Romans 5 is the fifth chapter of the

Epistle to the Romans The Epistle to the Romans is the sixth book in the New Testament, and the longest of the thirteen Pauline epistles. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by Paul the Apostle to explain that Salvation (Christianity), salvation is offered ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. It is authored by

Paul the Apostle Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

, while he was in

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

in the mid-50s AD, with the help of an

amanuensis An amanuensis ( ) ( ) or scribe is a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. It may also be a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority. In some aca ...

(secretary), Tertius, who adds his own greeting in Romans 16:22. According to

Karl Barth Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Reformed theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Decl ...

, the "detailed argument" put forward in this chapter develops one of Paul's main themes in the epistle, as set out in the opening chapter: that the gospel of Jesus Christ reveals the

righteousness Righteousness is the quality or state of "being morally right or justifiable" rooted in religious or divine law with a broader spectrum of moral correctness, justice, and virtuous living as dictated by a higher authority or set of spiritual beli ...

of God.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

. This chapter is divided into 21 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has c ...

containing the text of this chapter are: *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. It is designated by siglum B or 03 in the Gregory-Aland numb ...

(AD 325–350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

(330–360) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early ...

(400–440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, written on parchment. It is designated by the siglum C or 04 in the Biblical manuscript#Gregory-Aland, Gregory-Aland numbering of New ...

(~450; complete) * Papyrus 31 (7th century; extant verses 3–8)

Old Testament references

* Romans 5:1 references Habakkuk 2:4: "But the just shall live by his faith"

Peace with God through Jesus Christ (verses 1–11)

Romans 5:1 opens a new section in Paul's letter. Scottish Free Church minister

William Robertson Nicoll Sir William Robertson Nicoll (10 October 18514 May 1923) was a Scottish Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900), Free Church minister (religion), minister, journalist, editor in chief, editor, and man of letters. Biography Nicoll was born in Lums ...

imagines "that a pause comes ..in aul's dictation ofhis work; that he is silent, and Tertius puts down the pen, and they spend their hearts awhile on worshipping, recollection and realisation. The Lord delivered up; His people justified; the Lord risen again, alive for evermore – here was matter for love, joy, and wonder". Paul resumes with "a description of the serene and blissful state which the sense of justification brings": The

Textus Receptus The (Latin for 'received text') is the succession of printed Greek New Testament texts starting with Erasmus' ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) and including the editions of Robert Estienne, Stephanus, Theodore Beza, Beza, the House of Elzevir ...

reads but some manuscripts read and similarly the

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

reads . Theologian Heinrich Meyer argues that this variant "is here utterly unsuitable; because the writer now enters on a new and important

doctrinal Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system. The etymolog ...

topic, and an exhortation at the very outset, especially regarding a subject not yet expressly spoken of, would at this stage be out of place". The

New Living Translation The New Living Translation (NLT) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English. Published in 1996 by Tyndale House, Tyndale House Foundation, the NLT was created "by 90 leading Bible scholars." The NLT relies on recently published Text ...

speaks of "peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us".

Verse 2

"Through whom" refers to "our Lord Jesus Christ" (verse 1). Craig Hill considers the word "boast", alongside the word "reconcile", to be the key verbs in this section, as far as verse 11.

Verse 8

* Cross references: John 3:16; John 15:13; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 3:16; 1 John 4:10

Adam and Christ (verse 12–21)

In chapter 4 the story of

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

provides the prototype for the doctrine of justification by faith, and in the first part of chapter 5, the justification won by Christ's death is characterized as reconciliation with God. This section deals with the reason that Christ's work alone can save others, because originally it was the action of one individual that affected the standing of all other persons, and that individual was Adam. Thus, Paul points out Adam as "precedent" (in form of "counterexample") for "the universality of Christ's atonement".

Verse 12

On the basis of Genesis 3, Paul argues that "sin came into the world through one man", who is

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

(not Eve), and the ubiquity of sin is proved by "the universality of its consequence, which is "death"" (cf. Genesis 3:3).

Verse 13

Verse 14

The law given through

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

actually increases human's culpability, as all humans could transgress the way Adam had transgressed, which is the "disobedience of an explicit commandment" (verses 13–14; cf. Romans 4:15).

Verse 18

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. —Romans 5:18, English Standard Version

Paul contrasts the universal effect of Adam's sinful act and that of Christ's redemptive work. This text has been viewed by some as evidence for universal salvation due to the parallel use of 'all men' () in reference to both "condemnation" and "justification". A similar point is made again by Paul in his first letter to the church at Corinth (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:21–22).

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Epistle to the Romans 05