Romans 5
BSASBPaul shows what God’s gift of justification brings: peace with God, a steady hope, and the certainty of His love, proved at the cross. He then sets Adam beside Christ. Through one man sin and death spread to all, and through one greater Man grace and life overflow.
Romans 5:1
Paul builds on all he has said about faith. Because God has declared us right with Him through trusting Jesus, the war is over. Peace with God is not a mood. It is our standing with Him, given through Christ alone.
BSA: justified (“made right, righteous”): God does not merely excuse us; He puts us in right standing with Himself. peace (“harmony, reconciliation”): The old hostility between us and God is replaced by a restored relationship.
Greek: δικαιωθέντες (dikaiōthentes, G1344) — “having been declared righteous.” It is a courtroom word and the verb is in the past tense. The verdict has already been given in our favor, and it does not wait on our performance.
See also: Romans 3:28; Ephesians 2:14.
Romans 5:2
Christ has opened a door for us, and we now live inside God’s favor. We did not earn the way in, and we do not stand by our own strength. Looking ahead, we rejoice in the sure hope of sharing God’s glory.
BSA: access (“been given admission, obtained entrance”): We are brought into God’s presence by Christ, not by our own effort.
Greek: προσαγωγήν (prosagōgēn, G4318) — “a bringing into the presence, introduction.” The word suggests being ushered in before a king. Christ is the one who leads us in.
See also: Ephesians 3:12.
Romans 5:3-4
Paul says we can rejoice even in hardship. We do not enjoy pain, but we know God uses it. Pressure builds endurance, endurance builds a tested and proven character, and that proven character deepens our hope.
BSA: rejoice (“glory, take pride”): Paul speaks of confident boasting in God’s work, not a forced smile. character (“mature, proven, approved”): It is the quality of something tested and found genuine.
Greek: δοκιμήν (dokimēn, G1382) — “approvedness, proven quality.” It was used of metal tested in fire and found pure. Suffering shows what is real in us.
See also: James 1:2-4.
Romans 5:5
Christian hope is not wishful thinking, so it will not leave us ashamed. Its guarantee is inward: the Holy Spirit has flooded our hearts with the knowledge that God loves us. This love is something we experience, not only something we are told.
BSA: poured out (“shed abroad, lavished”): God’s love is given in generous, overflowing measure. hearts (“the seat of thoughts, feelings, and emotions”): The love reaches the center of the whole person.
Greek: ἐκκέχυται (ekkechytai, G1632) — “has been poured out and remains poured out.” The tense pictures a flood that came and still stands. God’s love is not a trickle.
See also: Acts 2:17.
Romans 5:6
Christ died for people who could not help themselves and did not honor God. He did not wait for us to improve. In God’s perfect timing, He acted when we were at our weakest.
BSA: powerless (“weak, without strength”): We had no strength to save ourselves, so rescue had to come from outside us.
See also: Galatians 4:4.
Romans 5:7-8
Human sacrifice is rare even for a good person. Yet Christ died for sinners. Paul points to the cross as the clearest proof of God’s love: it was given to us when we were at our worst, not our best.
BSA: proves (“demonstrates, commends”): The cross is God’s open display of His love, not a hidden or doubtful thing.
Greek: συνίστησιν (synistēsin, G4921) — “puts on display, commends.” God does not just say He loves us. He sets His love before the world in a visible, costly act.
See also: John 15:13; 1 John 4:10.
Romans 5:9
If God justified us at the cost of Christ’s blood, He will surely finish the work. The wrath here is God’s just judgment on sin. Those who are now in right standing with Him need not fear it.
BSA: saved (“rescued, delivered”): Salvation here means being delivered from a coming danger. wrath (“God’s strong anger, divine judgment”): It is God’s settled opposition to evil, which the cross has answered for believers.
See also: 1 Thessalonians 1:10.
Romans 5:10
Paul argues from the harder thing to the easier. If Christ’s death made enemies into friends, His living, risen life will surely keep us safe to the end. We are reconciled by His death and sustained by His life.
BSA: enemies (“haters of God”): Our hostility to God was real, which makes His kindness all the greater. reconciled (“made at peace, changed from a state of enmity”): The relationship was truly changed from hostility to friendship.
Greek: κατηλλάγημεν (katēllagēmen, G2644) — “we were reconciled, exchanged from enmity to friendship.” The word speaks of a complete change in a relationship. God removed the barrier through the cross.
See also: 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Colossians 1:21-22.
Romans 5:11
Salvation brings more than relief. It brings joy in God Himself. Because we have received reconciliation, we can delight in the God we once ran from.
BSA: reconciliation (“restoration of a relationship, atonement, peace with God”): The friendship with God that sin broke has been given back to us.
Romans 5:12
Paul now goes back to the root of the problem. Sin entered the human race through Adam, and death followed. Death then spread to everyone, because everyone sins. Paul begins the comparison here and completes it in verses 18-19.
BSA: death (“physical and spiritual separation from God”): Death is more than the body’s end; it is the break between people and God, the source of life.
Greek: ἥμαρτον (hēmarton, G264) — “sinned, missed the mark.” The word pictures an archer missing the target. All have fallen short of what God made them for.
See also: Genesis 3:6-19; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22.
Romans 5:13-14
Sin and death were at work before God gave the law through Moses. People died even though they had no written command to break as Adam did. This shows that death’s rule comes from our shared human condition. Adam is a pattern pointing ahead to Christ.
BSA: taken into account (“imputed, reckoned, or attributed”): It is a bookkeeping word: sin is not charged as a specific offense where there is no written command. pattern (“a figure, a model”): Adam is a likeness of Christ in how one man affects many, though in every other way Christ is the opposite.
Greek: τύπος (typos, G5179) — “a mark, impression, pattern.” Originally it was the mark left by a strike or a stamp. Adam is the mold, and Christ is the greater reality it points to.
Romans 5:15
Adam and Christ are alike in that one man’s act affects many. But they are not equal. The gift is far greater than the trespass. God’s grace overflows beyond what sin did.
BSA: gift (“free gift, divine gratuity”): What Christ gives is unearned and given freely. abound (“exceed, superabound”): God’s grace does not merely match the damage; it overflows past it.
See also: Ephesians 2:8.
Romans 5:16
There is another difference. One sin led to a verdict of condemnation. But the gift came after many sins and ended in acquittal. Grace does not just undo one offense; it deals with an entire pile of them.
BSA: condemnation (“guilty verdict, penalty”): The judgment on Adam’s sin was a formal verdict of guilt. justification (“righteousness, acquittal”): The gift ends in a verdict of right standing, not guilt.
Romans 5:17
Death ruled through one man’s failure. Even more surely, those who receive God’s overflowing grace will reign in life through Jesus Christ. Righteousness is a gift to be received, not a prize to be won.
BSA: receive (“accept, take hold of”): The gift becomes ours as we take it with open hands.
Greek: βασιλεύσουσιν (basileusousin, G936) — “will reign as kings.” Death was pictured as a tyrant king. Believers are not just freed from him; they share in a royal rule in life.
See also: Revelation 22:5.
Romans 5:18
Paul sums up the comparison. One trespass led to condemnation, and one righteous act, Christ’s obedience on the cross, leads to justification and life. Christians understand the reach of the phrase ‘all men’ differently, but the text itself ties the gift to those who receive it, as verse 17 says.
BSA: all men (“humanity, every person”): Adam’s effect and Christ’s offer are both set before the whole human family.
See also: 1 Corinthians 15:22.
Romans 5:19
Adam’s disobedience placed the many in the position of sinners. Christ’s obedience, even to death, places the many in the position of the righteous. The focus is on the standing He gives.
BSA: righteous (“just, innocent, having God’s approval”): Those in Christ stand before God approved, not merely excused.
See also: Philippians 2:8.
Romans 5:20
The law did not cure sin. It showed sin for what it was, making plain how far we fall short. Yet wherever sin grew, God’s grace grew even more. No amount of sin is beyond the reach of His grace.
BSA: grace (“divine influence and favor”): Grace is God’s active, powerful kindness at work.
Greek: ὑπερεπερίσσευσεν (hyperperisseusen, G5248) — “overflowed beyond measure.” Paul stacks two words together: to overflow, and then to go over the top of that. Grace always has more than sin.
See also: 1 Timothy 1:14.
Romans 5:21
Two kingdoms are set side by side. Sin ruled by means of death. Grace now rules by means of righteousness, and its goal is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The chapter ends with the new reign that Christ has begun.
BSA: reign (“ruled, had authority”): Grace is no passing kindness; it is a rule that now holds authority over the believer.
See also: Romans 6:23.