The New Testament

The New Testament › Romans

Romans 5

1Therefore, having been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus the Messiah. 2Through him we have also gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of God's glory. 3And not only that, but we also boast in afflictions, knowing that affliction produces perseverance, 4and perseverance proven character, and proven character hope. 5And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For someone will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps someone might even dare to die for a good person. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more, then, now that we have been declared righteous by his blood, we will be saved through him from wrath. 10For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, we will be saved by his life. 11And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus the Messiah, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned—13for sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to an account when there is no law. 14Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression. He is a pattern of the one to come.

15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man's trespass, much more did God's grace and the gift in the grace of the one man Jesus the Messiah abound for the many. 16And the gift is not like the outcome of the one man who sinned: for the judgment followed one trespass and led to condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and led to acquittal. 17For if, through the one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus the Messiah.

18So then, just as one trespass led to condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act led to acquittal bringing life for all people. 19For just as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. 20Now the law came in alongside so that the trespass might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21so that, just as sin reigned in death, grace might also reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus the Messiah our Lord.

Translation notes 6

5:1 — We have peace. A significant textual alternative reads “let us have peace.” The working Greek base reads “we have peace,” fitting the paragraph's account of what follows from being declared righteous. The alternative has substantial early support and is not simply a late expansion.

5:2–5 — Boasting and hope. The verb translated “boast” also occurs in the earlier discussion of boasting. Here its object is God's glory and the hope sustained through affliction, not personal achievement. “God's love” is most naturally his love for us, made explicit in verse 8. “Does not put us to shame” retains the language of hope being vindicated.

5:6–11 — Death and reconciliation. “For” can express action on another's behalf; the wording does not itself name every aspect of how Jesus' death saves. Verse 7 may contrast a righteous person with a generous benefactor, or use “good” more generally. “By his blood” preserves the bodily language. Reconciliation means the restoration of a relationship, here with God.

5:12–14 — Adam and death. “One man” refers to Adam; “all people” includes women and men. “Because all sinned” is the preferred reading of a much-debated phrase; “with the result that all sinned” and a reference to Adam “in whom all sinned” are alternatives. The text does not spell out an inherited biological mechanism. Paul interrupts the “just as” comparison and returns to it in verse 18.

5:15–19 — The one, the many, and all. The repeated contrasts are retained. “Acquittal” expresses the favorable judgment opposite condemnation and is related to being declared righteous. “Led to” supplies the unstated verb in verse 18. Both halves say “all people”; the translation neither narrows the second to “all believers” nor adds a conclusion about the eventual salvation of every individual. Verse 17's receiving language and the letter's argument remain relevant to interpretation.

5:20–21 — Law and increase. “Came in alongside” retains the law's arrival within the already described situation. The stated purpose, that the trespass might increase, is not softened into merely making sin noticeable. Sin, death, and grace are pictured as ruling powers.