign in life” at the resurrection.

3. Christ’s Cross Completely Cancels the Result of Adam’s Sin (5:18-19).

Romans 5:18-19 – “18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. 19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.” (NASB).

a. (18) “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men” = This certainly includes the physical consequence of Adam’s Sin, but may include eternal condemnation as well. Remember, “Death spread to all men because all men sinned.” The payment for man’s sin is death, not just physical (Romans 6:23).

i. “So then” = “now that I’ve illustrated this point with Adam, let me give you one more point of reference…”

ii. “Condemnation” = physical death or eternal condemnation?

iii. Jack Cottrell believes the condemnation includes both physical death and eternal death.

iv. Gareth Reese holds the position that this “condemnation” is the death sentence God imposed upon the human race and nothing more. God “condemned” man to die physically as a result of Adam’s sin (and their own).

b. (18) “Even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men” = Atoning death of Jesus on the cross. This act offset the condemnation that came through Adam’s sin.

i. Paul calls it, “Justification of life to all men” = it certainly includes physical life. All the dead will rise at the resurrection, not just Christians (Acts 24:15; John 5:28-29).

ii. Jack Cottrell holds the position that this “justification of life to all men” includes both physical life and eternal life. The scope of eternal life is limited to the one act of Adam (not one’s own personal sins). So, while Christ’s act may free us from the condemnation from Adam’s sin (original grace), it can only potentially free us from our own sin through our free will decision.

iii. Note, Paul said Christ’s act results in justification for life for “all men.” Christ’s original grace cancels any potential state of original sin for all men. If this is not the case, then the point and purpose of Romans 5:12-21 is negated.

c. (19) “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous” = the obedience of Jesus is set over the disobedience of Adam.

i. “made sinners” = Adam’s sin was the sin of all; when he disobeyed God’s command, all actually became sinners, “made to be sinners.” (Cottrell). They were placed in the position of being sinners. Gareth Reese points out that the word “made” means constitute. Therefore, “God constituted the many sinners.” The human race was not

personally guilty of the act of sinning, but were counted by God as sinners. Therefore, “God ‘made them sinners,’ or God ‘decreed that they were sinners,’ but not that they were personally guilty of sinning in Adam’s act.

ii. “made righteous” = were actually made righteous and become righteous (Cottrell). However, the fact that it’s in the future tense may reflect the fact that this is an ongoing process and will continue to apply to people in the future or it may mean that this “making righteous” is something that will be consummated at the final judgement when the redeemed will finally be completely sanctified / However, on this view, Gareth Reese supports the idea that those “made righteous” means “made righteous for the sole purpose of being raised from the dead.” As God declared the whole race would be subjected to the penalty of physical death, he is also the one who has determined that the whole race will be raised from the dead, “As in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22). Because of the obedience of Jesus, God can remove the penalty of death and at the same time be true to himself.

iii. IMPORTANT: However, as it goes with each person, what happens after the resurrection will depend on whether or not he has “received the gift of righteousness” (5:17).

d. RECAP : In view of our assurance (Romans 5:1-11), Paul illustrates how powerful the act of Christ was by comparing the one act of Adam with the one act of Christ. The one Act of Adam resulted in universal condemnation upon the human race, but the one act of Christ resulted in universal justification for the human race (original grace). However, Christ’s one act was “much more” in that it not only cancelled about Adam’s consequences for his sin, but it can cancel out our own as well!

4. Grace Triumphs over Sin and Death (5:20-21).

Romans 5:20-21 – “20 The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (NASB).

a. “The Law came in so that the transgression would increase” = Paul is answering a question in the minds of the Jews, “How does the Law relate to this?”

i. Remember, the Jew regarded the Law as the solution to everything. Does it have a part to play in this issue regarding Adam? Where is the place for Moses?

TE: How powerful is the one act of Christ? It not only cancel’s out the effects of Adam’s sin, it can cancel out the effects of our trespasses against the law! How so?

ii. Paul says the Law was “added.” This word added means “Temporarily tacked on” (Gal. 2:4, ‘sneaked in.). It means the law was a means to God’s ultimate purpose of Christ. Think about it like this, the Law came in through the servants door at the back and not in a grand appearance through the front door. Why was the Law added?

b. “So that the transgression would increase” = rather than being a part of the solution, the law is a part of the problem! While God added the Law (Gal. 3:19), and the increase of sin was at least part of the reason why he added it, the Law wasn’t the ultimate answer. It was a school master to bring us to Christ (Gal. 3:24). The Law increases the number of commands that could be broken and therefore increased sin.

i. We would know that the Law increased man’s awareness of the power and seriousness of sin and to intensify man’s sense of hopelessness as he struggles against it. The Law let us know how bad of a condition we were in (before grace).

c. “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more” = Jack Cottrell says, “Among the very people where the Law caused the trespass of Adam to explode like an atomic bomb, this explosion of grace came in the person and the work of Jesus the Messiah, which was the reason for Israel’s existence in the first place… By increasing the consciousness of sin, it increased the sense of need for grace” (pg. 209).

d. “So that, just as sin reign in death” = sums up the point made in the previous verses, mainly, death reigned through Adam’s sin. But who is the true tyrant? Sin! It reigns in the heart (Eph. 2:1, 5; Col. 2:13).

e. “So also, grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” = the reign of sin and death is not the final word. Adam is not the victor, Jesus is. Sin reigned in death, but grace will ultimately reign in life. When Jesus becomes the King of our hearts, the gift of righteousness is imputed to us and sin and death become defeated enemies. Grace reigns triumphant!

Romans 5, “Adam vs. Christ” comparison chart. How assured of our grace should we be? Compare Adam to Christ to demonstrate the assurance of salvation. This is not intended to be a

comparison of equals, but a “lesser to greater” argument.

Vs 12 – Through “One Man” “Sin entered the World and death through Sin.” Vs 12 – Death Spread to All Men because All Men SinnedVs 14 – Death “reigned” from Adam Until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of Adam, who was a “type” of him who was to come “Christ.”

Adam ChristVs 12 – Through “One Man” “Sin entered the

World and death through Sin.”Vs 12 – Death Spread to All Men because All

Men SinnedVs 14 – Death “reigned” from Adam Until

Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of Adam, who was a “type” of

him who was to come “Christ.”

15 – The Free Gift is Not like the transgression

“By the transgression of the one, the many died” (Death spread to all men)

“Much More (more than that) did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ, abound to the many”

“Judgement arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation”

“the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in Justification”

“By the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one”

“Much more those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.”

“One transgression resulted in condemnation to all men”

“one act of righteousness resulted in justification of life to all men” (not right standing, but the setting right of life/wiped the slate clean)

“Through one man’s disobedience many were made sinners”

“Through obedience of the One many will be made righteous”

“The Law came in so that sin would increase” “Grace abounded more”“Sin reigned in death” “Grace reigns in righteousness to eternal life

through Jesus Christ our Lord”