Romans 5:1–21: Peace with God, and the One Man Jesus Christ (two sessions)

Says Romans 5 opens with οὖν (oun, “therefore”) and draws the consequence of 3:21–4:25: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (5:1). Δικαιωθέντες (dikaiōthentes, “having been justified”) is an aorist passive participle: the verdict has already been given (compare 4:25). In 5:2 two perfects describe a settled position: τὴν προσαγωγὴν ἐσχήκαμεν (tēn prosagōgēn eschēkamen, “we have gained access”) and ἑστήκαμεν (hestēkamen, “we stand”). The words for peace and access are εἰρήνη (eirēnē) and προσαγωγή (prosagōgē).

Implies 5:1–11 sets out what justification gives the believer now (peace, access, hope) and what it assures for the future (salvation from wrath).

Says Paul writes that “we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (5:3–4). The chain runs θλῖψις (thlipsis, “suffering”), ὑπομονή (hypomonē, “perseverance”), δοκιμή (dokimē, “character,” also “approvedness”), and ἐλπίς (elpis, “hope”). “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us” (5:5).

Uncertain Whether οὐ καταισχύνει (ou kataischynei, “does not disappoint”) echoes Ps 22:5, “they trusted in You and were not disappointed.” The Hebrew (MT 22:6) is בְּךָ בָטְחוּ וְלֹא־בוֹשׁוּ (bekha vatekhu velo-voshu), and Swete's LXX (21:6) has οὐ κατῃσχύνθησαν (ou katēschynthēsan). Ps 25:3, 20 use the same Hebrew verb, בּוֹשׁ (bosh), of those who wait for the Lord.

Says Paul writes that “at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly” (5:6): ὑπὲρ ἀσεβῶν (hyper asebōn), the ungodly whom God justifies (4:5). “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die” (5:7). “But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (5:8). συνίστησιν (synistēsin, “proves”) is present: the proof stands.

Implies Christ's death goes beyond the pattern Greek and Roman moralists admired, of dying for a friend, a spouse, or someone counted worthy, since he died for the ungodly, for sinners, and for enemies (5:6, 8, 10).

Text notes: SBLGNT prints Ἔτι γάρ (eti gar, “for while … still”) at the opening, where B and WH read Εἴ γε (ei ge, “if indeed”). The second ἔτι (eti, “still”) later in 5:6 is absent from RP and TR.

Says Paul argues that “since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him!” (5:9). “For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!” (5:10). We rejoice in God through Christ, “through whom we have now received reconciliation” (5:11). The verb is καταλλάσσω (katallassō, “reconcile”), the noun καταλλαγή (katallagē, “reconciliation”), and we were ἐχθροί (echthroi, “enemies”).

Implies Reconciliation is God's act through Christ's death. Believers are reconciled (κατηλλάγημεν, katēllagēmen, passive) and receive it (ἐλάβομεν, elabomen); they do not achieve it.

Uncertain The text of 5:1. The commentary keeps SBLGNT's ἔχομεν (echomen, “we have”) at low confidence. The external evidence favors ἔχωμεν (echōmen, “let us have”): ℵ* A B* C D, the early versions, and most Fathers, and WH prints it. ἔχομεν is read by later correctors of ℵ and B, the Greek of F and G, and P, and printed by SBLGNT, NA28, RP, and TR. The indicative is kept on internal grounds: the perfects of 5:2 and the reconciliation received in 5:10–11 describe a present standing, and the two vowels were easily confused. On either reading, the peace rests on being justified.

Uncertain καυχώμεθα (kauchōmetha) in 5:2–3 has the same form in both moods. The Greek note and the commentary lean to the indicative, “we rejoice” (BSB), which matches the participle καυχώμενοι (kauchōmenoi) in 5:11. The alternative is “let us rejoice” (literal), matching ἔχωμεν. The verb is καυχάομαι (kauchaomai, “boast, rejoice”): the rejoicing in hope stands against the boasting excluded in 3:27.

Uncertain ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ (hē agapē tou theou, “the love of God,” literal) in 5:5. The Greek note and the commentary lean to God's love for us. Grounds: 5:8 restates it as τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀγάπην εἰς ἡμᾶς (tēn heautou agapēn eis hēmas, “his own love for us,” literal); 8:39 uses the phrase of God's love; and the hope rests on what God gives. The alternative is our love for God, poured into our hearts by the Spirit, as Augustine read it (On the Spirit and the Letter, by reference), on the grounds of “into our hearts” and 8:28, where believers are those who love God. The noun is ἀγάπη (agapē, “love”).

Says Either way, the love is poured out “through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us” (5:5), and this is why hope does not disappoint.

Implies Christ's death for us is substitutionary and propitiatory: he died in the place of the ungodly, and by his blood God's wrath is turned away (5:9). The case is made in note.exegetical.Rom.3.21-Rom.3.26.righteousness-revealed and note.exegetical.Rom.3.25.hilasterion-propitiation (Romans 3 study, s2.int.2) and is not repeated here. The preposition is ὑπέρ (hyper, “for”).

Uncertain The two persons of 5:7. The Greek, historical, and exegetical notes lean to two figures: hardly (μόλις, molis) for an upright man, perhaps (τάχα, tacha) for “the good man” (literal), a benefactor. Grounds: the article in τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ (tou agathou), and the γάρ (gar, “for”) that qualifies the first clause. The alternative takes the clauses as synonymous, the second restating the first. Either way, Paul's point is the contrast in 5:8.

Implies Those now justified will be saved from wrath. The argument runs πολλῷ μᾶλλον (pollō mallon, “much more”), from the greater to the lesser: if God justified the ungodly and reconciled enemies at the cost of his Son's death, he will much more bring the justified and reconciled through the coming wrath. That wrath is the future day of 2:5 (note.exegetical.Rom.1.18.wrath-revealed; Romans 1 study, s2.int.1). The noun is ὀργή (orgē, “wrath”). The verdict already given is not reopened on that day (8:1, 33–34).

Uncertain ἐν τῇ ζωῇ αὐτοῦ (en tē zōē autou, 5:10). The Greek note leans to “through His life” (BSB), the risen life, on the parallel with διὰ τοῦ θανάτου (dia tou thanatou, “through the death”) and on 4:25 and 8:34. The alternative is “in his life” (literal), sharing it (6:4–11).

Background: the Reformed doctrine of the perseverance of the saints (WCF 17.1, by reference) draws on texts such as this one; it is not argued here.

Implies In Paul, God takes the initiative and reconciles his enemies to himself through Christ's death (5:8–10; 2 Cor 5:18–19). Believers receive the reconciliation; they do not bring it about (5:11).

Background: in the non-canonical 2 Maccabees (cited for historical context only), God is asked to be reconciled to his people (1:5; 7:33; 8:29): there God is the one reconciled. Paul uses the verb of a wife and husband (1 Cor 7:11), and apostles plead as ambassadors, “Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20).

Uncertain Whether ἐχθροί (echthroi, “enemies”) in 5:10 is only active, hostile to God, or also passive, under his hostility. The historical note leans to both: 5:9 speaks of wrath, and in 11:28 ἐχθροί stands opposite ἀγαπητοί (agapētoi, “loved”). The active-only reading stresses that our hostility ends (Col 1:21).

Grounding: Says Having been justified through faith, believers have gained access into grace and stand in it (5:1–2); both verbs in 5:2 are perfects. Keep the application on the standing that the verdict gives, not on the 5:1 variant.

Grounding: Says Suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope, and hope does not disappoint, because God has poured out his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (5:3–5). Leave aside the Ps 22 echo and the question of whose love is meant.

Grounding: Says God proves his love in that Christ died for us while we were still sinners (5:8). Implies Those now justified and reconciled will much more be saved from wrath (5:9–10). Point to what God has done, not to the strength of our feelings.