Thematic Bible
Romans 5:1 (show verse)
So, since we are made right with God by [our] faith, we have peace with Him through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:2 (show verse)
Through Jesus we have also gained access by [our] faith to this unearned favor [of God]. We stand firm in it, and are glad that we have the hope of being honored by God.
Romans 5:3 (show verse)
And not only this, but we also rejoice in our troubles, knowing that [experiencing] troubles produces endurance;
Romans 5:4 (show verse)
and endurance [produces God's] approval; and [His] approval [produces] hope.
Romans 5:5 (show verse)
And [having such] hope keeps us from being disappointed, because God's love [for us] has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us [by God].
Romans 5:6 (show verse)
For while we were still helpless, at [just] the proper time, Christ died for ungodly people.
Romans 5:7 (show verse)
Someone would not likely die to rescue a righteous person, though possibly someone would dare to die in order to rescue a good person.
Romans 5:8 (show verse)
But God demonstrates His own love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
Romans 5:9 (show verse)
Since we are now made right with God by the blood of Christ [i.e., by His dying on the cross], how much more certain it is that we will be saved from God's wrath [in the future] by Him!
Romans 5:10 (show verse)
For if while we were [God's] enemies, we were restored to fellowship with Him through the death of His Son, now that we have been restored, how much more [certainly] will we be saved [from condemnation] by His life!
Romans 5:11 (show verse)
And not only is this true, but we also rejoice in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have been restored to fellowship with God.
Romans 5:12 (show verse)
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through [the action of] one man [i.e., Adam] and [physical] death through that sin, so [physical] death has spread to all people, because all people have sinned. [Note: This difficult passage (verses 12-21) seems to be saying that the entire human race must experience physical death because of Adam's sin (I Cor. 5:22), which is somehow considered to be everyone's sin. See Murray, pp. 180-187, for a thorough discussion].
Romans 5:13 (show verse)
For even before the law of Moses, sin was [being committed] in the world. But man is not responsible for [his] sin when there is no law.
Romans 5:14 (show verse)
Yet [physical] death ruled [over mankind] from the time of Adam to Moses, even over those people who had not sinned the way Adam did. [Now] Adam prefigured the coming of Jesus.
Romans 5:15 (show verse)
But the free gift [of salvation through Christ] is not [exactly] like the sin [of Adam]. For if many people died [physically] because of the sin of the one man [i.e., Adam], how much more did God's favor abound by [providing] His gracious gift [of salvation] to many people because of the one man, Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:16 (show verse)
And the gift [of salvation] is not like [the effect of] one man's sin [i.e., Adam's], for [God's] judgment of condemnation came [upon mankind] through one man [i.e., Adam], but the free gift [of salvation] came as the result of [the] many sins [of mankind] and [it] made people right with God.
Romans 5:17 (show verse)
For if [physical] death ruled [over mankind] because of the sin of the one man [i.e., Adam], how much more will those who receive the abundance of God's unearned favor, and the gift of being right with Him, rule in [never ending] life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:18 (show verse)
So then, just as [God's] judgment came, condemning all people [to physical death] because of one sin [i.e., Adam's]; even so the free gift of being made right with God and [resulting in] life may be received by all people because of one man's [i.e., Christ's] act of righteousness. [Note: This "life" may refer to spiritual life now, or to being made alive in the resurrection, which would reverse the curse of physical death caused by Adam's sin].
Romans 5:19 (show verse)
For just as many people [i.e., all mankind] were considered [by God] to be sinners [and thus to suffer physical death] through the disobedience of the one man [i.e., Adam]; even so, many people [i.e., all believing mankind] will be considered right with God [and thus live again] through the obedience of the one man [i.e., Christ].
Romans 5:20 (show verse)
Now the law of Moses was introduced [into the world] in order to cause sin to increase [i.e., it defined many things to be wrong that were previously not regarded as sin]. But with the increase of sin, God's unearned favor increased all the more.
Romans 5:21 (show verse)
This was so that just as sin ruled [over mankind], causing [physical] death, even so God's unearned favor would rule [over mankind], providing [them with] righteousness, and leading to never ending life through Jesus Christ our Lord.