Roma 5:1-2

The Expectation of Justification

5:1 ¹ Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have ²  peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 5:2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice ³  in the hope of God’s glory.

Roma 5:9

5:9 Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous ⁴  by his blood, ⁵  we will be saved through him from God’s wrath. ⁶ 

Roma 5:16-21

5:16 And the gift is not like the one who sinned. ⁷  For judgment, resulting from the one transgression, ⁸  led to condemnation, but ⁹  the gracious gift from the many failures ¹⁰  led to justification. 5:17 For if, by the transgression of the one man, ¹¹  death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ!

5:18 Consequently, ¹²  just as condemnation ¹³  for all people ¹⁴  came ¹⁵  through one transgression, ¹⁶  so too through the one righteous act ¹⁷  came righteousness leading to life ¹⁸  for all people. 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man ¹⁹  many ²⁰  were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one man ²¹  many ²²  will be made righteous. 5:20 Now the law came in ²³  so that the transgression ²⁴  may increase, but where sin increased, grace multiplied all the more, 5:21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[5:1]  ¹ sn Many interpreters see Rom 5:1 as beginning the second major division of the letter.

[5:1]  ² tc A number of important witnesses have the subjunctive ἔχωμεν (ecwmen, “let us have”) instead of ἔχομεν (ecomen, “we have”) in v. 1. Included in the subjunctive’s support are א* A B* C D K L 33 81 630 1175 1739* pm lat bo. But the indicative is not without its supporters: א¹ B² F G P Ψ 0220^vid 104 365 1241 1505 1506 1739^c 1881 2464 pm. If the problem were to be solved on an external basis only, the subjunctive would be preferred. Because of this, the “A” rating on behalf of the indicative in the UBS⁴ appears overly confident. Nevertheless, the indicative is probably correct. First, the earliest witness to Rom 5:1 has the indicative (0220^vid, third century). Second, the first set of correctors is sometimes, if not often, of equal importance with the original hand. Hence, א¹ might be given equal value with א*. Third, there is a good cross-section of witnesses for the indicative: Alexandrian (in 0220^vid, probably א¹ 1241 1506 1881 al), Western (in F G), and Byzantine (noted in NA²⁷ as pm). Thus, although the external evidence is strongly in favor of the subjunctive, the indicative is represented well enough that its ancestry could easily go back to the original. Turning to the internal evidence, the indicative gains much ground. (1) The variant may have been produced via an error of hearing (since omicron and omega were pronounced alike in ancient Greek). This, of course, does not indicate which reading was original – just that an error of hearing may have produced one of them. In light of the indecisiveness of the transcriptional evidence, intrinsic evidence could play a much larger role. This is indeed the case here. (2) The indicative fits well with the overall argument of the book to this point. Up until now, Paul has been establishing the “indicatives of the faith.” There is only one imperative (used rhetorically) and only one hortatory subjunctive (and this in a quotation within a diatribe) up till this point, while from ch. 6 on there are sixty-one imperatives and seven hortatory subjunctives. Clearly, an exhortation would be out of place in ch. 5. (3) Paul presupposes that the audience has peace with God (via reconciliation) in 5:10. This seems to assume the indicative in v. 1. (4) As C. E. B. Cranfield notes, “it would surely be strange for Paul, in such a carefully argued writing as this, to exhort his readers to enjoy or to guard a peace which he has not yet explicitly shown to be possessed by them” (Romans [ICC], 1:257). (5) The notion that εἰρήνην ἔχωμεν (eirhnhn ecwmen) can even naturally mean “enjoy peace” is problematic (ExSyn 464), yet those who embrace the subjunctive have to give the verb some such force. Thus, although the external evidence is stronger in support of the subjunctive, the internal evidence points to the indicative. Although a decision is difficult, ἔχομεν appears to be the authentic reading.

[5:2]  ³ tn Or “exult, boast.”

[5:9]  ⁴ tn Grk “having now been declared righteous.” The participle δικαιωθέντες (dikaiwqente") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[5:9]  ⁵ tn Or, according to BDF §219.3, “at the price of his blood.”

[5:9]  ⁶ tn Grk “the wrath,” referring to God’s wrath as v. 10 shows.

[5:16]  ⁷ tn Grk “and not as through the one who sinned [is] the gift.”

[5:16]  ⁸ tn The word “transgression” is not in the Greek text at this point, but has been supplied for clarity.

[5:16]  ⁹ tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

[5:16]  ¹⁰ tn Or “falls, trespasses,” the same word used in vv. 15, 17, 18, 20.

[5:17]  ¹¹ sn Here the one man refers to Adam (cf. 5:14).

[5:18]  ¹² tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

[5:18]  ¹³ tn Grk “[it is] unto condemnation for all people.”

[5:18]  ¹⁴ tn Here ἀνθρώπους (anqrwpou") has been translated as a generic (“people”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.

[5:18]  ¹⁵ tn There are no verbs in the Greek text of v. 18, forcing translators to supply phrases like “came through one transgression,” “resulted from one transgression,” etc.

[5:18]  ¹⁶ sn One transgression refers to the sin of Adam in Gen 3:1-24.

[5:18]  ¹⁷ sn The one righteous act refers to Jesus’ death on the cross.

[5:18]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “righteousness of life.”

[5:19]  ¹⁹ sn Here the one man refers to Adam (cf. 5:14).

[5:19]  ²⁰ tn Grk “the many.”

[5:19]  ²¹ sn One man refers here to Jesus Christ.

[5:19]  ²² tn Grk “the many.”

[5:20]  ²³ tn Grk “slipped in.”

[5:20]  ²⁴ tn Or “trespass.”