Romans 5:6-10

5:6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 5:7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 5:9 Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous by his blood, we will be saved through him from God’s wrath. 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life?

Romans 5:15-21

5:15 But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. For if the many died through the transgression of the one man, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the many! 5:16 And the gift is not like the one who sinned. For judgment, resulting from the one transgression, led to condemnation, but the gracious gift from the many failures 10  led to justification. 5:17 For if, by the transgression of the one man, 11  death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ!

5:18 Consequently, 12  just as condemnation 13  for all people 14  came 15  through one transgression, 16  so too through the one righteous act 17  came righteousness leading to life 18  for all people. 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man 19  many 20  were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one man 21  many 22  will be made righteous. 5:20 Now the law came in 23  so that the transgression 24  may increase, but where sin increased, grace multiplied all the more, 5:21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.


sn Verse 7 forms something of a parenthetical comment in Paul’s argument.

tn Grk “having now been declared righteous.” The participle δικαιωθέντες (dikaiwqente") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

tn Or, according to BDF §219.3, “at the price of his blood.”

tn Grk “the wrath,” referring to God’s wrath as v. 10 shows.

tn Grk “but not as the transgression, so also [is] the gracious gift.”

sn Here the one man refers to Adam (cf. 5:14).

tn Grk “and not as through the one who sinned [is] the gift.”

tn The word “transgression” is not in the Greek text at this point, but has been supplied for clarity.

tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

10 tn Or “falls, trespasses,” the same word used in vv. 15, 17, 18, 20.

11 sn Here the one man refers to Adam (cf. 5:14).

12 tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

13 tn Grk “[it is] unto condemnation for all people.”

14 tn Here ἀνθρώπους (anqrwpou") has been translated as a generic (“people”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.

15 tn There are no verbs in the Greek text of v. 18, forcing translators to supply phrases like “came through one transgression,” “resulted from one transgression,” etc.

16 sn One transgression refers to the sin of Adam in Gen 3:1-24.

17 sn The one righteous act refers to Jesus’ death on the cross.

18 tn Grk “righteousness of life.”

19 sn Here the one man refers to Adam (cf. 5:14).

20 tn Grk “the many.”

21 sn One man refers here to Jesus Christ.

22 tn Grk “the many.”

23 tn Grk “slipped in.”

24 tn Or “trespass.”