Romans 5:17

‘For if, by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one, much more will they who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ.'

Having established that through the free gift of righteousness we can experience ‘justification' (being accounted as righteous before God), Paul now declares that through it, and the grace of God, we can also triumph in life, and experience eternal life. Through the trespass of one death reigned. All died under the reign of death. Man may think that he is free, but he has no control over death. Rather death has control over him. Death reigns. But those who receive the abundance of grace (of God and of Christ - Romans 5:15), and of the gift of righteousness, will escape from the reign of death. They will enjoy new life, a reigning life, and that through Jesus Christ. This reigning life, which begins now and goes on into eternity will be exemplified in Romans 6:1 to Romans 8:16. Note that it is not said to be life which reigns. It is the believer who reigns. There is an active choice whereby men and women respond to Christ, and as a consequence it is they who reign in life through Him. Nevertheless we may gather the implication that the life of Christ does reign triumphant, enabling us to reign in life. Christ lives in and through us (Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:17; John 14:23).

Such a life of triumph results from the abundance of God's grace shown to us continually in and through Jesus Christ, as He works salvation in us (Philippians 2:13), and from our having received the gift of righteousness, the free gift that makes us confident of our acceptability to God (Romans 5:16; Romans 5:18). That the righteousness described is the righteousness of Christ is made clear in Romans 5:18. Through this One Man death is defeated and we experience life and immortality (2 Timothy 1:10), reigning in life, both now and hereafter, through Him.

Sometimes in practise we may not feel that we are ‘reigning in life' but the fact that we are doing so comes out in the fact that we persevere in the way of righteousness, however inadequately, and that in our stumbling we are constantly upheld by Christ.