Side by side
Romans 5
Our plain-language guide next to the Bible text. Each row lines up one section with the verses it explains.
Section 1: Peace With GodVerses 1 to 2
"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (5:1).
Peace with God means the war is over. We are no longer God's enemies.
Through Jesus, we stand in God's grace, and we rejoice in hope.
1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Section 2: Suffering to HopeVerses 3 to 5
Paul says something surprising. "We also rejoice in our sufferings" (5:3).
Not because suffering is good. Because of what God grows through it.
"Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope" (5:3-4). Perseverance means not giving up.
"And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit" (5:5).
3Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
Section 3: While We Were Still SinnersVerses 6 to 11
"For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly" (5:6).
People rarely die for a good person.
"But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (5:8).
Jesus didn't wait for us to get better. He died for us at our worst.
If God loved us when we were his enemies, how much more will he save us now that we are his friends!
6For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him! 10For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! 11Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Section 4: Adam and ChristVerses 12 to 21
Sin entered the world through one man, Adam. Death came with it, and spread to everyone.
But Jesus is greater.
"But the gift is not like the trespass" (5:15). Adam's sin brought death. Christ's gift brings much more: grace and life.
"For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous" (5:19).
"But where sin increased, grace increased all the more" (5:20).
Grace is always bigger than sin.
12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned. 13For sin was in the world before the law was given; but sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the way that Adam transgressed. He is a pattern of the One to come. 15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many! 16Again, the gift is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment that followed one sin brought condemnation, but the gift that followed many trespasses brought justification. 17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive an abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! 18So then, just as one trespass brought condemnation for all men, so also one act of righteousness brought justification and life for all men. 19For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 20The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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