ROMANS CHAPTER 5: THE LOVE OF GOD ASSURES THE HOPE OF
SALVATION TO THOSE WHO ARE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS
Beloved Lord Our Father,
We thank you, Father, for this opportunity to study St.
Paul’s letter to the Christians of the universal/catholic Church in Rome. Help
us to understand the measure of faith and the application of belief Paul set
down for this faith community and also help us, dear Father, to be able to apply
St. Vincent Lerins’ definition of a true Catholic to our own lives, as St.
Vincent wrote,“….he is the true and genuine Catholic who loves the truth of
God, who loves the Church, who loves the Body of Christ, who esteems divine
religion and the Catholic Faith above every thing, above the authority, above
the regard, above the genius, above the eloquence, above the philosophy, of
every man whatsoever; who set light by all of these, and continuing steadfast
and established in the faith, resolves that he will believe that, and that only,
which he is sure the Catholic Church has held universally and from ancient time;
but that whatsoever new and unheard-of doctrine he shall find to have been
furtively introduced by some one or another, besides that of all, or contrary to
that of all the saints, this, he will understand, does not pertain to religion,
but is permitted as a trial, being instructed especially by the words of the
blessed Apostle Paul, who writes thus in his first Epistle to the Corinthians,
‘There must needs be heresies, that they who are approved may be made manifest
among you:’ as though he should say, This is the reason why the authors of
Heresies are not forthwith rooted up by God, namely, that they who are approved
may be made manifest; that is, that it maybe apparent of each individual, how
tenacious and faithful and steadfast he is in his love of the Catholic
faith” [St. Vincent of Lerins died c. 450AD]. Come dear Counselor, most
loved Holy Spirit; guide us in our study we pray in the name of God the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
+ + +
“Faith gives us
peace with God, not the law. For it reconciles us to God by taking away those
sins which had made us God’s enemies. And because the Lord Jesus is the
minister of this grace, it is through him that we have peace with God. Faith is
greater than the law because the law is our work, whereas faith belongs to God.
Furthermore, the law is concerned with our present life, whereas faith is
concerned with eternal life.”
The
Ambrosiaster [4th century]: Commentary on St. Paul’s
Epistles.
“Love comes to its
perfection in us when we can face the Day of Judgment fearlessly..”
Up to this point in his letter Paul has been focusing on
establishing the justification of human beings by grace through faith in the
Gospel of Jesus Christ [His sacrificial death, burial, and Resurrection]. He
has argued that Gentiles must be included as equal citizens in the New Covenant
and that faith and not “works of the Law” must be the vehicle that leads to
righteousness/justification and ultimately to salvation. He has used Old
Testament Scripture and the model of father Abraham to prove that the promises
of salvation must come first from faith in God. Now, as though turning a page,
Paul moves into the doctrinal section of his letter and begins by introducing
into the discussion of the three theological virtues upon which Christian life
is based: faith, hope, and the third virtue is of course love/charity’the
theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake and
our neighbors as ourselves for the love of God” [see CCC# 1812-1829].
Paul assures the Roman community, and us, that when we are justified by faith in
Jesus Christ we have peace with God and therefore also peace with ourselves
because the spirit within us is no longer at war with the flesh that was once
bound to the sin of Adam. Paul immediately points out that this transformation
does not mean that we will no longer have to face troubles or suffering in our
lives but that, because the peace that is a gift of grace through our faith in
the redeeming work of Jesus Christ resides inside of us, we are now equipped to
battle with the external forces of evil that will continue to assail us’we can
have both faith and confidence in God’s loving promises through Jesus Christ and
this exercise of faith gives us hope in obtaining eternal life!
Please read Romans 5:1-11,
God’s love and the gift of the Holy Spirit provides our hope of eternal
salvation:
1 “So then, now that
we have been justified by faith, we are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ; 2 it is through him, by
faith, that we have been admitted into God’s favor in which we are living, and
look forward exultantly to God’s glory. 3
Not only that; let us exult, too, in our hardships, understanding that
hardship develops perseverance, 4 and
perseverance develops a tested character, something that gives us hope,
5 and a hope which will not let us
down, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit
which has been given to us. 6 When
we were still helpless, at the appointed time, Christ died for the godless.
7 You could hardly find anyone ready
to die even for someone upright; though it is just possible that, for a really
good person, someone might undertake to die. 8 So it is proof of God’s own love for us, that
Christ died for us while we were still sinners. 9 How much more can we be sure, therefore, that,
now that we have been justified by his death, we shall be saved through him from
the retribution of God. 10 For if,
while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son,
how much more can we be sure that, being now reconciled, we shall be saved by
his life. 11 What is more, we are
filled with exultant trust in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom
we have already gained our reconciliation.”
Question: According to Paul in Romans 5:1 what
is the first effect of justification?
Answer: The first effect is that the believer
experiences peace.
Question: In what sense is Paul using the term
“peace”?
Answer: His is not using the word in the sense of
“peace of mind” or in the sense of “peace” as a result of the absence of
conflict, but is using the Greek word eirene, pronounced, i-ray’-nay [see
Strong’s Greek Lexicon #1515] in the same sense as the Hebrew word shalom,
the fullness of a right relationship’in this case with God and in the
justification that establishes that right relationship with Yahweh through the
New Covenant in the blood of Jesus the Messiah. Paul speaks of “peace” /
“shalom” in the same sense as Yahweh’s holy prophet Isaiah prophesied the
outpouring of the Spirit of God in Isaiah
32:15-20. Keep in mind as you read this passage that the “dessert” is the
spiritually parched souls of Old Covenant believers: “until the spirit is
poured out on us from above, and the desert becomes productive ground, so
productive you might take it for a forest. Fair judgment will fix its home in
the desert, and uprightness live in the productive ground, and the product of
uprightness will be peace, the effect of uprightness being quiet and security
for ever.” [also see Isaiah 54:10;
Psalms
85:10-11].
Romans
5:2:“it is through him, by faith that we have been admitted into
God’s favor [grace] in which we are living, and look forward exultantly to God’s
glory.”
Note: The words “look forward exultantly to God’s
glory” are translated as “we boast in hope of the glory of God” in
the New American translation.
When human beings enter into a correct relationship with God
through the covenant in the blood of Christ they are no longer under the penalty
of God’s wrath as a child of Adam but instead as adopted sons and daughters are
at peace’reborn into God’s family, where the perfect sacrifice of Christ has
removed all wrath. This gift of reconciliation has been a gift of God’s grace
and the result is the inner peace that comes from a unity in the life of the
Trinity. In 2
Peter 1:4, St. Peter writes of this divine union: “By his divine power,
he has lavished on us all the things we need for life and for true devotion,
through the knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory and goodness.
Through these, the greatest and priceless promises have been lavished on us,
that through them you should share the divine nature and escape the corruption
rife in the world through disordered passion.”
Question: How did Paul describe this “peace” in Philippians
4:6-7?
Answer: “Never worry about anything; but tell God
all your desires of every kind in prayer and petition shot through with
gratitude, and the peace of God which is beyond our understanding will guard
your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.” The Church father, Origen
[c. 185-254] wrote in his commentary on Romans 5, “Peace reigns when nobody
complains, nobody disagrees, nobody is hostile and nobody misbehaves. Therefore,
we who once were enemies of God, following the devil, that great enemy and
tyrant, now, if we have thrown down his weapons and in their place taken up the
sign of Christ and the standard of his Cross, have peace with God. But this is
through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has reconciled us to God through the offering
of his blood. Let us therefore have peace, so that the flesh will no longer war
with the spirit, nor will the law of God be opposed by the law of our members.
[…]. But let it most definitely be known that anyone in whom the vice of
wickedness is found can never have peace.” Origen, Commentary on the
Epistle to the Romans
In Romans 5:2-3
with the words: “we are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;
2 it is through him, by faith, that
we have been admitted into God’s favor in which we are living, and look forward
exultantly to God’s glory.” Paul identifies Jesus’ role as the sole mediator
and reconciler of humanity to God’s plan of salvation. The redemptive work of
Jesus Christ is foremost on Paul’s mind in Romans 5:1-21
and he will identify Jesus’ role as redeemer and mediator 5 times in 5:2, 9, 11, 17, and 21.
| 5:2 | “it is through him by faith we have been admitted into God’s favor” |
| 5:9 | “now that we have been justified by his death, we shall be saved through him” |
| 5:11 | “through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have already gained our reconciliation” |
| 5:17 | “It was by one man’s offence that death came to reign over all, but how much greater the reign in life of those who receive the fullness of grace and the gift of saving Justice, through the one man, Jesus Christ.” |
| 5:21 | “so grace was to rule through saving justice that leads to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” |
Question: Paul writes in Romans 5:2 that
we will be able to look forward to God’s glory. What is the glory to which Paul
refers?
Answer: To enter into God’s glory is to be united to
the divine life of the Most Holy Trinity into eternity. In this verse Paul is
expanding the theme of the Christian’s hope in receiving God’s glory in the
eschatological [last] gifts promised through the redemptive work of Christ:
- Eternal salvation: John 5: 24; 6:47, 54, 58; 1
Thessalonians 2:19; 5:8;
1 Peter
1:3-5; 2
Corinthians 1:6ff; Revelation
22:12-15. - The Resurrection of the body: John 5:28-29; 6:54; Acts 2:26; 23:6; 24:15; 26:6-8; Romans 8:18-23;
1
Corinthians 15:12-19; 2
Corinthians 5:1-10; Ephesians
1:20-23; 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation
20:13-14; 21:3-4. - Participation in the Communion of the Saints: Ephesians
1:18; Hebrews 12:1;
1 Peter
1:3-5; Revelation
7:13-17; 21:3-4;
22:3-4
[see CCC #946-48;
1474-77].
But this promise of entering into God’s “glory” would trigger
in his Jewish audience the recollection of the Old Testament Biblical passages
including the event in salvation history when man first became deprived of God’s
glory. Paul has referred to the hoped for future glory in Romans 1:23; 2:7, 10; & 3:23. He will
also make this connection in 8:18-30; 9:4, and in 9:23.
Question: According to Genesis
1:26-28 and in Psalm 8:5-8 what
does “glory” denote in the Biblical tradition?
Answer: Glory denotes the “likeness of God” based on
man being created to bear God’s “image.” The process of salvation history and
the promises made to the covenant people through God’s holy prophets will be
complete when those justified by the saving work of Jesus Christ arrive at the
fullness of “glory,” fulfilling God’s original intent for His relationship with
man first established in Eden’bearing His image in righteousness and
immortality.
Romans 5:3-4:
“Not only that; let us exult, too, in our hardships, understanding that
hardship develops perseverance, and perseverance develops a tested character,
something that gives us hope..” “ [New American: “let us boast in our
afflictions”].
Paul will use the word “boast” = kauchaomai
[kow-khah’-om-ahee] 5 times in Romans 2:17, 23; 5:2, 3, and 11 [see
Strong’s Greek lexicon # 2744; kauchaomai = boast, glory, joy, rejoice].
Question: Prior to chapter 5 “to boast” is used in a
negative sense but not in chapter 5. Why? [Chart uses New American translation
for Romans
2:17, 23; 5:2, 3 & 11]
| 1. Romans 2:17 |
“Now if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of God and know his will are area able to discern what is important..” |
| 2. Romans 2:23 |
“You who boast of the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?” |
| 3. Romans 5:2 |
“through whom we have gained access [by faith] to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God.” |
| 4. Romans 5:3 |
“Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope..” |
| 5. Romans 5:11 |
“Not only that, but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” |
Answer: In the previous passages “boasting” was
baseless though the works of the Law but when God’s grace is at work in the life
of the believer we have every reason to boast.
Question: Why does Paul say that the Christian should
rejoice in hardships? What had hardships had Paul experienced [see 2
Corinthians 11:23-29]? What did he learn from suffering hardships [see 2
Corinthians 4:7-12].
Answer: Trial develops perseverance and perseverance
develops a “tested character, something that gives us hope.” Paul is
evidently reflecting on his own experiences when persecution has served to
strengthen his resolve:
- 2 Corinthians 11:23-29: “[..]. I have been in prison
more, I have been flogged more severely, many times exposed to death. Five times
I have been given the thirty-nine lashes by the Jews; three times I have been
beaten with sticks; once I was stoned; three times I have been shipwrecked, and
once I have been in the open sea for a night and a day; continually traveling, I
have been in danger from rivers, in danger from brigands, in danger from my own
people and in danger from the gentiles, in danger in the towns and in danger in
the open country, in danger at sea and in danger from people masquerading as
brothers; I have worked with unsparing energy, for many nights without sleep; I
have been hungry and thirsty, and often altogether without food or drink; I have
been cold and lacked clothing. And besides all the external things, there is,
day in day out, the pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. If
anyone weakens, I am weakened as well; and when anyone is made to fall, I burn
in agony myself.”
- 2 Corinthians 4:7-12:“But we hold this treasure in pots
of earthenware, so that the immensity of the power is God’s and not our own. We
are subjected to every kind of hardship, but never distressed; we see no way out
but we never despair; we are pursued but never cut off; knocked down, but still
have some life in us; always we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus so
that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our body. Indeed, while we are
still alive, we are continually being handed over to death, for the sake of
Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our mortal flesh. In
us, then, death is at work; in you, life.”
Paul’s point is that affliction and suffering endured with
the grace of God allows us to “image” Christ and His suffering in our bodies
which are as frail and temporal as earthenware pots. Our suffering gives us
hope because we receive evidence of God’s grace working in our lives and we are
strengthened by the experience with the knowledge that God’s grace holds the
promise of eternal life! See CCC# 618
Question: How is it that Paul writes in Romans 5:4 that
a “tested character” through hardships can give us “hope?” How is “hope” defined
in the universal catechism? What is the source of the second of the 3
theological virtues'”hope”? See CCC # 1817-21; Hebrews
10:23 and Titus
3:6-7.
Answer: The Holy Spirit is the source of our hope.
- “Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the
kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in
Christ’s promises and relying no on our own strength, but on the help of the
grace of the Holy Spirit. ….” CCC# 1817 - Hebrews
10:23-24: “Let us keep firm in the hope we profess, because the one who
made the promise is trustworthy. Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a
response in love and good works.” - Titus 3:4-8:
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior for humanity were revealed,
it was not because of any upright actions we had done ourselves; it was for no
reason except his own faithful love that he saved us, by means of the cleansing
water of rebirth and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which he has so generously
poured over us through Jesus Christ our Savior; so that, justified by his grace,
we should become heirs in hope of eternal life. This is doctrine that you can
rely on.”
Paul assures the Christians of Rome in Romans 5:4-5
that the hope we place in the promises of God’the hope which is a gift of the
Spirit, does not let us down or disappoint us, nor will our “hope” put us to
shame.
Question: This “hope” is not an illusion but is
instead founded on what unshakable source? Why can we have confidence in the
Spirit’s gift of hope? See Romans 5:5; Hebrews
6:17-20; 10:23; 2 Timothy
2:11-13; Titus
1:1-3.
Answer: Our hope is founded on God’s love for us
evidenced by the gift of God the Holy Spirit who is a pledge of His love. Human
hope can disappoint or deceive but God cannot lie; He is always faithful and
true. God the Holy Spirit is the love that binds the Father to the Son and by
His active presence in us we are not only bound to the Most Holy Trinity in the
love of the Spirit but it is the same the love which He pours into our hearts
that flows out to humanity. It is the same love with which the Father loves the
Son and with which the Most Holy Trinity loves us’this is agape in the
Greek. The Greek word agape meant “spiritual love associated with the
Greek gods” but Christians transformed this pagan word to give it a
distinctively Christ-like character; agape for the Christian is
self-sacrificial love! It is the love with which Christ loved us and the love
He commanded us to share with others [John 13:34-35; 15:7-13; etc.].
Please read St. John’s discourse on love in 1 John 4:7-5:4.
Romans 5:5
“…because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy
Spirit which has been given to us.” This line evokes the powerful
visual image of life-giving water being poured out upon humanity as prophesied
in Isaiah
44:3 [fulfilled at the second great Pentecost in the Upper Room in 30AD] and
Jesus’ cry in the Temple in Jerusalem on the Feast of Tabernacles in John 7:38-39:
- Isaiah 44:3:
“For I shall pour out water on the thirsty soil and streams on the dry
ground. I shall pour out my spirit on your descendants, my blessing on your
offspring…” - John 7:38-39:
“On the last day, the great day of the festival, Jesus stood and cried out:
‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me! Let anyone who believes in me come and
drink!” As Scripture says, ‘From his heat shall flow streams of living water.’
He was speaking of the Spirit which those who believed in him were to
receive; for there was no Spirit as yet because Jesus had not yet been
glorified.”
But this visual image also looks forward to the
eschatological event of the outpouring of the Spirit prophesied in Ezekiel
47:1-12 and the vision given to St. John in Revelation
22:1-5 a vision that will be given to St. John years after Paul’s letter to
Rome is written.
Question: What is the Holy Spirit’s unique
relationship to the New Covenant Church and to New Covenant believers? See John 15:26; 16:5-15; Romans 8:8-11;
14-16; 1
Corinthians 3:16; 2 Timothy 1:14.
Answer: Paul’s point is to remind the Romans that the
pouring out of God the Holy Spirit was a manifestation which is distinctive to
the New Covenant Church and not part of the Old. He is the Spirit who dwells in
the circumcised heart of the New Covenant believer from the moment of our
baptism and makes the believer a true child of God.
Question: In Romans 5:6-8
Paul speaks of the proof of God’s love. What is that proof?
Answer: That while we were still sinners, Christ died
for us. Paul identifies the condition of the unjustified person as one
incapable of doing anything on his own to achieve righteousness in the site of
God apart from Jesus Christ.
Question: But God in His infinite love does for us
what we could not do for ourselves. What action does God take to bring about
man’s salvation? See 1 John 2:1-2; 3:16a
Answer: The Son’s death is the mode in which God’s
love has been manifested:
- “This is the proof of love, that he laid down his life
for us…” 1
John 3:16a - “My children, I am writing this to prevent you from
sinning; but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ, the upright. He is the sacrifice to expiate our sins, and not only
ours, but also those of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2
Romans
5:9: How much more can we be
sure, therefore, that, now that we have been justified by his death, we shall be
saved through him from the retribution of God.
Paul returns to the theme of retribution that he first raised
in Romans
1:18: “The retribution of God from heaven is being revealed against the
ungodliness and injustice of human beings who in their injustice hold back the
truth.”
Question: In Romans 4:25 to
what was justification ascribed?
Answer: In 4:25 our
justification was ascribed to Christ’s Resurrection but it is now attributed to
the shedding of His precious blood and to His death. Paul does not separate the
saving work of Jesus into categories: His Passion, death, and Resurrection are
all one saving act applied to the salvation of mankind. It is this saving act
that will save us from God’s retribution/wrath.
Question: In Romans 5: 9 Paul
speaks of another salvation beyond justification by Jesus’ death. To what
“salvation” does Paul refer?
Answer: In addition to our initial justification
through Jesus’ Passion, death, and Resurrection applied to our baptism into the
family of God a great favor or grace of justification will be manifested to the
believer in the eschatological salvation that is to come in the Final Judgment.
Once again we have evidence that justification is not only a state but an
on-going process’just as salvation is an on-going process to be consummated at
the end of time as we know it when we will face “the retribution of God”
in the Final Judgment’an event the faithful Christian need not fear, as Paul
assures us in the next verse.
Romans 5:10
10 For if, while we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more can we be sure
that, being now reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Question: When were we enemies of God? See Romans 5:8; 8:7; and Genesis
3:15.
Answer: As a sinner man is not just “weak” or
“godless” but has made himself a “seed of the serpent”. Yahweh to the serpent
in Genesis
3:15: “I shall put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
seed and her seed; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.”
Those in sin become an enemy of God.
Question: What brings about the reconciliation of
sinners?
Answer: The death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is
the only means by which sinners are reconciled with God [Acts 4:12]. This
is another way of repeating what Paul stated in Romans 5:1 when
he wrote that Christians were “at peace” with God because reconciliation
restores fellowship and intimacy with God and ends the alienation of sin and
rebellion.
Question: How are we saved by the Resurrected life of
God the Son?
Answer: Another effect of justification is a share in
the risen life of God the Son. Although justification and reconciliation
through the forgiveness of original sin happened when we came into the family of
God through our Baptism and will continue as we are in communion with Him
through the Sacraments, salvation in its fullest sense is still to be achieved
in its future dimension. But as we journey toward salvation we anticipate that
gift of salvation by knowing it is rooted in sharing the life of the glorified
Christ as His life is continually communicated to us in the Sacraments of our
faith, as we continue on our journey to reach the goal of eternal life.
Romans
5:11: “What is more, we
are filled with exultant trust in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through
whom we have already gained our reconciliation.”
This passage can also be translated “we boast of God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The New American translation also used the word “boast” in 5:2 and 3: “through
whom we have gained access [by faith] to this grace in which we stand, and we
boast in hope of the glory of God. 3Not only that but we even boast of our
afflictions…”
Question: Paul has used this expression of exuberance
or “boasting” kauchaomai [kow-khah’-om-ahee] three times in Romans 5:2, 3, and 11, and has
used the same word a total of 5 times if you count from Romans 2:17and
2:23. In
previous passages in the letter “boasting” has been used in the negative; what
is the difference now in chapter 5?
Answer: In the other passages “boasting” concerned our
own initiative but in this context it is of God that we “boast”. The effect of
the Christian’s justification in faith which is a gift from God is that the
Christian can boast of God Himself in whom, through His love, salvation is now
guaranteed in contrast to the covenant believer’s condition before the atoning
work of Christ where one stood in bondage to sin and in fear of God’s
retribution. But now, having experienced God’s infinite love in what Jesus the
Messiah accomplished for humanity through His sacrificial death and
Resurrection, one can boast of God’s great love for us! As St. John writes,
“Love comes to its perfection in us when we can face the Day of Judgment
fearlessly, because even in this world we have become as he is. In love there
is no room for fear, but perfect love drives our fear, because fear implies
punishment and whoever is afraid has not come to perfection in love. Let us
love, then, because he first loved us. ” 1 John 4:17-19
[also see 1
Corinthians 1:31; Jeremiah
9:22-23].
Please read Romans 5:12-21,
Jesus Christ the Second Adam:
12 “Well then; it was
through one man that sin came into the world, and through sin death, and thus
death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned.
13 Sin already existed in the world
before there was any law, even though sin is not reckoned when there is no law.
14 Nonetheless death reigned over
all from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sin was not the breaking of a
commandment, as Adam’s was. He prefigured the One who was to come. 15 There is no comparison between the free gift
and the offence. If death came to many through the offence of one man, how much
greater an effect the grace of God has had, coming to so many and so plentifully
as a free gift through the one man Jesus Christ! 16 Again, there is no comparison between the gift
and the offence of one man. One single offence brought condemnation, but now,
after many offences, have come the free gift and so acquittal! 17 It was by one man’s offence that death came to
reign over all, but how much greater the reign in life of those who receive the
fullness of grace and the gift of saving justice, through the one man, Jesus
Christ. 18 One man’s offence brought
condemnation on all humanity; and one man’s good act has brought justification
and life to all humanity. 19 Just as
by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience are
many to be made upright. 20 When law
came on the scene, it was to multiply the offences. 21 But however much sin increased, grace was
always greater; so that as sin’s reign brought death, so grace was to rule
through saving justice that leads to eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord.”
Romans 5:12
“Well then; it was through one man that sin came into the world, and
through sin death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race
because everyone has sinned.”
Paul’s “well then” or “therefore” is a summing up of what he
has discussed in chapters 1-5:11.
In Romans 5:12-21 Paul
addresses the origin of sin and death.
Question: How is it that Adam’s sin had such an effect
on all mankind?
Answer: Adam is our human father and we have inherited
from him “spiritual death” as a result of his sin just as we inherit our other
genes and traits of human inheritance. Through our first parents we are born
physically alive but spiritual dead and it is our spiritual death that infects
us with sin and the life-long struggle to resist Satan and the temptation to
sin.
Question: Why did Satan set out to destroy mankind?
Hint: see Wisdom
1:13-15 and 2:24.
Answer: Wisdom 2:24,
“Death came into the world only through the Devil’s envy, as those who belong to
him find to their cost.” It was this same envy or jealousy that lead to the
death of Abel and it was this sin that Satan used to bring those under his power
[the “seed of Satan”] to condemn Jesus to death: “For Pilate knew it was out
of jealousy that they handed him over.” Matthew
27:18 [also see Mark 15:10; 1 John 3:11-12;
Hebrews
11:4].
The inspired writer of Wisdom in interpreting the Fall of man
in Genesis chapter 3 writes that the death introduced by the devil is spiritual
death, with physical death as its consequence: Wisdom 1:13-15,
“For God did not make Death, he takes no pleasure in destroying the living.
To exist’for this he created all things; the creatures of the world have health
in them, in them is no fatal poison, and Hades has no power over the world: for
uprightness is immortal.” As a result of Adam and Eve’s sin in usurping
God’s power and authority in their desire to judge good and evil for themselves
[Genesis
3:5], they “died” to sin and sin came to “live” in humanity with the
consequence that spiritual and physical death became the “reward” of sin.
Question: What do we call the first sin that entered
the world and the lasting effect it had on humanity? What is the consequence of
this first sin that causes us to be inclined to be tempted to commit sin?
Answer: That sin first entered the world through the
Fall of our first parents is the doctrine of original sin. The temptation to
sin which is a result of original sin is called concupiscence. In turning to
the doctrine of original sin St. Paul is drawing a contrast between the
temptation and Fall, or the “work” of the first Adam with the One he prefigured,
Jesus of Nazareth the “second Adam” and His “work” of redemption in He becomes
the Savior of all the children of Adam who now have the opportunity to be freed
of the inheritance of sin to be reborn as children of God. It is because of the
stain of original sin that mankind needs a redeemer.
- CCC# 389: “The doctrine
of original sin is, so to speak, the ‘reverse side’ of the Good News that Jesus
is the Savior of all men, that all need salvation, and that salvation is offered
to all through Christ. The Church, which has the mind of Christ, knows very
well that we cannot tamper with the revelation of original sin without
undermining the mystery of Christ.” - CCC# 404: “How did the
sin of Adam become the sin of all his descendants? The whole human race is in
Adam ‘as one body of one man.’ By this ‘unity of the human race’ all men are
implicated in Adam’s sin, as all are implicated in Christ’s justice. Still, the
transmission of original sin is a mystery that we cannot fully understand. But
we do know by Revelation that Adam had received original holiness and justice
not for himself alone, but for all human nature. By yielding to the tempter,
Adam and Eve committed a personal sin, but this sin affected the human nature
that they would then transmit in a fallen state. It is a sin which will be
transmitted by propagation to all mankind, that is, by the transmission of human
nature deprived or original holiness and justice. And that is why original sin
is called ‘sins’ only in an analogical sense: it is a sin ‘contracted’ and not
‘committed”a state and not an act.” - CCC# 405: “Although it
is proper to each individual, original sin does not have the character of a
personal fault in any of Adam’s descendants. It is a deprivation of original
holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is
wounded in the natural powers proper to it; subject to ignorance, suffering, and
the dominion of death; and inclined to sin’an inclination to evil that is called
‘concupiscence.’ Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ’s grace, erases
original sin and turns a man back toward God, but the consequences for nature,
weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and common him to spiritual
battle.” [for a more complete study see CCC#s 396-421]
Romans 5:13-
14 13″ Sin already existed in the world before there was
any law, even though sin is not reckoned when there is no law. 14 Nonetheless death reigned over all from Adam to
Moses, even over those whose sin was not the breaking of a commandment , as
Adam’s was, He prefigured the One who was to come.”
Returning to his theme in Romans 2:12,
Paul insists that the presence or absence of the Law does not make a fundamental
difference since sin and its by product “death” comes to everyone through the
legacy of sin that we inherited from our original parents’ whether we are
Gentiles who live outside the Law of Moses or Jews who live with the Law, and it
is for this reason that Paul writes,“Nonetheless death reigned over all from
Adam to Moses, even over those whose sin was not the breaking of a commandment,
as Adam’s was. He prefigured the One who was to come.”
Question: How did Adam prefigure Jesus of Nazareth?
See 1
Corinthians 15:45-49.
Answer:
The New Testament portrays Jesus as the “Second Adam”
whose obedience and sacrificial death on the cross undo Adam’s disobedience.
Jesus, the Second Adam, triumphed over the same temptations to which the first
Adam fell into sin. St. John identified these temptations as the lusts of the
flesh, the eyes, and the pride of life in 1 John 2:16 [see
CCC# 411 & 504 and the Salvation
History Bible Study Lesson #25].
TEMPTATION: The first and second Adams contrasted:
| 1 John 2:16 |
Genesis 3:6 |
Luke 4:1-13 |
| “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father finds no place in him…” |
The First Adam: “Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees…?” |
Second Adam = Jesus
of Nazareth: “Then the devil said to |
| the lust of the flesh:
“disordered bodily desires” |
“The woman saw the tree was good to eat..” | “tell this stone to turn into a loaf” |
| the lust of the eyes:
“disordered desires of the eyes” |
“..and pleasing to the eye,
and…” |
“the devil…showed Him all the kingdoms of the world” |
| the pride of life:
“pride in possession” |
“that it was enticing for the wisdom that it could give.” |
“If you are the Son …throw Yourself down from here” |
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2006 Agape Bible Study. Permissions
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Romans 5:15-19:
15 There is no comparison between
the free gift and the offence. If death came to many through the offence of one
man, how much greater an effect the grace of God has had, coming to so many and
so plentifully as a free gift through the one man Jesus Christ! 16 Again, there is no comparison between the gift
and the offence of one man. One single offence brought condemnation, but now,
after many offences, have come the free gift and so acquittal! 17 It was by one man’s offence that death came to
reign over all, but how much greater the reign in life of those who receive the
fullness of grace and the gift of saving justice, through the one man, Jesus
Christ. 18 One man’s offence brought
condemnation on all humanity; and one man’s good act has brought justification
and life to all humanity. 19 Just as
by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience are
many to be made upright.
Question: In 5:15-19 how
does Paul contrast Adam and Christ as “alike” but “unalike”?
Answer:
|
ADAM AND CHRIST |
ADAM AND CHRIST |
| Both Adam and Christ had an affect upon the whole human race |
Sin and death came from Adam while righteousness and life came from Christ |
| Both endured the temptation of Satan | Adam failed and Christ was victorious |
| Through both Adam and Christ humanity receives an “inheritance”. |
Through Adam’s failure humanity inherits death, original sin and personal sin becomes a plague on mankind. Through Christ’s victory humanity inherits adoption into God family and the promise of eternal life. |
| Both were human men | Jesus was both human and divine |
| Both the acts of Adam and Jesus invoke a divine verdict |
Satan stood behind the act of Adam while the grace of God stood behind Christ; the verdict behind Adam’s act is judgment while the verdict behind Jesus’ is acquittal |
| Both Adam and Jesus exercised their free will | Adam willingly fell from grace and Jesus willingly laid down His life in sacrifice for all mankind |
| Both were born into the world as sinless and immortal beings |
Adam lost his immortality when he fell from grace while Jesus remained pure and sinless and through His sacrifice and Resurrection has made God’s gift of immortality once again available to man |
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2006 Agape Bible Study. Permissions
All Rights Reserved.
Romans 5:20-21:
20 When law came on the scene, it
was to multiply the offences. 21 But
however much sin increased, grace was always greater; so that as sin’s reign
brought death, so grace was to rule through saving justice that leads to eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Again Paul returns to his theme that the Law is only capable
of identifying sin and bringing judgment for offenses against the Law with no
hope of redemption or salvation.
Question: Why does Paul continue to hammer home this
thesis?
Answer: Perhaps it is because Paul fears that Jewish
Christian’s blind adherence to the Law of Moses and their unwillingness to
accept what has been transformed and fulfilled in the New Covenant is the
greatest impediment to unity between Jewish and Gentile Christians. However,
in the past age even when “sin increased” in the nation of Israel and later in
the divided Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, God’s grace was greater because He
used Israel to bring forth the Messiah and through the Jewish Messiah the means
of salvation for all humanity. This is the “triumph of grace” over sin and
another contrast between Adam and Christ’for death “reigned” in Adam but grace
“reigns” in Christ through His sacrifice on the Cross which brings the saving
justice that leads to eternal life!
In this portion of Paul’s letter to the faith community in
Rome he has focused on the Cross as the pivot point in the history of man. The
Cross is central to Paul’s teaching. He assures us that it is through the
crucified Jesus Christ that the love of God the Father is revealed’a
revelation of the Father in the person of God the Son: “It is God who
said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ that has shone into our hearts to
enlighten them with the knowledge of God’s glory, the glory on the face of
Christ” [2
Corinthians 4:6 quoting Genesis 1:3].
St. Paul sees the revelation of Jesus Christ as the final stage of history’the
final age of man as taught by St. Peter in his first great homily in Acts 2:14-41. At
the beginning of that homily St. Peter quotes the Old Testament Prophet Joel in
Joel 3:1, “In
the last days’the Lord declares’I shall pour out my Spirit on all humanity”
[Acts
2:17]. Peter identifies this event as having been fulfilled in the pouring
out of God’s Spirit upon those assembled in the Upper Room just prior to Peter’s
address to the crowds. Paul affirms this teaching in Romans 5: 5,
“the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has
been given to us,” and in 1
Corinthians 10:11, speaking of the events recorded in the Old Testament that
pointed to the giving of God’s Spirit and coming of the Final Age Paul writes,
“Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were
described in writing to be a lesson for us, to whom it has fallen to live in the
last days of the ages.” Paul, in his letter to the Romans and in his other
letters, assures the faithful that this divine eschatological event has already
occurred in history, set in motion by the hand of God in the Incarnation of His
Son. He writes in Galatians
4:3-5, “So too with us, as long as we were still under age, we were
enslaved to the elemental principles of this world; but when the completion
of the time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born a subject of the
Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law, so that we would receive adoptions as
sons.” The time Paul wrote of is the Incarnation, death and Resurrection of
Christ, and when the time of the great harvest of souls is completed this Last
Age of man will come to the “end”, “After that will come the end when he will
hand over the kingdom to God the Father, having abolished every principality,
every ruling force and power” [1Corinthians
15:24]. It is this event for which we all await’the return of the King to
collect His Bride [Revelation
chapters 19-22], and the voyage of the Church of Jesus Christ into the
glorious life of the Most Holy Trinity and the endless sea of eternity!
Question for group discussion:
Question: What are the consequences of sin? See CCC#
705; 817; 953; 1008; 1472
Question: What is the difference between venial and
mortal sin? See CCC# 1472; 1854-59; 1860-63; 1 John
5:16-17.
Question: What is concupiscence and what are the
consequences of concupiscence? See CCC # 55-58; 399-400; 402-09
Question: Does our personal sin link us to Christ’s
suffering? See CCC# 598
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2006 Agape Bible Study. Permissions
All Rights Reserved.
Catechism References for Romans chapter 5 [* indicates
Scripture quoted in citation]
| 5:3-5 | 2734*, 2847 | 5:18 | 402 |
| 5:5 | 368*, 733, 1820, 1964, 2658 | 5:19-20 | 411* |
| 5:8 | 604 | 5:19-21 | 1009* |
| 5:10 | 603, 1825 | 5:19 | 397*, 402, 532*, 615, 623* |
| 5:12-21 | 388* | 5:20-21 | 1848 |
| 5:12 | 400, 402, 602*, 612*, 1008 | 5:20 | 312*, 385*, 412, 420 |
| 5:18-19 | 605* |
Resources:
The Teachings of the Church Fathers, Ignatius
Press
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Dogmatic Canons and Decrees: The Council of Trent; Vatican
Council I; etc.
The Sixteen Documents of Vatican II
The Salvation Controversy
Romans, Joseph Fitzmyer
Romans, Brendan Byrne
Navarre Commentary’Romans
Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture’Romans
Strong’s Concordance
Catholicism and Fundamentalism: The Attack on “Romanism”
by “Bible Christians”
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Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2008 Agape Bible Study.
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