Peace and Hope
5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we [Many manuscripts let us] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we [Or let us] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we [Or let us] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. [Related to justification]
20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
NOTE:
5:1–11 Popular piety frequently construed reverses and
troubles as punishment for sin; cf. Jn 9:2. Paul, therefore, assures believers
that God’s justifying action in Jesus Christ is a declaration of peace. The
crucifixion of Jesus Christ displays God’s initiative in certifying humanity
for unimpeded access into the divine presence.
Reconciliation is God’s gift of
pardon to the entire human race. Through faith one benefits personally from
this pardon or, in Paul’s term, is justified. The ultimate aim of God is to
liberate believers from the pre-Christian self as described in Rom 1–3. Since
this liberation will first find completion in the believer’s resurrection,
salvation is described as future in Rom 5:10. Because this fullness of
salvation belongs to the future it is called the Christian hope. Paul’s Greek
term for hope does not, however, suggest a note of uncertainty, to the effect:
“I wonder whether God really means it.” Rather, God’s promise in the gospel
fills believers with expectation and anticipation for the climactic gift of
unalloyed commitment in the Holy Spirit to the performance of the will of God.
The persecutions that attend Christian commitment are to teach believers
patience and to strengthen this hope, which will not disappoint them because
the Holy Spirit dwells in their hearts and imbues them with God’s love (Rom
5:5).
5:1 We have peace: a number of manuscripts, versions, and
church Fathers read “Let us have peace”; cf. Rom 14:19.
5:7 In the world of Paul’s time the good person is
especially one who is magnanimous to others.
5:12–21 Paul reflects on the sin of Adam (Gn 3:1–13) in the
light of the redemptive mystery of Christ. Sin, as used in the singular by Paul,
refers to the dreadful power that has gripped humanity, which is now in revolt
against the Creator and engaged in the exaltation of its own desires and
interests. But no one has a right to say, “Adam made me do it,” for all are
culpable (Rom 5:12): Gentiles under the demands of the law written in their
hearts (Rom 2:14–15), and Jews under the Mosaic covenant.
Through the Old
Testament law, the sinfulness of humanity that was operative from the beginning
(Rom 5:13) found further stimulation, with the result that sins were generated
in even greater abundance. According to Rom 5:15–21, God’s act in Christ is in
total contrast to the disastrous effects of the virus of sin that invaded
humanity through Adam’s crime.
5:12 Inasmuch as all sinned: others translate “because all
sinned,” and understand Rom 5:13 as a parenthetical remark. Unlike Wis 2:24,
Paul does not ascribe the entry of death to the devil.
5:20 The law entered in: sin had made its entrance (Rom
5:12); now the law comes in alongside sin. See notes on Rom 1:18–32; 5:12–21.
Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more: Paul declares that grace
outmatches the productivity of sin.
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