Romans 5:15-17 - Elaborating on the Opposite of Sin (Conciliation Series, Part VII)

 Part IV: God’s Conciliation, Confirmed

But not as the offense, thus also the grace.

Let’s start contrasting the two. In my previous writing, I’d noted that 5:12-14 was a comparison. In the next three verses we will receive two contrasts between Adam and Christ, to build to the conclusion in the final verses of this chapter. 

But what are we contrasting, specifically? Not Adam and Christ themselves, but the effects of their respective actions. This is called an antitype. Adam and Christ were contrasted in the sense that they each brought a period of grace on mankind. Adam’s was not permanent, and ends in death. Christ’s is permanent, in that it ends in life.

That said, we should limit our scope to the verses in their discussion. Adam’s period of grace lasted “x” amount of time, and ends in law being established. Christ’s present period of grace lasts “x” amount of time (and will be ending soon, per God’s unveiling of His indignation in Romans 1:18,) and ends in us, the saints, being established as His completed body. Sin exists right now; this we can see. Can we see the grace as well? Let’s find out.

The above sentence kicks off the verses. As I said, this is the effect of their actions (one man disobeying, the Other obeying.) One offended, the Other establishes grace. Now, if you study your King James, or your NIV, or whatever, you may find that the word translated “grace” is not translated as such, here. The KJV, NIV, CSB, BS, NASB, YLT and ESV all translate this word as “gift” (a word that has its own Greek equivalent, doma, found in Matt. 7:11, Luke 11:13, Eph. 4:8, and Ph. 4:17.) In contrast, the CLV translates the word as “grace.” The Dabhar arguably gives us the most accurate English equivalent, being “grace gift.”

So what is the Greek word used here? The word for grace, the definitive Greek word, is charis, and is found later in this verse. But the word here that Knoch translated “grace” is charisma. As you can see, there’s an additional suffix to the word charis. In my brain, it looks like charis-ma. When this suffix -ma is added to a Greek word, it denotes an effect of an action. You can see this in words like “decree” (“SEEM-EFFECT,” or dog-ma in Greek,) or “emblem” (“CARVE-EFFECT,” or charag-ma in Greek,) or “lie” (“FALSE-EFFECT,” or pseus-ma in Greek.)

All this to say that the word charis-ma is, literally, “JOY-EFFECT.” Similarly, the word “offense” here is parapto-ma, to give the effect of Adam’s offense. This clarifies, literally, what I initially stated. We are dealing with an effect of these two concepts in the following verses.

For if, by the offense of the one, the many died, much rather the grace of God and the gratuity in grace, which is of the One Man, Jesus Christ, to the many superabounds.

The difference between Adam to Moses and Christ to now? We have grace, while they were not shown the grace at that time. The offense of Adam led to “the many” dying, while the grace of God leads to “the many” being given grace in spite of the sin that manifests in death.

The offense here is the same term used in the first sentence of this verse. Here the effect of Adam’s “offense” is, simply, that the many died. This is the one penalty that is fully inflicted on mankind. No one escapes the fact that we are dying. We learn of the grave mistake in disobeying God. Every last human will learn God’s authority and the true power of His penalty. No one is exempt from this subjection to death. The many died. Paul spent all of Romans 1:18-3:20 breaking down our failure.

What is the contrast? What is the mark of a good leader? One that can discipline, and then bring back. So we have the phrase much rather to contrast Adam’s offense. All died, sure, but death? It’s a blip. It is nothing compared to the grace of God, and the gratuity in grace. See, the effect of the grace gift is now laid out here. The grace gift itself is Christ’s sacrifice, which led to the conciliation (grace of God,) and our justification (gratuity in grace) of all. God spent a few chapters breaking down this justification to us (beginning in 3:21,) and continued with reconciling us to Him (in 5:10.) This is not “as the offense.” Sticking with the type, the many who died were those in the period from Adam to Moses, who lived without law, with no Savior. He proved the righteousness of His indignation through them (hence the flood.) Now we live under grace, with a Savior. We are experiencing a superabounding grace, in justification and conciliation thanks to Him. He proves His vast grace through us, in sending His Son for our sake while we are weak, and deserving of said divine indignation.

And not as through one act of sinning is the gratuity.

We dealt with contrast number one – the effects of the offense contrasted with the effects of the grace. Now we can get into the second contrast in the passage, starting here. The first “one,” Adam, brought death, while the second “One,” Christ, brings life. Christ is contrasted because He is the first sinless One to exist. As such, grace now has the throne, not death.

It may be common, among your average Scripture objector, to claim, Well, sin tEchNiCaLly caused this grace to occur, because without Adam God wouldn’t have grace on us! This is another one of those “logical fallacies” that we like to talk about and poke fun at. The key to this phrase, as I understand it, is in “gratuity,” here translated dorema. Yup, you see it, there? Dore-ma. The word dore-ma here is not the same as the first “gratuity” in verse 15 (and verse 17, when we get to it.) As you may be able to guess, the word in 15 and 17 are dorea, as in, GIVE-GUSH. It is the literal act of “gratuity.” It is a feminine noun in 15 and 17, and a neuter noun in 16. Here Paul states, in 16, at the beginning of this contrast, that the “GIVE-GUSH-EFFECT” is not through the one act of sinning. The one act of sinning was the offense, through which death became apparent. It is through the one act of obedience that life becomes evident. And, moreover, we know that grace is way stronger and outlasts death, because God has grace anyway, whether it’s manifest on the earth yet or not. He is overflowing with it before death is implemented into the story (2 Tim. 1:9.)

For, indeed, the judgment is out of one into condemnation, yet the grace is out of the many offenses into a just award.

What is out of the one act of sinning? The judgment is out of Adam. Like “gratuity,” the word “judgment” is kri-ma, denoting an effect of the offense. In fact, each noun in this sentence is an effect of either the offense or the grace (hence, why this whole passage is a literal “contrast.”) Check it out:

Judgment = kri-ma

Condemnation = katakri-ma

Grace = charis-ma

Offense = parapto-ma

Just award = dikaio-ma

All of these are effects of either offense, or grace. The divine judgment here is death. It manifested the moment Adam sinned, and continues to plague us today. In complete and utter contrast, the divine grace here is life. It manifested the moment Christ died, and continues to plague us today. And it’s not just one offense that causes it, but the many offenses, as we know death reigns in the flesh, causing sin. The charisma, the grace, didn’t “exonerate” Adam. He didn’t “cease to be guilty” in being given grace (that is, conciliation, or peace with man.) The judgment and the grace stand in direct contrast to each other.

In simple terms, think of a parent reprimanding and teaching their child. Okay, so the kid threw a big mac at their teacher or something. They need to be punished. They are grounded for a weekend. Does this now mean that the parent no longer loves their child? Are you finished with your child, having judged them? I sure hope not! And yet these assertions are made about God!

That said, I do note that a few in Christ will reference this verse to prove that universalism (not the entire theory, just the “God saved all” part, per 1 Tim. 2:4, 4:10,) is true. This verse is not comparing numbers, but the judgment and condemnation with the grace and the just award. “The many,” from the previous verse, is a purposefully ambiguous term. We know this, because “all” is clearly a word in Paul’s vocabulary, but he doesn’t use it here, but in verse 18. This verse’s job is, again, not to complete the broken parallel of verse 12, but to contribute to completing the proof for verses 12-14, and ultimately, prove the statement in Romans 5:5, that the love of God has been poured in our hearts.

Now, the “many offenses” listed here are offenses of many, yes, but this is not exclusive to “the many” of either Adam to Moses, or Christ to now. The number is indefinite. Grace can deal with an indefinite number of offenses, because it superabounds.

Let’s talk, briefly, about 4 different words. These words are:

-       justness, dikaiosune

-       just, dikaioi

-       justifying, dikaiosis

-       just award, dikaioma

We’ve talked before about justness, to be just. It’s commonly translated “righteousness,” as in verse 17, which we’ll get to. It’s a noun. It’s the state of “being just.”

We’ve also talked about “just,” or “righteous.” This is an adjective. A description of the noun, “justness.”

Here, I want to focus on the last two, as they play an important role here and in the future verses. “Justifying” here is a process, which we will study later. It is something being accomplished, while “just award” is the result of the act (hence dikaio-ma.) It’s been said by many Christians that Christ gives the opportunity for salvation, and (somehow) points to these verses as evidence. This is because of a faulty translation and a misapprehension of the Greek language. This verse does not state a restoration of Adam’s previous sin, because that would imply what Paul already directly spoke against: “Not as through one act of sinning is the gratuity.” Grace begets a just award out of many offenses. If the corollary presented by religion were true, we would not have a process of justification (see my older writing, “Are all currently justified,”) but all the dead would have resurrected immediately, and death would no longer be, as the condemnation would have been immediately erased.

The condemnation still exists, as it is not dealing with many offenses, the way the grace of God, through Christ, is. The condemnation is Adam’s accomplishment, relatively. The grace is Christ’s accomplishment, relatively. The grace now exists, reflecting the contrast in the antitype, between Adam’s accomplishment and Christ’s accomplishment. The two are not equal. Keep in mind, again, the superabounding nature of the grace Christ brings.

I can’t wait for the world to understand all of this. Think of the many that relentlessly guilt themselves over their thoughts and actions, and think of the relief they will feel when, after watching their many transgressions on Judgment Day, they hear those in Christ smile at them and say, with overwhelming grace, that they are okay. Their offenses are covered in grace. One act brought many into condemnation, while the grace covers many acts into one reward.

For if, by the offense of the one, death reigns through the one, much rather, those obtaining the superabundance of grace and the gratuity of righteousness shall be reigning in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Ah, here we see how God appoints trillions to be burned in hell for eternity!

Ha, I’m just kidding. Where is that written? All I see here are good tidings of great joy. We don’t have to rehash what’s already written. Paul summarized it all in the previous verses, so we can rest in the conclusion here. By the offense of Adam, death reigned through him. This is all we amount to, in standing in Adam.

B-but what about all those movies ‘n stuff?

What about them?

All the good people in the world?

What about them?

Our 401k and retirement funds??

Oh! It’s right here, under “you are dying!”

See, these things matter in a very relative, limited sense, and are not contingent on Christ’s operations now. The reality is that most are not ready to let go of this world and accept God as theirs. Movies are fun. Who invented the movie? Thank God for it! If you don’t want to do this, then you’re proving His point. You are dying. People always talk about ‘not placing all your eggs in one basket.’ Yet they don’t realize that in placing your trust in the physical (which we know from simple experience, doesn’t help you escape death,) you are placing your trust in something that is dying.

Well why does it have to die?

Have you seen the shit the world gets itself into? You’re okay with the political and religious corruption? The pedophilia? The murder? The sexual assault? The racism? The brutality of war? You would like this to remain the norm?

Here’s the truth: death reigns through the one. This is the summary. It is an obvious fact of our world. It summarizes the first half of verses 15 and 16. And, moreover, it builds on the certainty of the second fact stated in the verse. The pattern is established in man’s death, that Christ’s pattern may be established in life. This reveals a security in the second half of the sentence, that we may rest in knowing that the three major concepts Christ talks about here are just as certain as the first half, and superabound (hence the “much rather.”)

Much rather, “those obtaining” (or, literally, “those” being given these things,) are you and me. We are not focused on “the many,” right now, but “those obtaining” the following concepts. Believers, as of now, are obtaining three separate things. The first is “the grace.” We are receiving reconciliation, as God has conciliated Himself to the world (5:2, 5:10, 5:15.) We obtained this conciliation (Rom. 5:11.)

What else did we obtain? The gratuity of righteousness (Rom. 3:24.) We are justified gratuitously in His grace. This is the justification. The righteousness discussed here is to highlight, again, that not all are currently justified. This further highlights that not all are receiving what we are talking about as of now.

Finally, we are told something new, one that Paul has not previously fully connected until now, now that the justification and conciliation have been carefully established by him and He who commissions him. We are told that we, in being given this conciliation and justification, shall be reigning in life! The reign of death is apparent to us daily. Now in contrast, we are given a certainty of reigning in life. Notice, also, that Paul does not say “life shall reign.” He says we shall reign! Life in Christ allows this reign. I will wrap this up with yet another great quote from George Rogers:

“Because life is linked with righteousness as sin is linked with death, the gratuity of righteousness leads to reign in life. That reign is future and it involves our resurrection from the dead. Verification is triumphant reversal, the glory of which will outweigh all the dishonor of subjection to death.”

This is the first time that reigning in life is referenced to us. It will be elaborated on in Eph. 2:5-6. We have such a high allotment in this being revealed to us. The verses mean what they say – so many outside of Christ believe that, in some distant future, we are being placed in front of Christ on Judgment Day. Here, from Paul, we are being told that this is not happening to called out believers now (ref. Rom. 8:23, 30,) but that the righteousness and peace we are being given allows us to reign in Christ (and thus, be a judger and rule with Him in peace – 1 Cor. 6:1-2.)

This reign in life must be explained in fuller detail. How will it look? When will it occur? Where will we be? All this and more will be elaborated on throughout this letter and the rest of God’s evangel.

- GerudoKing