Romans 5
5:1-2. Since we are reckoned as righteous (justified) by faith, all our past sins have been covered, we presently stand in a state of grace, and we exult in hope of the glory of God in our future.
5:3-5. Those who live by faith even exult in present tribulations, which test and prove us, and result in a hope that does not disappoint even in this present day of trouble, for the love of God is poured out within our hearts by the Holy Spirit. For it does not depend upon whether we can stand the test, but on whether Christ can. And we know in whom we have believed (2 Tim.1:12).
5:6-8. When did Christ die for us? At the right time (6), while we were still helpless, while we were yet sinners (8). Who would die for such a man as the rebel thief on the cross? By his own admission, he deserved his sentence, and he was certainly helpless. Jesus could have done what those who mocked him dared him to do and saved himself, but he chose to save the thief instead. “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” (Luke 23:42). So say we all.
5:9-11. So if Christ’s death could reconcile an enemy, saving him from wrath, how much more can his living power do for a friend? For we have now received the reconciliation, and are his friends.
5:12-19. The federal headship of Adam and Christ are here compared and contrasted. When Adam sinned, death came into the whole world of men, because all were in him when he sinned (12).
Isn’t it unjust that I should die because Adam sinned? Must I die because he did not believe God and broke the one commandment God told him he must keep, or he would die? Well, says Paul, there was plenty of sin in the world, and death reigned before Moses and the Law came. Since sin can’t be imputed when there is no law, the headship principle is established. Only Adam’s sin broke a law with the penalty of death (13-14). But Adam was a type of Christ to come. Christ also is the federal head of all his people, bringing the unearned free gift of grace to them all. Is that unjust too? From many acts deserving condemnation, there resulted one justifying act of grace (16).
It would seem to me that Adam’s transgression took place at a tree which is in a type also, the tree upon which Christ died. The cross is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Like the repentant thief, we know our sentence is just, “but this man has done nothing wrong.” We stand at the cross, and we know good, and we know evil; the horror of our sin, and the infinite love and goodness of God, the fruit of the same tree.
Both Adam and Christ tasted the fruit of the same tree. Adam ate of it in disobedience, resulting in the reign of death for all who were born of him. Christ ate of it not according to his own will, but that he might do the will of his Father. How much more shall his obedience bring the reign of life to all those who by faith are born of him, not of the flesh, but of the Spirit (17-19)? His cross has become a tree of life for us.
5:18. The justification of life to all men spoken of here is limited by the context to all those who are his, men of whatever nation or class who have been justified by faith (5:1). There is no universal atonement, and certainly no universal salvation. Jesus knows his sheep (John 10:26-28). Not everyone belongs to Christ, but only those who are born of his Spirit (Ro.8:9; and see John 3:5-6).
5:20-21. The Law increased transgression because under it there was more sin “in the likeness of the offense of Adam” (14), that is, more direct disobedience of an express commandment. Just as the covenant of works said to the innocent Adam, “Do not do this, or you will die,” so it said to guilty Israel, “Do this Law, and you will live by it.” Thus the Law increased the transgression of the covenant of works, for under it Israel was condemned not only for Adam’s transgression, but their own. But under the covenant of grace, both Adam’s sin and our own sins are imputed to Christ, and the penalty paid on the cross. See Gal.3:13.