King James Version
Romans 5
21 verses with commentary
Peace with God Through Faith
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore being justified by faith</strong> (δικαιωθέντες οὖν ἐκ πίστεως, <em>dikaiōthentes oun ek pisteōs</em>)—the aorist passive participle signals a completed divine act. Justification is God's forensic declaration, not a process but a definitive verdict pronouncing sinners righteous based on Christ's imputed righteousness. <strong>We have peace with God</strong> (εἰρήνην ἔχομεν πρὸς τ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
V.
(1-11) A description of the serene and blissful state which the sense of justification brings. Faith brings justification; justification brings (let us see that it *does* bring) peace—peace with God, through the mediation of Jesus. To that mediation it is that the Christian owes his state of grace or acceptance in the present, and his triumphant hope of glory in the future. Nay, the triumph beg...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25-29. when they--**the Jews.
**agreed not among themselves--**the discussion having passed into one between the two parties into which the visitors were now divided, respecting the arguments and conclusions of the apostle.
**they departed--**the material of discussion being felt by both parties to be exhausted.
**after Paul had spoken one word--**one solemn parting testimony, from those S...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The happy effects of justification through faith in the righteousness of Christ.(1-5)
That we are reconciled by his blood.(6-11)
The fall of Adam brought all mankind into sin and death.(12-14)
The grace of God, through the righteousness of Christ, has more power to bring salvation, than Adam's sin had to bring misery,
(15-19)
as grace did superab...
Read full commentary →By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand</strong>—the perfect tense <em>estēkamen</em> (ἑστήκαμεν) emphasizes the believer's secure, established position in grace. Christ is both the <em>door</em> (access) and the <em>realm</em> (grace) of Christian standing. The metaphor recalls court language: believers have προσαγωγή (<em>prosagōgē</em>), the right of approa...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **By whom.**—More accurately translated, *through whom also we have had our access* (Ellicott). “Have had” when we first became Christians, and now while we are such.
**Into this grace.**—This state of acceptance and favour with God, the fruit of justification.
**Rejoice.**—The word used elsewhere for “boasting.” The Christian *has* his boasting, but it is not based upon his own merits. It is ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25-29. when they--**the Jews.
**agreed not among themselves--**the discussion having passed into one between the two parties into which the visitors were now divided, respecting the arguments and conclusions of the apostle.
**they departed--**the material of discussion being felt by both parties to be exhausted.
**after Paul had spoken one word--**one solemn parting testimony, from those S...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The happy effects of justification through faith in the righteousness of Christ.(1-5)
That we are reconciled by his blood.(6-11)
The fall of Adam brought all mankind into sin and death.(12-14)
The grace of God, through the righteousness of Christ, has more power to bring salvation, than Adam's sin had to bring misery,
(15-19)
as grace did superab...
Read full commentary →And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also</strong> (ἀλλὰ καὶ καυχώμεθα ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσιν)—the same verb 'boast/rejoice' now takes the startling object of <em>tribulations</em> (θλίψεσιν, <em>thlipsesin</em>), a term denoting crushing pressure, affliction, persecution. This is neither masochism nor Stoic resignation but eschatological confidence: present sufferings are birth pangs o...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) But much more than this. The Christian’s glorying is not confined to the future; it embraces the present as well. It extends even to what would naturally be supposed to be the very opposite of a ground for glorying—to the persecutions that we have to undergo as Christians. (Comp. especially Matthew 5:10; Matthew 5:12, “Blessed are the persecuted;” 2Corinthians 11:30; 2Corinthians 12:9-10, “glo...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25-29. when they--**the Jews.
**agreed not among themselves--**the discussion having passed into one between the two parties into which the visitors were now divided, respecting the arguments and conclusions of the apostle.
**they departed--**the material of discussion being felt by both parties to be exhausted.
**after Paul had spoken one word--**one solemn parting testimony, from those S...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The happy effects of justification through faith in the righteousness of Christ.(1-5)
That we are reconciled by his blood.(6-11)
The fall of Adam brought all mankind into sin and death.(12-14)
The grace of God, through the righteousness of Christ, has more power to bring salvation, than Adam's sin had to bring misery,
(15-19)
as grace did superab...
Read full commentary →And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And patience, experience; and experience, hope</strong>—Paul traces a progressive chain: ὑπομονή (<em>hypomonē</em>, patient endurance) produces δοκιμή (<em>dokimē</em>, proven character/tested genuineness), which generates ἐλπίς (<em>elpis</em>, hope). The term <em>dokimē</em> derives from δοκιμάζω, to test metals for purity—trials refine believers, burning away dross and proving genuine ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Experience.**—“Approvedness,” the quality of being tried and approved. The result of patient endurance is to test, confirm, and refine the better elements of faith. Out of this, in its turn, grows hope. Hope began and ends the circle. It is the knowledge of what is in store for him that, in the first instance, nerves the Christian to endure; and that endurance, being prolonged, gives him the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25-29. when they--**the Jews.
**agreed not among themselves--**the discussion having passed into one between the two parties into which the visitors were now divided, respecting the arguments and conclusions of the apostle.
**they departed--**the material of discussion being felt by both parties to be exhausted.
**after Paul had spoken one word--**one solemn parting testimony, from those S...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The happy effects of justification through faith in the righteousness of Christ.(1-5)
That we are reconciled by his blood.(6-11)
The fall of Adam brought all mankind into sin and death.(12-14)
The grace of God, through the righteousness of Christ, has more power to bring salvation, than Adam's sin had to bring misery,
(15-19)
as grace did superab...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And hope maketh not ashamed</strong> (ἡ δὲ ἐλπὶς οὐ καταισχύνει)—this hope doesn't disappoint or put to shame because it rests on God's character, not human effort. The verb καταισχύνω echoes LXX texts where those trusting in false gods are shamed when their hopes prove empty (Psalm 25:3, Isaiah 28:16).<br><br><strong>Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost w...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Hope maketh not ashamed.**—This Christian hope does not disappoint or deceive. It is quite certain of its object. The issue will prove it to be well founded.
**Because the love of God.**—This hope derives its certainty from the consciousness of justifying love. The believer feeling the love of God (*i.e.,* the love of God for him) shed abroad in his heart, has in this an assurance that God’s...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25-29. when they--**the Jews.
**agreed not among themselves--**the discussion having passed into one between the two parties into which the visitors were now divided, respecting the arguments and conclusions of the apostle.
**they departed--**the material of discussion being felt by both parties to be exhausted.
**after Paul had spoken one word--**one solemn parting testimony, from those S...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The happy effects of justification through faith in the righteousness of Christ.(1-5)
That we are reconciled by his blood.(6-11)
The fall of Adam brought all mankind into sin and death.(12-14)
The grace of God, through the righteousness of Christ, has more power to bring salvation, than Adam's sin had to bring misery,
(15-19)
as grace did superab...
Read full commentary →For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. in due time: or, according to the time
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For when we were yet without strength</strong> (ἔτι γὰρ Χριστὸς ὄντων ἡμῶν ἀσθενῶν)—the adjective ἀσθενής (<em>asthenēs</em>) denotes complete powerlessness, moral inability to save oneself. Paul demolishes any notion of human contribution to salvation: Christ died not for the striving but for the <em>helpless</em>, not for the improving but for those utterly incapable.<br><br><strong>In d...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6-11) Exposition showing how the love of God comes to have this cogency. That love was evidenced in the death of Christ. And consider what that death was. It is rare enough for one man to die for another—even for a good man. Christ died not for good men, but for sinners, and while they were sinners. If then His death had the power to save us from punishment, it is an easy thing to believe that Hi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**30. in his own hired house--**(See on Ac 28:23), yet still in custody, for he only "received all that came to him"; and it is not said that he went to the synagogue or anywhere else.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
Christ died for sinners; not only such as were useless, but such as were guilty and hateful; such that their everlasting destruction would be to the glory of God's justice. Christ died to save us, not in our sins, but from our sins; and we were yet sinners when he died for us. Nay, the carnal mind is not only an enemy to God, but enmity itself, chap. 8:7; Col 1:21. But God desi...
Read full commentary →For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die</strong>—Paul contrasts human and divine love. Even extraordinary human sacrifice requires some worthiness in the object: one <em>might</em> die for a δίκαιος (<em>dikaios</em>, 'righteous/just' person, one who gives you your due) or ἀγαθός (<em>agathos</em>, 'good' person, one who go...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7-8) What makes the sacrifice of Christ so paradoxical is that it was undergone for *sinners.* Even for a righteous man it is rare enough to find another who will be ready to lay down his life. Yet some such persons there are. The one thing which is most extraordinary in the death of Christ, and which most tends to throw into relief the love of God as displayed in it, is that He died for men as s...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**31. with all confidence, no man forbidding him--**enjoying, in the uninterrupted exercise of his ministry, all the liberty of a guarded man. Thus closes this most precious monument of the beginnings of the Christian Church in its march from east to west, among the Jews first, whose center was Jerusalem; next among the Gentiles, with Antioch for its headquarters; finally, its banner is seen wavin...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
Christ died for sinners; not only such as were useless, but such as were guilty and hateful; such that their everlasting destruction would be to the glory of God's justice. Christ died to save us, not in our sins, but from our sins; and we were yet sinners when he died for us. Nay, the carnal mind is not only an enemy to God, but enmity itself, chap. 8:7; Col 1:21. But God desi...
Read full commentary →But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But God commendeth his love toward us</strong> (συνίστησιν δὲ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀγάπην εἰς ἡμᾶς ὁ θεός)—the verb συνίστημι (<em>synistēmi</em>) means to demonstrate, prove, establish. God doesn't merely declare His love but demonstrates it historically in Christ's death. This is ἀγάπη (<em>agapē</em>), the distinctive Christian term for self-giving love that seeks the good of the undeserving.<br>...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Commendeth.**—The English word happily covers the double meaning of the Greek. The same word is used (1) of things in the sense of “prove” or “establish,” here and in Romans 3:5; (2) of persons in the sense of “recommend,” in Romans 16:1.
**His love.**—Strictly, *His own love.* The love both of God and of Christ is involved in the atonement. Its ultimate cause is the love of God, which is he...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE ROMANS
Commentary by David Brown
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
Christ died for sinners; not only such as were useless, but such as were guilty and hateful; such that their everlasting destruction would be to the glory of God's justice. Christ died to save us, not in our sins, but from our sins; and we were yet sinners when he died for us. Nay, the carnal mind is not only an enemy to God, but enmity itself, chap. 8:7; Col 1:21. But God desi...
Read full commentary →Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Much more then, being now justified by his blood</strong>—Paul employs <em>a fortiori</em> (how much more) reasoning: if God loved enemies enough to justify them through Christ's sacrificial death, He will certainly preserve the justified from final wrath. The aorist participle δικαιωθέντες (<em>dikaiōthentes</em>, 'having been justified') emphasizes completed action; <em>en tō haimati aut...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **From wrath.**—*From the wrath,* the divine wrath, or the wrath to come.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
Christ died for sinners; not only such as were useless, but such as were guilty and hateful; such that their everlasting destruction would be to the glory of God's justice. Christ died to save us, not in our sins, but from our sins; and we were yet sinners when he died for us. Nay, the carnal mind is not only an enemy to God, but enmity itself, chap. 8:7; Col 1:21. But God desi...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son</strong>—Paul introduces καταλλαγή (<em>katallagē</em>, 'reconciliation'), the removal of enmity and restoration of relationship. The term implies previous hostility: we weren't neutral parties but ἐχθροί (<em>echthroi</em>, 'enemies'), actively opposed to God (8:7). God effects reconciliation through His Son's...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) The interval that separates the state of enmity from the state of reconciliation is a large one, that which separates the state of reconciliation from the state of salvation a small one. And yet there is a difference. Reconciliation is the initial act; the removal of the load of guilt, justification. Salvation is the end of the Christian career, and of the process of sanctification. Justifica...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
INTRODUCTION
The Genuineness of the Epistle to the Romans has never been questioned. It has the unbroken testimony of all antiquity, up to Clement of Rome, the apostle's "fellow laborer in the Gospel, whose name was in the Book of Life" (Php 4:3), and who quotes from it in his undoubted Epistle to the Corinthians, written before the close of the first century. The most searching investigations o...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
Christ died for sinners; not only such as were useless, but such as were guilty and hateful; such that their everlasting destruction would be to the glory of God's justice. Christ died to save us, not in our sins, but from our sins; and we were yet sinners when he died for us. Nay, the carnal mind is not only an enemy to God, but enmity itself, chap. 8:7; Col 1:21. But God desi...
Read full commentary →And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. atonement: or, reconciliation
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ</strong>—Paul returns to καυχώμεθα (<em>kauchōmetha</em>, 'we boast/rejoice/exult'), now with God Himself as the object. The progression is striking: we boast in hope of glory (v.2), in tribulations (v.3), and supremely <em>in God</em>. This is the ultimate reversal of human pride: our boasting is not in ourselves but in...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **And not only so.**—Some such word as “reconciled must be supplied from the previous verse. “We shall be saved as the sequel of our reconciliation, but we are something more than reconciled. Ours is not merely a passive, but an active state. We exult or glory in God, who, through Christ, has given us this reconciliation.”
**Now.**—In this present time, in our present condition. Reconciliatio...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. Which he had promised afore ... in the holy scriptures--**Though the Roman Church was Gentile by nation (see on Ro 1:13), yet as it consisted mostly of proselytes to the Jewish faith (see on Introduction to this Epistle), they are here reminded that in embracing Christ they had not cast off, but only the more profoundly yielded themselves to, Moses and the prophets (Ac 13:32, 33).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
Christ died for sinners; not only such as were useless, but such as were guilty and hateful; such that their everlasting destruction would be to the glory of God's justice. Christ died to save us, not in our sins, but from our sins; and we were yet sinners when he died for us. Nay, the carnal mind is not only an enemy to God, but enmity itself, chap. 8:7; Col 1:21. But God desi...
Read full commentary →Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ
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: for that: or, in whom
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin</strong>—Paul begins the crucial Adam-Christ typology extending through verse 21. The διὰ τοῦτο (<em>dia touto</em>, 'wherefore/therefore') connects to preceding arguments about justification and introduces comparison: as one man (Adam) brought condemnation, one Man (Christ) brings justification. The historical entrance ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12-21) Contrast between the reign of death introduced by the sin of Adam, and the reign of life introduced by the atonement of Christ.
The sequence is, first sin, then death. Now, the death which passed over mankind had its origin in Adam’s sin. Strictly speaking, there could be no individual sin till there was a law to be broken. But in the interval between Adam and Moses, *i.e.,* before the ins...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3-4. Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord--**the grand burden of this "Gospel of God."
**made of the seed of David--**as, according to "the holy scriptures," He behooved to be. (See on Mt 1:1).
**according to the flesh--**that is, in His human nature (compare Ro 9:5; Joh 1:14); implying, of course, that He had another nature, of which the apostle immediately proceeds to speak.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-14**
The design of what follows is plain. It is to exalt our views respecting the blessings Christ has procured for us, by comparing them with the evil which followed upon the fall of our first father; and by showing that these blessings not only extend to the removal of these evils, but far beyond. Adam sinning, his nature became guilty and corrupted, and so came to his children. ...
Read full commentary →(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law</strong>—Paul addresses potential objections: if law reveals transgression (4:15), was sin not sin before Sinai? He affirms sin existed from Adam to Moses, but without law's explicit commands, sin wasn't 'charged to account' (λογέομαι, <em>logeomai</em>, the same verb used for imputing righteousness in 4:3-...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) So much we can see; so much is simple matter of history, that sin was in the world from Adam downwards. But here comes the difficulty. Sin there was, but why guilt? And why death, the punishment of guilt? The pre-Mosaic man sinned indeed, but could not rightly be condemned for his sin until there was a law to tell him plainly the distinction between right and wrong.
It will be observed that t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3-4. Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord--**the grand burden of this "Gospel of God."
**made of the seed of David--**as, according to "the holy scriptures," He behooved to be. (See on Mt 1:1).
**according to the flesh--**that is, in His human nature (compare Ro 9:5; Joh 1:14); implying, of course, that He had another nature, of which the apostle immediately proceeds to speak.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-14**
The design of what follows is plain. It is to exalt our views respecting the blessings Christ has procured for us, by comparing them with the evil which followed upon the fall of our first father; and by showing that these blessings not only extend to the removal of these evils, but far beyond. Adam sinning, his nature became guilty and corrupted, and so came to his children. ...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression</strong>—death's universal reign proves universal guilt. Even those who didn't commit explicit transgression παράβασις (<em>parabasis</em>, 'violation of known command') like Adam (Genesis 2:17) still died, demonstrating inherited Adamic guilt and corruption. The v...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **After the similitude of Adam’s transgression**—*i.e.*, “in direct defiance of divine command.” They had not incurred just punishment as Adam had, and yet they died. Why? Because of Adam’s sin, the effects of which extended to them all, just in the same way as the effects of the death of Christ extend to all.
**Who is the figure.**—Better, *type.* There is thus hinted at the parallelism whic...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. By whom--**as the ordained channel.
**we have received grace--**the whole "grace that bringeth salvation" (Tit 2:11).
**and apostleship--**for the publication of that "grace," and the organization of as many as receive it into churches of visible discipleship. (We prefer thus taking them as two distinct things, and not, with some good interpreters, as one--"the grace of apostleship").
*...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-14**
The design of what follows is plain. It is to exalt our views respecting the blessings Christ has procured for us, by comparing them with the evil which followed upon the fall of our first father; and by showing that these blessings not only extend to the removal of these evils, but far beyond. Adam sinning, his nature became guilty and corrupted, and so came to his children. ...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But not as the offence, so also is the free gift</strong>—Paul begins five verses (15-19) elaborating how Christ's work surpasses Adam's ruin. The sharp οὐχ ὡς... οὕτως καί (<em>ouch hōs... houtōs kai</em>, 'not as... so also...') signals dissimilarity within similarity. Both heads affect their people, but the quality and extent differ enormously.<br><br><strong>For if through the offence ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) Now comes the statement of the contrast which extends over the next five verses. The points of difference are thrown into relief by the points of resemblance. These may be, perhaps, best presented by the subjoined scheme:—
*Persons of the action.*
One man, Adam.
One Man, Christ.
*The action.*
One act of trespass.
One act of obedience.
*Character of the action viewed in its relation to the Fal...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. Among whom are ye also--**that is, along with others; for the apostle ascribes nothing special to the Church of Rome (compare 1Co 14:36) [Bengel].
**the called--**(See on Ro 8:30).
**of Christ Jesus--**that is, either called "by Him" (Joh 5:25), or the called "belonging to Him"; "Christ's called ones." Perhaps this latter sense is best supported, but one hardly knows which to prefer.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-19**
Through one man's offence, all mankind are exposed to eternal condemnation. But the grace and mercy of God, and the free gift of righteousness and salvation, are through Jesus Christ, as man: yet the Lord from heaven has brought the multitude of believers into a more safe and exalted state than that from which they fell in Adam. This free gift did not place them anew in a stat...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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</strong>—Paul contrasts scope: Adam's one sin brought κρίμα (<em>krima</em>, 'judgment/condemnation'), but Christ's gift addresses πολλῶν παραπτωμάτων (<em>pollōn paraptōmatōn</em>, 'many trespasses'). The free gift (χάρισμα, <em>charis...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **The judgment was by one.**—The judgment, verdict, or sentence from a single case ends in, or in other words takes the form of, condemnation; whereas, on the other hand, the free gift, starting from or prompted by many sins, ends in, takes the form of, justification. In the former of these cases the verdict is “Guilty,” while in the other case it (or, rather, the free act of grace which take...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. beloved of God--**(Compare De 33:12; Col 3:12).
**Grace, &c.--**(See on Joh 1:14).
**and peace--**the peace which Christ made through the blood of His cross (Col 1:20), and which reflects into the believing bosom "the peace of God which passeth all understanding" (Php 4:7).
**from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ--**"Nothing speaks more decisively for the divinity of Christ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-19**
Through one man's offence, all mankind are exposed to eternal condemnation. But the grace and mercy of God, and the free gift of righteousness and salvation, are through Jesus Christ, as man: yet the Lord from heaven has brought the multitude of believers into a more safe and exalted state than that from which they fell in Adam. This free gift did not place them anew in a stat...
Read full commentary →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.) by one man's: or, by one offence
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For if by one man's offence death reigned by one</strong>—the first clause summarizes humanity's tragedy: death βασιλεύω (<em>basileuō</em>, 'to reign as king') over Adam's descendants. The aorist ἐβασίλευσεν emphasizes death's established dominion; humanity exists under a tyrant's rule.<br><br><strong>Much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall r...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) Further confirmation of the contrast between the effect of Adam’s sin and the atonement of Christ. The one produced a reign of death, the other shall produce a reign of life.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world--**This was quite practicable through the frequent visits paid to the capital from all the provinces; and the apostle, having an eye to the influence they would exercise upon others, as well as their own blessedness, given thanks for such faith to "his God through Jesus Christ," as being the source, according to his theology of faith, as of a...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-19**
Through one man's offence, all mankind are exposed to eternal condemnation. But the grace and mercy of God, and the free gift of righteousness and salvation, are through Jesus Christ, as man: yet the Lord from heaven has brought the multitude of believers into a more safe and exalted state than that from which they fell in Adam. This free gift did not place them anew in a stat...
Read full commentary →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. by the offence: or, by one offence by the righteousness: or, by one righteousness
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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</strong>—Paul summarizes the Adam-Christ parallel with striking symmetry. The structure is chiastic: (A) one man's trespass → (B) condemnation to all → (B') righteousness of one → (A') justification to all. Adam's παρά...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **Therefore.**—Recapitulating what has just been said.
**The offence of one.**—Rather, *One trespass.*
**Judgment came.**—These words are supplied in the English version, but they are somewhat too much of a paraphrase. It is better to render simply, *the issue was,* which words may also be substituted for the “free gift came,” below.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. For God ... whom I serve--**the word denotes religious service.
**with my spirit--**from my inmost soul.
**in the gospel of his Son--**to which Paul's whole religious life and official activity were consecrated.
**is my witness, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers--**so for the Ephesians (Ep 1:15, 16); so for the Philippians (Php 1:3, 4); so for the Colossian...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-19**
Through one man's offence, all mankind are exposed to eternal condemnation. But the grace and mercy of God, and the free gift of righteousness and salvation, are through Jesus Christ, as man: yet the Lord from heaven has brought the multitude of believers into a more safe and exalted state than that from which they fell in Adam. This free gift did not place them anew in a stat...
Read full commentary →For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners</strong>—the διὰ τῆς παρακοῆς (<em>dia tēs parakoēs</em>, 'through the disobedience') of Adam, οἱ πολλοί (<em>hoi polloi</em>, 'the many') were καθίστημι (<em>kathistēmi</em>, 'constituted/appointed/made') sinners. This isn't merely that Adam's example led others to sin (Pelagianism) but that his act legally constituted his descendant...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **Many were made sinners.**—*The many,* or mankind collectively, were placed in the position of sinners.
**Obedience.**—This term is chosen in contradistinction to the disobedience of Adam. The obedience of Christ was an element in the atonement. (Comp. Philippians 2:8, where it is said that he “became obedient unto death;” and Hebrews 10:7, “Lo, I come to do thy will, O God,” specially in co...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. Making request, if by any means now at length I may have a prosperous journey by the will of God, to come to you--**Though long anxious to visit the capital, he met with a number of providential hindrances (Ro 1:13; Ro 15:22; and see on Ac 19:21; Ac 23:11; Ac 28:15); insomuch that nearly a quarter of a century elapsed, after his conversion, ere his desire was accomplished, and that only as "...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-19**
Through one man's offence, all mankind are exposed to eternal condemnation. But the grace and mercy of God, and the free gift of righteousness and salvation, are through Jesus Christ, as man: yet the Lord from heaven has brought the multitude of believers into a more safe and exalted state than that from which they fell in Adam. This free gift did not place them anew in a stat...
Read full commentary →Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound</strong>—the νόμος (<em>nomos</em>, 'law') παρεισῆλθεν (<em>pareisēlthen</em>, 'came in alongside/entered additionally'), a subordinate clause suggesting law's supplementary purpose. The ἵνα (<em>hina</em>, 'in order that') clause states God's purpose: that τὸ παράπτωμα πλεονάσῃ (<em>to paraptōma pleonasē</em>, 'the trespass might inc...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20, 21) The Apostle had already (Romans 5:13-14) alluded to the intervention of the Law. Now he returns to the topic, and in order to complete his historical view of the origin of sin through Adam, and its atonement through Christ, he considers what was its effect upon the former, and how that effect was met and neutralised by the latter. Mankind had already been led into sin by Adam. The Law cam...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11-12. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift--**not any supernatural gift, as the next clause shows, and compare 1Co 1:7.
to the end that ye may be established.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-21**
By Christ and his righteousness, we have more and greater privileges than we lost by the offence of Adam. The moral law showed that many thoughts, tempers, words, and actions, were sinful, thus transgressions were multiplied. Not making sin to abound the more, but discovering the sinfulness of it, even as the letting in a clearer light into a room, discovers the dust and filth...
Read full commentary →That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord</strong>—Paul concludes the Adam-Christ typology with paired reigns. Sin ἐβασίλευσεν (<em>ebasileusen</em>, 'reigned') ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ (<em>en tō thanatō</em>, 'in/through death'), exercising tyrannical dominion through humanity's mortality and condemnation.<br><br>B...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **Unto death.**—Rather, *in death;* death being, as it were, the domain in which its sovereignty was exercised.
In this last section we seem still to trace the influence of the school of Gamaliel. It appears that the Jewish doctors also attributed universal mortality to the fall of Adam, and regarded his sin as including that of the rest of mankind. (On the whole section, see *Excursus F: On ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11-12. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift--**not any supernatural gift, as the next clause shows, and compare 1Co 1:7.
to the end that ye may be established.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 20-21**
By Christ and his righteousness, we have more and greater privileges than we lost by the offence of Adam. The moral law showed that many thoughts, tempers, words, and actions, were sinful, thus transgressions were multiplied. Not making sin to abound the more, but discovering the sinfulness of it, even as the letting in a clearer light into a room, discovers the dust and filth...
Read full commentary →