CHAPTER 5

(A.D. 60)

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

¹Therefore being Justified by Faith (this is the only way one can be justified; refers to Faith in Christ and what He did at the Cross), we have peace with God (justifying peace) through our Lord Jesus Christ (what He did at the Cross):

²By Whom also we have access by Faith into this Grace (we have access to the Goodness of God by Faith in Christ) wherein we stand (wherein alone we can stand), and rejoice in hope (a hope that is guaranteed) of the Glory of God (our Faith in Christ always brings Glory to God; anything else brings glory to self, which God can never accept).

³And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also (in the fact that tribulations do not hurt us): knowing that tribulation works patience (points to the characteristic of a man who is unswerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to Faith, even by the greatest trials and sufferings);

⁴And patience, experience (points to an end result); and experience, hope (presents the natural product of an approved experience).

⁵And hope makes not ashamed (in effect, tells us that this is not a false hope); because the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts (Gods Love brings all of this about) by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us (all of this is wholly a work of the Holy Spirit).

⁶For when we were yet without strength (before we were saved), in due time (at the appointed time) Christ died for the ungodly (the entirety of humanity fell into this category).

⁷For scarcely for a Righteous man will one die (not many would do such): yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die (some few might).

⁸But God Commendeth His Love toward us (Christ dying for the ungodly is a proof of Love immeasurable), in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Jesus died for those who bitterly hate Him).

⁹Much more then (if Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, how much more will He do for us now that we are Redeemed and, thereby, reconciled to Him!), being now Justified by His Blood (we are justified now, and the Blood of Christ stands as the guarantee for that Justification), we shall be saved from wrath through Him (the Wrath of God, which is always manifested against sin).

¹⁰For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the Death of His Son (the only way we could be reconciled; this Verse shoots down the Jesus died spiritually doctrine), much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (does not speak of His Perfect Life, but rather the pouring out of His Lifes Blood at Calvary).

¹¹And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ (we are to boast of our Reconciliation to God, for it is a true confidence [I Cor. 1:31; II Cor. 10:17]), by Whom we have now received the Atonement (Reconciliation).

ADAM

¹²Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world (by Adam), and death by sin (both spiritual and physical death); and so death passed upon all men (for all were in Adam), for that all have sinned (all are born in sin, because of Adams transgression):

¹³(For until the Law (Law of Moses) sin was in the world (caused by Adams Fall): but sin is not imputed when there is no Law (before the Law was given, sin and its immediate Judgment were not imputed to the account of those who were then alive; but by the fact of Adams Fall, they were still sinners).

¹⁴Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses (because of the sin nature that was in all men due to Adams Fall), even over them who had not sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression (irrespective that all did not in essence commit high treason against God, as did Adam, they were still sinners), who is the figure of Him Who was to come (Adam was the fountainhead of all sin and death, while Christ is the Fountainhead of all Redemption and Life).

CONTRASTS

¹⁵But not as the offence, so also is the free gift (would have probably been better translated, as the offence, much more the Free Gift; the Free Gift refers to Christ and what He did at the Cross, which addressed all that was lost at the Fall). For if through the offence of one (Adam) many be dead, much more the Grace of God (proclaims the inexhaustible Power of this attribute), and the Gift by Grace (presents Jesus as that Gift), whichis by One Man, Jesus Christ (what He did at the Cross), has abounded unto many (this One Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, nullified the offence of the One Man Adam).

¹⁶And not as it was by one who sinned, so is the Gift (so much greater is the Gift): for the judgment was by one to condemnation (by Adam), but the Free Gift is of many offences unto Justification (cleanses from all sin).

¹⁷For if by one mans offence death reigned by one (Adams Fall); much more they which receive abundance of Grace (not just Grace, but Abundance of Grace; all made possible by the Cross) and of the Gift of Righteousness (Righteousness is a Gift from God which comes solely through Jesus Christ, and is received by Faith) shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ.) (This proclaims the Believer reigning, even as death had reigned, but from a position of much greater power than that of death.)

¹⁸Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation (Judged by God to be lost); even so by the Righteousness of One (Christ)the Free Gift came upon all men unto Justification of life (received by simply believing in Christ and what He did at the Cross, which is the only answer for sin).

¹⁹For as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners (the many referred to all), so by the obedience of One (obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross [Phil. 2:8]) shall many be made Righteous (many refers to all who will believe).

²⁰Moreover the Law entered, that the offence might abound (the Law of Moses, that the offence might be identified). But where sin abounded, Grace did much more abound (where sin increased, Grace super-abounded, and then some on top of that):

²¹That as sin has reigned unto death (sin reigns as an absolute monarch in the being of the unredeemed), even so might Grace reign through Righteousness unto Eternal Life by Jesus Christ our Lord (Grace reigns unto Life, but it reigns through Righteousness, i.e., because of Gods Righteous Judgment of sin at Calvary executed in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ).