Romans - Verse by Verse Study - Chapter 7

Romans 7:1
Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

Now in chapter 7 God is going to address something alluded to in chapter 6. The Law, that is the Law of Moses in this context, only reigns over someone while they are alive. God is specifically talking to those who know the Law of Moses or at least know of it or experienced it. He will give us the analogy of marriage to further understand this in the next couple of verses.

Let's keep in mind where we're coming from. God told us in chapter 5 why there is the sin and the death in the world, and that was through Adam's transgression. All mankind inherits this from Adam and must deal with it in this lifetime. That sin and death is overcome through life in Jesus Christ. In chapter 6, God pounded the concept that the sin leads to death, but Christ has set all believers in His gospel of grace free from that sin, so we can now choose to no longer serve it. We can change our bodies from being used for unrighteousness to being weapons of righteousness because our old man was crucified in Christ as we were baptized to His death (6:3-4). So to further emphasize our freedom in Christ, God is reminding us the the Law of Moses only applies while living here on earth.

The Greek reads a bit different here, though the concept is the same. It more literally says, "Or are you ignorant brothers, indeed I speak the law to those knowing, that the law rules over the man upon (epi) how much time {chronos) he is living?" We've seen a lot of these Greek words before, so I will just point out that the word for "know" here is gnossis, which is experiential knowledge, and the word for man is anthropos, which is generic and could be rendered "human."

Romans 7:2
For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

This is something we ought to be able to understand since we see it yet today. Some analogies of the bible require some cultural knowledge to fully comprehend, but that's not the case here. Most marriage vows contain the words "til death do us part" or something like that. Should a spouse pass on to the next life, the living spouse is not bound in marriage any longer. She may marry again if she chooses and will not break the Law. God will get to the application in verse 4.

This verse is well translated, but there are some fun things to point out. The phrase "woman which hath an husband" is really just one word in the Greek. It is the compound word hupandros, consisting of hupo (under or under authority) and aner (man). makes sense, right? If a woman is married, she is under the authority of the man. Women, please don't get upset at that. God ordained it this way, but that doesn't mean that the man is authoritarian and forces you to do what he wishes. God's desire of marriage is that the man be submitted fully to God, in which case a woman would be happy to be under that authority, knowing her husband would love her and give himself for her as Christ did for the church (Eph 5:22-33).

The word for "is bound" is deo, and does mean to bind, tie, or fasten [2]. This word is in the Perfect tense, because it happened at a definitive time in the past, the time of the marriage vow. The Greek says she is "bound to law to the living man." The man would be the husband as implied by the context, but note that the word there is aner.

There is a missing "de" that wasn't translated in the second part of this verse, so that it says, "Now (de) if (ean - conditional) the man (aner) should die, she has been severed (katargeo - Perfect tense) from (apo) the law of the man (aner). That word katargeo is used several times in the New testament and here is a good and thorough definition:

katargéō (from 2596 /katá, "down to a point," intensifying 691 /argéō, "inactive, idle") – properly, idle down, rendering something inert ("completely inoperative"); i.e. being of no effect (totally without force, completely brought down); done away with, cause to cease and therefore abolish; make invalid, abrogate (bring to nought); "to make idle or inactive" [1]

Romans 7:3
So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

Again, this should be intuitive when we look back at verse 2, but God leaves no room for confusion. He went over the scenario that if a wife's husband dies, she is free from the Law. Looking at the other side of it now, if the wife's husband lives and she marries another man, what is the result? According to the Law, she is an adulteress. So then, to reiterate, if a wife's husband is dead, she is free from the Law and not labeled an adulteress if she chooses to marry another man. That makes sense, right? This whole thing is an analogy for us to understand the bigger picture in which God will show in the next verse.

The Greek is quite different, though the translation here is good. I want to point out first the word chrematizo, which is translated "shall be called." This word has the idea of a legal transaction dealing with money. Here's one definition:

xrēmatízō (from xrēma, "a legal agreement for transacting business") – properly, to admonish on the basis of a valid standard (what has true worth) [1]

That is the only word that we haven't really seen so far in this study on Romans, so now I'll just put a more literal translation for the whole verse:

Therefore (oun) it is fitting (ara) she will be legally declared (chrematizo) an adulteress of the living man (aner) if (ean) she comes to be (ginomai) to another (heteros) man (aner). Now (de) if (ean) the man (aner) should die, she is free from (apo) the law. Of it (the Law), she is not to be an adulteress having come to be (ginomai) to another (heteros) man (aner).

Romans 7:4
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

By the same analogy of marriage, we have the truth here that we no longer are bound to the Law because of the body of Christ. Remember, all believers died with Christ in His crucifixion because we were baptized to His death (6:3). Because of that death, we are free from the bondage of the Law and free to marry another. We now belong to, or are married to Christ and are bound to Him in His grace. It is by His grace we are spiritually alive and now may bear spiritual fruit.

This would speak volumes to them who understood the Law. I still am in awe of the culture shock that must have taken place when this new dispensation was unleashed. Through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul is pointing out here that those who knew the Law need not abide in it any longer. They are free from it because of the finished work of Christ on the cross of Calvary. it is that freedom that allows them to bear spiritual fruit and now live for Christ according to Paul's gospel.

There are some important differences in the English compared to the Greek. It may be that this is old English though and not as readily understood in modern day. First, the phrase "are become dead" is in the Aorist tense and may be better understood as "became dead," or "were made dead," or "have been put to death." The phrase "by the body of Christ" is "through (dia) the body of the Christ," as the definite article is present. The phrase "that ye should be married to another" is more accurately "to the point (eis) which you all become (Infinitive case) to another of a different kind (heteros)." The phrase "is raised from the dead" is more accurately "was raised out of the dead" as it is in the Aorist. Finally there is a definite article for the God. With all of that said, here is a more literal verse for 7:4

Therefore my brethren, also you have been put to death to the law through the body of the Christ to the point which you all become to another, to Him who was raised out of the dead, in order that we should bear fruit to the God.

Romans 7:5
For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

God is again going over a concept He already gave, but saying it just a bit differently so we really get it. Compare this verse to Romans 6:16, 19, and 20-21. All mankind starts off "in the flesh" as it is put here, again referencing Romans 5:12. During the time period before a person believes in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as atonement for their sins, that person could only work out sin and brought fruit to the point of death. In no way could that person please God because that person is dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1-3). Thank God for the life we have in Christ in the moment of salvation! God also talks about this flesh and law versus the spirit in Gal 5:16-25. This verse is setting up for the contrast in verse 6.

The word "motions" here in the KJV is understood differently in the Greek. The Greek word is pathema, which has the definition of "strong feeling" or "passion." [1] It could also have the idea of "that which one suffers" or "has suffered." [3] There is a definite article for the sins and the death, being consistent with what we've read throughout this epistle. The word "by" is the Greek "dia" and could be translated "through." Other than that, this verse is pretty spot on word for word with the Greek.

Take a moment and reflect though, knowing the deeper definition of that word motions. When we were in the flesh, and dead in trespasses in sins as God puts it, the passions of the sins which were known through the Law were worked out in our bodies that ultimately would lead to death. That should give reason to pause and consider what life was like during the period of unbelief or for our loved ones that are in unbelief. Is this an accurate statement? What evidences do you see in your life? While dead in trespasses in sins, can we see how we used our bodies as weapons of unrighteousness to the sin and the death (yes, I include myself in this)? As believers now, are you not ashamed of some, if not most, of the things that we did before the moment of belief (Rom 6:21)? I know I am. It's because of all of this that I am so passionate now to know my God as absolutely as I can. It's His love that compels me to study His word as often as possible. It's the joy of my relationship with Him that compels me to share what I've known in any ways that present themselves. It's my prayer that all the loved ones in my life will come to realize the truth of God's word and be set free by it. My prayers are often for people to be drawn deeper into the intimate relationship with God that every person may have and enjoy, and that God would use whatever circumstances to do so. It is amazing to take time and think back to how God has been working a good work in me since the day of my salvation and is working towards the completion of it in the day I meet Him face to face (1 Thess 5:23-24, Phil 1:6). I also rejoice that every single believer may enjoy their own unique and beautiful relationship with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 7:6
But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

Another wonderful contrast presented in the Word of God. When we were in the flesh we could only work out death in our bodies. Whatever we put our hands to only yielded fruits of unrighteousness that led to the sin and the death. And then we get these words; "But now..." Everything has changed in the moment of salvation. That old sin nature that lead to the death is itself dead now. When we were baptized in the Holy Spirit to the Body of Christ, we were baptized to His death and the old man is crucified that we no longer live in it. We were in bondage to sin, now we are set free to serve in the spirit. What an amazing contrast! What a loving God we have to provide this dramatic change of death to life! Praise the Lord for these miracles that happen everyday whenever anyone accepts the saving grace of God through the finished work of Christ on the cross.

The contrast in the Greek is as powerful as it gets. We again find the "Now, now" here as it is nyni de in the Greek. The phrase for "we are delivered" is the word katargeo, which means to abolish or bring to nothing, or to make of no effect. It's also in the Aorist tense, which would indicate that it happened at some point in the past, which would be the point of salvation, but the main focus is on the change that took place and not the time. A literal translation up to the first comma may read, "Now, now we have been severed from (apo) the law."

The next phrase merits looking into as well. The phrase "being dead" is also in the Aorist tense, the word "wherein" is the Greek "en" and the phrase "we were held" is the Greek katecho. Katecho is a compound word of kata (against, according to) and echo (to hold). Putting those words together strengthens the idea to being held fast or bound tightly. So again, here we see God laying out the truth that we were absolutely stuck in sin and dead in those trespasses before the moment of belief. But now in the present and after the moment of belief, we are completely severed from that sin and death.

We have an interesting word to show the contrast after the semicolon in the KJV here. It is the word hoste, a compound word of hos (as, like as, even as) and te (both and, and both). Putting those words together, it gives the idea of the result being the combination of both elements. We could translate it as "so as". In this case, what were those elements? Just take another look at the contrast presented here. We were dead and held in the law. That status was severed so as (hoste) to serve in newness of spirit and not to sever in the oldness of the letter. The result of those two elements of being dead and held have been changed in the moment of belief that the effect is we may now serve in the spirit and bear fruit to righteousness (Rom 6:13, 16, 18-19).

Romans 7:7
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

Some may start to question if the law was sin since everyone was under it and all are under sin. When we were dead in trespasses and sins, and only produced works that lead to death, we were serving in the oldness of the letter as it says in verse 6. Does it follow then that the Law is sin since we were serving it while dead in trespasses and sins? God's answer, as is familiar in this epistle, is, "May it never be!" Sin is exposed under the law. God has already told us this in Rom 3:20 and 5:20. Just because the Law exposes sin does not make itself to be sin. It is holy and just and good, which we read down in verse 12, so God is going to explain this logic to us through these verses.

There is a very interesting word usage here with the term "known." In the Greek, the first occurrence is of the root ginosko, which is the knowledge through experience. The second occurrence is the root eido, which is the knowledge that is intuitive or perceived. Observe the importance in this. The apostle Paul is saying he had not experienced what sin was except through the Law. He could not even perceive what sin was before the Law. Now because of the Law making sin manifest, as in the example of coveting, he, and we, may now perceive what sin is. Thus, God is reiterating that the Law exposes sin, so that the offence might abound (5:20). It may be interesting to note that in Rom 3:20, the word for knowledge is epignossis, which literally means upon knowledge, but the idea is the complete knowledge through experience.

Romans 7:8
But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

Sin is personified in this verse, taking advantage of the time sin became known and worked itself out to the fullest extent. Think again about life before belief in the gospel of God's grace. Was sin not enticing? Didn't we end up doing things which we now are ashamed of? Even in those things we may not have liked, we desired more of them, so we can relate to the "all manner of concupiscence" phrase in this verse. However in all of this, apart from the Law, that is, apart from knowing or exposing what sin is, then sin is as dead. The lusts of the flesh will not roar to life if they are not exposed as sin. Isn't that amazing how that works? I know I've observed it.

Think of a time when the opportunity to sin came up. Doesn't your body try to come up with reasons to act on that sin? Was it not especially enticing after sin was made known, as in the exposure through the Law? The question may come up: What about before the sin was exposed? God will go over that in the next verse.

The word "but" at the beginning of this sentence is "de" in the Greek. There's a definite article to denote the sin. The word for "concupiscence" is the same word translated as "covet" and "lust" in verse 7. That word is epithumia, a compound word of epi (upon) and thymos (passionate desire).

Romans 7:9
For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

Apart from the Law, Paul realized he was alive and sin was not. However, once sin became known through the Law, sin was alive and he died to it. We see God expanding on the previous verse that once sin became known, the lusts of the flesh are dominant. I believe this concept applies to all mankind and not just the apostle Paul here, despite using the personal pronoun.

Take a look back over this chapter and see the progression of the logic. We are told that those who know the Law are under the dominion of the Law in verse 1. We are legally bound to it in verses 2 and 3 as in a marriage. Now, in the moment of salvation we are severed from that binding to the Law and can be bound to Christ and live to righteousness in verse 5. The next few verses expand on the state of life to show the struggle of good versus evil that exists in a believer. When sin rears its ugly head, temptations arise. But those who have been bound to Christ can say no to those sins and live to righteousness. Prior to this, when sin was alive, we were dead. Dead in trespasses and sins and bound to continue producing fruit of unrighteousness. Praise the Lord for the life He freely gives through Christ Jesus our Lord!

The only thing in the Greek I wanted to point out in this verse is the consistent use of the definite article for the sin.

Romans 7:10
And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.

The Law was made to point out how to expose sin and show how to be alive, yet the apostle is reflecting that he found it to point out death. he will give the reasoning in the next verse and conclusion in verse 12.

Here is another verse in the Greek that causes headaches in the English because of all the parsing. The verb, according to the parsing, actually belongs to the noun commandment. It was found or was discovered to be to the point of death as that word is in the Aorist Indicative Active 3rd Person Singular form. First, to give an idea of the headache, here is how it appears in the Greek:

And (kai) was discovered (heurisko) to me (Dative case of ego) the commandment (he entole) that to the point of (he eis) life (zoe) that to the point of (haute eis) death (thanatos).

I think the English translation is a fair one in the KJV. It may be clearer to organize it this way:

"And the commandment that was to the point of life was discovered to me to be to the point of death."

Romans 7:11
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

How did the apostle discover this Law from the last verse? That it brought him to death. Because when the Law exposed sin, the lusts of the flesh were overwhelming. Sin took the opportunity presented by being exposed to work out fruits to unrighteousness, which led to death, so it appears the Law points to death.

Here we see very similar phrasing as in verse 8. The English in verse 11 is nearly word for word with the Greek, with the exception of the definite article for the sin. Also it may be of interested to look at the Greek for "deceived" which is exapatao. It's a compound word of ex (out of) and apatao (deceive). So the idea is to be thoroughly deceived. This word only occurs 6 times in the New Testament: Here, Rom 16:18, 1 Cor 3:18, 2 Cor 11:3, 2 Thess 2:3, and 1 Tim 2:14 (2 times).

Romans 7:12
Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

The conclusion to all of this is that the Law is good and that it is most certainly not sin. Whoever may ask the question posed in verse 7 can look at this logic and understand that the Law isn't sin. The Law does its job of exposing sin, but it itself is not sin. But that begs the question of what drives all this death and the working of death? If it's not the Law, then what is it? Have no fear, God will let us know in the next verse.

Romans 7:13
Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

God let's us know that Paul was not claiming that the Law brings about death in verse 10. Here he claims that the Law is good. But back in verse 10 he says the commandments in the Law he discovered pointed to death. The commandments Paul found pointed to death because of the sin which wrought works that bore fruit unto death (Rom 6:21, 7:5). However, those commandments really point to life. It's sin that's sinful, which really shouldn't be hard to understand, right? The Law is good and lawful. Sin is bad and sinful. Because of the exposure of sin as sin, Paul was so consumed in sin that he couldn't see the life and purpose of the Law. But his salvation changed all of that and he will explain more on this for the rest of this chapter.

The Greek literally starts off with "Therefore, the good thing has become death to me?" I almost laughed at this because it appears in a humorous way he is setting up the explanation, so as to be very clear we do not misinterpret. As I said before, the casual reader would see that Paul makes two claims between verses 10 and 13 that need clarification, and we would naturally ask this question here in verse 13. To answer, we have the familiar "May it never be!"

Sin is the bad guy. It always has been since the Garden of Eden. We see the definite article after "God forbid" to put weight to it. But the sin. The lie that was told in the Garden of Eden is what brought sin to this world in the first place. So to prove the holiness of the Law, sin abounds and is manifest under it, especially through the works that bear fruit to unrighteousness. Let's face it, sin is ugly. It's so bad that even unbelievers will shrink back from it most of the time.

The phrase "that it might appear" is one little word in the Greek: phaino. It means "to come to light," and is found in the Aorist case in this verse. That whole part of the verse is more literally, "But rather (alla) the sin, in order that sin may come to light, is working out death (present tense) to me through (dia) that good thing." Clearly, that good thing is the Law.

Now there's some hefty emphasis in the next phrase in the Greek. The word "exceeding" is actually two words in the Greek. The first word is kata (against, according to) and the second is huperbole (a throwing beyond, more and more exceedingly [3]). So it isn't that sin is just exceedingly sinful, but rather it is extra exceedingly sinful through the Law. Here is a more literal translation:

Therefore, the good thing has become death to me? May it never be! But rather the sin, in order that sin may come to light, is working out death to me through that good thing, in order that the sin may become downright excessively sinful through the commandment.

Romans 7:14
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

This is a given, that we are "fleshly" because of Adam's transgression (Rom 5:12). From the previous argument in this chapter we can clearly see that the Law is holy. Therefore, God let's us know again that the Law is from Him and holy, but our flesh is under sin.

The word for "know" here is eido, again to emphasize the fact that we should already understand this. The word "but" is "de," which I believe is a stronger contrast and may be translated as "now." Interesting that the phrase ego eimi appears here in the Greek, which means, "I, I am." It is added emphasis of identity of being carnal or fleshly here. This phrase is also found in Rom 11:13 to identify Paul as the apostle to the Gentiles and by Jesus in John 8:58 with the famous claim, "Before Abraham was, I, I am." There is a definite article for the sin, so with all of this, the last phrase says, "Now I, I am carnal, sold under the sin."

Romans 7:15
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

This verse can cause some confusion in the English. It is much clearer in the Greek, so I'm going to start off with a more literal translation with the Greek, and then just show the English for convenient reading:

For, (gar) what (ho) I work out (katergazomai), I know (ginosko) not (ou). For, (gar) what (ho) I desire (thelo), I practice (prasso) not (ou). But rather (alla), what (ho) I hate (miseo), this (ho) I do (poieo).

For, what I work out, I know not. For what I desire, I practice not. But rather, what I hate, this I do.

Doesn't that make much more sense? Every verb in this verse is in the Present Indicative Active form, meaning they are ongoing. This is a fight of the flesh and the spirit. We don't understand what we're doing sometimes and end up doing things we don't like instead of what we desire to do. The context here is talking of sin, because "I am carnal, sold under the sin" as told in verse 14. In the flesh, we cannot help but work out sin and bear fruits of unrighteousness. As many times as this concept is repeated, it is my hope that all Christians would come to understand this.

Romans 7:16
If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

Building off of verse 15, the conclusion is that the Law is good and doing it's job of exposing sin. Since mankind is carnal and sold under sin and practices what is undesired, then the Law must be good to show that those carnal things are undesirable.

There are a couple of things to point out here. The word "if" is "ei" which could be translated "since." The phrase "I do that which I would not" is more literally "I practice what I do not desire." It's the same phrasing as in verse 15, but starting with "since now (de)." An interesting word is "consent" because it is the compound word sunphemi (our word symphony?). It consists of syn (with) and phemi (come to light). The definition can certainly be consent, but I think it's clearer to read this verse as "I come to light that the law is good."

Romans 7:17
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

What an amazing statement of identity! What is working out those things to unrighteousness? Sin, not me. Sin is housed (Greek oikos) in me and does these works to unrighteousness, but it is not my desire. This is how God can say that we groan within ourselves as we wait for the redemption of our body (Rom 8:23). The old man is dead that we may choose not to listen to it, yet we live in a body of death (Rom 7:24). We died to the old man and to the Law and are married to Christ as in the analogy in verses 1-4 so now we may bear fruit to righteousness. And so then, we understand the struggle of the Christian while alive in this world and the importance of choosing whom we will serve every day. Will it be Christ or sin?

This verse is another occurrence of the "Now, now" phrase of "Nyni de." The beginning is extra emphatic that it is not the person working out (katergazomai) the undesired actions, but the sin.

Romans 7:18
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Another repeated concept. Look back at verse 14 and observe that in the flesh, we are sold under sin. To say that no good thing is housed in the flesh (Greek oikeo as in verse 17) should not be any stretch since sin is not good. In fact, the apostle is admitting he already has perceived this (know = eido). Now, what's really interesting is the second part of the verse. Here and through the rest of the chapter, we have clear evidence of the two natures struggling against themselves. The desire is there, yet the ability to work out righteousness is not. That is, not until the moment of salvation. As we go through the next few verses, the conclusion in verse 25 will be crystal clear that the inward man, the mind, is alive spiritually in Christ, yet the outward man, the flesh, perishes day by day (2 Cor 4:16).

This verse reads a bit different in the Greek. Here's a more literal translation:

For I know that nothing housed in me, that is in the flesh of me, is the good (agathos). Indeed to desire lays down side-by-side with me, but now not to work out the noble (kalos).

Romans 7:19
For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

This is building on verse 16. We can use the apostle as an example here, but every individual will go through this scenario. Even though people desire to do good, we just don't do it. Back in verse 16, the point was made that this proves the Law is good because in each person no good thing dwells. Here in verse 19 we get the expansion of the concept that if we don't do good, then we are practicing evil. There are only ever two sides presented in the bible, good and evil. People are either for God or against Him (Luke 9:50, Mark 9:40).

It is important to note the two different Greek words for "do" in this verse. For the good that I would I do (poieo) not. But the evil which I would not, that I do (prasso). Here are the defintions of those words:

poieo - to produce, construct, form, fashion [3]
prasso - to exercise, practice, be busy with, carry on, accomplish, perform [3]

The English "do" can work for both of these words. I see them as the difference of the beginning (poieo) and the middle (prasso) of a deed. Perhaps it can be seen in the English "Let's do (poieo) it!" versus "What are we doing (prasso)?"

Romans 7:20
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

This appears to be a combination of verses 16 and 17. Verse 16 starts with, "Since now I do (poieo) that I would not." Verse 17 states that it is no more I that do it (katergazomai - work it out), but sin that dwelleth (oikeo) in me. God is simply putting the pieces together to help us reach the logical conclusion to come, pointing out that it is sin that works out the fruit of unrighteousness.

Once more, the Greek says the sin.

Romans 7:21
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

Here I must strongly disagree with the translation of the KJV. The little words make too big of a difference to neglect. First, take a look back in verse 10 where Paul found the commandment to be unto death. That is the same word used here, but this time he is finding the law. This isn't just any law, but the law that there are two natures within him. When he would desire to do the good, the evil is right there. This is an important statement of reality.

God has the same word here as used in verse 18 which was translated as "is present" and I translated as "lays down side-by-side." That word in the Greek is parakeimai, a compound word of para (close beside) and keimai (lie down). The conclusion reached is stated here and restated in a slightly different way in verse 25, and it is important that we see the definition of the law spoken of here. Just for more clarity, here is a more literal translation of this verse:

So I find the law that to my desiring to do (poieo) the noble (kalos), the evil (kakos) is laying side-by-side to me.

Romans 7:22
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

After clarifying the good or noble versus the evil within, now we will get to know the sides a bit better. Here is the the inward man, representing that which is good. It is the inward man that delights after righteousness and desires to do that which is right. I think it important, as always, to consult the Greek for an even deeper understanding.

The word used for delight here is a very strong word. It is synedomai, a compound word of syn (with) and hedomai (sensory delight). Here's a definition:

synḗdomai (from 4862 /sýn, "closely identify with" and hēdomai, "to experience sensory delight") – properly, experientially delighted from fully identifying with someone [1]

Doesn't that paint a better picture of this verse? I can attest that my inner man, my spirit, is so thoroughly full of joy in the goodness of God and His righteousness. I know his righteousness through His Word and what He says is right and wrong. I heard His word and believed (Rom 10:17). Therefore, I can say I too delight in the law of God.

There is a definite article here to denote the God. Also to note, the word "after" here is "kata" in the Greek, so it could be rendered, "For I delight in the law of the God according to the inner man."

Romans 7:23
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

The unfortunate contrast to verse 22 is this other law. This one fights constantly against the inner man which delights in the law of God. This law brings us to captivity to sin, which as we are so very familiar with by now, brings forth fruit of unrighteousness. The battle rages of spirit against the flesh all day, every day, until that beautiful moment when Jesus Christ will fix everything. We who believe in Him and that His death, burial, and resurrection atones our sins have that hope of freedom to look forward to. And it is that reason that I so strongly desire all to hear the word of God and be saved by it (Rom 10:17), for my desire coincides with that of my God and Savior, in that I wish all to be saved and come to know the truth (1 Tim 2:4).

Interesting that the word blepo is used here to "see," because that means to see with the bodily eye. Isn't that true though? Among believers, we know that we desire to do good, yet we can observe instances where the flesh is pulling strongly toward sin. Even for ourselves we surely perceive the temptation to sin. We feel the thoughts and attempts to reason that sin is okay just this one time. Yet our mind is questioning all of that and we have to decide on action. The spiritual battle rages.

It is no wonder the word for another is heteros here, which is the Greek word for another of a different kind, comparing to the law in verse 22. Another slight difference in the English is the phrase "and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." This is more literally "and making me captive in (en) the law of the sin, to that being in the members of me."

Romans 7:24
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

It is an ugly state to be in. It is tiring of fighting against the flesh day in and day out until the time we meet Jesus in the air and be removed from the coming Tribulation period (Phil 3:20, 1 Thess 4:13-18, Titus 2:13). The answer should be obvious even before reading into the next verse. It's what salvation from sin and death means. God will change our body to be like Jesus' glorified body (Phil 3:21) and we will be free of this constant warfare. Praise the Lord for His amazing grace that we are saved through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross!

The word for deliver here is rhuomai, which can mean deliver or rescue. This word occurs 18 times in the New testament. Interestingly, it's the same word used in Matthew 6:13 in what is commonly called the Lord's Prayer when Jesus says "deliver us from the evil." Another use is in Matthew 27:43 where mockers said, "He trusted in God; let him deliver him now." They just had no idea the rescue that was about to take place. Thayer defines it as to draw out . . . to one's self" – i.e. to rescue for oneself [3].

The last part of this verse more literally says, "who shall deliver me out of (ek) the body of the death of this?"

Romans 7:25
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Can you just imagine the apostle Paul shouting, "Praise the Lord!" here? But note the conclusion that we are to draw from Romans chapter seven. There are two laws warring against us in this vile state. The mind serves the righteous law of God while the flesh serves the unrighteous law of sin. Both entities will bear fruit, but it is the believer's choice which one will work itself out. Unbelievers are sadly stuck with just the one law, the spirit being dead in them. That is why it is so important for all of us who believe, all of us who have been committed the message of reconciliation to accurately preach the truth that all may be saved that choose to (2 Cor 5:18-6:2).

It is this conclusion we can make better sense of God's commands as in 1 Thess 5:19 or Gal 5:16-25. There are other examples, but I would encourage all believers to keep fighting the good fight so as not to serve the flesh in any way. Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed (Rom 13:11-14). I look forward to seeing as many as possible in that beautiful day where we will be in the presence of Jesus Christ our Lord!

This verse starts off with "charis de" which would literally be grace/thanks now to God. There is so much emphasis in this verse it's almost to the point of ridiculous. There are two words which could be "therefore," one "indeed," and then "I, myself". Please see that we desire and do serve the law of God after receiving the free gift of salvation of God through Jesus Christ. Yet when we slip and sin, it is sin working in us and not ourselves. Two natures constantly at war in the believer until the day of redemption of our body in that blessed day Jesus calls us home.

Therefore, since I myself indeed the mind serve to the law of God; now the flesh to law of sin.

HELPS Word-studies [1]
Strong's Concordance [2]
Thayer's Greek Lexicon [3]

Romans - Verse by Verse Study - Chapter 6

Romans 6:1
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

Since there are no chapter and verse breaks in the original epistle, we need to understand that this verse here is building off of chapters 1-5, but especially 5:21. Going back to 5:21, we read that even though the sin reigned in the death, the righteousness may reign through Jesus Christ to give eternal life. With that in mind, should we all continue in sin to show how awesome God's righteousness through Jesus Christ is? A logical question. Most intuitively know the answer, but God is gracious to leave no doubt with the familiar answer in the next verse of "may it never be."

There is a definite article for the sin and the grace here. I've noticed that this epistle constantly singles out the sin and the grace, which I can only equate to the epic spiritual battle we find ourselves in. What is the sin? Look back to Genesis 3:4-5. Do we follow Satan or do we follow God? Sin versus Grace has been going on since the Garden of Eden. How wonderful that the grace is far greater than the sin!

The phrase "may abound" is the same word as in Rom 5:20.  The word for "continue" is epimeno, which is a compound word of epi (upon) and meno (persist or remain). The original language always adds strength to the English translation doesn't it? Shall we persist upon the sin in order that the grace may abound? Let's look at verse 2 for God's answer.

Romans 6:2
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

May it never be! Why should God's children continue in rebellion now that they are saved from the sin and the death? What kind of testimony does that leave? Think about this on terms of mankind. A father tells his son not to jump on the old rickety couch because it may break and his son get hurt. The son believes his father and thanks him for the advice. To celebrate his belief, the child jumps repeatedly on that couch. How would the father feel? Would he not continue to warn the child? What do you think the father is going to do when that couch breaks and his son is hurt? He'll take care of him, certainly, but then remind his son of the command he gave him and that it was for his good. Even though the child believed, he didn't obey, and there were consequences, yet his father never stopped loving him. The analogy isn't perfect, but we should see our behavior in light of who we now are in Christ.

God tells us to not quench the Spirit (1 Thess 5:19) but rather be filled by it (Eph 5:18). Therein lies a choice. Yes, as believers in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the atonement for our sin, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and guaranteed salvation from the sin and the death (Eph 1:13-14). That salvation gives us incredible freedom, but we should not use our freedom to act according to the world, as under the influence of the prince, the power of the air (Eph 2:2, Gal 5:13). Why would we ever believe in God and want to act like Satan? It doesn't make any sense.

There are consequences as well. God is not keeping that a secret. Take a look at 1 Cor 1:10-15 and 2 Cor 5:10. What we do matters to God, and He wants to reward us. What are the rewards given? That's hard to imagine since we've already been blessed with all the spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ (Eph 1:3). But when we stop thinking material blessing and realize the spiritual blessing, can you imagine the joy you will feel to get compliments from God? I can think of no better reward than to hear my God tell me, "Way to go! You did great!" or something along those lines. To me, that invigorates my spirit like nothing else.

We should take note on what these rewards are based on. It's building upon the foundation laid by the apostle Paul, who was given that foundation from the risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Are you building upon that foundation with the doctrine given through Paul? Or are you building on that foundation with some wood, hay or stubble, mixing and matching Law and Grace? Here's a simple rule: If it doesn't line up with scripture, don't do it. If it does, build upon that foundation as high as you can and may you be blessed by our almighty, wonderful God!

The Greek here more literally says this: "May it never be! We who died to the sin, how yet will we live in it?"

Romans 6:3
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Ah, another baptism mentioned in the bible. Actually there are two of them here. Are they both the same baptism as what John the Baptist was performing? No water is mentioned here at all. A student of the bible will come across Eph 4:4-6 and may get very confused. This passage says there's one body, which is the body of Christ, and there is one baptism for the body of Christ. According to Eph 3:1-9, the doctrine was given to Paul, so we must search the epistles given through Paul to understand what that baptism is. It is most clear in 1 Cor 12:13:

"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."

Really, the Greek there says that in (en) one Spirit we are all baptized to (eis) one body, which is the Body of Christ. Well, if the one baptism is in the Holy Spirit to the body of Christ, does it not make sense that those in Christ's Body are also in His death? That's what we have here in this verse. It is entirely consistent with Eph 4:5 and most definitely not a wet baptism. Search the scriptures in Exodus chapters 19, 29, and 30 to note that water baptism was meant for priests of Israel. Israel was promised to be a kingdom of priests and God tells how to be a priest in Ex 29 and 30. John the Baptist's ministry was to get Israel ready for the promised kingdom of priests, so that's why he used water. Note that when the Pharisees questioned him, they didn't question what he was doing. They were questioning by what authority he was doing it. We also read that part of the requirement of salvation for Israel as given in the so-called Great Commission was to undergo that ceremonial washing, again since they were to be a nation of priests. The Body of Christ does not need to follow the Law of Moses for salvation, because the liberty we experience is to provoke Israel to jealousy and come back to faith (Rom 11:11).

Don't let anyone tell you that water baptism is required today. The works of the Law of Moses cannot save anyone by itself. We already looked at that in chapter 3:21-22 and 4:4-5. It is by faith alone that we are saved through God's grace (Eph 2:8-9). And that faith must be in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:1-4).

Building on that, what is the testimony of water baptism today? Wouldn't that lead people to confusion? Think about it. If you believe that you are saved by believing in the finished work of Christ on the cross and you think you need to be baptized in water as a testimony, what does that say of your belief of the work of Christ on the cross? Essentially, it's saying Jesus didn't do enough. That's true for any work that one may think needs to be done for salvation. Scripture says we don't have to obey the Law of Moses, so please don't lead people astray by being baptized in water. We obey the law of faith today (Rom 3:27-28) and there are plenty of commands to live by under that law as given in the epistles of the apostle Paul.

I pointed out the Greek prepositions in 1 Cor 12:13 before because it's interesting to note that God is consistent with those. It's always baptized in (en) the Spirit to (eis) the Body. Here in Rom 6:3, we have this literal translation:

"Or are you ignorant that as many of us have been baptized to (eis) Christ Jesus, to (eis) the death of Him have we been baptized?"

Romans 6:4
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

This verse needs some fixing from the original language. First, it isn't we are buried. It should be we were buried because the verb is in the Aorist tense, meaning the action happened at some point in the past. Next, the word "by" is dia and could be "through." Then we have definite articles for baptism and death. The word "into" is "eis" and is understood as "to." With that in mind, the first part of the verse becomes this;

Therefore, we were buried with him through the baptism to the death.

This is important to understand that it took place in the past, because it took place at the moment of salvation. We already looked at that back in verse 3. Knowing that we are in Christ and identified in His death, then just as Christ was raised out of the dead, we should conduct ourselves in the new life He gave us. This is building on the concept in verse 1 when the question was asked if we should persist upon sinning. God establishes the believer's identity in Christ, who died, was buried, and now is alive again. We should also be dead to sin and live to Christ. More on that in the next verse.

Romans 6:5
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

This verse tells us that it is a given that we have been planted together with Him in the likeness of His death, or baptized to the death of Him, and God is reiterating that we will also be planted together with Him in His resurrection. That's an interesting way to put it with the word "planted," isn't it? The Greek word there is sumphutos, a compound word of syn (together-with) and phuo (spring up, grow, be born). For an example of the word phuo, look at Luke 8:6-8. This is the parable of the sower with the seed. I'll point out the words in the verses:

6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up (phuo), it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it (sumphuo), and choked it.
8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up (phuo), and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Looking at verse 7 in Luke chapter 8, we see the verb where we get the adjective here in Rom 6:5. The thorns and the seed sprang up together and the thorns choked the seed. Another way to understand this is that the thorns and seed were united when growing.

Coming back to Rom 6:5, the "if" here is "ei", so we can use the word "since" to get a better picture of what is being said. So God is saying, "Indeed, since we (believers in the gospel of grace) have been united [in Christ] in the likeness of His death." What is the conclusion of being united with Christ in His death? That we also will be united in the likeness of His resurrection. What a wonderful prospect! We get confirmation of this glorious truth in Phil 3:20-21.

One more interesting thing to point out here is that the word alla is used after the comma. Alla in the Greek has the meaning of however, but rather, or except. I think by using that word God wants us to focus on how much better the resurrection is than being united in His death, though both of those things are promised at the moment of salvation. The text reads like this:

"Indeed, since we have become united to the likeness of the death of Him, but rather also of the resurrection we will be."

Romans 6:6
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

After God tells us that the believer is united in Christ in His death and much more His resurrection, we have a similar truth here. Expounding on what it means to be united in Christ in His death, we understand that who we used to be was crucified with Christ on the cross. That old body was contaminated with sin and death from Adam's transgression, and God, in His grace, made that body of no effect so we need not sin anymore. This too happens at the moment of salvation. God did that so we may now honor Him by living to Him and not to sin.

I think it's important to point out all of the missing articles because I believe God is specifying what would otherwise be a generic term. Here's a more literal translation with the articles in it:

"Knowing this, that the old man of us is crucified with Him, in order that the body of the sin might be abolished (katargeo), of that not anymore to enslave us to the sin."

In the phrase "henceforth we should not serve sin," the verb there is in the infinitive and should be translated "to enslave." Henceforth is the word meketi, a compound word of me (no-subjectively) and eti (yet, until, even now, still), so it has the meaning of not continuing or not anymore. See how we learn another truth here, that we were enslaved to sin before believing in the sanctifying work of Christ on the cross? Praise the Lord for setting us free from the body of death! More on that concept in the next verse and in chapter 7.

Romans 6:7
For he that is dead is freed from sin.

God just established that the old man was crucified with Christ on the cross of Calvary in verse 6. This happens in the moment of belief that Christ's sacrifice is the atonement for any sinner's sin. Here in just 9 words we get the emphasis of the liberty that comes with belief in the atoning work of Christ on the cross. Do you believe in the gospel of God's grace? Then you are free from sin! Again, we could ask the question posed in verse 2. Why would we ever go back to sin since we've been freed from it? Sin leads to death. Christ leads to life. Let's live in Christ and not in sin.

There are just two things I want to point out in the Greek. First is the verb forms in this verse. "Is dead" is the Aorist tense, so it more properly reads "has died." "Is freed" is indeed in the present tense, and is another reason to keep on living apart from sin. The second thing to point out is the definite article denoting the sin.

Romans 6:8
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

God is sure repeating Himself a lot here, isn't He? It's pretty clear to me that He wants all of His faithful to really understand this concept. When anyone trusts in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to save them from sin, they are baptized in the Holy Spirit to the Body of Christ (1 Cor 12:13). Because of that baptism, the believer is baptized into the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The believer's sin nature is crucified with Christ on the cross (verse 6) which consequently sets the believer free from sin (verse 7). Believers have the assurance that they will be resurrected just like Jesus Christ (verse 5). And now God tells us again that since we're dead with Christ we will also live with Him. The resurrection of Christ is fantastically glorious, and is the reason God can give us the command to rejoice twice in one verse (Phil 4:4)! This is a promise of God to the believer today. You will be like Jesus in resurrection and you will  live with Him forever (Phil 3:20-21, 1 Thess 4:13-18).

Looking at the Greek, we have the word "ei" translated "if" but might be clearer as "since." The word "dead" is in the Aorist tense again, consistent with the concept that this happened at the moment of belief. The words "we believe" is from the root word pisteuo, which is faith. We have faith that we will live with Christ. This isn't a belief that we aren't sure of, but rather are confident of. How English uses the words belief and hope may seem misleading. The bible gives very sure truth to stand on so that we don't hope in the sense that we aren't sure this will happen. Believers in the gospel of God's grace have hope and have faith expecting that God's Word will come true. I like how JC O'Hair put it. He said something like, "We don't have to be hope-so Christians. We can be know-so Christians."

Romans 6:9
Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

Here in verse 9 we have the word eido for "knowing." After these first 8 verses of chapter 6, it is my hope that believers would intuitively perceive that Christ has been raised from the dead and He will not die again. Jesus Christ is not continually going to the cross to shed His blood over and over again to cover our sins. In case we don't understand that He died once for all, we see that in the next verse and also in 1 Pet 3:18, Heb 9:28, and Heb 10:10, 12, 14. When we understand that because He died the death that the sin required, it is easy to see that the death no longer lords over Him. That act sets us free from the law of sin and death the moment we believe in it (Rom 8:2).

We follow laws like this today which can help us in our understanding. What are the typical vows of marriage? Til death do us part, right? If a husband or a wife dies, is the living spouse still bound in the marriage? No, they are free to marry another or remain single. Despite what anyone may say, we get that concept from the bible and will go over that in chapter 7. Also reference 1 Cor 7:39.

God is always consistent in His language. We see that Christ being raised is in the Aorist tense because it happened once in the past and that He "dieth no more" is in the present tense. He will not die again because His one death was sufficient. Interesting to note that the word for "hath dominion over" is the Greek root kurieuo. This word is the verb form of kurios, which is translated "Lord" with a capital L when referring to Jesus Christ. It does properly mean to lord over or have dominion over, but I thought it interesting that it is used here to show the dominance that death and sin have over mankind until we come to faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

Romans 6:10
For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

Anyone counting how many times God is going over this so we thoroughly understand? Jesus died absolutely one time to the sin. This happened the one time and it happened in the past. Now He is alive and He lives to God. Going back to what we've read in this chapter, we understand that the believer is baptized in the Holy Spirit to the Body of Christ in the moment of belief of the gospel of God's grace. Also in that moment the believer is likewise baptized to the death of Christ, crucifying the old sinful nature and setting us free from it. That occurred once for us as well. Now in the present, as a result and our understanding of what took place, the life we live, we live to God. In case we don't quite get it yet, God is going to state it again in the next verse.

Once more we find the language consistent. The verbs "he died" in the first half of the verse are in the Aorist tense while the verbs of "he liveth" are in the present. Also interesting to note here are the definite articles for the sin and the God which is not translated in the English. One more thing to point out is the word "once" in the English, because there is yet more emphasis in the Greek. That word is a compound word ephapax, consisting of epi (upon) and hapax (once). Literally the verse would say "he died to the sin upon once," but we can understand it as "he died to the sin once and only once."

Romans 6:11
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Okay, the believer is dead to sin. Dead, dead, dead. Crucified with Christ on the cross in the moment of belief, the believer is dead to sin. Likewise the believer is alive in Christ. Living, full of life, and alive in Christ in the moment of belief in the gospel of God's grace. God has gone over the comparison, or contrast rather, of the first man Adam and the second man Jesus Christ in chapter 5, noting the difference of one bringing death and the other life. Here in chapter 6 God is telling us over and over again (because it is not grievous but safe - Phil 3:1) that the old man from Adam is dead and the new man is alive in Christ. Therefore, we should live like we know who we are, alive in Christ. Therefore, we should no longer live in sin so that grace may abound (verse 1).

The Greek is slightly different in here in the second half of the verse. It starts off with "de" which is translated as "but," though I feel "now" would work there. There is a definite article for the God, which is in the Dative. The word "through" is the Greek "en" and should be "in." Finally, the title is "Christ Jesus" and the words "our Lord" aren't in this verse. With all of that in mind, this is a more literal translation:

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, now living to the God in Christ Jesus

Romans 6:12
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

We're finally moving on to a new concept here. Since we learned over and over again that the believer is dead to sin and alive to God, we should assuredly have proven to ourselves the answer to the questions in verses 1 and 2. We should not live to sin, but what does that mean? Here we get the further picture that it is obeying the lusts of the mortal body. What are those? God will talk about that in the next verse briefly. Remember, the believer is set free from the old man which was crucified on the cross, so the believer doesn't have to obey it anymore. The old man would like nothing more than to dishonorably behave, as we read about back in chapter 1 and verses 18 through 32. God says don't let that happen anymore. You've been set free from it to live to God instead of against Him.

Once more we find an article to denote the sin in the Greek. There are also some minor differences in the second half of this verse. It more literally says, "to the point of that to obey the lusts of it." God is warning us that we will experience lusts of the flesh even though we are free from it, but He is commanding us not to allow sin in our body to the point we start obeying sin again. Think of the question in verse 2. We who died to the sin, how yet will we live in it? Knowing your identity in Christ is key to overcoming the lusts of the flesh and desire to sin.

Romans 6:13
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Remember how you're dead to sin and alive for Christ? God just told us to not let sin have dominion in our body to prevent us from acting out in sin. Here He goes even further and tells us not to use our bodies as weapons of unrighteousness. Instead they are to be weapons of righteousness to God. That's right, weapons. We are in a spiritual warfare and have been since the Garden of Eden and the Fall of mankind (cf Eph 6:10-18).

We were lawfully fallen from God and destined to an eternity separated from Him because of Adam's transgression (Rom 5:12). God bought us back from that death through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross so we should no longer live to sin (Rom 5:16-19, cf 1 Cor 6:20, 7:23). Now that believers are on God's side and no longer Satan's side, we should fight for the right army, wouldn't you think? Don't use your body as a weapon to fight for sin and for Satan. Understanding your freedom in Christ, use your body as a weapon to fight the good fight for righteousness (2 Tim 4:7-8).

As I've already hinted at, there are some things in the Greek that are worth looking into. First, the word "yield" here comes from the compound word paristemi. This word is from para (beside) and histemi (to stand) and properly means stand close beside, i.e. ready to present (exhibit) [1]. The word "instruments" is the Greek "hoplon" and means "plural arms used in warfare, weapons" [2]. Also, we have the definite article for the sin in the Dative, so it translates as "weapons of unrighteousness to the sin." There also is a definite article to denote the God both times.

I see a lot of warfare language being used here. I think of presenting (yield) yourselves as standing at attention in the army. I'm also reminded of what David said back in 1 Sam 17:26 and 36 where he refers to Israel as the armies of the living God. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not equating the believer during the gospel of God's grace to Israel here, because scripture is clear the rules are different, but note the similarity. Even at that time, the army was alive because God is alive. God hasn't changed since then (Mal 3:6, Heb 13:8). Here we have the added note that we are present ourselves to the God as living out of the dead. God said it many times: Christ died for us. We died in Christ at the moment of belief, so whose side are we one? The living army or the dead one? So then, fight for the army you belong to.

Romans 6:14
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

We have a wonderful truth here, and an often quoted verse. God is establishing a point of identity to the believer of the gospel of grace and will expound on it for the rest of the chapter. First, we are reminded that sin will not rule over us because of the freedom we have in Christ Christ died to sin once (verse 10) and we can reckon ourselves dead to sin because we were baptized to His death (verses 4 and 11). Therefore, sin should not ever have dominion over us because the finished work of Christ on the cross frees us from it.

To connect that thought, God goes on to say that believers are not under the authority of law, but under the authority of grace. The preposition hupo is translated as "under" both times, and has the definition "under, often meaning "under authority" of someone working directly as a subordinate (under someone/something else)." [1]

Take a moment and think this through. There are no definite articles here as might be expected, so what law and what grace is God talking about? It may be obvious to some, but I think it's worth the time to reflect and solidify this in our minds. Go back to chapter 3 and verse 20 and note that the Law of Moses had the purpose of pointing out sin. Why? That the world may be guilty before God, knowing then what sin is (3:19). But today, we aren't to be under the authority of this Law, because the righteousness of God apart from the Law is manifested (3:21). That manifestation is in the gospel given to the apostle Paul, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe (3:22). This is the law and grace being talked about here in this verse, and is of utmost importance for the believer to understand today. There are differences in these dispensations that God wants us to know and understand (Phil 1:9-10, 2 Tim 2:15). He will explain a good amount of this in chapters 9-11.

Romans 6:15
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

Our all-knowing God knew that an identification statement like verse 14 would generate this question. Since we are not under the Law but under grace, can't we just sin anyway? We don't have to be under the authority of the Law anymore and are guaranteed to be saved from sin and death by believing in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, so what does it matter? Righteousness apart from the Law is manifested so we are free to do whatever we want, including indulgence in sin every now and then, right? God answers that quickly with the familiar "May it never be!"

God just got done explaining that we are dead, so very dead, to sin. Contrariwise we are alive in Christ and should be fighting the good fight to righteousness. Why would we fight against what God has graciously given? If anyone gives us a gift we love, would we only accept part of it and shove the rest back in the giver's face? May it never be!

Romans 6:16
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Now this is a "prick the heart" question if I may say so. After the apostle Peter indicts the devout men of Israel for crucifying their Messiah, they are "pricked in the heart" and ask Peter what they could do. Can you imagine the wave of panic as the realized the truth? So it is here. If there are any believers in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as their atonement for their sin, and they think that they may continue sinning because they are under grace and not law, they are far out of place.

Don't you know? That word there is again eido, or to intuitively know or perceive. It could be phrased, "Don't you get it?" or "How can you not understand this?" God did just say repeatedly that we are dead to sin in this chapter, yet He knew that someone was going to ask this question. In fairness, I think we all are presented with times of temptation to sin, despite knowing that we are under grace and should not.

The word for servants here is the Greek doulos, and more accurately means bond-servant. It's also translated as slave(s) 97 out of 126 times that it appears in the New Testament. There's enough going on in the Greek that warrants a look at the literal word for word translation, so here it is:

Not you (all plural in this verse) perceive that to whom you present yourselves slaves to the point of (eis) obedience, slaves you are to whom you obey, whether of sin to the point of (eis) death or of obedience to the point of (eis) righteousness?

What we do certainly matters to God. How we conduct our daily lives matters to God. He lovingly warns us here that if we gives ourselves over to sin it will lead to death. That does not sound appealing to me. I would much rather obey God and understand that I live to Christ now since my old man has been crucified with Him. Life is way better than death! I choose to fight the good fight and present my body as a weapon to righteousness because of the amazing grace God showed me by giving His Son to pay the sin debt I owed. I would encourage all believers to do the same, because He reconciled the world to Himself through that act (2 Cor 5:19). Be reconciled to God and fight the good fight along with all of God's saints in the age of His grace. Living that kind of testimony every day is what will point people to the cross and desire to be saved. Living in sin will only gender confusion and may delay or deter others from receiving God's amazing grace or living it to the full potential. I said it before, and I'll say it again. What you do matters to God. But, please here me in this: what you do does not affect your salvation. Salvation is by faith alone in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ Jesus (1 Cor 15:1-4, Eph 2:8-9, Rom 3:21-22, etc.).

Romans 6:17
But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

What a relief it is to know there are saints that receive and understand the doctrine given to us through the apostle Paul which frees us from the bondage of sin. Praise the Lord that He gave us sound doctrine to live by so we don't continue in sin that grace may abound (verse 1). God indeed be thanked for the loving instruction He gives that we, as believers, may no longer live under the Law of Moses, but under His grace (verses 14-15). May all believers come to the knowledge of the truth as laid out by God through Paul (Eph 3:1-9).

Very interesting to note that the Greek here literally starts with, "Now (de) grace (charis) to the God..." Charis is translated as thanksgiving here. It still can be noted as God's unmerited favor, because of how the rest of the verse goes. A more literal translation is like this:

Now grace to the God that you all were (Imperfect tense) servants of the sin, you have become obedient now (de) out of (ek) the heart, to the point (eis) you were delivered to that form of teaching.

Again, we see definite articles in appropriate places, signifying the spiritual battle of good and evil. All men were in the bondage of sin and slaves to it. Now we are set free, but when and why? At the moment we put our trust in the form of teaching given us by the grace of God. And that is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus atones us from our sins. not only that, but all the teaching that goes with it, as God lays out in the epistles of Romans through Philemon. If we are obeying doctrine that was only given to Israel through Moses (aka the Law), then we are doing God and ourselves a disservice, essentially rejecting the notion that Jesus on the cross saves from sin. God is very clear that those not obeying the gospel as given through the apostle Paul are still accursed (Gal 1:6-9). Any other doctrine is not really in question of salvation, but it is the mixing and matching of these dispensations that has led to division in what is called Christianity today.

Romans 6:18
Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Again, our loving God gives us a stark point of identity. There are missing articles here, as is the sad habit of translation, because I feel that emphasis and strength of the message is lost when any part of the original is not included. We should note that the verb for "being made free" is in the Aorist tense, because this happened at the point of salvation thought the time of which is not as important as the effect. The verse more literally says this:

Now (de) having been set free from the sin, you all have become (Aorist tense) the bond-servants (duoloo) of the rightesouness.

Identity in Christ is so important. These things happened at the moment of salvation and all Christians should take heed to understand it. As believers, we are not slaves to the sin anymore. Period. We are now slaves to the righteousness. Period. We are on God's side of the spiritual fight, using our bodies as weapons to the righteousness (verse 13). We should note, too, that our main weapon is the spoken word of God (Eph 6:17 - Greek rhema). That being the case, I would encourage saints everywhere to be diligent in knowing what the word of God, what we call the bible, says (2 Tim 1:13,

Romans 6:19
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

Over and over God reminds us of this identification. Why? Because He knows the flesh is weak and needs it. Throughout this chapter I keep having Philippians 3:1 popping into my head. God isn't doing this and is pained by it. Much rather, He is doing what needs to be done to keep us safe due to the infirmity of the flesh that happened when Adam's transgression brought the sin and the death into the world. We used to be standing alongside impurity and lawlessness to the point of being lawless. Now that we are made new in Christ, we are commanded to stand alongisde righteousness to the point of holiness.

This verse is very well translated to the original. I still like to point out the literal translation in case someone can pick up more from it:

Humanly I speak on account (dia) of the weakness of the flesh of you all. Indeed, just as you all stood alongside (paristemi - Aorist) the members of you in bondage to the impurity (akatharsia) and the lawlessness (anomia) to the point of (eis) lawlessness. thus now (nyn) stand alongside (paristemi - Aorist Imperative) the members of you in bondage to the righteousness to the point of (eis) holiness.

God knew that we were stuck with the sin and death that Adam brought into the world (the impurity and the lawlessness). But He set us free from that through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's why we can now serve the righteousness to the point of holiness or sanctification at the moment of faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This whole chapter is really, and I mean really, hammering home the point that believers are no longer dead in sin, but are alive in Christ. Knowing that, we should live by that. Again, how we live our lives does not change our salvation in this age, but who wouldn't want to glorify God with all of their being for the awesome work He did through Jesus Christ?

Romans 6:20
For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

In case anyone didn't get it yet, here's another statement. Mathematically speaking, Slaves to Sin = Free from Righteousness. Slaves to Righteousness = Free from Sin. See how much God cares that we know this? We are so incredibly dead to sin the moment we trust in the gospel of God's grace through the apostle Paul. We no longer need to serve it in any capacity. It will not cause grace to abound in a good way if we do. Rather, our testimony by serving the righteousness will glorify God and lead others to the saving knowledge of faith in Jesus' finished work on the cross of Calvary.

God is consistent in having the definite articles for the sin and the righteousness in this verse.

Romans 6:21
What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

I always love how God thoroughly covers these concepts in the doctrine given to Paul. Here He has us go back and reflect on life before salvation. Was there anything there that was done that became precious stones as in 1 Cor 3:10-12? In other words, was there any spiritual fruit or spiritual growth? Of course not. There couldn't be, since only building upon the foundation laid by the apostle Paul could produce those precious stones. People only accept the foundation laid by the apostle Paul when they receive and believe that Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose again to save from sins (1 Cor 15:1-4). The only things wrought in the life of the unbeliever lead to death. After reading the first 20 verses of this chapter, this should be easy to understand.

God went over many times how that believers are now free from death and alive in Christ. We no longer have to work out the things that lead to death, but now can work out the things that lead to life. Go over this chapter again and see how God brilliantly lays out precept upon precept so that we may understand it in its entirety. Remember, God's desire is that all mankind is saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4). There should be no wonder that He leaves no room for confusion in the most foundational doctrine, that of the identity of the believer.

The Greek here adds significant emphasis that needs to be pointed out. There is a "therefore" that wasn't translated here from the Greek word "oun." The word for "had" is the Greek "echo", which means to have, hold, or possess. "Then" is the Greek "tote" which means "then" or "at that time." It is important to point out that that word refers to time and in the sense of a cause and effect argument (if-then statement). The word "in" is the Greek "epi" and can more accurately understood as "upon." That word "ashamed" is quite emphatic. In the Greek, it is the compound word epaischunomai, consisting of epi (upon) and aisxyno (ashamed). note that God didn't just use aisxyno for ashamed, but emphasized it with epi to get the idea of absolute disgrace. One more to point out is the word "end" which is "telos." This Greek word means the end-goal or the closure with all it's results [1]. With all that in mind, here is a more literal translation:

Therefore, what fruit did you all have at that time upon those things to which you are now utterly ashamed? Indeed, the end result of those things is death.

Romans 6:22
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

Precept upon precept. God just established that before faith in the gospel of God's grace, the only fruit being produced were things that lead to death. After placing faith in the gospel of God's grace, now believers are free from the bondage of sin that leads to death and can choose to be bound to righteousness that leads to life. We have the option of using our bodies as weapons for righteousness which leads to life and holy, spiritual fruit. We should not longer use our bodies as weapons for unrighteousness which leads to death, and consequently wood, hay, and stubble to build on the foundation of Christ (1 Cor 3:10-12). Choosing those things that lead to death will cause the believer to suffer loss when giving account before Jesus Christ, even though they will still be saved from the sin and the death, and experience eternity with their Lord and Savior. Remember, that Bema Seat judgment is not about salvation from sin, but about works done in the flesh. Salvation is solved on the basis if one believes that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the scriptures to save from sin (1 Cor 15:1-4).

Our identity as believers is that we are free from sin and now serve God. We ought to be excited and zealous to do these works of righteousness now that we are a new creation in Christ (Eph 2:10, Titus 2:14). We can bear spiritual fruit because we submit to God's authority and let Him work miracles around us. I'm not talking about supernatural healing or speaking in tongues. That's a discussion for another time, but one can see that those aren't the norm after reading 1 Cor 13:8. The miracles I'm talking about are when dead spirits rise to life when they embrace the gospel of the grace of God. We have the joy of serving God in either planting or watering and seeing God bring the increase (1 Cor 3:5-6).

Before I get into the Greek, of which there is much to say, I want to point out the contrast here compared to verses 20-21. The end result, or the conclusion of the works of sin is death. The end result of the works of righteousness is everlasting life. How can God say that if works are not required for salvation? Because of the testimony that believers portray. It pleased God that by the foolishness of preaching that the gospel goes out to the world today to save believers (1 Cor 1:21). Those works of righteousness may lead others to a saving knowledge of who unbelievers are in Christ. When eternity depends on it, don't you think all believers should strive not to follow the works of sin (flesh) and do the work of the Spirit (Gal 5:16-26).

My goodness God is emphatic in this verse and the English does not do it justice. It literally starts with "Now, now." There are 2 definite articles that aren't translated here. The verbs "made free" and "become servants" are both in the Aorist tense, again equating that to the point of salvation of the believer. There is a "de" in the Greek that isn't translated. The verb "have" in "ye have your fruit" is in the present tense, indicating that this is an ongoing thing as long as we draw breath on this earth. The word "and" in the phrase "and the end is everlasting life" is actually another "de." Finally, the word for "end" is the same as in verse 22, meaning the end result. Putting all of that together, here is a more literal translation:

Now (nyn) now (de) having been set free from (apo) the sin, now (de) having become slaves (douloo) to the God, you all have your fruit to the point of (eis) sanctification (holiness, Greek hagiasmos); now the end result is eternal life.

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

After reading the last few verses, this conclusion should really be no surprise. God is stating over again what was already addressed and just summarizing. This verse is oft quoted because of its summary, but when the believer takes their time and pours over this chapter, it becomes so much more real as God gets the point ingrained in us.

There are just some missing articles here, but they are consistent with the rest of the chapter as well and worth noting. There is the sin and the God. The end phrase is also more literally in (Greek en) Christ Jesus, the Lord of us. I can also point out that "de" was translated as "but" in this verse. We could also say "now the gift of God is eternal life..."

In any case, what a wonderful summation to the brilliant doctrine God is giving us. There is absolutely no reason that any believer should desire to fulfill the lusts of the flesh after understanding their identity as presented in this chapter. The only reason I can imagine why there are believers who live like the world is because they don't know who they are in Christ. This chapter could not be clearer in how dead we are to sin because of our faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross. We are so amazingly alive in Him and can fight the good fight in order to build upon the foundation of Christ to show others how they can also have eternal life. I encourage all to be zealous for those good works, embrace them daily, and show the world the glory of God through living out the gospel of His matchless grace as given in the doctrine through the apostle Paul!

References HELPS Word-studies [1]
Thayer [2]
Strong's Concordance [3]

Romans - Verse by Verse Study - Chapter 5

Romans 5:1
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

We start chapter 5 with one of many therefore's in the epistle to the Romans. What is it there for? Practically everything in chapters 1-4, but specifically about justification through faith apart from works in chapter 4. God just established that those with faith in Him, specifically in this age that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again, are justified in that faith. God used chapter four to prove that faith is what was reckoned to righteousness and used the example of Abraham. Now that it's understood that believers are justified by faith, that means there is peace with God, and that peace comes through Jesus Christ. God is simply following this out logically from what was proven in chapter four.

Now to see that we have peace after justification, that would imply that there wasn't peace before, wouldn't it? Indeed it does. God will cover that later on in this chapter in more detail, but we can look back at chapters 1-3 to see the state of sinful mankind. All have fallen short of the glory of God (3:23). It is through faith that peace is restored (4:24-5:1).

The Greek reads a bit different here. The "therefore" is quite accurate, but the "being justified" may not be perceived properly in the English. I think "having been justified" is more accurate to the Aorist tense of the verb dikaioo. The Aorist tense is like the Imperfect, in that it denotes action in the past but the difference is that there is no defined period of time (not the alpha prefix to horizo - defined boundary, determine, mark off). I thought this was a brilliant explanation:

In English, the tense we use for this is the simple past. If I say, I hit the ball, I do not indicate the action was ongoing or repeated. In this particular example, we might suppose the action was instantaneous. But consider the following sentences wherein the simple past is used: I attended college. I studied physics. I raised four children. In each sentence, it is clear that the action described would have taken place over a period of time. However, the speaker does not call attention to the durative nature of the action. The simple past tense may be used to describe a past event regardless of the duration of the event. The same is true of the Aorist.

In Greek, if one wished to call attention to the durative nature of a past event, the Imperfect Tense was used. [4]

In any case, the point of justification here is not as strong as the point that justifcation has taken place. The emphasis is on faith being reckoned to righteousness and thereby justifying the believer sometime in the past. As soon as that took place in the believer, what is the result? Peace with God through Jesus Christ. What we should take from this is that righteousness, justification, and peace with God all happen in the moment of believe, whenever that was in the past, and that it is obtained today through faith in Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.

The only other notes I would make here is the definite article for the God, and the word "with" is "pros" in the Greek. Pros has the meaning of motion toward or interfacing with. It's hard to see that meaning in the English "with." Here's a full definition:

4314 prós (a preposition) – properly, motion towards to "interface with" (literally, moving toward a goal or destination).

4314 /prós ("towards, with") indicates "extension toward a goal, with implied interaction or reciprocity (L & N, 1, 84.18), with "presumed contact and reaction" (L & N, 1, 84.23). 4314 (prós) naturally suggests the cycle of initiation and response (L-N, 1,90.25, 90.33).

[4314 (prós) can mean "in view of," or "in light of, but never "against," except where the context indicates an active exchange (interface) done in opposition.] [1]

Romans 5:2
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

From everything we've read so far, it should be easy to see that through faith in Jesus Christ, we have justification, peace, and an expectation (hope). We have all of these things the very moment we believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and it is definitely something to rejoice about!

There are a lot of little words here that can make a big difference, so I'm going to scrutinize this verse and then provide another translation after I'm all done. First, the word "By" at the beginning of the verse is the Greek "dia" which means through or on account of. The next "by" as in "by faith" is no preposition, but rather the dative case of "faith." The dative case's main function is to show the indirect object of a verb. What does that mean though? In this verse the verb is to have or to hold (Greek echo). The direct object is the access or admission (Greek prosagoge, pros = toward and ago = come), and the indirect object is the faith. When the Dative case is used for an object instead of a person, a preposition is added in the English for clarity. Typically the best one is "to" but sometimes "by" and "for" can be used in the context. By makes sense here since it is through Jesus that we have the grace we believers stand in, and we have that access by faith as proven in chapter 4. There is a definite article here to denote the faith.

The word "into" is the Greek "eis" which means to the point of. There is an article and a demonstrative pronoun here, so a more proper translation is "this, the faith." The word "wherein" is the Greek "en" and does mean in or within. The word "rejoice" is the Greek "kauchaomai" which is more properly a boasting. The word "in" is the Greek "epi" which is more properly "upon." There is one more definite article to denote the God. So putting that all together, we have this:

Through whom also we have access by the faith to the point of grace we stand in, and we boast upon the hope of the glory of the God.

Romans 5:3
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

Knowing our standing before God (verse 1), we can boast in the expectation of the glory of God (verse 2) and here we read we can boast in tribulation as well. This is always a hard concept for the believer to get. Why would we want to boast when life appears dismal? We've all had days where things weren't going our way, and I'll confess that my first thought used to not be to boast that it was a "bad" day. What I've learned though, is the truth of the second part of this verse. Anytime we have a "bad" day, it draws us closer to God. Don't you cry out more in prayer during those kinds of days? Plus, after the trial is over, we get to see how God gets us through it, and that He provided all we needed for it. Most of the time, there's a chance to share the gospel of Jesus Christ during those times as well. Those are all good things,aren't they? Those are things we can boast in.

We have a "de" translated as "and" here. We could translate it "And now (de) not only," just to put the emphasis there of that word. There's an article to denote the tribulations. Every time I see the word "know" in the English I have to look up the Greek since there are important differences. This "know" here is the word eido, which means to know intuitively or mentally perceive. What do we mentally perceive? That tribulations work out patience. From what I went over above, that shouldn't be too hard for the believer to see.

The words for "worketh" and "patience merit looking at as well. Worketh is the compound word katergazomai (kata = against or according to, ergazomai = work - our word ergonomic). That word has the meaning of working down to the end point. Patience is the compound word hupomone (hupo = under, meno = remain or endure). Putting this together we have this concept: We boast in tribulation because we understand that tribulation will work out to us a remaining under the providence and power of God. We will trust in Him more and not so much on the things of this world. We submit to Him easier, better understanding that He knows what is best and that He knows how to get to the desired end fastest without our interference in trying to take matters into our own hands. I am always amazed when trials come up, I don't know what to do and look to God to supply answers, and it works out amazing results. That's not to say I do nothing, but rather I am constant in prayer asking for God to lead and show me what to do.

Romans 5:4
And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

Literally in the Greek, this says "Now the patience, character; now the character, hope." Going back to verse 3, we can boast in God in tribulation because it keeps us under him. While we are under Him, we gain experience and understanding. With that experience and understanding, we gain an expectation. God does care about every little thing in each person's life, and especially that of the believer. We can expect Him to work all things out for good (8:28) whether we perceive it as good or trial in this life. We also have that blessed hope to be caught up together with all the saints of the dispensation of grace to be with the Lord forever (1 Thess 4:16-17, Titus 2:13), and that we will have a body like the risen Lord Jesus (Phil 3:20-21). If we're not caught up while this earthly body still lives, we will be present with the Lord anyway (2 Cor 5:8). It's a win and super win situation.

We've already looked at the word patience, so let's take a look at the word "experience" here. It is the Greek dokime and has this definition:  proof of genuineness (approval, through testing), a brand of what is "tested and true." [1] The phrase "it builds character" comes to mind thinking about this word. That's why I translated as I did above. The word "hope" is elpis, which means an expectation of what is sure.

Romans 5:5
And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

This expectation we have does not give us the sense of shame. This hope doesn't have any deception with it, as if it won't produce what it is said to. God has said He will do it. It is a sure thing and will not be disappointing when it is realized. That's the concept of the first part of this verse. There is one word in the Greek for "maketh ashamed" and that is kataischuno. We've seen kata many times now, and the other word compounded here is aischuno, which means I am ashamed or put to shame. We can think of the meaning as being brought down to shame. Ever have expectations of earthly things that left you feeling disappointed? Perhaps a vacation didn't turn out the way you would like, or a concert, movie, or show wasn't as exciting and entertaining as you thought it would be. Well this blessed hope certainly will not disappoint.

Why will it not disappoint? because God's love is known to us in our heart because of the Holy Spirit that lives inside of us (cf Eph 1:13-14). We have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:14-16) so we can be assured of God's truth. We can be assured of God's truth and have our standing on His doctrine solidified by diligently studying the Word of God and letting Him speak just as He has written His words (2 Tim 2:15). He wants us to know the full truth (1 Tim 2:4), so why not let him teach you? I encourage everyone to study the scriptures daily and let God reveal His truth.

The Greek has another "de" tanslated as "and" and is missing a definite article. This verse starts off "Now the hope does not make ashamed." The hope will not disappoint as we've looked at already. There is another missing article to denote the God. The phrase "shed abroad" is the Greek ekcheo,which has the meaning of being poured out or bestowed liberally [3]. The word "by" here is dia and could be translated "through." The rest is pretty much word for word with the Greek.

Romans 5:6
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Here we get a glimpse of that time for when we were not at peace with God. If we look back to verse 1 we have peace when we put or faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That implies we were not at peace with God before that. Here we see that we were too weak to do anything about it, and Christ died for us, the ungodly, at the right time. This is the love of God, that He sent His Son to pay our penalty for sin even when we hated Him. Even when we wanted nothing to do with Him. Even when we believed in the lie and made ourselves to be our own god. Christ died in the right time so that you and I can be saved from sin and death, despite all the enmity between us and God. We see this recorded in the next couple of verses.

The Greek is pretty interesting here. There are two times the word "yet" should occur, but we only see the one in the KJV. It more literally says "For yet Christ, of us being without strength, yet according to the right time died for the ungodly." The phrase "in due time" is the Greek phrase kata kairon, which really means according to the season or against the fitting season. The word "died" is apothnesko and has this definition:

apothnesko (from 575 /apó, "away from," which intensifies 2348 /thnḗskō, "to die") – properly, die off (away from), focusing on the separation that goes with the "dying off (away from)."

Remember, Jesus Christ was actually dead for 3 days. This word is used 112 times in the New Testament and may prove to be an interesting word study. The word for ungodly is asebes, which we looked at back in Romans 4:5 and means a lack of reverence. Jesus Christ died for all mankind who were showing Him a lack of reverence. In fact, the Greek says it's the absolute opposite of reverence. it should be easy to see that mankind was "without strength" to fix our problem. We wouldn't even admit that we had a problem!

Romans 5:7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

Now God is going t show walk us through the logic of how He showed His love to us. First setting up the groundwork, it should be easy to see these scenarios of when one would lay down his life for another. It is difficult to lay down your life period. On behalf of a righteous man, some would be willing to do this. We will see the conclusive though in the next verse.

The Greek here for "scarcely" is molis, which has the meaning "with great difficulty." It can certainly mean scarcely, but I think the fact that it comes from a root word meaning to toil that it is important to see that aspect of the thought God is conveying in this verse. We have the same words for "righteous" (dike) and "die" (verse 6). The word "for" in this verse both times is huper, which has the meaning of above (beyond) or on behalf of [1]. The second part of this verse more literally says, "Though perhaps someone would also dare to die on the behalf of a good." It's an expansion on the first part of the verse.

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

What an amazing act of love! What's more is that Jesus looked forward to this in joy (Heb 12:2). Take another look back at verse 7 and let that truth sink in. Then read verse 8 again and see the power of God's love. He so desires the relationship with us to be restored that He humbled Himself (Phil 2:5-8) and looked at the cross with joy. He endured the beating to the point of being unrecognizable (Isa 52:14, Matt 26:67-68, 27:26-31, Mark 14:65, 15:15-20, Luke 22:63-64, John 18:22, 19:1-5). He shed His blood to restore all who would believe in Him and that work on the cross to right relationship and deliver from sin and death (Rom 3:22, 1 Tim 2:4, 1 Cor 15:1-4, etc.).

This verse is really spot on with the Greek. What may be of interest is the word for "commendeth" is sunistemi, a compound word of syn (union, together with) and histemi (to stand). The compound word then has the meaning of standing together with in support of. The word "for" is again huper. Doesn't that show a stark contrast above and beyond what any human would do in verse 7? What an amazing and loving God we have!

Romans 5:9
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

The good news of Jesus' atoning sacrifice gets better and better the more we study it. Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, just explained to us that we are justified in our faith of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, going through chapters 1-4 to do so. Then he tells us that God's love is above and beyond amazing because of what He went through to give us this good news in 5:5-8. Much more than all of that, knowing that we are justified by faith in His shed blood the moment we believe, we will be saved from wrath through Him. God has determined a time of wrath, which is commonly known as the Tribulation period, or the time of Jacob's trouble (Jer 30:7, Dan 9:24-27, 12:11-12). It's the seven year period of time (70th week not yet fulfilled from Daniel) that needs to take place prior to the promised kingdom, which shall stand for 1000 years (Ex 19:5-6, Mark 1:14-15, Acts 1:6, Rev 20:1-6). Note well that it is the time of Jacob's trouble. God set aside Israel in unbelieve and ushered in a new dispensation of grace (Rom 11:25,32, Eph 3:1-9). And we have this promise that the 7 year time period of Jacob's trouble is not something the believer in today's dispensation will endure. We are saved from that wrath, which we can read about in the book of the Revelation. Praise the Lord for that!

The English here is pretty accurate, but I always like to point out a few things. The phrase "being now justified" is two words in the Greek. We have the familiar root word dike for justified, but it's in the Aorist tense. Remember, justification happens the moment someone believes in the atoning work of Christ on the cross. Here, the emphasis isn't on when it happened, but the fact that it did happen. Since a believer is justified, now (Greek nyn) in the blood of him we will be saved (future tense of sozo - deliver out of danger and into safety). What are we saved from? We are saved through (Greek dia) Him from (Greek apo) the wrath. Yes, there is a definite article there. Let the reader have no doubt in mind that the event of 1 Thess 4:16-17 will most definitely occur before the Tribulation period. The bible is very clear on this.

Romans 5:10
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Now we have another thought to consider. If we were forgiven and reconciled to God while we were rejecting Him and doing everything against Him (Rom 1:21-32), how much more will we be saved after having been reconciled? God reconciled the world (that would be everyone, not a select few) to Himself through His work on the cross of Calvary (2 Cor 5:19). When we repent and believe that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the scriptures (1 Cor 15:3-4), we are reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:20). It is the choice of every individual in the world, whether or not to accept the gift of eternal life from God or not. Once anybody does, they shall be saved in the life God gives the believer from the wrath to come.

There's plenty of interesting things going on in the Greek in this verse. The "if" here is the Greek "ei" which is the if-factually definition. So it is a given that we were enemies of God at one point, yet He reconciled us to Him through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. That word for "reconciled" is "katallasso," which is a compound word of kata (according to, against) and allasso (to change). That word is in the Aorist tense, again showing the emphasis on the fact and not when it was happening. There is a definite article to denote the God. The word "by" is the Greek "dia" and is more properly "through." The Greek also has literally "the death of the son of Him," so it is obvious that it is God the Son, Jesus Christ. The last phrase is more literally "we will be saved in (Greek en) the life of Him." We could have a translation like this:

Indeed, since when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we will be saved in His life.

Romans 5:11
And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

Aren't these verses just so invigorating to the believer? We were reconciled to God when we were enemies. We were justified the moment we believe the gospel of God's grace. We are also saved from the wrath to come. Now we read in the first four words of this verse that there is more good news! We can really celebrate with unending joy that we have received this reconciliation. We are in Christ and have put on His righteousness and one day will be with Him for all eternity. All of that, just because we believe in Him. The only way people can question the love of God is because they don't know who He is. i would encourage all believers to be deep in study of the bible to know the truth and learn of your heavenly Father.

There is a "de" at the beginning here translated as "and so." I point that out just to understand the emphasis there. It could also be translated "Now not only." The word for "joy" is the same as "rejoice" in verse 2, which really has the meaning of boasting. There is a definite article to denote the God here again. The word "by" in the Greek is the same as "through" which is "dia." Interestingly, the word "atonment" is the noun form of "reconciled" in verse 10 - katallaso. We can read that last phrase as "through whom we have now received the reconciliation." Please note that this reconciliation must be received to have it. I can't stress enough that it is the choice of every individual to receive the gift offered through Jesus Christ on the cross. We're going to see more of this offer in this chapter, especially in verses 15, 16, 17, and 18.

Romans 5:12
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

I have to start off with talking of the original language here. There is plenty going on that brings further clarity to the meaning. First, "wherefore" is the words "dia touto" and could be translated "on account of this." The word "by" both times is also "dia." There are four definite articles that are not translated. The word for "into" and "upon" is "eis," so it does make sense as translated in this context, but the proper meaning is "to the point of." The word "passed" is the Greek dierchomai, which is a compound word of dia (through) and erchomai (come to be). The last phrase is a remind of 3:23, but "for" there" is the Greek "epi" which more properly reads "upon." Putting all of that together, we have this more literal translation:

On account of this, just as through one man the sin to the point of the world entered, and through the sin, the death, thus also to the point of all mankind the death came through to be upon all that have sinned.

For the rest of this chapter, God tells us more detail on what it means to be justified (verse 1), have a heavenly hope in His grace (verse 2), be able to have joy in trials (verses 3-5), know the love of God (verses 6-8), and be saved from His wrath (verse 9-11) by faith in Jesus Christ. This could be called the "big picture" coming up.

Romans 5:13
(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

First we have a side note that goes all the way to verse 17 to establish what the big picture is. We need to understand that sin has been in the world since Adam, even before the Law of Moses was given. We know that the Law gave us knowledge of sin (Rom 3:20), but that didn't mean sin wasn't there before the Law was given. God is going to prove that even though the Law of Moses wasn't written down, His righteous standard still stood, which meant that there was still judgment for sin. Death was certainly present as well, which will be addressed in the next verse.

The first part of this verse is word for word with the Greek, but the order seems to be wrong or the meaning might get lost. It has 3 words to begin: gar achri nomou. This means until (achri) indeed (gar - referencing the previous statement) of law (nomou - genitive case).

Until indeed of law.

That doesn't make much sense on its own. Putting together the next clause though, we have:

Until indeed of law sin was in the world.

That still doesn't make much sense in the English. Greek is one of those languages where it doesn't matter what order the words are in, but the parsing is of utmost importance. Latin is another language like that for the interested linguistic scholar. Rearrange the same words and see that God is saying. I'm only rearranging the English and not the meaning of the words because English word order does matter. In the Greek "sin" is the subject (nominative case) was (imperfect tense verb) in the world (dative case). That's the direct and indirect objects going on here. Putting the prepositions and conjunctions in the right order to accommodate English we have this:

Sin was indeed in the world until of law.

Connecting this with the previous statement in verse 12 we should see the meaning unfold even though the English is still a bit weird with the "of law" at the end. Follow me on this. God said in verse 12 that by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world and the death by the sin, so all those born of Adam are subject to this sin and death. Science proves that we inherit what our parents have, and since every single person is a child of Adam, then every single person is the heir of the sin and the death from verse 12. Bummer, right? Honestly, that just makes the good news of Jesus Christ that much better! Now God is restating here in verse 13 that up until the Law of Moses came there was still sin in the world. Nothing surprising here, but it builds off of verse 12 to understand the meaning. We know that since Adam sinned, he brought sin in the world, and so sin was in the world since Adam. God restates that sin was in the world from Adam until the Law was given so there can be no confusion for the bible student.

I have a problem with the second part of this verse though, and mostly from the word "imputed." I feel like this is important to understand and I looked into several commentaries in my search for this truth. The Greek word there is the compound word ellogeo, derived from "en" and "logos" according to Strong's Concordance. There is a second argument about this word that I will present after this one. I had assumed that this word would have been the same root logizamai (logic/reckon) as in chapter 4, so I was a bit surprised to see Strong's Concordance show that this was not the case. Let's break this down now. En is the preposition for "in" or "within." Logos typically means the written word but can also mean a speech. Take a look at these definitions for logos:

• a word, speech, divine utterance, analogy [3]
• lógos (from 3004 /légō, "speaking to a conclusion") – a word, being the expression of a thought; a saying [1]
• lógos is a common term (used 330 times in the NT) with regards to a person sharing a message (discourse, "communication-speech") [1]
• lógos is a broad term meaning "reasoning expressed by words" [1]
• a word which, uttered by the living voice, embodies a conception or idea [2]
• anything reported in speech; a narration, narrative [2]

With all of this said, we get the meaning of ellogeo to be "in speech that is divinely uttered", or "a divine, established communication", or "an expression from within (divine)". That really changes how the second part of this verse is translated. It's not so much that sin is not imputed or reckoned when there is no Law of Moses. That couldn't be, because that's saying that everyone from Adam to Moses should get a free ride into Heaven and the Flood of Noah would have been unjust. But instead I feel like God is saying here that sin is not expressed or made known when there is no Law. That's a big difference.

God does do some redundancy here in this chapter and this seems to be another case. How redundant is the term "free gift?" God uses it three times coming up. I think He does this knowing the weakness of flesh and that it takes a good deal of repetition for any human being to understand something.

Here in verse 13 we see that sin is (present tense) not made known when there is (present tense) no Law. That should be simple to understand. No Law = no sin. But God just proved to us that sin was around even before the Law of Moses was given. Conclusion? Law was still present even though it wasn't written down. God's righteous standard still existed from Adam to Moses. God will get into this in the next verse, but it would do the student well to revisit Romans 2, especially verses 12-15.

Back to our word study, the only other time we see the word ellogeo in the New Testament is Philemon 1:18, where it's translated "put that on my account." Even there, it would make sense that Paul is asking Philemon to make known to Paul what Onesimus owes Philemon so that he may repay. Reckoning or imputing just doesn't seem to fit for ellogeo, and there's more proof of this.

There are many commentaries saying that ellogeo is derived from the root word logizomai, so it should also mean to reckon or put on account. Again, we looked at logizomai many times in chapter 4. With that in mind, let's compare the parsing here:

Romans 5:13 - Greek ellogeo - Present Indicative Middle or Passive 3rd Person Singular
Romans 4:4 - Greek logizetai - Present Indicative Middle or Passive 3rd Person Singular

Exact same parsing. Totally different word. I can't see that ellogeo in Rom 5:13 is derived from logizomai when comparing the parsing. I will stand by Strong's concordance that it is a compound word of en and logos, and that it means what I have already shown.

Romans 5:14
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

Death was still very much present between the time of the Fall in the Garden of Eden and the giving of the Law to Moses. Death was there even for those who didn't outright disobey God like Adam did. People who did obey Him still ended up dying in the flesh. But we know that those who obeyed Him would find eternal life in Him. God wants us to really get something in this verse and introduce the next thought of a comparison of Adam to Jesus, which will be expounded on to the end of the chapter.

The word for "Nevertheless" here is the word alla in the Greek. It has the meaning of "but, rather" or "except." Take a brief look back in verse 13. God just said that when there is no law, there is no sin. But what do we observe? Everyone died in the time period of Adam to Moses. It's not exactly clear what happened with Enoch in Gen 5:18-24, but God is still saying that death was there from Adam to Moses. Therefore, there had to be law present, because there was sin in the world from Adam's transgression.

There is a definite article here for the death. The death had dominion from the time of Adam to Moses even though the Law wasn't written on stone tablets yet. There is only one other thing I want to point out in this verse, and that has to do with the last phrase "of him that was to come." In the Greek, there is no noun there. The Greek ends the verse with "who is the figure of the coming." Sure, we can infer that this is talking about Jesus Christ, or really the promised child of Gen 3:15, but I wanted to show that the Greek has a verb there while the English has a noun.

Romans 5:15
But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

The contrasts begin. Adam's trespass is put up against the free gift of life through Christ. They are similar, as from verse 14, yet there are polar opposites in operation. Both actions affect the world, but one brings death while the other brings life.

This verse starts with the same Greek word as verse 14: alla. The rest of the verse merits looking at all of the Greek in its literal translation. The translators took the liberty of adding a few things here for clarity. I won't put all the Greek words here, but this is the order they appear in:

But not as the trespass, thus also the grace (Greek charisma). If (Greek ei - if factually) to the trespass (Dative case) of the one, the many died, to the many more the grace (Greek charis) of the God and the gift in (Greek en) the grace (Greek chariti - root charis) of the one man Jesus Christ.

So you see that the translation has most of this in there, but there is no "abounded" provided in the Greek for example. Also, we can note that "free gift" comes from the word charisma (neuter noun - undeserved gift) and both times we see "grace" it is charis (feminine noun - grace, favor, or kindness). It is understood that the death went to many through Adam's transgression and the life to the many to those who receive the gift offered through Jesus Christ. note how both times it says many and not all. Why? Because God always allowed people to make a choice. In every dispensation of rules from God, people could choose life in God or death apart from Him. The promise of the Christ child was present since the Fall in the Garden of Eden. People either lived looking forward to that promise or looking back on the finished work of Christ. Thus many died or many have life. I would love to see the day where all choose life in Christ. Please choose life today by placing your faith in the the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the only atonement for your sin. It's that simple.

Romans 5:16
And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.

We first had the contrast of Adam's sin bringing death and Christ's work bringing life in verse 15. Now we have the contrast of that single trespass of Adam bringing condemnation and the single gift of Christ brings justification from all trespasses. I can't say it enough, Jesus holds that gift out to all who wish to receive it. It is by choice. We're all stuck with the consequence of the trespass from Adam, whether we chose to be or not. We inherited it from our earthly father. But the choice of what to do with the gift of Christ change everything. Anyone can be free of the bondage of sin and death simply by believing in Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.

There is an important difference here in the word "gift" to point out. The first time we see "gift" is the Greek word "dorema." This means a gift, bounty, or bestowment [3]. The second time we see gift in this verse, or rather "free gift," it is again the word charisma, which is the grace of God given to us when we were yet enemies. Receiving that gift leads the believer to justification from all trespasses. The other words here we've seen before. Condemnation is katakrima, justification comes from the root dike. It may be interesting to look at the Greek in a more literal translation to get a fuller meaning here, although the English is also clear.

And not as through (dia) one having sinned, the bestowment. For indeed the judgment out of (ek) one to the point of (eis) condemnation, now (de) the gift out of (ek) many trespasses to the point of (eis) justification.

See the difference being pointed out here? One trespass led to condemnation. But the gift of the grace of God through Jesus Christ can cause many trespasses changed to the point of justification. One just has to receive that precious gift.

Romans 5:17
For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

And now the final point of the contrast before continuing the thought begun in verse 12. This is a very consistent message in Paul's epistles. Those who are in Adam will suffer death because of that one trespass. They are dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1). Those that are in Christ will enjoy life everlasting because of faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross of Calvary (Eph 2:5-6). The bible student will come across the phrase "in Christ" several times in the epistles of Paul. This is unique to Paul because it is through him we have the church, the Body of Christ. Anyone is placed into that Body in the moment of belief in the gospel of God's grace.

What is interesting to note is a phrase we don't see in the epistles of Paul: "Jesus of Nazareth." Why? Because Jesus of Nazareth was a minister to the circumcision (Rom 15:8) and was sent to none but the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt 15:24). Paul talks of the risen and glorified Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and not of the earthly Jesus Christ. This is the same Jesus, but things are different now the Jesus is no longer in the flesh but risen and glorified (2 Cor 5:16).

Some things to point out in the Greek are: "if" could be "since" as it is "ei." The first time we see "by" is the dative case of "the one offence."  The second and third time the word "by" occurs, it is the Greek word "dia." There is a definite article for the grace. Grace is the word charis and gift is dorea, as we saw in verses 15 and 16.

Romans 5:18
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

We could go back and read verse 12 and right on into 18 and it will read smoothly. Praise the Lord for giving extra clarity in the aside in verses 13-17. In the next two verses we can see the eternal choice available to all of mankind. Right here in this verse, it says judgment is upon all men, but the free gift is also available to all men to be saved from that judgment. What do you choose?

There is some stronger language going on in the Greek at the very beginning of this verse. The words "ara oun" are used, which could be translated "therefore therefore," but that's kind of silly. Thayer's Greek Lexicon tells us that ara has the meaning of "to join" or "to be fitted." With that in mind, this verse would start off like, "Therefore, to fit this together." There are plenty of differences in the English compared to the Greek again, that I'm just going to list the literal Greek here:

 Therefore, to fit this together, just as through (dia) one trespass to the point of (eis) all mankind (anthropos) to the point of (eis) condemnation, thus also through one justification to the point of all mankind to the point of justification of life.

For convenience, I'll put verse 12 that I literally translated right before the literal Greek I just recorded from verse 18 so we get the picture of the main point without the parenthetical thought.

On account of this, just as through one man the sin to the point of the world entered, and through the sin, the death, thus also to the point of all mankind the death came through to be upon all that have sinned.
Therefore, to fit this together, just as through one trespass to the point of all mankind to the point of condemnation, thus also through one justification to the point of all mankind to the point of justification of life.

The bad news, and then the good news. Praise the Lord for the finished work of Christ on the cross!

Romans 5:19
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Should we count how many different ways God says this so we understand it? Adam messed everything up and Jesus restored everything to the way it should be. If you look back at verses 12, 15, 16, 17, and 18, God is really hammering the point home that all that are in Adam are dead in trespasses and sins, but all that are in Christ are made alive and righteous.

There are some interesting things to point out in the Greek here. The word for "disobedience" is the compound word parakoe. It consists of para (close beside or alongside) and akouo (to hear). It literally is saying "to be beside hearing," so disobedience is a good translation, but I thought it interesting where that word came from. Obedience is the word hupakoe, a compound word of huper (beneath) and akouo (to hear). It is saying to be beneath the hearing, so obedience again is a good translation. The disobedience being "beside hearing" makes me think of 2 Peter 3:5.

There are definite articles both times to indicate the one and the many. Also to note, when referring to Adam at the beginning of the verse, the Greek explicitly says "the one man." When referring to Jesus Christ in the second part of the verse, the Greek just says "the one" and leaves off anthropos.

The word for "were made" is kathistemi, a compound word of kata (against, down, according to) and hístemi (to stand). Think about that definition for a moment. Because Adam (the one man) disobeyed God, the many (all mankind) stood according to sin. But in Christ (the one) the many (those who believe) stand according to righteousness.

Romans 5:20
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

I'm just in awe of verses like this. Sin was present and death was going on from Adam to Moses and certainly continuing up until today. God gives the law for the purpose of making manifest what sin is and so sin "abounded." Then God says that His grace far surpasses and of that. Remember, we were enemies of God and He gave His Son for us to shed His blood to cover those abounding sins. His grace is far superior to any sin that may be going on in anyone's life. Won't you all please consider seeking the One who gives this wonderful grace? He says to trust in His grace through he shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary (1 Cor 15:1-4, because God's desire is to share eternity with every single person (1 Tim 2:4). Yes, He does care that much for you and every detail in your life. Won't you be reconciled to God?

We have two uses of the word "de" here translated as "moreover" and "but." Both times, we could use the word "now." Grace here is the Greek word charis again, like we looked at in verse 15. The other interesting thing to look at is the word "abound" and "much more abound." Both times we see abound, it is the Greek word pleonazo. This is the verb form of pleion, an adjective meaning more, greater, or higher in value. But when we get to "did much more abound," that is the big compound word huperperisseuo. In this word we have hyper (beyond) and perisseuo (exceed, left over). Perisseuo is a verb derived from the preposition peri, which means all-around or concerning, So if we're to be silly and literally translate this phrase, it would be "grace has beyond all-arounded" or "grace has beyond concerning." I don't think God could be much clearer. As great as any sin is, God's grace is bigger, better, and able to make righteous. Praise the Lord!

One other thing to point out here are the little forgotten articles once again. The Greek has the sin and the grace in the second part of the verse. It more properly says, "Now where the sin abounded, the grace exceeds beyond.

Romans 5:21
That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

What an epic conclusion to all of this comparison. This is the big picture of God when He first spoke of it back in Genesis 3:15. Despite sin entering into the world and death having it's way for a time, Jesus Christ will make all those who believe righteous by the gracious gift of His perfect blood shed for us!

We've seen all these words before in the Greek. I think it again interesting to point all the missing articles and to more literally translate the prepositions. I always think it adds strength to the meaning, even though the translation is accurate.

In order that just as the sin reigned in (en) the death, thus also the grace (charis) might reign through (dia) righteousness to the point of (eis) eternal life through (dia) Jesus Christ our Lord.


References HELPS Word-studies [1]
Thayer [2]
Strong's Concordance [3]
New Testament Greek - http://ntgreek.net/ [4]