Romans 5:15-17

A certain superiority of action is ascribed to Christ's work as compared with Adam's, in these three verses. What object does the apostle propose to gain by this demonstration? Why interrupt in this way the statement of the parity between the two works begun Romans 5:12 ? It has been thought that Paul is simply gratifying a want of his heart by displaying in the outset the infinite superiority of the second work over the first, that he may not compromise its dignity by abandoning himself without reserve to the idea of equality. But whatever overflow of feeling there may be in St. Paul, it is always regulated, as we have seen, by the demands of logic. We think, therefore, that these three verses, which are among the most difficult of the New Testament, will not be understood till we succeed in making them a necessary link in the argument.

It may be said that the sagacity of commentators has exhausted itself on this passage. While Morus holds that from Romans 5:15-19 the apostle merely repeats the same thing five times over in different words; while Rückert supposes that Paul himself was not quite sure of his own thoughts, Rothe and Meyer find in these verses traces of the most profound meditation and mathematical precision. Notwithstanding the favorable judgment of the latter, it must be confessed that the considerable variety of expositions proposed to explain the course and gradation of the thoughts seem still to justify to some extent the complaints of the former. Tholuck finds in Romans 5:15 a contrast of quantity between the two works, and in Romans 5:16-17 a contrast of quality (the contrast between right and grace). Ewald thinks that the contrast of Romans 5:15 bears on the thing itself (a sad effect and a happy effect this would be the quality), that of Romans 5:16 on the number and kind of the persons interested (one sinner condemmed, thousands justified); then he passes on to Romans 5:17 with the simple remark: “to conclude,” and yet there is a for. Meyer and Holsten find in Romans 5:15 the contrast of effects (death and the gift of grace), in Romans 5:16 a numerical contrast, as Ewald does, and in Romans 5:17 the seal put on the contrast of Romans 5:16 by the certainty of the future life. Dietzsch finds the gradation from Romans 5:15 to Romans 5:16 in the transition from the idea of grace to that of the re-establishment of holiness in pardoned believers; so he understands the δικαίωμα of Romans 5:16. Reuss sees in Romans 5:15 the contrast between just recompense and free grace (a contrast of quality), in Romans 5:16 that between a single sinner and a whole multitude of sinners (a contrast of quantity), and in Romans 5:17, finally, one as to the degree of certainty (a logical gradation). Hodge finds in Romans 5:15 the contrast between the more mysterious character of condemnation and the more intelligible character of pardon in Christ (a contrast evidently imported into the text), and in Romans 5:15 the idea of Christ's delivering us from a culpability greater still than that of Adam's sin that is to say, besides that of Adam, He takes away what we have added to it ourselves; finally, in Romans 5:17, he finds this gradation, that not only does Christ save us from death, but He introduces us into a state of positive and eternal felicity.

After all this, one needs a certain measure of courage to enter this double labyrinth, the study of the text and that of the exegetical interpretations.

We have seen that the apostle's argument aims at proving the parity between the two works. This is the idea of Romans 5:12 (even as...death...upon all...), as well as of Romans 5:18 which completes it (so...on all to justification of life). From this connection between Romans 5:12 and Romans 5:18 it follows that the development of the superiority of action belonging to Christ's work, Romans 5:15-17, must be a logical means of demonstrating the equality of extension and result, which forms the contents of the conclusion expressed in Romans 5:18-19. The relation between the first proposition of Romans 5:15 and the first of Romans 5:16 leads us to expect two contrasts, the first expounded in Romans 5:15, the second in Romans 5:16-17.

Vv. 15. “ But not as the offence, so is the act of grace. For if through the offence of one the many be dead, much rather the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto the many. ”

What the apostle here compares is not, as some have thought, the abundance of the effects, but rather the degree of extension belonging to the two works; for the emphasis is on the term the many, of the two sides of the parallel; and this degree of extension he measures very logically according to the degree of abundance in the factors a degree indicated on the one side by the subordinate clause of the first proposition: through the offence of one, on the other by the subject of the second: the grace of God, and the gift through this grace of one man. From the contrast between these factors it is easy to arrive at this conclusion: If from the first factor, so insignificant in a way the offence of one! there could go forth an action which spread over the whole multitude of mankind, will not the conclusion hold a fortiori that from the two factors acting on the opposite side, so powerful and rich as they are, there must result an action, the extension of which shall not be less than that of the first factor, and shall consequently also reach the whole of that multitude? Such is the general idea of this verse. It may be illustrated by a figure. If a very weak spring could inundate a whole meadow, would it not be safe to conclude that a much more abundant spring, if it spread over the same space of ground, would not fail to submerge it entirely?

The term παράπτωμα, fall, offence, is not synonymous with παράβασις, transgression. It is applied, Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:1, to the sin of the Gentiles. It has something extenuating in its meaning; it is, as it were, a mere false step. Such is the active principle in the first case. On the other hand, it is the χάρισμα, the act of grace, whose contents Paul will state in the double subject of the principal proposition. Some commentators have taken this first proposition of Romans 5:15 interrogatively. But the construction of the sentence does not lead naturally to the idea of an interrogation. And what is still more strongly opposed to this explanation is, that the sentence so understood would express the development of an analogy, while the rest of the verse states a difference. The two parallel members present a common term: οἱ πολλοί, literally, the many. This term has often been ill understood, or badly rendered; so when Oltramare translates by the majority in the first proposition, and a greater number in the second, which gives rise to more than one kind of ambiguity. Ostervald translates: many, which is as far from being exact. By this form Paul denotes, just as much as he would have done by the pronoun all, the totality of the human race. This is proved by the article οἱ, the, which he prefixes for the very purpose of indicating the idea of a totality to πολλοί, many. Only this term many is chosen with the view of establishing the contrast to the one from whom the influence went forth. All would be opposed to some, and not to one. It would not be suitable here. Paul will return to it at Romans 5:18. He is dealing in Romans 5:15 with the possibility of the action of one on many. We have sought to render the meaning of this οἱ πολλοί, by translating: the many (the multitude). An offence of one, says the apostle, sufficed to bring about the death of this multitude. This expression confirms the sense which we have given of the last clause of Romans 5:12; it is clearly through Adam's sin, and not through their own, that men die. This fact, established by the demonstration of Romans 5:13-14, serves as a point of support for the conclusion drawn in the following proposition. The term χάρισμα, act of grace, used in opening the verse, combined the two ideas which Paul now distinguishes: the grace of God and the gift by which it is manifested, Jesus Christ. Grace is the first source of salvation. The richness of this source, which is no other than the infinite love of God Himself, at once contrasts with the weakness of the opposite factor, the offence of one. But how much more striking is the contrast, when to the love of God we add the gift whereby this love is displayed! Comp. John 3:16. The substantive ἡ δωρεά, the gift, denotes not the thing given (δώρημα, Romans 5:16), but the act of giving, which is more directly related to the idea of grace. Commentators differ as to the grammatical relation of ἐν χάριτι, in (or by) the grace of the one man. Meyer and others make these words depend on the verb ἐπερίσσευσεν : “The gift flowed over through the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ. ” But the expression: the gift, can hardly remain without an explanatory clause. And the idea: through the grace, connected with the verb overflowed, weakens the meaning of the clause instead of strengthening it. For it diverts the thought from the essential word: unto the many. Meyer alleges that there must be in the second member a counterpart to the words: through the offence of one, in the first, and that this counterpart can only be found in these: through the grace of the one, Jesus Christ. He thus misses one of the greatest beauties of our verse

I mean the reversal of construction introduced by the apostle in passing from the subordinate to the principal proposition; there, the intransitive form: By...many are dead; here, the active form: the grace of God, and the gift...have abounded to the many. In the first case, there was a disagreeable accident involuntarily experienced: the many fell stricken with death; in the second, on the contrary, they are the objects of a double personal action put forth in their behalf. In reality, then, the counterpart of the expression: through the offence of one, is found in the second member, but as the subject, and no longer as a simple phrase. We shall again find a similar change of construction in Romans 5:17. Comp. also 2 Corinthians 3:9. The clause ἐν χάριτι is therefore the qualification of the word the gift: “ the gift consisting in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ.” The love of God is a love which gives another love; it is the grace of a father giving the love of a brother. The absence of the article between δωρεά and ἐν χάριτι is explained by the intimate relation subsisting between these two substantives, which express, so to speak, a single notion. The idea of the grace of Christ is developed in all its richness, 2 Corinthians 8:9: “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” This relation of solidarity and fraternity between Christ and us is strongly brought out by the phrase: of the one man, ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου. Comp. the similar expressions, 1 Corinthians 15:21: “ By man (δἰ ἀνθρώπου) came death, and by man (δἰ ἀνθρώπου) the resurrection of the dead;” and 1 Timothy 2:5: “There is one Mediator... the man Christ Jesus.” The incarnation has had for its effect to raise the whole human race to the rank of His family. The adjective ἑνός, of one, is prefixed to contrast Christ, as well as Adam, with the many. And after these accumulated descriptions, all calculated to display the greatness of the gift of divine grace, there is at length pronounced the name which in the history of mankind is the only one that can figure side by side with that of Adam: Jesus Christ. Comp. John 1:17, where this name, long delayed, is proclaimed at last with special solemnity (in contrast to Moses); and John 17:3, where it is joined, as here, with the name of God, to describe the source of salvation and the supreme object of faith. What must have been the impression produced by the appearance of Jesus on His contemporaries, when, only twenty odd years after His death, He could be put with the avowal of the entire church for the apostle evidently reckons on the absolute assent of his readers on a parallel with the father of the first humanity! The clause εἰς τοὺς πολλούς is placed immediately before the verb, because it is on this idea that the emphasis rests. ᾿Επερίσσευσεν, abounded; it might be translated: overflowed. This verb properly denotes the outflow of a liquid lapping over a vessel more than filled. Christ is the vessel filled with grace, whence salvation overflows on the many. The aorist indicates an already accomplished fact; the subject, then, is not a future grace, but the work of justification expounded from Romans 3:21. If Adam's offence was sufficiently influential to tell in the form of death on the whole multitude of the race, much more should a grace like that of God, and a gift like that of Jesus, be capable of acting on the same circle of persons! The superiority of abundance in the factors of Christ's work thus establishes an a fortiori conclusion in the view of the apostle in favor of the equality of extent belonging to the two works here compared. Hence it follows that the πολλῷ μᾶλλον, much rather, should be understood in the logical sense: much more certainly, and not in the quantitative sense: much more abundantly (as is the opinion of Er., Calv., Rück., Rothe, Hofm., and Dietzs.). Chrysostom, Meyer, and Philippi have been led to the same view as ours. The apostle is not at all concerned to demonstrate that there is more grace in Christ than there was of death in Adam. What he wishes to prove is, that if a slight cause could bring sentence of death on all mankind, this same mankind will experience in its entirety the salutary effect of a much more powerful cause. The idea of superabundant quantity (more richly) is not in πολλῷ μᾶλλον, as has been thought by so many interpreters, misled by the relation between this adverb and the verb ἐπερίσσευσε, abounded. It is merely indicated as a premiss of the argument in the double subject of the second proposition (the grace of God and the gift of Christ); at the most, a sort of involuntary indication of it may be seen in the meaning of the verb ἐπερίσσευσε, abounded. We have already seen the logical sense of πολλῷ μᾶλλον in Romans 5:9-10 of our chapter. It is found perhaps also in 2 Corinthians 3:7; 2 Corinthians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 3:11.

The reasoning is extremely bold; it is as if one were to argue thus: Adam's offence has reached down to me, having had the power of subjecting me to death; how much more certainly will the grace of God and the grace of Christ combined have the power of reaching to me to save me!

A second difference is evidently announced in the first words of Romans 5:16; the end of Romans 5:16 is intended to expound it, and Romans 5:17 to demonstrate it.

Vv. 16. “ And the gift is not as by one that sinned:for the judgment is by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of the offences of many unto justification. ”

Most expositors hold with us that the apostle is here expounding a second contrast between Adam's work and Christ's; only it should be remarked that the form of Romans 5:16 is very different from that of Romans 5:15. We no longer find here the a fortiori argument there indicated by the πολλῷ μᾶλλον, much rather, while, strange to say, this same form of reasoning reappears in Romans 5:17, which is thus presented as a stronger reproduction of the argument of Romans 5:15. This difference between Romans 5:16; Romans 5:15, and this quite peculiar relation between Romans 5:17; Romans 5:15, prevent us from regarding Romans 5:16 as a second argument entirely parallel to that of Romans 5:15, so as then to make Romans 5:17 the conclusion of both. Hofmann is so well aware of this that he refuses to see in the first words of Romans 5:16 the announcement of a second contrast, and has connected them directly with the close of Romans 5:15. In fact, he uniformly supplies in the three propositions of Romans 5:16 the verb and the regimen: abounded unto many, of Romans 5:15: “And the gift did not abound unto the many, as in that case in which the imputation took place through one who had sinned; for judgment abounded from one to many in condemnation, and the gift of grace abounded from one to many in justification.” It is obvious how such an ellipsis thrice repeated burdens and embarrasses the course of the argument. What of truth there is in this view is that the gift mentioned in Romans 5:16 is no other than that referred to in the words of Romans 5:15: ἡ δωρεὰ ἐν χάριτι..., the gift by grace of..., and that consequently the second contrast, Romans 5:16-17, should be regarded as serving to bring out a particular aspect of the general contrast pointed out in Romans 5:15. The καί, and, at the beginning of the verse is thus equivalent to a sort of nota-bene: “And mark well this circumstance”...An objection might be made to the πολλῷ μᾶλλον, much more certainly, of Romans 5:15. One might say: True, the factors acting on Christ's part (15b) are infinitely more abundant than the weak and solitary factor acting on Adam's part (15a); but, on the other hand, was not the work to be wrought on Christ's part much more considerable than that accomplished in Adam! If the source was richer, the void to be filled was deeper: In Adam a single actual sinner all the rest playing only an unconscious and purely passive part; in Christ, on the contrary, a multitude of sinners to be justified, equally conscious and responsible with the first, having all voluntarily added their own contingent of sins to the original transgression. Undoubtedly, answers the apostle; but in the matter of salvation the part of those interested is also quite different. In the one case they were passively and collectively subjected to the sentence of death; here, we have to do with beings who lay hold individually and personally of the sentence which justifies them. There, a single and solitary condemnation, which embraces them all through the deed of one; here, a justification, collective also, but appropriated by each individually, which is transformed into as many personal justifications as there are believing sinners, and which cannot fail to establish the kingdom of life more firmly still than the kingdom of death was founded on the condemnation of all in Adam. This antithesis established as a fact in Romans 5:16, is demonstrated in Romans 5:17 by an a fortiori argument, entirely similar to that of Romans 5:15.

Nothing more is to be understood in the first proposition than the verb γίνεται, comes about: “And the gift does not come about by one sinner” (as the condemnation had done). Some have supposed a more extensive ellipsis: “The gift did not come about by one (as the condemnation had done), by one sinner.” But this ellipsis is unnecessary, and even impairs somewhat the meaning of the contrast, for the words: by one who sinned, depend directly on the verb: does not come about. The reading ἁμαρτήματος (“by one sin ”), though supported by the ancient versions, is a correction, the origin of which is easily understood; it is borrowed from the ἐκ πολλῶν παραπτωμάτων which follows, understood in the sense of: of many sins. The idea of one sin seemed to contrast better than the idea of one sinner with the expression thus understood. The contrast which Paul has now in view certainly demands the Received reading. With “ the offence of one,” Romans 5:15, he has contrasted the grace of God and of Jesus Christ in its double fulness. Now, with the one sinner, in the first case, he contrasts the multitude of sinners who are the objects of justification in the second. What a difference between the power of the spark which sets fire to the forest by lighting a withered branch, and the power of the instrument which extinguishes the conflagration at the moment when every tree is on fire, and makes them all live again!

The substantive δώρημα denotes the concrete gift, the blessing bestowed; here it is the gift of justification by Christ, as described Romans 3:21 to Romans 5:11.

The two propositions develop the contrast announced (for). The term τὸ κρῖμα properly signifies: the judicial act, the sentence pronounced, in opposition to χάρισμα, the act of grace (in the second proposition).

The clause ἐξ ἑνός, of one, indicates the point of departure for this judicial act, the material on which it operated. This one is not neuter (one offence), but masculine, agreeably to the reading ἁμαρτήσαντος : the one who had committed the act of sin, and whose sin had become the object of judgment. It is on the word ἐξ ἑνός that the emphasis lies. Its counterpart in the second proposition is ἐκ πολλῶν παραπτωμάτων, which may be translated either by: of many sins, or by making πολλῶν a pronoun and a complement: of the sins of many. In the former case, each of those numerous offences must be regarded as the summary indication of the fall of a particular individual, in opposition to one sinner. But in the second the contrast is clearer: the plurality of individuals is exactly expressed by the pronoun πολλῶν, of many. Dietzsch denies that this last construction is possible. But it is found very probably in Luke 2:35 (ἐκ πολλῶν καρδιῶν, of the hearts of many) and 2 Corinthians 1:11.

As the preposition ἐκ relates to the matter of the judgment, εἰς denotes the result in which it issues: “ to condemnation.” The reference is to the sentence of death pronounced on mankind because of one who had sinned; for this one contained in him the entire race.

The antithesis to this κἀτάκριμα, sentence of condemnation, appears in δικαίωμα, which must be translated by sentence of justification. This meaning arises from the contrast itself, as well as from the meaning of the words δικαιοῦν and δικαιοσύνη (justify, righteousness) throughout this part of the Epistle, and with St. Paul generally. Only the question may be asked, whether the apostle has in view here the justification granted to the sinner at the very hour of his believing, or justification in the absolute sense, as it will be pronounced in the day of judgment (Romans 2:13). Two reasons seem to us to decide in favor of the second alternative 1. The passage, Romans 5:1-11, in which the final sentence of acquittal is represented as the indispensable complement of the righteousness of faith, this becoming eternally valid only by means of the former. 2. Romans 5:17, which is connected by for with Romans 5:16, and the second part of which refers to the most distant future (the reign in life). Hence we must conclude that the term δικαίωμα, sentence of justification, also embraces that supreme sentence of acquittal whereby we shall conclusively escape from wrath (Romans 5:9-10). This parallel between Adam and Christ manifestly assumes the whole doctrine of justification from Romans 3:21, including the final passage on the justification to come, Romans 5:1-11. The absolute meaning which we here give to δικαίωμα, is thus in keeping with the position of the whole passage. Dietzsch is certainly mistaken in applying this word δικαίωμα to the sanctification of the sinner by the Holy Spirit. It is nevertheless true that if we extend the meaning of this term to the final justification, on entering upon glory, it involves the work of sanctification as finished (see on Romans 5:9-10). But this does not in the least modify the sense of the word itself (a justificatory sentence), as appears from the meaning of the word δικαιοῦν and from the context (in contrast to κατάκριμα, a condemnatory sentence).

It is unnecessary to refute the divergent constructions proposed by Rothe and Dietzsch, according to which τὸ μέν and τὸ δέ are taken as the subjects of the two propositions having κρῖμα and χάρισμα either as predicates (Rothe), or in apposition (Dietzsch).

It has often been thought that the emphasis in this verse was on the idea of the contrast between the nature of the two results: condemnation and justification. It is not so. The real contrast indicated by the Greek construction is that between ἐξ ἑνός, one (who sinned), and ἐκ πολλῶν παραπτωμάτων, the sins of many. There, by a judicial act, condemnation goes forth from one sinner; here, by the act of grace, from the offences of a multitude, there proceeds a justification.

We come now to the most difficult point of the whole passage: the relation of Romans 5:17 to what precedes, and the exposition of the verse itself.

Vv. 17. “ For if by the one man's offence death reigned by this one; much rather they who receive the superabundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by the one, Jesus Christ. ”

The for beginning this verse has been the torture of expositors, for it seems as if it should rather be therefore, since this verse appears to give the conclusion to be drawn from the difference indicated in Romans 5:16. Meyer seeks to get over the difficulty of the for by making it bear on the idea of δικαίωμα, Romans 5:16, and finding in the certainty of the future reign (end of Romans 5:17) the joyful confirmation of the grace of justification (Romans 5:16); Philippi almost the same: “The justified shall reign in life (Romans 5:17), which proves that they are really justified (Romans 5:16).” But is it logical to argue from a future and hoped-for event to demonstrate the certainty of a present fact? Is not justification at least as certain as the future reign of the justified? Hofmann here alleges a forced turn in the dialectic. According to him, Romans 5:17 does not prove the fact alleged in Romans 5:16, but the reasoning of Romans 5:17 is intended to demonstrate that the second part of Romans 5:16 (from τὸ μὲν γὰρ..., for the judgment..., to the end) has really proved the truth of the first (καὶ οὐχ ὡς..., and the gift did not come about as by...). The meaning he holds to be: “I have good reason to say that it is not so with the judgment...as with the gift of grace...; for if...(Romans 5:17).” Dietzsch rightly answers that the demonstration given in Romans 5:16 would be very weak if it needed to be propped with the complicated reasoning of Romans 5:17. Dietzsch himself, starting from his sense of δικαίωμα, the restoration of holiness, Romans 5:16, thus understands the argument: “This holiness will be really restored in believers; for, according to the divine promises, they are one day to enter into the kingdom of life (Romans 5:17), which cannot take place without holiness.” Everything is erroneous in this explanation 1. The meaning of δικαίωμα; 2. The intervention of the divine promises, of which there has been no mention in the context; 3. The idea of sanctification, which is out of place in this passage. Rothe has given up in despair the attempt to discover a logical connection between Romans 5:17; Romans 5:16. He has accordingly attempted to refer the for of Romans 5:17 to the argument of Romans 5:15, making Romans 5:16 a sort of parenthesis. There is something seductive about this solution. We have already seen in Romans 5:9-10 of this chapter, two verses which followed one another, both beginning with for, and the second of which was merely the repetition (reinforced with some new elements) of the first, and so its confirmation. It might therefore be supposed that it is the same in this case, only with the difference that Romans 5:16 would be inserted in order to enunciate those new elements which are to play a part in Romans 5:17. So it was that, following the path opened by Rothe, we long flattered ourselves that we had solved the difficulty. Yet we have been obliged to abandon this solution by the following considerations: 1. Can the for of Romans 5:17, after the insertion of a new contrast specially announced, Romans 5:16 a, and expounded, Romans 5:16 b, be purely and simply parallel to the for of Romans 5:15 ? 2. How happens it that in Romans 5:17 there is no further mention of the many, nor consequently of the extent of the two works, but solely of the equality of the effect produced (on the one side a reign of death, on the other a reign in life), and specially, that instead of the past ἐπερίσσευσεν (Romans 5:15), we are all at once transported into the future by the words: they shall reign (end of Romans 5:17)? Finally and we long held to this idea also the for of Romans 5:17 might be taken to refer to the affirmation (Romans 5:15 a, Romans 5:16 a) of the two differences: “ It is not with the offence as with the gift...(Romans 5:15 a);” “ the gift did not come about...(Romans 5:16 a).” But the second part of Romans 5:16 would thus be sacrificed; now it is too important to be only a parenthesis. We must therefore revert to the attempt of Meyer and Philippi, which consists in connecting the for with Romans 5:16; this is, besides, the only probable supposition; only we must seek to justify, better than they have done, the logical relation established by this for. And that does not seem to us impossible if what we have observed regarding the meaning of δικαίωμα, the sentence of justification, Romans 5:16, be borne in mind. The parallel between Christ and Adam strikes its roots into the whole previous doctrine regarding the righteousness of faith, Romans 3:21 to Romans 5:11; witness the wherefore (Romans 5:12). Now Paul had demonstrated, Romans 5:1-11, that once justified by the death of Christ, all the more may we be certain of being saved and glorified by His life. It is this very idea which forms the basis of the second part of Romans 5:17, which thus contains the paraphrase of the term δικαίωμα, sentence of justification, at the end of Romans 5:16. The relation between Romans 5:16-17 is therefore as follows: Two facts are set forth in Romans 5:16 parallel to one another: one sinner, the object of the act of condemnation; a multitude of sinners, the objects of the act of justification. The reality of the first of these facts was demonstrated by Romans 5:12-14. It remained to demonstrate that of the second. This is the object to which Romans 5:17 is devoted. The mode of reasoning is as follows: The apostle starts (Romans 5:17 a) from the first fact as certain, and by means of it he infers (Romans 5:17 b) the still more certain reality of the second. Romans 5:17 has thus its logical place between the two propositions of Romans 5:16 to prove by the first the truth of the second. Not only so. But in reproducing Romans 5:16 a in the first proposition of Romans 5:17 a, he combines with Romans 5:16 a the contents of the first proposition of Romans 5:15 (15a); and in reproducing, in the conclusion Romans 5:17 b, the second proposition of Romans 5:16 (16b), he combines with it the contents of the second proposition of Romans 5:15 (15b), and that in order to give double force to the a fortiori reasoning whereby from the premiss he reaches the conclusion; in other words, Romans 5:16 a, supported by Romans 5:15 a, serves him as a premiss in Romans 5:17 a to reach the conclusion Romans 5:17 b, containing Romans 5:16 b combined with Romans 5:15 b by a double a fortiori. The meaning of this masterly logic, simpler than would have been thought possible, is as follows: If a weak cause, the single sin (15a) of one sinner (Romans 5:16 a), passively endured, could bring about the death of every man (Romans 5:17 a), much more certainly shall the more powerful cause (Romans 5:16 b), assimilated by each one personally (Romans 5:16 b), produce in him an effect not inferior to the effect produced by the first cause (Romans 5:17 b). If a weak deleterious cause passively endured by me has been able to produce my death, a life-giving cause much more powerful, which I actively appropriate to myself, will far more certainly give me life.

We thus apprehend at the same time the relation between Romans 5:16-17 and Romans 5:15. Romans 5:15 relates to the two circles influenced; they must cover one another perfectly (the many, of the two sides); for the more powerful cause cannot have extended less widely than the weaker. In Romans 5:16-17 the subject is the result obtained in every individual belonging to the many in the direction either of death or of life. The second of these effects (life) cannot be less real than the first (death), for it has been produced by a cause more powerful and individually appropriated. Romans 5:15: as many individuals; Romans 5:16-17: as much effect produced in each one. Let us now enter upon the detailed study of this verse, in which the apostle has succeeded in combining with the argument which he was following the full riches of the antithesis already contained in Romans 5:15-16.

In the first clause there is a difference of reading. Instead of: by one man's offence, some Greco-Latin copyists have written: by one offence, or again: by the one single offence. This reading, opposed to that of the two other families, and also of the Peshitto, can only be regarded as an erroneous correction. The idea of one (sinner) has been rejected, because it seemed to involve a repetition when taken with the immediately following words: by this one. But it has been overlooked that the terms: by one man's offence, are intended to reproduce the idea of the first proposition of Romans 5:15, as the words: by this one, reproduce the idea of the ἐξ ἑνός, of one, in the first proposition of Romans 5:16. These expressions have something extenuating about them: only one act, only one actor. The apostle means to contrast the weakness of these causes with the greatness of the result: a reign of death established in the world. We see a whole race of slaves with their heads passively bent, through the solitary deed of one, under the pitiless sceptre of death. The words: by one, are added as by an after-thought, in order to emphasize the passivity of the individuals subjected to this order of things. The apostle does not here mention, as in Romans 5:15, the many, in opposition to this one. He has not in view the extent of the reign of death, but the part played by the individuals in relation to this tragical situation. He sees them all as it were absorbed in the one being who has acted for all.

The expression: death reigned, denotes a firmly established order of things against which, for individuals, there is no possibility of resistance. Nothing more desperate in appearance than this great historical fact of the reign of death, and yet it is this very fact which becomes in the eyes of the apostle a principle of the most powerful encouragement and the most glorious hope. For this terrible reign of death, established on the weak foundation of a single sin and a single sinner, may serve as a measure to establish the greater certainty of the reign of life which will come to light among the justified by the freely accepted gift of God. Such is the idea of the second part of the verse. Instead of this impersonal multitude involved in the act, and thereby in the condemnation of a single sinner, Paul contemplates a plurality of distinct individuals appropriating to themselves, consciously and freely, the fulness of the gift of righteousness; and he asks himself, with a tone of triumph, whether a glorious reign of life will not spring up under similar conditions more certainly still than the sinister reign of death established itself on the weak foundation which he has just mentioned.

The salient expression in this second part of the verse is the οἱ λαμβάνοντες, they who receive (literally, the receivers or accepters). The verb λαμβάνειν may signify to take, to lay hold of, or again: to receive (more or less passively). As it here evidently denotes the act of faith, it expresses the idea of a taking in possession resting on a free acceptance (see on Romans 1:17). The form of the present participle is variously explained. According to Philippi, it denotes the continuousness of the acceptance of salvation by believers during the whole period of grace. Meyer and others take the present as referring to the epoch now in progress, as the intermediate station between the natural order of things and the future kingdom. But what have these two ideas to do with Paul's intention in the context? It seems to me that this present is rather that of moral condition relatively to the state which ought logically to arise from it. Whoever joins the number of those accepters, shall reign in life.

The definite article οἱ, the, presents all these accepters as distinct persons, individually capable of accepting or rejecting what must decide their lot. It is no longer that undistinguished mass which had disobeyed and perished in one. Here we meet again those πολλοί, the many sinners, mentioned in Romans 5:16, who, under the burden of their personal offences, have accepted for themselves the act of grace, and shall become individually the objects of the δικαίωμα, the sentence of justification. It is to be remarked that even in Romans 5:16 the article has ceased to be prefixed to the word πολλῶν (many; not “ the many”), and that Paul does not even speak of πολλοί, many. The accepters are not the totality of men condemned to die; Paul does not even say that they are necessarily numerous. His thought here is arrested by each of them, whatever shall be their number. In this fact, taken by itself, of individual acceptance, on the side of grace there is a complete difference of position as compared with the passivity of the individuals on the opposite side. It is a first difference fitted to establish an a fortiori conclusion. But there is another fact, which combines with it the infinitely greater power of the cause, on the same side. The apostle had already remarked it in Romans 5:15: the grace of God, and the gift of Jesus Christ. It is easy to see the connection of the expressions used with those of 15b: And first: τὴν περισσείαν, the abundance, which reproduces the idea of the verb ἐπερίσσευσε, hath abounded; then τῆς χάριτος, of the grace, which goes back upon the double grace of God and of the one man Jesus Christ; finally, the term δωρεά, the gift, which appears in both verses. The complement τῆς δικαιοσύνης, of righteousness, is alone added here, because the subject in question is the gift accepted by faith and transformed into individual righteousness. The destination (Romans 5:15) has become possession. Thus the thought of the apostle is clear: as the term οἱ λαμβάνοντες, the receivers, forms an antithesis to διὰ τοῦ ἑνός, by this one, so the expressions: the abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, form an antithesis to the: by the offence of one. Not only, then, is there on this side individual appropriation (Romans 5:16), but this appropriation rests on a more powerful cause (Romans 5:15).

Thus is seen the justice of the observation: that in this Romans 5:17 there are designedly combined to establish a double a fortiori, the two previously described contrasts: “If a weak objective cause, without personal appropriation on the part of those interested, has been able to establish a reign of death, with stronger reason should it be certain that a still more powerful objective cause, and one individually appropriated, will be capable of establishing a glorious reign of life.” Περισσεία : abundance, or more strictly superabundance, so that the superfluity flows over; χάριτος, of grace, applies at one and the same time, according to Romans 5:15, to the love of God and to that of Jesus Christ. The gift of righteousness is that justification objectively realized in Christ for the many (mankind), and apprehended by the faith of every receiver. When the empty vessel of the human heart has once become filled by faith with this fulness of grace and righteousness, the sinner is raised to the place of a king in life. This last expression also forms an antithesis to an analogous one in the first proposition: death reigned. But the apostle has too lively a conviction of spiritual realities to say here: life shall reign. Death reigns; it is a tyrant. But life does not reign; it has not subjects; it makes kings. Besides Paul transforms his construction, as he had already done with a similar intention in Romans 5:15. This change admirably suits the thought of the context. Instead of the sombre state of things which bears sway as a reign of death, it is here the individuals themselves who, after having personally appropriated righteousness, reign personally in the luminous domain of life. Comp. on this reign what Paul said, Romans 4:13, of the inheritance of the world; then the καυχώμενοι, glorying, Romans 5:11; finally, Romans 8:17.

The clause ἐν ζωῇ, in life, does not denote a period, as when we say: in eternal life. If the word life were taken in this sense, it would undoubtedly be defined by the article τῇ. The preposition ἐν must not be taken in the instrumental sense, as in Romans 5:10 (by life). Contrasted as it is to this: reign of death, the expression denotes the mode or nature of the reign of believers. A new, holy, inexhaustible, and victorious vitality will pervade those receivers of righteousness, and make them so many kings. If the collective condemnation could make each of them a subject of death, the conclusion therefrom should be that their individual justification will make each of them a king in life.

The meaning of πολλῷ μᾶλλον, much more, is, as in Romans 5:15, purely logical: much more certainly. Unquestionably there is no doubt that there is a greater abundance of life in Christ than there was of death-power in Adam. But this is not what the apostle says here. He is not aiming to establish either a contrast of quality (between life and death) or a contrast of quantity (more of life than of death). It is a higher degree of certainty which he enunciates and demonstrates. Justified, we shall reign still more certainly in Christ, than as condemned we are dead in Adam. Our future glory is more certain even than our death; for a more powerful cause, and one individually assimilated, will make us live still more certainly than the weak unappropriated cause could make us die.

There remains a last word which, put at the close of this rich and complicated period, has peculiar solemnity: by the one, Jesus Christ. Τοῦ ἑνός, the one, is a pronoun, and not an adjective: the only one, opposed to the other only one. The name Jesus Christ is in apposition: “by the one who is Jesus Christ.” These final words remind us that He has been the sole instrument of the divine love, and that if the receivers have a righteousness to appropriate, it is solely that which He has acquired for them.

Again, at this point (Romans 5:15-16) the reasoning of the apostle is amazingly bold. It is as if a justified sinner dared to find in the very power of the miserable lust which dragged him into evil, the irrefragable proof of the power which will more certainly still be exercised over him by the grace of God and of Jesus Christ, to save him and raise him to the throne.

Let us sum up this passage, unique as it is of its kind.

Vv. 15 demonstrates the universal destination of justification in Christ. The argument runs thus: If a cause so weak as Adam's single offence could influence a circle so vast as that of the entire multitude of mankind, with greater reason must a far richer cause (the double grace of God and of Jesus Christ) extend its action over this same multitude.

It is the universalism of the gospel, the εἰς πάντας, for all..., of Romans 3:22, proved by the very universality of death.

Vv. 16 and 17 demonstrate the full reality and quickening efficacy of the personal application which every beliver makes of the justification obtained by Christ. Affirmed in Romans 5:16, this individual efficacy is proved in Romans 5:17: One single agent, serving as the instrument of a very weak cause, could bring about the death of so many individuals who had not personally taken part in his act. Consequently, and much more certainly, will each of those same individuals, by personally appropriating a force far superior in action to the preceding, become thereby a possessor of life.

Here is the individualism of the gospel, the ἐπὶ πάντας τοὺς πιστεύοντας, upon all that believe, of Romans 3:22, fully established by the very fact of their individual death in Adam.

We have thus reached the complete demonstration of these two words πάντι and τῷ (πιστεύοντι), all and every (believer), which are the essential characteristics of Paul's gospel, according to Romans 1:16.

As the argument of Romans 5:12-14 was a necessary logical premiss to that of Romans 5:15-17, the latter was a no less indispensable premiss for the conclusion finally drawn by the apostle, Romans 5:18-19. In fact to be entitled to affirm, as he does in these two verses, the universality of justification in Christ as the counterpart of the universality of death in Adam, he must prove, first, that all men died in Adam and not through their own deed such are the contents of Romans 5:12-14; then, that from this universal and individual death in Adam there followed a fortiori the certainty of the universal destination, and of the individual application of justification in Christ such are the contents of Romans 5:15-17. It remains only to draw this conclusion: all (as to destination) and each (by faith) are justified in Christ (Romans 5:18); this conclusion is at the same time the second and long-delayed part of the comparison begun in Romans 5:12. The apostle could not state it till he had logically acquired the right to do so.