Romans 5

The following material is adopted from John MacArthur’s commentary on Romans and his Study guide. Additional material taken from sources listed at the end

Read and summarize

Look for

— Prayers ( Blue )

— Promises ( Green )

— Warnings ( Red )

— Commands ( Purple )

The Security of Salvation ( 5:1-11 )

— One of Satan’s tactics is to make us doubt that our salvation is secure or real

— Paul describes “the helmet of salvation” ( Eph 6:17; cf 1 Thess 5:8 ) to protect the mind from doubts and insecurity concerning his redemption

— If, as some maintain, a person is saved by faith in Jesus Christ but can sin his way out of God’s grace, Christians must live in continual uncertainty

— That which they received on the basis of God’s work must be maintained on the basis of their own work

— The divine righteousness they received from God as a gift must be maintained by the righteousness they themselves achieve

— According to that doctrine, salvation is received by faith but maintained by man’s power

— One day a believer can be spiritually alive and the next spiritually dead again

— In chapters 3 and 4 of Romans, Paul establishes unequivocally that salvation comes only on the basis of God’s grace working through man’s faith

— Man’s only part in becoming saved is to receive forgiveness and reconciliation freely in faith from God’s gracious hand

— The person who trusts in anything else, including obedience to God’s own law, cannot be saved

— In regard to that aspect of salvation, it should be noted, even most of those who deny security fully concur

Q: Under what conditions then is redemption preserved? If a person is saved only through faith, apart from good works, does that mean that he can henceforth live just as he pleases because his relationship with God is eternally secure? Or is salvation preserved by one’s good works?

— A second view is that our salvation is preserved only as long as we are faithful

— According to that view, believers must protect by their own human power what Christ began by His divine power

— To counteract such presumption and its consequent hopelessness, Paul assured the Ephesian church with these words of comfort:

Ephesians 1:18–20 NASB95

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

— As Paul points out, it is important to remember that our security is now and forever and does not depend on our own sinful and futile efforts but on the “surpassing greatness of His power toward us” and on “the strength of His might.”

— That truth is the cornerstone of the feeling of assurance

— Our hope is not in ourselves but in our great God, who, even “if we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself” ( 2 Tim 2:13 )

— Isaiah described God’s faithfulness as “the belt about His waist” ( Is 11:5 )

— David declared that the Lord’s “faithfulness reaches to the skies” ( Ps 36:5 )

— The writer of Hebrews admonishes us with the words: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” ( Heb 10:23 )

— Paul tells us not to live in uncertainty about our salvation and gives us six thoughts to consider

— These “six links” in the chain of truth should encourage us that Christ will do what we are unable to do

The believer’s peace with God ( 5:1 )

His standing in grade ( v 2a )

His hope of glory

His possession of divine love ( vv 5b-8 )

His certainty of deliverance ( vv 9-10 )

And his joy in the Lord ( v. 11 )

The Believer’s Peace with God ( 5:1 )

( Rom 5:1 ) “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

— The verb translated we have is in the present tense, indicating something that is already possessed

— Peace with God is established the moment you place your trust in Jesus Christ

— Apart from salvation through Jesus Christ, every human being is at enmity with God, spiritually at war with Him ( cf. v. 10; 8:7 )

— Many people do not think of themselves as enemies of God because they have no conscious feelings of hatred for Him and do not actively oppose His work or contradict His word

— At worst they are “neutral” about God

— But no such neutrality is possible

— The mind of every unsaved person is only at peace with the things of the flesh and therefor “hostile toward God” ( Rom 8:7 )

After the famous missionary David Livingstone had spent several years among the Zulus of South Africa, he went with his wife and young child into the interior to minister. When he returned, he discovered that an enemy had attacked the Zulus, killed many people, and taken the chief’s son captive. The Zulu chief did not want to make war with the other tribe, but he poignantly asked Dr. Livingstone, “How can I be at peace with them while they hold my son prisoner?”

Commenting on that story, Donald Grey Barnhouse wrote, “If this attitude is true in the heart of a savage chief, how much more is it true of God the Father toward those who trample under foot His Son, who count the blood of the covenant wherewith they were set apart as an unholy thing, and who continue to despise the Spirit of grace ( Heb 10:29 )?” (God’s River: Romans 5:1-11 [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1959],p 26)

RC Sproul

That is the legacy of the nineteenth-century liberal theology, which captured the church in Europe. It was then exported to the United States. As a result, we have been born and raised in a country where we hear that all are God’s children, and that God is a God of love who has no capacity for wrath or judgment. The god you hear of every day in the marketplace is an idol. That god simply does not exist. God is a holy God — so holy that He cannot bear to look at iniquity. There is a basic revulsion in the very character of God for those who engaged in cosmic treason every day of their lives

Q: But doesn’t God hate the sin but love the sinner?

— Not only are all unbelievers enemies of God but God is also the enemy of all unbelievers, to the degree that He is angry with them every day ( Ps 7:11 )

— God condemns them and sends them to eternal hell

— God is the enemy of the sinner, and that enmity cannot end unless and until the sinner places his trust in Jesus Christ

— As Paul declared near the opening of this letter, “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” ( Rom 1:18 )

— To those who foolishly think God is too loving to send anyone to hell, Paul declared, “Let no one despise you with empty words, for because of these things [ the sins listed in v.5 ] the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” ( Eph 5:6 )

( Rom 5:1 b) Peace with God

— When we embrace Jesus Christ in repentant faith, we have peace with God

— This is the objective peace of being reconciled to God

— Christ not only brings peace but “He Himself is our peace” ( Eph 2:14 )

— Knowing that we are at peace with God should strengthen our service

— Because Christians have their feet shod with the “gospel of peace” ( Eph 6:15 ), they have the confidence to stand firmly for Christ without the spiritual slipping and emotional sliding that uncertainty about salvation inevitably brings, knowing God is on their side!

The Believer’s Standing in Grace ( 5:2a )

( Rom 5:2 ) “through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”

— On the basis of our faith in Him, Jesus Christ brings believers into this grace in which we stand

histemi (ἵστημι) stand. Carries the idea of permanence, of standing firm and immovable

— Although faith is necessary for salvation, it is God’s grace, not the believer’s faith, that has the power to save and to keep saved

— We are not saved by divine grace and then preserved by human effort

— That would be a mockery of God’s grace, meaning that what God begins in us He is either unwilling or unable to preserve and complete

— Paul told the Philippian believers: “For I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” ( Phil 1:6 )

— We do fall into sin but no sin is more powerful than God’s grace

— Later in this same chapter Paul declares, “For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we hall be saved by His life” ( Rom 5:10 )

— If a dying Savior could bring us to God’s grace, surely a living Savior can keep us in His grace

The Believer’s Hope of Glory ( 5:2b-5a )

( Rom 5:2b-5a ) “through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

— A 3rd link in the unbreakable chain that eternally binds believers to Christ and gives us reason to exult is their hope of the glory of God.

— As the apostle has already established, salvation is anchored in the the past because Christ has made peace with God for all those who trust Him ( 5:1 )

— Is is anchored in the present because, by Christ’s continual intercession ( Heb 7:25 ), every believer now stands securely in God’s grace (v 2a)

— Our salvation is anchored in the future, because God gives every one of His children the unchangeable promise that one day they will be clothed with the glory of His own Son

Our dear Friend C.W. often reminded the men of Bold that our salvation was secured in the past, present and future.

Hope

RC Sproul

If we are asked, “Do you think the Steelers are going to win?” we might reply, “I don’t know, but i hope so.” Such a use of the word hope expresses the desire that certain things will come to pass, but we have no assurance that they will. Not so with the biblical concept of hope. The Bible describes hope with a metaphor: hope is the anchor of our souls. Our souls are tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. We have stability in our lives because, in the midst of the tempest, there is an anchor, and that anchor is the hope that God the Holy Spirit has shed abroad in our hearts. It is a hope that cannot possibly be ashamed. It is a hope that carries with it God’s assurance, it is a hope that cannot fail. In one sense our faith looks backward so that we put our trust in what Christ has done for us. In another sense our hope looks forward with the same assurance to what he will do when He completes His work of redemption in us, a work that cannot fail.

( Rom 5:3 ) And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;

— Tribulations contribute to present blessings and ultimate glory

— These are not the troubles that are common to all men, but the troubles that Christians suffer for the sake of Christ

— One of the less attractive promises that Scripture gives believers is that those who are faithful can be certain of being under pressure from Satan and from the present world system

— “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” ( 2 Tim 3:12 )

— The more a believer pursues holiness, the more he is persecuted and troubled and the greater will be his hope as he is sustained through it all by God’s powerful grace

The Believer’s possession of Divine Love ( 5:5b-8 )

( Rom 5:5b-8 ) “and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

— The love of God is not our love for God but His love for us

— If God loved us with so great a love before we were saved, when we were still His enemies, how much more does He love us now

— If that were not enough, God graciously imparts His love for us

— He pours it out within our hearts to those who believe, through His own Holy Spirit, who He gives to us

Charles Hodge observed, “If [God] loved us because we loved him, he would love us only so long as we love him, and on that condition; and then our salvation would depend on the constancy of our treacherous hearts. But as God loved us as sinners, as Christ died for us as ungodly, our salvation depends, as the apostle argues, not on our loveliness, but on the constancy of the love of God” (Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974 reprint], pp 136-37)

RC Sproul

Salvation is not like just one gift under the Christmas tree but gift after gift all wrapped up together. The first package we find is our justification, and when we open that package, we find inside it another — peace with God. Inside that package is access into His presence, and inside that gift is the ability to rejoice in glorifying the glory of God. Inside that package we find there is joy in the midst of tribulation, and that very tribulation gives us another gift — perseverance. Tear off the ribbon from that gift, and there is another one, which is the character that perseverance gives us, and within that gift is hope that will never embarrass or disappoint us. Finally, we open one more present, and it is the love of God poured profusely into our hearts by the grace of God. All these are the gift our our justification. Do we wonder, then, at that doxological writing of the apostle Paul, who rejoices in these things over and over again? For Paul, Christmas never ends.

( Rom 5:7 ) For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die

— Paul is not contrasting a righteous man with a good man

— He is using the terms synonymously

— His point is that it is uncommon for a person to sacrifice his own life in order to save the life even of someone of high character

— Still fewer people are inclined to give their lives to save a person who is a scoundrel

— But God was so inclined, and in that is our security and assurance

Men are the objects of God’s love until...

— Even when men openly hate God and do not have the least desire to give up their sin, they are still the objects of God’s redeeming love as long as they live

— Only at death does an unbeliever cease to be loved by God

— After that, he is eternally beyond the pale of God’s love and is destined irrevocably for His wrath

The Believer’s Certainty of Deliverance ( 5:9-10 )

( Rom 5:9-10 ) “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

— The 5th link in the unbreakable chain that eternally binds believers to Christ is that when we were still enemies of God He reconciled us through His Son

— If the dying Savior reconciled us to God, surely the living Savior can and will keep us reconciled

The Believer’s Joy in God ( 5:11 )

( Rom 5:11 ) “And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

— A sixth and final link in the unbreakable chain that eternally binds believers to Christ is their joy, their great exultation, in God

— Why do we exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ?

— Because He gave it as a gift to us

Adam and the reign of Death ( 5:12-14 )

( Rom 5:12-14 ) “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.”

— The analogy of Adam and Christ is antithetical, an analogy of opposites

— Because of Adam’s sin, all men are condemned

— Because of Christ’s obedience, many are pardoned

— Adam is there analogous to Christ only in regard to the common principle that what one man did affected countess others

Q: How can God hold people responsible for what Adam did when they were not even in the garden?

Sin Entered the World through One Man ( 5:12a )

( Rom 5:12a ) “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—”

— After Eve was created from Adam and joined him in the garden as his wife and help, Satan tempted her to doubt and to disobey the command of God

— She, in turn, induced her husband to disobey, and they sinned together

— But although Eve disobeyed first, the primary responsibility for the sin was Adam’s

— First of all because it was to him that God had directly given the command

— Second because he had headship over Eve and should have insisted on their mutual obedience to God rather than allow her to lead him into disobedience

— If all men did not fall with the first Adam, all men could not be saved by Christ, the second and last Adam ( see 1 Cor 15:20-22, 45 )

Death Entered the World through Sin ( 5:12b )

( Rom 5:12b ) “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—”

— Because sin entered the world through one man, so also death, the consequence of sin

— Sin brings several kinds of death to men

— Adam’s first death was spiritual separation from God

— Second was physical death and separation from fellow human beings

— A third kind of death that sin brings is eternal, an immeasurably worse extension of the first

— This is the second death ( Rev 21:8 ), not only eternal separation from God but also eternal torment in Hell

Death spread to all men because all sinned ( 5:12c )

( Rom 5:12c ) “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—”

— Death was transmitted to all men

— Only Enoch and Elijah escaped physical death

History proves that Death reigns over all Men ( 5:13-14 )

( Rom 5:13-14 ) “for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.”

— The apostle points out that before the Law was given sin was already in the world

— Death was universal even though there was no law, it is obvious that men were still sinful

— Because Adam and Eve were evicted from the Garden of Eden after they sinned, they had no more opportunity to disobey God’s single prohibition

— They could no longer eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, nor any of their descendants

— It has been impossible for any human beings, either before of after Moses, to have sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam

Christ and the reign of Life ( 5:15-21 )

— As noted earlier, the only truly analogous factor between Adam and Christ is that of one man/one act

— Just as the one man Adam’s one sin brought sin to all mankind, so the one man Jesus Christ’s one sacrifice made salvation available to all mankind

Imputation

RC Sproul

A growing movement called the “new perspective of Paul” has been pervasive in the Christian community, even among evangelicals. It denies the imputation of the righteousness of Christ as the grounds for our justification. We may not all be aware of the movement, but the church is in flames over the issue of imputation. It has not been this big issue since the sixteenth century.

I have labored this point for a reason: there is no place in the Bible where the doctrine of imputation is set forth more clearly and centrally than here in Romans 5. I can find no other way to make sense of the way in which Paul says that we sinned in Adam than to understand this assertion putatively, i.e., we sinned in Adam by imputation. Paul labors the point that Adam’s sin is reckoned and transferred, that is, imputed, to the entire human race. We know he is talking about imputation here because he spends time drawing the remarkable contrast that just as one man’s offense and sin was reckoned to the entire human race, so another man’s righteousness, in a similar manner, was imputed to all who believe.

The Contrast in Effectiveness ( 5:15 )

( Rom 5:15 ) “But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.”

— The sin of Adam brought death

— But the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, did more than simply provide a way for fallen mankind to be restored to the state of Adam’s original innocence

— Jesus Christ not only reversed the curse of death by forgiving and cleansing from sin but provided a way for redeemed men to share in the full righteousness and glory of God

The Contrast in Extent ( 5:16 )

( Rom 5:16 ) “The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.”

— This verse contains two very practical truths that are closely related

— The first is that God hates sin so much that it only took one sin to condemn the entire human race and separate them from Him

— Had it been possible any sin would have had the same effect

— The other truth in verse 16 is still more amazing and incomprehensible

— Greater even than God’s hatred of sin is His love for the sinner

— Despite the fact that God hates sin so much that any one sin could damn the human race, His loving grace toward man is so great that He provides the redemption of all men from all sins

The Contrast in Efficacy ( 5:17 )

( Rom 5:17 ) “For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”

— If carries the idea of “because”

— Neither Adam nor Eve sinned because they wanted to die; they sinned because they expected to become like God

— Their sin produced the very opposite result from that which they desired and emphasized the deception of the tempter

— Instead of becoming like God, they became more unlike Him

— The one act of the one Man, Jesus Christ, however, produced precisely the desired result

— Christ not only offers life but abundant life, life that abounds ( v. 15; cf. John 10:10 )

The Contrast in Essence ( 5:18-19 )

( Rom 5:18-19 ) “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.”

— As with the many in verse 15, Paul apparently uses all in verse 18 for the sake of parallelism, although the two occurrences of the term carry different meanings

— Just as “the many died” in verse 15 refers inclusively to all men, so life to all men here refers exclusively to those who trust in Christ

— This verse does not teach universalism, as some have contended through the centuries

— It is abundantly clear from other parts of this epistle, including the first two verses of this chapter, that salvation comes only to those who have faith in Jesus Christ ( see also 1:16-17; 3:22 28; 4:5, 13 )

The Contrast in Energy ( 5:20-21 )

( Rom 5:20-21 ) “The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

— It should be noted here that God’s law - ceremonial, moral or spiritual - has never been a means of salvation

— As biblical scholar F.F. Bruce has stated, “The law has no permanent significance in the history of redemption” ( The Letter of Paul to the Romans [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985], p.121)

— Disobedience to the law has never damned a soul to hell, and obedience to the law has never brought a soul to God

— Sin and its condemnation were in the world long before the law, and so was the way of escape from sin and condemnation

— The Law is a corollary both to righteousness and to unrighteousness

— For the lawless person it stimulates him to the disobedience and unrighteousness he already is inclined to do

— For the person who trusts in God, the law stimulates obedience and righteousness

Additional Resources

Bruce, F.F. The Letter of Paul to the Romans. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985.

Hendriksen, William. Exposition of Paul's Epistle to the Romans. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995.

Hodge, Charles. Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974.

MacArthur, Romans. Romans 1-8. Moody Press, 1987.

MacArthur, Romans. Romans 9-16. Moody Press, 1991.

MacArthur, John. New Testament Commentary. Moody, 1985.

Sproul, R.C. Romans: The Righteous Shall Live by Faith. Romans an expositional commentary. Ligonier Ministries. 2019.