Bible Commentaries
Romans 5

Verse 1

Romans 5:1

Romans 5:1

Being therefore justified by faith,—One is justified when he is freed from sin so as to stand acquitted before God. To be justified by faith is to be purified by doing the things con­tained in the law of which faith is the leading principle and to which we are led by faith. No one could be justified by the deeds of the law of Moses. No one could keep that law without sin, so could not be justified by the law. Having once sinned, obedience to the law could not blot out that sin. Christ came to provide forgiveness of sin. Paul declares that the gospel he preached “is manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known unto all the nations unto obedience of faith.” (Romans 16:26). The end of preaching the gospel is to bring all men to the obedience to which faith leads. Faith that does not lead to obedience utterly fails in the purpose for which Christ died and the gospel was proclaimed. The end is to bring man into obedience to God. Man is justified by faith when he is led by faith to trust and obey God as his Lord and Master. No one who believes the Bible doubts that a man is justified by faith. The question at issue is, whether he is justified by faith before it leads to obedience or whether by a faith that manifests itself in obedience. Paul tells us exactly how faith does make children of God: “For ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:26-27). Faith, then, saves one by leading him to accept salvation from sin in God’s appointed institutions, leading him to the obedience of faith; he becomes the child of God by being led by faith to be baptized into Christ, so putting on Christ, and in Christ he is saved. To be saved “through faith in Christ Jesus,” and to be “baptized unto the remission of sins,” and to be “baptized into Christ,” and to “put on Christ” mean exactly the same thing.

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;—God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. So as God is in Christ, when we enter into union with Christ we have peace with God. [A state of sin is, on our part, a state of enmity toward God, the enmity existing in us, not in him. Consequently its direction is from us toward him, not from him toward us. But sin being canceled, the enmity ceases and peace ensues. The peace, like the enmity, is toward God; it is peace on our part with him. This peace we have or enjoy through Christ, because through him we obtain justification which induces it. But it is not peace in the sense of exemption from troubles of the world; it is peace of conscience, peace of soul.]

Verse 2

Romans 5:2

Romans 5:2

through whom also we have had our access by faith into this grace wherein we stand;—Through Christ and by the provisions he has made for our entrance into him we have access into this favor of God in which all true Christians stand. We enter into this state of peace with God through faith in Christ.

and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.—Standing in this state of favor with God into which we have entered by faith and having peace with him, we enjoy present blessings as sons of God and hope for greater blessings in the future. In this hope we rejoice. Peter gives this assurance: “Where­by he hath granted unto us his precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature.” (2 Peter 1:4). When we partake of his divine nature, we will conform to his life and share his glories and honors.

Verse 3

Romans 5:3

Romans 5:3

And not only so, but we also rejoice in our tribulations:—Christ rejoiced that he could suffer to redeem man. He looked beyond the suffering to the redemption for man, and in that rejoiced. True faith in Christ imparts the same spirit to man. As we partake of this spirit, we rejoice that we can endure affliction, suffering, persecution, and self-denial to honor God and help man. When the apostles had been imprisoned and then beaten, they “departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name.” (Acts 5:18; Acts 5:40-41). In Philippi, Paul and Silas were beaten unmercifully, thrust into prison, their feet fastened in stocks; but at midnight, notwithstanding their bodily tor­tures, they prayed and sang praises to God. (Acts 16:25). This was the triumph of the spirit over the flesh. The prom­ise is made to the Christians: “For if we died with him, we shall also live with him: if we endure, we shall also reign with him.” (2 Timothy 2:11-12). Christ bestows a partnership in his sufferings as the guarantee of partnership in his joys and honors. Therefore, we can rejoice in suffering with and for him. The tribulations we endure exercise and develop stead­fastness within us.

knowing that tribulation worketh stedfastness;—[Stead­fastness is that iron trait of character which enables us to bear with patience all the ills of life. Afflictions, if rightly used, and this is here assumed, have the effect to form this trait. They fortify the temper and will against the day of need, and so secure us against a diminution of peace and joy. When we remember how constantly these afflictions recur, the necessity for steadfastness becomes apparent. No char­acter can truly be formed without the opportunity of endur­ance; we must learn to withstand. It is by suffering that we learn how to suffer.]

Verse 4

Romans 5:4

Romans 5:4

and stedfastness, approvedness;—[“Approvedness,” as applied to the Christian life, denotes that it has been put to the test by affliction, has successfully endured the ordeal, and now stands purified and approved of God.] Or, as James says: “Knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience.” (James 1:3). And patience in its perfect work will complete the character and fit it for association with God.

and approvedness, hope:—Approvedness causes us to trust God, and to trust his promises causes us to hope for the bless­ings embraced in the promises. Hope of future good gives strength to bear present ills.

Verse 5

Romans 5:5

Romans 5:5

and hope putteth not to shame;—Buoyed by bright hopes of future good enables us to bear with fortitude present suf­ferings. Hope reaches forward, pierces the vale of the future, takes hold of the blessings reserved in heaven, and serves as an anchor to hold the soul firm and steadfast in union with God. This hope enables us to bear shame, to despise suffer­ings, and to be bold for God and his truth.

because the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given unto us.—God gave the Holy Spirit to the apostles in the beginning to impart to them his mind. Paul says: “But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:12). The same principle pertains to the Holy Spirit as received by all God’s children. In imparting to us the knowledge of God, he also imparts the same mind, the same feelings and disposition that God possesses and cherishes. It does not say that the Holy Spirit sheds abroad in our hearts a love for God; but the Spirit, coming from God into our hearts, imparts the same kind of love to our hearts that dwells in the heart of God. He causes us to love just as God loves— to love the same objects that God loves, and to love them in the same way that God loves them. The Holy Spirit in our heart sheds abroad the same mind, temper, and disposition that dwells in the heart of God.

Verse 6

Romans 5:6

Romans 5:6

For while we were yet weak,—While we were yet sin­ners, weak, and destitute of resources to save ourselves, either by atonement for the past or by future obedience.

in due season—There was a due season for Christ to come. There was a long providential preparation, a remarkable con­currence of many conditions, before the “fullness of time” for God to send forth his Son had come. A select nation must be prepared by centuries of discipline. Time must be allowed for the human race to grow into the historic age so that the proofs of the facts connected with the advent of the Son of God could be adequately established. A language more copious and precise than any earlier one must be developed; a world government, wider and stronger than the world had before seen, must be consolidated, to favor unwittingly, even while it wickedly opposed, the dissemination of the gospel. And then, when this wonderful preparation was completed, in due season Christ died. Christ is, therefore, the turning point and center of history, the end of the old and the be­ginning of the new humanity.

Christ died for the ungodly.—The character and strength of the love God had for man is shown in his giving Christ to die for the ungodly. The same love shed abroad in our hearts will cause us to love and suffer to save lost and helpless men as Jesus did.

Verse 7

Romans 5:7

Romans 5:7

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die:—A right­eous man is one who only does what justice or rule of right requires at his hand. A man may be righteous in this sense and only selfishly just. For one who only does to others what justice demands, one would scarcely risk his life or die, for justice excites no gratitude.

for peradventure for the good man some one would even dare to die.—A good man will not only do what justice or right demands, but will go beyond this and do what love, mercy, and kindness suggest. For such a character as this someone might be found who, moved by love and gratitude, would dare to die. This is the highest manifestation of love the best of men would make. [Thus while the possibility implied in the former clause is more distinctly conceded, it is at the same time limited to rare examples of love inspired by the most attractive form of virtue which alone calls forth such love; the stronger is the contrast to the ungodliness and enmity of those for whom Christ died, and it is precisely this contrast which sets God’s love above all human love.]

Verse 8

Romans 5:8

Romans 5:8

But God commendeth his own love towards us,—God goes far beyond all that man would do or conceive and com­mends his love to us as deeper, stronger, and purer than human hearts can know.

in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.—Jesus Christ died on the cross for man while man was return­ing evil for good. This showed a love that is so infinitely superior to all human love that they are placed in contrast. We must cultivate the same spirit or feeling that will cause us to help those in need—to support, to lift those who are enemies of God and of us. We are, like God, to bless our enemies, to do good to them that revile and persecute us, and pray for them that despitefully use and abuse us. The same thought is expressed in the following words: “Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashioned as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Where­fore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11). Christ had the mind to humiliate himself, to take the human body and its infirmities, that he might lift man up to save his spiritual and immortal state and to partake of his glory. This was the mind that was in Christ Jesus, this was the kind of love that God possessed. The Holy Spirit came to shed the same love, the same spirit of devotion and self-sacrifice in the heart of man. This is the love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The man who has the Spirit of God in his heart will find pleasure and joy in sacrificing all temporal favors and fleshly blessings to benefit and save man as God through Christ did.

Verse 9

Romans 5:9

Romans 5:9

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him.—If, while we were enemies and rebels against God, Jesus Christ died for us, much more now, being reconciled to God, justified by his blood, we shall be saved by him from the wrath to come. God is more willing to save those who have accepted the redemp­tion offered through Christ than he was to save while they were yet enemies. When Christ died, he invested, as it were, his lifeblood in those who accept him. The redeemed by this become so much the dearer to God. And we shall be saved by living the life Jesus lived. We are able to live this life by the Spirit he has given us.

Verse 10

Romans 5:10

Romans 5:10

For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God—Man must be reconciled to God, not God to man. Man must be conformed to the life of God, not God to man and his sins. If God’s love shown in the death of Christ was such as to overcome us when we were at enmity with him, how much more ready, now being reconciled, we should be to be saved by his life! We are reconciled to God by bringing our char­acter into harmony with his character and will. This is rec­onciliation.

through the death of his Son,—It is offered through the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ at once enabled God to be just while justifying him that believes in Christ, and enabled God to make the terms easy; and the death of Christ showed to man his own lost condition—“because we thus

judge, that one died for all, therefore all died” (2 Corinthians 5:14)— and pointed him to the love and mercy of God and his great anxiety to save all who would come to him through Christ.

much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life;—We are saved by entering into Christ and living his life, reproducing the life of Christ in our lives. The salvation promised to man is a salvation from sin. When saved from sin, we are united to God and inherit his glories. No blessing or favor is provided out of Christ. All blessings are in and through him. Into him we must enter, and in him live his life, if we would be blessed.

Verse 11

Romans 5:11

Romans 5:11

and not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,—Not only are we thus saved by his life, but through the privileges we have in Christ Jesus are enabled to rejoice in God [as our Father, who, having forgiven all our sins, has filled us with the hope of eternal life.]

through whom we have now received the reconciliation.— God offered salvation through the blood of Christ, and the offer must be accepted by complying with the prescribed con­ditions before the reconciliation is completed. [Hence, to receive the reconciliation is to receive Christ’s death as a sac­rifice for sins. To accept this great fact is to receive the reconciliation, the practical effect of which is to become rec­onciled. So soon as we accept the fact and become obedient from the heart to that form of teaching delivered unto us, we are made free from sin and become the servants of right­eousness. The Holy Spirit is now given. Nothing now remains but to perfect holiness in the fear of God, or to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.]

Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world,—This “one man” was Adam. [He was the first to violate God’s law, and this violation was the first sin. “And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, ... Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it.” (Genesis 2:16-17). This was God’s law in the case. Trans­gression was the act in which sin had its origin in the world. To this three parties stood, each peculiarly related. God was the author of the law, Adam broke it, Satan tempted to the act, and in the act sin began.]

and death through sin;—Death entered into the world through sin—by one sin. [Had Adam never committed an­other sin, still the death of the whole human family would have followed.]

and so death passed unto all men,—And death extended to all men. [God had directed beforehand that if Adam sinned, both he and his posterity should die. All were thus bound up in the same decree to the same doom. Accordingly, when Adam sinned, the decree took effect, and all died.]

for that all sinned:—[The sin which induced the sin of all was Adam’s sin. This, then, must have been the sin that all committed. But there is only one admissible sense in which all could have committed that sin—to wit, representatively. Adam, in committing the first sin, stood for and represented the whole of his posterity. If this be not the sense in which all sinned, then that sense is not discernible. Nor should this solution be rejected on the ground of being strange. It is by all admitted that death is the result of the one sin of Adam. There is no more difficulty in understanding how we could all commit that sin than in seeing how we could be justly required to die for it. Indeed, it is much easier to under­stand how, by representation, we could and did commit it, than to see how, without representation or participation in some sense, we all can be subject to death for it. When it is said, “For as in Adam all die” (1 Cor. 15; 22), it certainly means that all die in consequence of the sin which he com­mitted, or die by his act. Now, if death resulted from sin on the sole ground of implication in it, then implication by representation must be admitted. We are certainly not on the ground of actual personal sin. Representation, then, is the only alternative. In Hebrews 7:9-10 we have a parallel case. It is there said that Levi, before he was born and while “he was yet in the loins of his father,” “paid tithes” to Melchizedek. Now, if Levi, while in the loins of Abraham, could and did pay tithes, with equal certainty could the whole posterity of Adam, while still in him, sin. And what they could thus do they did, and from the deed came death. But here a distinction should be made. Sin by representation does not imply guilt, as actual personal sin does. It may both justify and demand the appointment of a penalty, as in the case in hand, but no more. Hence, no one of his posterity will ever, after death, be held responsible for Adam’s sin. As to them, his sin will never, after death, be brought into account. In their case, therefore, death is not the con­sequence of personal guilt, but connection with a guilty an­cestor. Accordingly, though we die for Adam’s sin, no one of us ever will be judged for it. For our own sins only will we be judged. These alone involve personal responsibility, and, hence, imply guilt. For them alone we shall have to account.]

Verse 12

Romans 5:12

Romans 5:12

Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men, for that all sinned. Though Eve first ate of the forbidden fruit, Adam’s eating it completed the transgression and made it unanimous. Paul follows the usual custom of speaking of the man instead of the woman. He indulges in no reasoning as to why they sinned; he merely states the fact that they did sin. He speaks of it merely to draw a contrast between the effects of what Adam did and the effects of what Christ did; and he did this to show how the gospel of Christ more than overcomes the effects of Adam’s sin. Christianity is not concerned with the origin of sin so much as with the fact of sin. The gospel did not bring sin into the world, but it was brought into the world as the panacea for sin and all its ills. Death resulted from sin. But what death is here meant? It is true that physical death came as a result of sin, but so also does spiritual death. The context and the nature of Paul’s argument must determine which death is here meant. In this Roman letter Paul frequently uses the word death, without saying which death he means, leaving the reader to determine from the context which death he means. The context favors the idea that death in verse 12 is spiritual death. The moral and spiritual condition of man and the gospel plan of justification had been the matter under discussion. Besides, the death here mentioned passed upon all men on account of their own sins. Physical death came upon all on account of Adam’s sin, but the death here mentioned came only upon those who sinned. Facts are against the idea that all men suffer physical death on account of their own sins; but spiritual death does come in that way, and hi no other way. The condition of infants and idiots is not taken into consideration in the discussion of sin and spiritual death. They die a physical death, even though they have not sinned.

It is generally agreed that Romans 5:13-17 is parenthetical, and that the thought started in Romans 5:12 is resumed in Romans 5:18, Such parentheses are frequent in Paul’s writing.

Verse 13

Romans 5:13

Romans 5:13

for until the law sin was in the world;—Throughout the period from Adam to Moses there was no law given, and God seems to have dealt with man as he has during no other period. He treated him as a father treats his children, incapa­ble of understanding the force of a general law or rule. But when he found one here and one there disposed to honor him, he gave him personal attention and schooled him to respect the authority of Jehovah. The family of Abraham was thus tutored and schooled for successive generations until they were capable of appreciating its force and effects. Then through Moses law was given to this family and advanced in the school of divine teaching.

but sin is not imputed when there is no law.—Sin is not counted for death when there is no law making death the penalty for breaking it.

Verse 14

Romans 5:14

Romans 5:14

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses,— Adam’s transgression was setting aside a positive law. From Adam to Moses, even those that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression. Adam’s transgression was setting aside a positive law. From Adam to Moses there was no code of laws, so they did not sin as Adam did. Yet they were wicked beyond measure; so God destroyed them. The sin of transgressing law was not imputed, but the sin and wickedness prevented God giving law, and they perished with­out law. (See Genesis 6:11-13).

even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam’s transgression,—There are several respects in which the sins of Adam’s posterity are not like his transgression: He sinned the first time tempted, with surroundings most favorable, with specific warning of God that he should die if he sinned. He breathed, the atmosphere of innocence and purity, in every breath of which the Spirit of God floated, and which was impregnated with the aroma of divine goodness and heavenly love. By virtue of his transgression the domin­ion of the world passed under the evil one. The world was sin-defiled. The spirit of the evil one was infused into the whole atmosphere of earth, and poisoned it with the virus of sin and death. No individual down through the ages could sin under similar circumstances. Not one has been at liberty to choose life or death, as Adam had the privilege of doing. All must suffer death. We have no choice as to this.

who is a figure of him that was to come.—Adam, through whom sin and death came, is a figure of Jesus Christ. [The resemblance between Adam and Christ was their acts and the consequences of their acts. The one act of Adam affected the whole human family; that of Christ did likewise. That of Adam brought death to all men; the obedience of Christ brings all out of the grave alive (John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15; 1 Corinthians 15:22)—that is, whatever evils Adam’s sin brought upon the world without our agency are all counteracted and remedied by the one act of Christ without our agency.]

Verse 15

Romans 5:15

Romans 5:15

But not as the trespass, so also is the free gift.—[The comparison between Adam and Christ is at the same time a contrast. They are alike in that they both stand at the head of the human race, and so extend the influence of their acts to all, unlike in the nature of those acts and the consequences that flow from them.] In the one case, sin came through the one to the death of many; in the other, the favor of God, which came by Jesus Christ, abounds unto many.

For if by the trespass of the one the many died,—[The “one” here is Adam, and the “trespass” was his first trespass. That all died physically when Adam sinned is conceded—not died actually and physically at the very moment, for then would the race have been exterminated; but sentence was then pro­nounced, provision was then completed, and only a brief respite stayed the end. So sure were all to die that the event is spoken of as if it had already taken place. It is certain that Adam, so soon as he sinned, was both bodily and spiritually cut off from vital union with God, and that had it not been for the redemption which is in Christ (Revelation 13:8; 1 Peter 1:19-20), he would have then died and been forever lost. But what shall we say of his posterity ? For it is conceded by all that in his sin he was standing for all. All his posterity have died or will die. But Adam’s sin did not affect the spirit of his posterity. His sin cleaves to all up to the point where the body and spirit separate; beyond this point the spirit is free from its influence, as though the sin never had been com­mitted. Therefore, all that appears necessary in their case is that the redemption of Christ should bring them out of the grave and restore them to life again. This it does, and, in the case of the saved, far more. It brings the saved out of the grave to a spiritual body and restores them to a far better life than even Adam’s was, and far better circumstances. But the moment one commits a personal sin, his spirit be­comes involved, and he stands where Adam stood when he first sinned. This sin, and this only, corrupts his soul; and for this sin, and this only, he will certainly be lost, unless, in this life, it be forgiven. Adam’s sin has corrupted our bodies; our own sins corrupt our spirits. For them alone we can be lost. And here comes the provision for personal salvation through the blood of Christ. Through the merits of that blood God can be just while forgiving the sinner. We be­lieve in Christ and obey him, and the blood of Jesus. Christ cleanseth us from all sin, and we await in hope the glorious resurrection.]

much more did the grace of God,—Whether the sin be the sin of Adam or the many sins we have committed, the death of Jesus provides for them all, and much more. [The "much more” includes a better body than Adam ever had, a better life than he ever lived, a better world than he ever lived in— a world where Satan and sin and death can never come.]

and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound unto the many.—By the sin of Adam all die and go to the grave. The grace and gift of God must bring them out of the grave and restore them to life, so that all that was lost in Adam may be regained in Christ; but this is not a matter of debt, but of grace. But here this important question arises: In what sense did the grace and gift of God abound much more than the effects of sin? Do they actually invest all with any more than the restoration of life? Certainly not. All they do beyond this consists in provisions for the salvation of all men from personal sins, but they do not bring salvation to any except those who obey the Lord. (Hebrews 5:9). So far as the wicked are concerned, it is not known that a single benefit will be bestowed on them. They will be simply raised from the dead. (John 5:29). To the obedient in Christ the gift and grace abound unto immortality and eternal life.

[Here it is timely to add a few words about those who die in infancy. They die in Adam, and in Christ shall be made alive. What they lost unconditionally in Adam they gain unconditionally in Christ. In this respect the saved, infants, and the wicked are all treated alike. But as infants have no personal sins for which they must account, they are on an equality with those whose personal sins are forgiven. They will be raised from the dead in spiritual bodies and share the blessedness of the saved.]

Verse 16

Romans 5:16

Romans 5:16

And not as through one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment came of one unto condemnation,—Through one that sinned death came, and condemnation to all. One death brought both physical decay and spiritual ruin, or, rather, both spiritual ruin and physical decay are results from one cause.

but the free gift came of many trespasses unto justification. —The free gift is for the justification of many offenses that the offender may live.

Verse 17

Romans 5:17

Romans 5:17

For if, by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one;—[Here there is in view the whole period over which death had reigned from its entrance into the world.] Life and death were used originally in a sense different from their present use. Life meant freedom from corruption or suffer­ing, both spiritual and material. Death was the opposite of life—subjection to corruption, to suffering, to decay. “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” was liter­ally fulfilled in the sense in which the word “die” was used. It is frequently used in the same sense in the Bible. Paul says: “I die daily.” (1 Corinthians 15:31). Our existence here is but a continued death—a continued suffering and decay. What we call “death” is but the end of continued death. In this sense the separation from God is death. The effect of the death upon man’s material being is suffering, disease, decay, ending in the return of dust to dust; the effect of that death on the spiritual man is anguish, sorrow, fear, spiritual woe, ending in eternal sorrow unless redeemed from this destiny by Christ, the Savior. It is one death, but one bearing fruit in the material and spiritual world.

much more shall they that receive the abundance of grace—[This indicates the absolute certainly that those who accept the grace given through Christ shall enjoy his righteousness.]

and of the gift of righteousness—“The gift of righteousness” is the remission of sins. Viewed from the divine side, it is a gratuitous act; from the human side, it is the thing received, for which we make no return—it is a gift.

reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ.—[This cov­ers the whole mediation of Jesus Christ in reference to man. It is through his death that the believing penitent, on render­ing obedience to the gospel, enters into the state of righteous­ness, and through the union with him which follows that his whole being is visualized and transfigured through time into eternity.]

Verse 18

Romans 5:18

Romans 5:18

So then—After saying in verse 12, “Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men, for that all sinned,” Paul proceeds to state the case of the one man; also that of his sin, and how this brought universal death. The subject is profound and involves principles of justice and right to which it is difficult to reconcile the human mind, which he saw and

appreciated, and felt called upon to introduce at once the counterpart to the difficult view he had just stated—to Adam, to his sin, and to death—in other words, to introduce the ample remedy which God had provided in Christ, not only for all the evils that had befallen the human race in Adam, but also for our own personal sins. These topics are discussed in verses 12-17, in a closely connected chain of thought, every link of which is important and stands in its proper place. These matters crowded themselves upon his mind until a proper disposition had been made of them. Here we have the second member of the comparison begun in verse 12, repeated in the changed terms demanded by the intervening state­ments, and then the words "even so” introduce what virtually completes the comparison there begun, the precise terms being changed to conform to the statement of the first member of the comparison in this verse.

as through one trespass the judgment came unto all men to condemnation;—[That this is the judgment passed on Adam for his first sin cannot be questioned. It is the judg­ment that was provoked by "one trespass,” and the "one trespass” which brought death. Now, in the same words which God pronounced this judgment upon Adam, and for the same sin, he pronounced judgment upon his posterity. Adam’s posterity do not die because his sin was imputed to them, but because, being in him, in so far as they are human, they were acted for in his act. The doctrine of imputed sin, like that of imputed righteousness, has no sanction in reason or in revelation. No one has a right to impute to me another’s sin and deal with me for it as though it were mine. But it is according to the constitution of nature, and a thing which often occurs, that we are represented in and by others for good or evil, and why not in Adam? The condemnation on Adam was death. For one sin, God in condemning Adam condemned in him the whole of his posterity to death. It had no reference to any effect beyond the grave.]

even so through one act of righteousness—The one act of Christ’s dying on the cross.

the free gift came unto all men to justification of life.—[The gift of justification is the counterpart of the judgment unto condemnation, and the meaning of the latter determines the former. The judgment to condemnation means, as we have already seen, a sentence in which Adam and his posterity were condemned to temporal death. Now, justification means release from that sentence, and no more. It has no reference whatever to the remission of personal sins; but it means release from a sentence, and no more. It is release from immediate death, and, as such, amounts to a respite. In virtue of it Adam lived on after the sentence; and in virtue of it we all live the life we are now living. It signifies the universal resurrection of the dead. The phrase is "justifica­tion of life”—justification so far as to be permitted to live and so far as to be restored to life after death.]

Verse 19

Romans 5:19

Romans 5:19

For as through the one man’s disobedience—The “one man” was Adam, and the “disobedience” was the first sin.

the many were made sinners,—Adam’s disobedience did not make them sinners, for the same one who made them sinners made them righteous. This certainly excludes Adam. [We should note carefully that the many were not sinners within themselves or by any act they performed. They were made sinners. If one is a sinner by his own act, he is so independ­ently of anyone making him such. God did not make the many sinners because of, or through, any act of their own. He made them sinners through the disobedience of Adam. Before Adam’s transgression they were not made sinners; after it they were. It is not said of Adam that he was made a sinner. He was actually one, and could not be made one. But up to the moment of being made sinners his posterity were not sinners as he was. They had committed no sin, except as through his sinning for them; and for that reason God made them sinners.]

even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous.—[The reference in "obedience” is to the death of “Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all.” (1 Timothy 2:6). “He humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:8). “The many” includes the whole posterity of Adam. “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22). The whole human family will be raised from the dead. Through the death of Christ the whole human family are to be constituted righteous to the extent, and for the sole purpose, of being raised from the dead. They are made righteous to this end. By the sin of Adam the many were made sinners so far as to be subjected to death; by the obedience of Christ the many were made righteous so far as to be raised from the dead. The object is to show that just so far as the whole posterity of Adam have been made sinners through Adam’s transgression, so far as they all made righteous through the death of Christ; and since Adam’s diso­bedience brings death, so Christ’s obedience brings the resur­rection—and all this without any reference whatever to per­sonal merits or demerits of those affected. In other words, what was unconditionally lost in Adam is unconditionally gained in Christ.]

Verse 20

Romans 5:20

Romans 5:20

And the law came in besides,—[Besides sin and death, the law also entered in. Three things entered into the world— sin, death, and the law.] The law of Moses, or the law of works, was added because of transgression. "So that the law is become our tutor to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith is come, we are no longer under a tutor.” (Galatians 3:24-25).

that the trespass might abound;—The rebellious spirit was in man; the law came to call it out and make it manifest itself.

but where sin abounded,—Sin was the breaking out of the disease within. When it broke out into sin, men could realize that it was sin, and there was a need of a cure.

grace did abound more exceedingly:—When sin showed it­self, grace through our Lord Jesus Christ abounded to take it away; or when it abounded, then the provisions for justifi­cation in Jesus Christ did more abound to take it away.

Verse 21

Romans 5:21

Romans 5:21

that, as sin reigned in death,—[Sin is here personified and represented as reigning like a king. The reign is mighty, and the results are fearful. Previous to Paul’s day it was reigning, it was reigning then, it is reigning now, and will continue till death is swallowed up of life. Death is here rep­resented as a ubiquitous tyrant, whose sway embraces all.]

even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eter­nal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.—Grace is here per­sonified as a benignant king who reigns through leading men into the righteousness of God and unto eternal life through Jesus Christ.