So also grace might reign through righteousness
Romans 5:20-21 - The life of grace through Jesus has always existed, is with us now, and will carry on forever.
Painting “Moses with the tablets of the law” by Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain
“The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 5:20-21 NIV
Paul’s epistle to the Romans has one common and very important thread running through it that reveals God’s righteousness in His plan for salvation — the Gospel. It’s an important epistle in that it outlines Christian doctrine clearly. Martin Luther found Romans 1:17 (“For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.””) to be a revelation that opened his mind to justification by faith alone.
Chapter 5 of Romans begins Paul’s three-chapter explanation to the early Roman church (and all Christians since then!) that they can be assured of their hope in salvation as they were freed from the bondage of sin through the work of Christ on the cross. At this point in the chapter, Paul has just explained how sin entered the world through the work of one man — Adam — and through the work of Jesus “… one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.” (Romans 5:18).
Paul goes on to reveal how the Jewish law had a specific purpose, “so that the trespass might increase”. This seemed confusing to me until I read this commentary by David Guzik of Enduring Word:
a. The law entered that the offense might abound: Paul has shown us that the law does not justify us. Now he shows that in itself, the law doesn’t even make us sinners — Adam did that. Then what purpose does the law serve? There is a clear purpose for the law and part of it is so that the offense might abound. The law makes man’s sin clearer and greater by clearly contrasting it with God’s holy standard.
i. The flaws in a precious stone abound when contrasted with a perfect stone or when put against a contrasting backdrop. God’s perfect law exposes our flaws, and makes our sin abound.
b. Might abound: There is another way that the law makes sin abound. Because of the sinfulness of my heart, when I see a line I want to cross it. In this sense, the law makes sin abound because it draws clear lines between right and wrong that my sinful heart wants to break. Therefore, the law makes me sin more — but not because there is anything wrong in the law, only because something is deeply wrong in the human condition.
Wow! I guess I can see a bit of this in myself as a teenager, when I first turned away from the church because of all of the guilt I felt I was having laid upon me. Rather than use that “guilty feeling” as an indication that I needed to repent of my sins, I found it easier to simply ignore the timeless advice of God and rebel by sinning more…
The second part of verse 20 points out that “where sin increased, grace increased even more.” Huh? Shouldn’t God’s anger and judgement of us increase as humanity sinned more and more? No! His infinite love is so powerful that He loved us even more rather than becoming more angry, and He proved that by sending us Jesus. Also from Guzik:
ii. If grace super-abounds over sin, then we know that it is impossible to out-sin the grace of God. We can’t sin more than God can forgive, but we can reject His grace and forgiveness.
Those are comforting words to all of us who still struggle with sin. Paul now goes on to state that “just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Adam’s sin brought sin to all of humanity, and resulted in death, but Paul is pointing out that the new reign of grace through Jesus is filled with righteousness resulting in eternal life.
Rather than grace giving us a flippant attitude towards sin and righteousness, it teaches us “that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.” (Titus 2:11-12, NKJV). Once again from Guzik:
Grace reigns through righteousness, and grace teaches righteousness.
I had a personal epiphany when reading the words “eternal life” in verse 21. A synonym for eternal is infinite — without beginning or end. Maybe it’s showing my naiveté, but I have always thought of “eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” in the future tense; something that would be a reward for believers after death. No! That eternal life exists in the past, present, and future. The life of grace through Jesus has always existed, is with us now, and will carry on forever.
I’ll finish with one final commentary from Guzik:
c. Even so grace might reign through righteousness: Wherever grace rules, God’s righteous standard will be respected. The legalist’s fear is that the reign of grace will provide wicked hearts with a license to sin, but Scripture doesn’t share that fear. Grace does not accommodate sin, it faces it squarely and goes above sin in order to conquer it. Grace does not wink at unrighteousness, it confronts sin with the atonement at the cross and the victory won at the open tomb.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Today’s prayer comes from Knowing Jesus:
Heavenly Father, the more I recognise my sinfulness, the more I understand the incredible grace that is being poured out on me and on all humanity. Thank You that the more my sin is exposed, the more I realise what amazing grace has been bestowed on me - and on all who have trusted Christ for salvation, for the forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting. Thank You in Jesus' name, AMEN.
Steve I had the same epiphany when I read the book “Eternity is now in Session” by John Ortburg
It talks about the gospel is not future thing but that eternity is in session now for the believer