ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Romans 5

Rom. 5:1–8:39 Hope as a Result of Righteousness by Faith. Believers in Christ, who are righteous in God’s sight, have a sure hope of future glory and life eternal.

Rom. 5:1 Through faith in Christ, Christians have been justified and declared righteous by God once for all. They no longer need to live in fear of God’s wrath and judgment. Rather, they enjoy peace with God. See also note on John 14:27.

Rom. 5:2 grace in which we stand. The believers’ secure position as a result of their justification. hope of the glory of God. The promise that Christians will be glorified and perfected at the last day.

Rom. 5:5 hope does not put us to shame. Followers of Christ have no reason to fear humiliation on the judgment day, for they now belong to God.

Rom. 5:6 In this and the following verses, Paul shows how the believer’s subjective experience of God’s love (v. 5) is firmly based on the objective work of Christ on the cross. Weak here refers to lack of moral strength and is another way to describe those who are ungodly.

Rom. 5:9 Christians are justified (declared right before God) because of Christ’s blood poured out at the cross. Therefore, they can know that they will be saved from God’s wrath on the day of judgment.

Rom. 5:10 As in v. 9, Paul argues from the greater to the lesser. Since Christians are now reconciled to God through Christ’s death, they can be assured that they will be saved on the day to come. Here “saved” includes initial justification, completed sanctification, glorification, and future rewards. Salvation is based on his life, that is, Christ’s resurrection (see 4:25; 6:1–23).

Rom. 5:12–21 Adam brought sin and death into the world, but those who have believed in Christ have hope. Christ has reversed the consequences of Adam’s sin and has given his own life and righteousness to secure their eternal glory. The extended comparison between Adam and Christ shows that Paul considered Adam a historical person.

Rom. 5:12 Sin came into the world through one man, namely, Adam (v. 14; see Gen. 3:17–19; 1 Cor. 15:21–22). and death through sin. Death is “the last enemy” (1 Cor. 15:26; see 15:54) and will be conquered forever at Christ’s return (Rev. 21:4). “Death” in these verses most likely includes both physical and spiritual death. Paul often connects the two. And so death spread to all men probably means “and in this way death spread to all men.” Because all sinned probably means that all people participated in Adam’s sin because he represented all who would descend from him (just as Christ’s obedience counts for all his followers; Rom. 5:15–19). Another interpretation is that all people have sinned individually as a result of being born into the world spiritually dead. The word translated “men” can mean either males or people of both sexes, depending on the context. It is translated “men” here (and in v. 18) to show the connection with “man,” referring to Christ.

Rom. 5:13 sin is not counted where there is no law. Paul does not mean that people are guiltless without the law (see 2:12). Those without the written law are still judged by God (see Genesis 6–9; 11:1–9).

Rom. 5:14 Those who did not live under the law were still judged for their sin, and therefore they died. Still, their sinning was not like the transgression of Adam: Adam violated a commandment specifically given to him by God. Adam is a type (that is, a model or pattern) of Christ. Both Adam and Christ are covenantal heads of the human race. All people are either “in Adam” or “in Christ” (see 1 Cor. 15:22). All are “in Adam” by physical birth, while only those who have placed their faith in Christ are “in” him.

Rom. 5:15 Paul contrasts the consequences of the work of Adam and of Christ five times in the next five verses. This shows their roles as covenantal heads of the people they represent. Paul clearly teaches “original sin,” the fact that all people inherit a sinful nature because of Adam’s sin. Paul probably is also teaching that all people are in fact guilty before God because of Adam’s sin. Many (that is, all human beings excluding Christ) died. Death begins with spiritual separation from God and ends in physical death.

Rom. 5:16 The one trespass of Adam resulted in the condemnation of all. But Christ overcame sin, therefore all who belong to him enjoy justification.

Rom. 5:17 Death ruled the human race due to Adam’s sin, but Christians now stand in eternal life as rulers because of Christ’s work.

Rom. 5:18 for all men. Based on these verses, some interpreters have argued that all people will be saved. But Paul makes it plain that only those who “receive” God’s gift belong to Christ (v. 17; see also 1:16–5:11). The wording “as . . . so” shows that Paul’s focus is not on how many will be saved but on the method of either sin or righteousness being passed from the representative leader to the whole group. men. See note on 5:12.

Rom. 5:19 Because of Adam’s disobedience, all people were made (caused to be) sinners. When Adam (mankind’s representative) sinned, God viewed the whole human race as guilty sinners. All are born with a sinful nature because of Adam’s sin.

Rom. 5:20 The typical Jewish view in Paul’s day was that God gave the law in order to reduce the human impulse to sin. But Paul claims that the law was given to increase the trespass. That is, once people had written laws from God, they were not just committing “sins” against God’s law as it was ingrained in their conscience (see note on 2:14–16); rather, they were willfully “trespassing” against his written word. Amid this increasing sin, however, the grace revealed through Christ abounded all the more.