We have seen so far in Romans the apostle Paul lay out his overall thesis of his letter: that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (3:23), even the Jews; and that all, both Jews and Gentiles, are subsequently in need of justification by faith as a gift of God’s grace (3:24).
Now, in 5:12-21, he turns to validating his premise by declaring that sin has always been in the world, (5:13), all men have sinned before the law existed, i.e. before the Jewish nation existed, thus stripping the Jews of any special declaration they could make of themselves as being righteous based on the law.
Having been stripped of any boasting, Paul explains their need for reconciliation, the same need required of the Gentiles. Paul has already declared that the powerful salvific righteousness that is revealed in the gospel message, God intends it to be for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and then also to the Greek. (1:16-17, 2:9-10). There is a sequence in history of the revealing of salvific righteousness that Paul says is designed by God from creation; first to the Jew, then to Gentiles.
Paul is placing the Jews in the context of all mankind and in the context of the history of mankind. They, along with man from the beginning, were sinners, ungodly, weak and enemies of God, thus in need of reconciliation (5:6-11). In this section is Paul attempting to use the comparison of Adam and Jesus (5:14) and the contrasts he discusses between them to illustrate the sequence in history of the revealing of that salvific righteousness; first to the Jew, then to Gentiles?
It seems that Paul uses this section as a comparison of contrasts. He compares Adam with Jesus and compares the similarities in order to highlight the contrasts. Paul uses the comparison phrase “just as” (5:18) to let us know he is comparing the two, Adam and Jesus.
Paul’s comparison of contrasts in this section can be summarized in verse 17,
“because death reigned through one man's trespass, much more will the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.”
We see the similarities in the words, reign, results, and one man. We see contrasts in death/life, trespass/righteousness, and Adam/Jesus.
The comparisons end and the primary contrast that emerges as the greatest contrast, is the “free gift” that God gives out of his abundant grace. (One might say by its very omission, the LAW could be the contrast to the “free gift,” but we won’t go into that at this point.) Adam and his descendants had no exposure to God’s abundant grace in terms of the ability to be reconciled to Him by that grace through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul describes this salvific righteousness as a gift. The ESV translates the original word ‘charisma’ as “free gift.”
Usually a gift costs the giver something to obtain, but not the receiver. If the gift cost the receiver something then it is not “free.” It seems that Paul is referring to a gift that God has given to man, and more specifically the gift of righteousness He gives to man (5:16.) Paul’s contrast of “gift” and “trespass” in 5:15 indicates that the gift is righteousness. Paul says in verse 24,
“…the free gift is not like the trespass.”
It seems that Paul is again comparing “gift” and “trespass” in order to highlight the contrasting result between the two. The result of the gift of righteousness is justification (5:17) and the result of the trespass is condemnation (5:18). So, Paul is basically saying justification is not like condemnation. It is a separate result and it is free; it does not cost the receiver anything. However, condemnation does cost. Paul will say later in his letter that the wages of sin is death (6:23). A person earns condemnation by having God count their sins against him/her. Earlier in 4:4 Paul said “the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.” What condemnation costs is the wages earned from the trespasses committed. However, the blessed state of righteousness costs nothing as Paul quotes David in 4:8, “blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
So why the translation “free gift” instead of just “gift?” A gift by nature is free to the receiver. But it costs something to the giver at least. Paul tells us in 5:10 that while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son…” It did cost God something, it cost Him everything from a human perspective, because out of His great love He gave his only son.
So, perhaps the redundancy of a free gift is for the receiver’s benefit. Perhaps it is the implied information being made explicit. If so, it may be another way of emphasizing the fact that “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…”
Just as through the one sin of one man all men are condemned and die, so also through the one death of one man all men are justified and live.
“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness (free gift) leads to justification and life for all men. (5:18)
No, the gift is not like the trespass. The gift is free, but the trespass, it is very, very costly.
So, the question arises, “because God gives that free gift out of his abundant grace, and because He reconciles man to Him by that grace through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, does that mean man can continue to sin? Paul emphatically says “By no means,” as opposed to what the more prevalent Christian morality of today would say, “By ALL means.”
In my next blog, we will look at the logic behind Paul’s emphatic “By No Means.”
Comments