Romans 5

—(For until the law sin was in the world.] And so appeared to be, by the continual execution of its punishment, that is, death. Dr. Doddridge.

For though all the time before the delivery of the Law of God by Moses, sin was universally committed in the world by men’s transgressions of the law of nature; yet these transgressions (whatever other punishment they subjected them to) could not be the cause of their natural mortality, for there is no such thing as transgressing a law which is not in being; and therefore the posterity of Adam, who never had that positive Law of God, to the breach of which only the threatening of natural death or mortality was annexed, could not be made subject to the penalty thereof by their own actual transgressions, whatever other punishment they might incur thereby. T. Edwards.

— But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.] In forgiving the Jews their numerous sins, and making them, though liable to death even on more accounts than the Gentiles, yet no less capable of justification unto life. Dr. Wells.

Romans 5:2

2. By whom also we have access &c.] Rather, we have had introduction or admittance, &c. Drs. Wells and Macknight. Nay, by Him we have already received, by faith only, not by virtue of those performances, admission to these privileges, to this evangelical estate, wherein now we stand, and have done for some time; having a confident assurance that God, who hath dealt thus graciously with us, will, if we be not wanting on our part, make us hereafter partakers of His glory: and this is matter of present rejoicing to us. Dr. Hammond.

Romans 5:3

3.—we glory in tribulations also.] That is, such trials and persecutions, as befell them for the profession of the Gospel. Burkitt. The Jews might object to the persecuted condition of Christians, as we know they did to that of their Master, as inconsistent with what they concluded would be the state of the people of the Messiah. It is therefore with great propriety, that the Apostle so often discourses on the benefit arising from the sufferings of true believers, by which he advances the strongest answer to any such insinuation. This delicacy of address is very apparent in many passages of the Epistles. Dr. Doddridge.

—knowing &c.] St. Paul having said that the true Christian “glories in tribulation,” proceeds immediately to shew, that he does so not without good reason: and the illustration of this reason carries him to take notice of the great love of God, and the ardent hope which the true Christian thereby has of salvation: after which he returns in the eleventh verse to the point which he had in hand, namely, that in which the true Christian glories. And as, having said ver. 2, “we rejoice in hope of the glory of God,” he adds, ver. 3, “and not only so, but we glory in tribulations also;” so he adds again in the last place, ver. 11, “And not only so, but we also joy in God.” Hence it appears, that all from “knowing” in the third verse, to the end of the tenth, is to be understood best as a parenthesis. It is the same verb, which is rendered “rejoice” in the second verse; “glory” in the third; and “joy” in the eleventh. Dr. Wells.

Romans 5:4

4. And patience, experience.] “Experience” both of our own sincerity towards God, and of His power and protection over us. Patient suffering gives full proof of us. Pyle. The word, rendered “experience,” means ‘proof,’ ’trial;’ properly of metals by fire, to examine their purity; figuratively, of men’s faith, by afflictions and patience. Parkhurst.

—and experience, hope.] As without patience we could have no way of exploring or trying ourselves touching our sincerity; so, without this trial and approbation of our sincerity, we could have no safe ground of hope, which is only grounded on God’s promises, and

because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Romans 5:5

5. And hope maketh not ashamed.] Which hope, being thus grounded, will never fail us. It is impossible we should ever be ashamed or repent of having thus hoped, and adhered to Christ. Dr. Hammond.

—because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts &c.] That is, the sense and comfortable assurance of that love, wherewith God embraces us. Bp. Hall.

—is shed abroad] Or “poured out” on our hearts. Dr. Hammond. The original word is commonly used in the New Testament, when speaking of the effusion of the Holy Ghost, Acts ii. 17; x. 45; Tit. iii. 6; and it is taken from Joel ii. 28, 29. Wherefore as the Apostle in this passage had in his eye the gifts of the Spirit, bestowed on the Gentiles, as proofs of God’s love to them, he elegantly tells them, that “the love of God was poured out” into their hearts, along with the spiritual gifts. Drs. Whitby and Macknight.

—by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.] The spiritual gifts, bestowed on the first Christians, were clear proofs, especially in the case of the Gentiles, of the love which God bare to them, and of His purpose of saving them. And therefore, when the Jewish believers, who reproved St. Peter for preaching the Gospel to Cornelius and his friends, heard that they had received the Holy Ghost, “they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life,” Acts xi. 18. Farther, the ordinary influence of the Spirit, bestowed on believers, by renovating their nature, affords them the fullest assurance of pardon and salvation through faith: hence they are said to be “sealed with the Spirit of promise.” And the Spirit Himself is called, “the earnest of their inheritance,” Eph. i. 13, 14; iv. 30; and is said, Rom. viii. 16, to “bear witness with their spirit, that they are the children of God.” Dr. Macknight.

Romans 5:6

6. For when we were yet without strength.] As if he had said, Of which love to us, even before we believed, the Gospel gives us the highest demonstrations. “For when we were without strength,” &c. Dr. Whitby.

—without strength.] ‘Weak,’ the original word signifies weak through sickness: and is used here to shew the pernicious influence of sin, in weakening all the faculties of the soul. Isaiah has used the same metaphor, chap. i. 5. Dr. Macknight. When we were all in a sick, yes a mortal, that is, a sinful and damnable state. Dr. Hammond.

—in due time] In God’s appointed time. Dr. Wells. “The fulness of time,” the time foretold by the Prophets, Gal. iv. 4. Pyle, Burkitt.

—for the ungodly.] That is, for the whole race of mankind, whom he found buried in the ruins of their fallen state, and having no righteousness of their own. Burkitt, Dr. Whitby.

6. But God commendeth his love toward us, &c.] Whereas God’s expression of mercy was infinitely above this proportion of any the most friendly man: for He, when He had nothing in the object to move Him to it, when we were so far from being good or just men, from being merciful or pious in the highest degree, that we were profane customary sinners, He then sent His Son Christ to die for us, to obtain, by the shedding of His own blood, pardon of sins for us upon our reformation and amendment. Dr. Hammond.

Romans 5:7

7. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: &c.] And what a degree of love this was, may be judged

Romans 5:9

9. Much more then, being now justified by his blood.] Being thus far restored to His favour, and, by that ransom of His paid for us, redeemed from certain ruin, we shall be actually delivered through Him from all effects of the Divine displeasure in another world, if we be not wanting to ourselves in performing the conditions required on our parts. Dr. Hammond.

Romans 5:10

10. — by his life.] Since “He ever liveth to make intercession for us, and so is able to save us to the uttermost, that come unto God by Him,” Heb. vii. 25; forasmuch as the Father hath “given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as He has given Him,” John xvii. 2. Drs. Whitby and Wells.

Romans 5:11

11. And not only so, &c.] From what has been alleged it appears, that we by faith in Christ have good reason to glory, “not only in the hope of the glory of God, but also in tribulation,” as working and confirming that hope: to which I must add in the last place, “And not only so, but we” Christians “also joy,” and that on better grounds than the Jews, “in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom,” whatever may have been our former idolatry and other impieties, “we have now received reconciliation” with God. Dr. Wells. See the second note on ver. 3.

— the atonement.] “Reconciliation.” Drs. Hammond and Whitby. The alteration of the word makes no difference in the signification of the passage. For “the reconciliation” obtained by Christ’s death is the consequence of the atonement and expiation made by Him, as is obvious from various passages of Scripture. In Heb. ii. 17, Christ is said to “make reconciliation for the sins of the people:” that is, according to a more exact translation of the original, to ’expiate,’ to ‘atone for,’ to ‘procure the pardon of,’ their sins. “God reconciled the world unto Himself by Christ,” 2 Cor. v. 18, 19, that is, by the death of Christ; and the consequence of His death and expiation was the remission of our sins: “not imputing their trespasses unto them.” He who knew no sin was accepted as a sinner, and died

Romans 5:12

12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, &c.] From the foregoing premises the Apostle here infers his conclusion, which he farther confirms and illustrates in the remainder of the chapter, by comparing the justification by Christ with the condemnation by Adam; namely, that the mercy of God under the Gospel belongs without limitation to all sorts of men, the Gentiles as well as the Jews. In order to discern his meaning, it is necessary to lay an emphasis on the universal forms of speech; “the world” and “all men,” ver. 12; “in the world,” ver. 13; “many,” and “unto many,” ver. 15; and again, “upon all men,” twice in ver. 18; and “many,” twice in ver. 19. By all and each of which are meant in the widest latitude, without exclusion of any, all mankind, to whom, both Jews and Gentiles, the mercy and life introduced by Christ belong, only on condition of new life required of them; as the condemnation or death in Adam belonged to all his posterity. Dr. Hammond.

— sin.] That is, original sin, with which all mankind, descended from fallen Adam by natural generation, are universally infected from their conception and birth. Parkhurst.

— death] Or mortality. Dr. Hammond.

— for that all have sinned.] That is, because all were sinners, being born after the image and likeness of Adam. Dr. Hammond. The meaning is, not that death hath come on all, because all have sinned actually; for infants, who have not sinned actually, die: but that they have sinned in Adam; that is, are involved in the consequences of his sin. Dr. Macleight. The whole force of St. Paul’s argument, drawn from the comparison between Adam and Christ, lies in this: that all men died for Adam’s sin, not for their own sin; and therefore it is necessary to understand the verb “sinned” here in a figurative sense; and the word so taken makes up a proposition certainly true, as being what is expressly asserted by St. Paul elsewhere, that “in Adam all died,” that is, became mortal. In a literal sense it cannot be true. Drs. Wells and Whitby.

Romans 5:13

13. (For until the law &c.] In the first part of the comparison between Adam and Christ, the Apostle, having intimated that all became mortal in Adam, does not complete the intended comparison, but proceeds immediately to shew in the 13th and 14th verses, that all, who lived between Adam and Moses, died for, the sin of Adam; and then, having observed in the latter part of the 14th verse, that Adam was a “figure” of Christ, he immediately observes, verses 15—17, that this was to be understood with some limitations. After which, in the 18th and 19th verses he resumes

The advantages and extent of justification by faith. Anno DOMINI 60.

Romans 5:14

14.—who is the figure of him that was to come.] That is, of Christ, the second Adam: in that the first Adam was the original of our natural and earthly being, the second Adam of our spiritual and heavenly: and, as by the first sin came into the world, so by the second came righteousness. Bp. Hall.

To prove that peace with God was now obtained for the whole human race, through the precious blood of Christ, the Apostle here represents Adam as “the figure of Him that was to come;” that is, a type of Christ. He then describes the analogy between the first and second Adam, by declaring that the former brought death upon all men, and the latter restored all to life; that universal sin and condemnation were the consequence of Adam’s disobedience, and universal righteousness and pardon the effect of Christ’s obedience. See ver. 18, 19. Bp. Tomlins.

Romans 5:16

16. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift.] He means, that the gift, communicated by Christ to believers, is far greater than the punishment communicated from Adam to his posterity. Dr. Hammond.

—many] Rather, according to the import of the original, ’the many;’ that is, the multitude, or whole bulk of mankind. The expression is plainly equivalent to “all men” in the 12th and 18th verses. Compare Matt. xxvi. 28; 1 Cor. x. 17. Parkhurst.

—such more the grace of God, &c.] One particular, in which the grace in Christ exceeded the condemnation in Adam, appears to be here intimated; that, whereas the posterity of Adam were begotten after his similitude, and so were all sinners as well as he, and probably in as great degrees though in other kinds;

those on the contrary, to whom the mercy in Christ belongs, are not righteous as Christ is, but are exempted from punishment only by virtue of the death of Christ. Drs. Hammond and Whitby.

Grace abounded, in the remission not only of that sin which Adam brought on us, but also of all our own: not only in remission of sins, but in infusing righteousness and sanctification of life; not only in freedom from death, but in admission to life eternal. Bp. Fell.

16.—for the judgment was by one] That is, by one sin, to condemnation. This is the second advantageous difference: namely, that whereas we became obnoxious to death for one sin of Adam, we are justified by faith in Christ, and so delivered not only from the condemnation which came upon us for that sin, but also from the condemnation due to us for all our offences against God. Dr. Whitby.

Romans 5:17

17.—they which receive abundance of grace] They, who receive and make use of that most rich grace and righteousness of Christ; that is, who are holy, gracious, and righteous too, though not in the same degree as He is; and so are, according to this evangelical way, capable of this justification, shall by the resurrection of Christ, and by His living and interceding for them for ever, be sure to reign with Him. Dr. Hammond.

By the phrase “shall reign in life,” the Apostle appears to mean, that they shall have infinitely greater happiness in their new life, than they had miseries and sorrows in the state into which they were brought through Adam’s disobedience, expressed by “the reigning of death” in this verse, and in verse 14. Dr. MacKnight.

Romans 5:18

18. Therefore as by the offence of one &c.] The Apostle here reverts to the comparison, which he began in the 12th verse, and which he now completes by affirming, that the benefit accruing to mankind by Christ’s death is as universal as the damage which accrued to them by Adam’s fall: for that, as all men were condemned to a state of mortality by the offence of Adam, so, through the free mercy of God in Christ, all men are to be justified or absolved from continuing under death, the punishment of Adam’s sin, by partaking of the resurrection of the body; and also all men are put into a capacity of being justified unto eternal life, which they shall certainly inherit, if they are not wanting in the performance of their part of the Gospel covenant. Dr. Wells.

Romans 5:19

19.—many were made sinners,—shall many be made righteous.] According to the original it is, ’the many were constituted sinners,—the many shall be constituted righteous.’ Dr. Hammond.

‘To be constituted sinners,’ is to be treated as such Where sin abounded, grace did superabound.

Ande DOMINE 40. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

by becoming subject to death: ’to be constituted righteous,’ is to be admitted to a reward, as righteous. Parkhurst. The verse means, that as all men (see the note on ver. 15.) were subjected to death by the disobedience of Adam, so all men, who shall come to Christ, and perform sincere and faithful obedience to Him, shall be justified and accepted by Him, though they be not perfectly just. Dr. Hammond.

The sin of Adam, and the merits of Christ, are here pronounced to be co-extensive: the words applied to both are precisely the same: “judgment came upon all men;” “the free gift came upon all men;” “many were made sinners,” “many were made righteous.” Whatever the words “all men” and “many” signify, when applied to Adam, they must signify the same, when applied to Christ. It is admitted, that in the former case the whole human race is meant: and consequently in the latter case, the whole human race is meant also. The force of the argument is destroyed, and the most acknowledged rules of language are violated, by so interpreting this passage as to contend, that all men are liable to punishment on account of the sin of Adam, and that a few only are enabled to avoid that punishment through the death of Christ. Nay, we are even told, that, “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound,” ver. 20: but how can this be, if sin extends to all, and grace is confined to a part only of mankind? Bp. Tomline.

The following is the testimony which God hath given of His Son, concerning the extent of the satisfaction provided by His death. 1st, That He came to seek and to save that which was lost, Matt. xviii. 11; Luke xix. 10: that the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all, Isa. liii. 6: that He died for the ungodly, Rom. v. 6; for sinners, ver. 8; for His enemies, ver. 10; for all, 1 Tim. ii. 5, 6; iv. 10; for every man, Heb. ii. 9; for the world, John iii. 16; i. 29; vi. 33, 51; for the whole world, 1 John ii. 2; for the unjust, 1 Pet. iii. 18; and finally disobedient, ver. 20. Secondly, that He died for as many as are dead in Adam, Rom. v. 12, 18; 1 Cor. xv. 22; 2 Cor. v. 14. Thirdly, that He died for as many as are bound to believe in Him, 1 Pet. i. 18—20. Fourthly, that He died for as many as are bound to adore and serve Him, 1 Cor. vi. 20; 2 Cor. v. 14, 15, with Rom. xiv. 9. Fifthly, that He died for as many as are obliged to pray for in Christ’s name, 1 Tim. ii. 1, with ver. 5, 6. Sixthly, that He died for such as do deny Him, and crucify Him to themselves afresh, and finally perish, Heb. vi. 4—6; x. 29; 2 Pet. ii. 12. See also Rom. xiv. 15; 1 Cor. viii. 11. Bp. Womack.

The use of the foregoing comparison, in its application to the Apostle’s argument, is this: that since the benefit of Christ’s obedience is designed by God to be of an universal extent, as well as is the mischief of Adam’s disobedience; it will thence follow, that, as the Gentiles, no less than the Jews, were subjected to mortality by the fall of Adam, so the Gentiles, no less than the Jews, are intended by God to be restored by Christ to a state of life: such a state denoting, not only a partaking of the resurrection from the dead, but also a partaking, or at least a capacity of partaking, of eternal happiness. Dr. Wells.

Romans 5:20

20. Moreover the law entered.] Or came into the world. Dr. Hammond, Parkhurst.

— that the offence might abound.] Though the law were not designed to that end, yet, by giving men a clearer knowledge of duty and sin, it by consequence

Romans 5:21

21. That as sin hath reigned unto death, &c.] That, as sin had prevailed over all mankind, to bring upon them a double death, both spiritual and bodily; so might the grace of God, through the righteousness of His Son Jesus Christ, be effectual to restore man to eternal life. Bp. Hall.

Adored, for ever adored, be the wisdom and goodness of Almighty God, in providing a remedy, which bears proportion to the cause of our ruin; that, as we fell in Adam our representative, so we are raised by Christ the head of our recovery! As the carnal Adam, having lost original righteousness, derives a corrupt nature to all that descend from him; so the spiritual Adam, having by His obedience purchased grace for us, conveys to us a vital efficacy. The same Spirit of Holiness, who anointed our Redeemer, doth quicken all His race, that, as they have borne the image of the earthly, they may also bear the image of the heavenly Adam. May God enable us to see the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and His abundant grace: and may our faith, both in life and death, triumph in the assurance of this blessed truth, that “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; and, as sin hath reigned unto death, even so hath grace reigned through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord;” who lives for ever in heaven, to apply by His prevailing intercession, what He obtained for us here on earth by His meritorious satisfaction! Burkitt.

To many persons there has appeared to be an inconsistency or incompatibility between the death of Christ, and the necessity of sincere endeavours after obedience. When the subject is properly examined, there is no such incompatibility. The graciousness of an offer does not diminish the necessity of a condition. Suppose a prince to promise to one of his subjects, upon compliance with certain terms, and the performance of certain duties, a reward, in magnitude and value, out of all competition beyond the merit of the compliance, the desert of the performance; to what shall such a subject ascribe the happiness held out to him? He is an ungrateful man, if he attributes it to any cause whatever, but to the bounty and goodness of his prince in making him the offer; or if he suffer any consideration, be it what it will, to interfere with or diminish his sense of that bounty and goodness. Still it is true, that he will not obtain what is offered, unless he comply with the terms. So far his compliance is a condition of his happiness. But the grand thing is the offer being made at all. That is the ground and origin of the whole. That is the cause; and is ascribable to favour, grace, and goodness, on the part of the prince, and to nothing else. It would therefore be the last degree of ingratitude in such a subject, to forget his prince while he thought of himself; to forget the cause, whilst he thought of the condition; to regard every thing promised as merited. The