The Bible — World English Bible

Romans 5

In brief

Romans 5 draws the consequences of justification by faith. Justified, you have peace with God, access to his grace and a hope that does not disappoint, even in afflictions. Paul grounds this certainty on the cross: Christ died for us when we were sinners and enemies. The second half compares two men: through Adam, sin and death entered the world; through Jesus Christ, grace and righteousness are offered. Where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly.

The chapter in 5 parts

  1. v. 1-5Justified: peace, grace and hope
  2. v. 6-11God's love proven at the cross
  3. v. 12-14By one man, sin and death
  4. v. 15-19Adam and Christ: the gift is greater than the fault
  5. v. 20-21Where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly

1Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;

2through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

3Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance;

4and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope:

5and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

6For while we were yet weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

7For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a righteous person someone would even dare to die.

8But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we will be saved from God’s wrath through him.

10For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by his life.

11Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

12Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; so death passed to all men, because all sinned.

13For until the law, sin was in the world; but sin is not charged when there is no law.

14Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come.

15But the free gift isn’t like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.

16The gift is not as through one who sinned; for the judgment came by one to condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses to justification.

17For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.

18So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life.

19For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous.

20The law came in that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly;

21that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Key verses

Verse 1
Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;

Justified by faith, you have peace with God. This is not a fleeting feeling but a new state before God, obtained through Jesus Christ.

Verse 3-5
Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Paul advances a chain: affliction produces perseverance, which produces proven character, which produces hope. This hope does not disappoint because God's love is already shed in us by the Spirit.

Verse 8
But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

God proves his love in that Christ died for us when we were still sinners. God's love precedes the change of man.

Verse 10
For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by his life.

Enemies, you have been reconciled by the death of the Son. Paul draws from this an argument of trust: if God did this for enemies, he will do even more for the reconciled.

Verse 20-21
The law came in that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly; that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The law brought out the greatness of sin, but grace overflowed. It reigns through righteousness for eternal life, through Jesus Christ.

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What the sermons say

Justified: How Your Legal Standing Before God Has ChangedFor the Tabernacle Church, the word "justified" is a verdict of God in your favor: your legal status has changed, and God sees the perfect file of Jesus under your name. The message quotes Romans 5:1 on peace with God.Read the summary →Choosing Hope When Everything Pushes You to Give UpEmma T. explains that hope in Christ is not an imposed feeling but a choice. Founded on God's word, it is targeted in priority by the enemy, and the message gives keys to find it again.Read the summary →God Made the First Move to Reconcile YouStéphane Guillet insists: it was not you who made the first move. While you were enemies of God, it was he who reconciled you to himself in Christ, by pure grace.Read the summary →Dead in Your Sins, Made Alive by Grace in ChristSamuel Mabboux returns to the basis of the Gospel with Ephesians 2: you were dead, but God, rich in mercy, made you alive by grace, through faith.Read the summary →The Sovereignty of GraceBertrand Huetz leans on the parable of the workers in the vineyard to show that grace is not earned; it is received. God does not work as we do, weighing every effort.Read the summary →

Frequently asked questions about Romans 5

What does it mean to be justified by faith in Romans 5:1?

To be justified is to be declared righteous by God, as in a court verdict. Paul explains that this comes from faith in Jesus Christ and not from human effort. The consequence is peace with God: the conflict is settled, and you have access to his grace.

Why does Paul boast in afflictions in Romans 5:3?

Paul does not say that suffering is good in itself. He says it produces perseverance, then proven character, then hope. The believer can hold to this because God's love is already there, shed in his heart by the Spirit.

What does "where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly" mean?

Paul affirms that God's grace is greater than human fault. The verse does not say you should sin more, as he clarifies in the next chapter, but that no sin is too great for the grace offered in Jesus Christ.

Articles quoting Romans 5

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World English Bible translation — public domain.