Bible Studies In The Word of God

ROMANS 5

 

Verse 1. The principle of individual faith has been required from the days of Abel on down (Hebrews 11:4, 6), therefore the word in this verse means “the faith” or the Gospel of Christ. That brings to us justification through Jesus Christ and not the law of Moses.  The reader should constantly keep in mind that the predominating thought  of the book of Romans, .is the virtue of faith in Christ as against the works of the law, which the Judaizers were urging upon Christians, and which was causing much confusion especially among those of the Gentile nation.

Verse 2. By whom means by Christ, and this grace means the favor of justification before God. Such justification could not have been obtained by virtue of the works of the law, therefore we (Christians) stand and rejoice in the hope of partaking of the glory of God. Of course that glory is to come at the end of the world (Colossians 3:4).

Verse 3. Since the glory is to be received in the future, we welcome the experience of tribulations. It is not the pleasure of tribulations in which we glory, but it is the good fruit of patience produced thereby.

Verse 4. Patience results in experience, because it can come only by persistent practice, and we would not do that if we were not patient. All of this results in hope, because, having adhered to a course of righteousness in spite of tribulations, we have reason to look for final victory.

Verse 5. The hope we have of a life with Christ whsn this present period of tribulation is over, keeps us from being ashamed of that which we have endured for His. sake (Acts 5:41).  The Holy Ghost (or Spirit) was given to the early Christians in miraculous measure (Acts 2:38; 8:14-18). After the complete New Testament was produced, the Spirit dwelled in the church which is the “temple of God” (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17 ). However, this indwelling is not in miraculous measure,
because that form of it was to cease after the complete rule of faith in Christ was given (Ephesians 4:8-16).

Verse 6. Without strength means we were powerless to save ourselves, or to devise any system by which mankind could be saved. Of necessity, then, we were ungodly as to our spiritual standing, and hence when Christ died his death was for the ungodly.

Verse 7. For all practical purposes the words 'righteous and good mean the same, and they are generally so used in the New Testament. But when used in distinction from each other, the first means a man who does what is right because the law under which he is living requires it. The second means a man who is naturally of an agreeable disposition so that “everybody likes him,” although he may not be living in obedience to any laws.  There are people who would die for such a person if the circumstances called for it.

Verse 8. God and Christ went be-
yond all these conditions and showed
their love for us while we were sin-
ners--neither righteous nor good--by
having Christ to die for our sins.

Verse 9. Justijied by his blood is
explained at chapter 3: 25, 26. Through
such a complete satisfaction offered by
the blood of Christ, the wrath of God
against sin will be turned away from us.

Verse 10. Jesus found us in sin and
reconciled us to his Father through
his blood, which denotes that He put
us intothe position of praying terms
with God. In that relation with God,
we could “work out our salvation” by
following the example that Jesus set
by his own life.

Verse 11. There is a considerable
amount of repetition of thought in
several verses. Reconciliation is the
same as atonement, and Paul adds it
for the sake of emphasis.

Verse 12. The one man by whom
sin entered into the world was Adam.
He is the only one who is regarded as
a personal sinner in this verse. How-
ever, it was his sin that caused the
separation from the tree of life with
its consequent death of the body for
all his descendants, we must regard
the phrase all have sinned as meaning
only that all human beings regardless
of age or mental or moral qualification,
are physical partakers of the results
of Adam’s sin. We know it cannot
mean that infants were thereby forced
to become sinners as to their char-
acter, for they are represented by
Jesus as already possessing the_ char-
acter that adults are required to de-
velop before they can enter the king-
dom of heaven (Matthew 18:3).

Verse 13. Sin in this verse is in
the ordinary sense, pertaining to the
personal conduct of human beings.
Adam introduced the knowledge of it,
but a person must be old enough to
possess knowledge before he can ac-
tually perform it responsibly. Not im-
puted means it is not taken into ac-
count, and the particular form of sin
meant in this verse is that which is
the transgression of law. (See the com-
ments on this at chapter 4: 15.) In
view of this, before there was any law
given, men could not be counted as
sinners by transgression since there
was no law to transgress.

Verse 14. It might be (erroneously)
concluded from the foregoing, that
since men were not adjudged as sin-
ners before the law was given, there-
f-ore nobody died before that. Yet the
apostle affirms that death did reign
through all that period, even over those
who had not sinned after the simili-
tude-after the manner--of Adam’s
transgression. This shows that sin in
this verse as applied to all mankind
is used in the same sense as it is in
verse 12. That is, they had to suffer
the physical death that resulted from
Ada'm’s sin, because it caused them to
be born outside the garden of Eden
and away from the tree of life. The
last clause, who is the yigure of him
that was to come, is introduced to pre-
pare the reader for the comparison a
little later on, that deals with the
principle of sharing in the results of
one man’s righteousness in the same
sense as sharing in the results of one
man’s sin.

Verse 15. An illustration may be
used either by comparison or contrast,
or by both, and the present one is used
in the last sense. The comparison is
in the fact that all mankind will have
to partake of the physical results of
Ada'm’s sin which means death of the
body. Likewise, all will partake of the
physical resurrection' from death as a
result of the resurrection of Christ.
The contrast is in the fact that the
grace of God, which means justification
from personal sin, is offered to all
mankind through Christ, in addition
to the resurrection of the body.

Verse 16. This verse means vir-
tually the same as the preceding one,
but expressed in slightly different
language.

Verse 17. The comparison and con-
trast are again repeated. The phrase
much more denotes that the oppor-
tunity to receive abundance of grace
is of more value than the mere resur-
rection of the body which also will be
effected through that of Christ.

Verse 18. This is virtually the same
in thought as the preceding verses, but
the subject is so vital to the happiness
of mankind, that the apostle regarded
the repetition of it as necessary.
Ojfence of one refers to the sin of
Adam, 'andthe condemnation means
the physical death that resulted upon
all mankind. Even, so again includes
both the resurrection of the body, and

also the justification of life, which
means the offer of forgiveness of per-
sonal sins to all who will accept it on
the Lord’s terms.

Verse 19. Many were made sinners
is explained at verse 12. Obedience of
one refers to the great deed of Christ
in providing a sacrifice that could
cleanse all from sin who would avail
themselves of *it by their own indi-
vidual obedience.

Verse 20. The word law does not
have the definite article before it in
the original, so it is used with refer-
ence to law in general. That is, man
has always had some form of law by
which he could live and then be judged.
With the Gentile it was the law of
conscience and nature (chapter 1: 19,
20; 2:14, 15), andwith the Jew it
was the law of Moses. Offence might
abound denotes that no man waswith
“excuse” for his sins, since he had a
law that taught him to do better. This
condition of responsibility made it all
the more necessary for the grace or
favor of God to be used so that sin
could be atoned for.

Verse 21. This verse is the grand
conclusion of Paul’s argument. The
sin of Adam brought physical death
upon all mankind, and bringing in a
law of conduct brought spiritual death
upon all who failed to obey that law.
Then the great work of Christ brought
physical life to all mankind uncon-
ditionally, and spiritual life to all who
avail themselves of the “unspeakable
gift” of this human-divine sacritlce of
the Son of God.