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]
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]
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