v.17 really stands out to me, “how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reigh in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”
The Message talks about “this wildly extravagant life-gift”. Our God is a wildy extravagant gift giver.
Ro 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”
i think this is the heart of what paul has been saying for the first 4 chapters. think about that and let it wash over you. peace with god. we have it. ahhhhh.
and then he goes on to make a radical comparison between adam and christ. the trespass and the gift. it would seem as if the two groups of people whom paul calls “the many” would be one in the same. which has radical implications on our theologies. for if death and sin abounded to “the many” (which is everyone, is it not?) paul asks how much more did god’s gift of grace abound to “the many”. (would that not then also be everyone?) and he says again, “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”
i know that is the more common and traditional interpretation that is offered, but if we are to be true to the text, we must be honest that the text itself doesn’t say that. it is an idea that is certainly imported. the text itself puts forth a parallel between the two groups that, strictly speaking from a textual standpoint, are identical.
Yes I know it is the traditional understanding and I find it a bit of a bore to be a traditionalist but in this case I happen to think they are right.
In v.15-17 five times Paul uses the word “gift” and then he starts v.18 with the word “consequently” so v.18-19 are a summary of what has gone before. I think in v.18-19 Paul is ‘standing’ at the cross (“one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men”) looking backwards and forwards.
If we gave someone a present but they left it unopened on the kitchen table we would not consider they had really accepted it. Likewise I think that until people accept the gift of righteousness they remain sinners. “The many will be made righteous” is in the future tense because they haven’t yet accepted the gift. But once they accept the gift they are credited with righteousness at that moment (for example, I no longer see myself as a sinner but rather I see myself as a child of God credited with Christ’s righteousness).
6 thoughts on “Romans 5”
v.17 really stands out to me, “how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reigh in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”
The Message talks about “this wildly extravagant life-gift”. Our God is a wildy extravagant gift giver.
Ro 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”
i think this is the heart of what paul has been saying for the first 4 chapters. think about that and let it wash over you. peace with god. we have it. ahhhhh.
and then he goes on to make a radical comparison between adam and christ. the trespass and the gift. it would seem as if the two groups of people whom paul calls “the many” would be one in the same. which has radical implications on our theologies. for if death and sin abounded to “the many” (which is everyone, is it not?) paul asks how much more did god’s gift of grace abound to “the many”. (would that not then also be everyone?)
and he says again, “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”
pwaslgqe
wow. i just realized i was posting as my wife. apologies for any confusion.
Yes, but it is a gift. I feel “the many” need to accept the gift of grace that is freely offered to all.
any reason why you feel this way?
i know that is the more common and traditional interpretation that is offered, but if we are to be true to the text, we must be honest that the text itself doesn’t say that. it is an idea that is certainly imported. the text itself puts forth a parallel between the two groups that, strictly speaking from a textual standpoint, are identical.
are they not?
Yes I know it is the traditional understanding and I find it a bit of a bore to be a traditionalist but in this case I happen to think they are right.
In v.15-17 five times Paul uses the word “gift” and then he starts v.18 with the word “consequently” so v.18-19 are a summary of what has gone before. I think in v.18-19 Paul is ‘standing’ at the cross (“one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men”) looking backwards and forwards.
If we gave someone a present but they left it unopened on the kitchen table we would not consider they had really accepted it. Likewise I think that until people accept the gift of righteousness they remain sinners. “The many will be made righteous” is in the future tense because they haven’t yet accepted the gift. But once they accept the gift they are credited with righteousness at that moment (for example, I no longer see myself as a sinner but rather I see myself as a child of God credited with Christ’s righteousness).