The gospel that Paul was eager to preach (Romans 1:16) and that he summarized in Romans 3:22-25 is considered a proven fact in chapter 5. Because "we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). Through Jesus we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. This causes us to rejoice in hope (Romans 5:2).

Hope is a product of suffering, endurance, and character (Romans 5:3-4). The reason we can have hope is because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Romans 5:5). The Holy Spirit is so important to us that Christ declared it was to our advantage that he leave the earth so that the Spirit could come and guide us into all the truth (see John 16:7-15).

Because of the power that sin has over us, while we were weak, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6). This happened at the "right time" (to understand the term "the right time," see Mark 1:15; Galatians 4:4; I Timothy 2:6; Titus 1:2-3 and Hebrews 9:26). Make a list of those you would be willing to die for. What are the characteristics of these people? Notice the difference between God and man: "While we were still sinners (a thing God hates, see Isaiah 59:1-2) Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). At this point, Paul adds the third leg to the "Justification Stool." In Romans 3:24, he stated that we are justified by grace; in Romans 5:1, he said that we are justified by faith, and finally, in Romans 5:9, he adds that we are justified by his (that is Jesus’) blood. Just as a three-legged stool cannot stand on any two legs, the one being justified by grace through faith must come into contact with the blood of Christ. All three, grace, faith and the blood of Jesus, are needed in order to be justified. We will see how that happens when we study chapter 6.

Sin made us an enemy of God (Romans 5:10). However, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son (that is the price that was paid for our reconciliation) and saved (from death) by His life. (See Romans 1:4). The knowledge of this should cause us to rejoice (Romans 5:11).

In the last half of Romans 5, the comparison is made between what was lost in Adam and what is gained back in Christ (cf. Romans 5:12 and 5:18). The point is that as one trespass led to condemnation, one act of righteousness led to justification and life (Romans 5:18).

In Romans 5:12, one finds that sin came into the world through one man, i.e. Adam. The consequence for this sin was death – physical death (see Genesis 2:16-17 and 3:17-19, 22-24). The consequence of Adam’s sin reached out to everyone – "to all men." This happened at a given point in the past as is indicated by the use of aorist tense verbs (dihlqen "spread" or "passed" and hmarton "sinned") in the original Greek language. That is, at the point in time that Adam sinned, humanity became universally doomed to physical death, even though all of humanity was not actually there when it happen. This occurred in much the same way as when Levi, who was not yet born, "paid tithes to Melchizedek" (Hebrews 7:9-10). In this scripture, Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek in a representative way through Abraham, even though Levi had not yet been born. All of humanity sinned in a representative way through Adam even though almost all of it had not yet been born. One should keep in mind that the consequence for this sin was physical death; spiritual death, due to sin, is a result of ones’ own actions (see Ezekiel 18:20; II Kings 14:6 and Romans 6:23). The proof is in the fact that death reigned even before the law existed (Romans 5:13-14). Just as Moses’ lifting up the serpent was a type of Christ being lifted up on a cross (see John 3:14-15; Numbers 21:9; John 8:28 and John 12:32) so was Adam a type of Christ (Romans 5:14). Adam is the head of the physical race called humanity, just as Christ is the head of the spiritual race called disciples.

While there was loss (physical death) in Adam’s sin and gain in Christ’s death, it was not an equal trade. There was "much more" (Romans 5:15 and 5:17) gained by Christ! Because of Christ’s death, the physical death that was assigned to humanity at the time of Adam’s sin was erased as is evidenced by Christ’s resurrection (see I Corinthians 15:12-26 and 42-48). This would be equal gain compared to the loss. However, there will be those who receive an abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness (Romans 5:17). These are ones who will reign in eternal life through Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 15:53-56).

As sin reigned in death, grace also reigns through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:21).

1. What does it mean to have "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1)?
2. In part three above, we referred to several scriptures regarding the "right time" that Jesus died. Discuss what the "right time" means to you.
3. Review the list that you made of ones that you would be willing to die for in part three. What is the main difference between ones you would die for and ones Christ was willing to die for?
4. What was the price that was paid for our reconciliation with God?
5. In part five we stated that what was lost in Adam was gained in Christ. What was this loss and gain?
6. What was the "much more" (Romans 5:15 and 5:17) that was gained by Christ?