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Romans

Romans 5 – The Fruits of Justification

Published since 02. Dec. 2025
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Romans 5
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We can use the words “justified by faith” in two senses. First, by simple faith in Christ and in God who raised Him from the dead, we are justified—whether or not we already have the happy assurance of this in our hearts. Second, it is also by faith that we know we are justified, not by feelings, visions, or other subjective impressions, but by faith in God and in His Word.

As a result of our justification, we have peace with God. Notice the difference between this and what is said in Colossians 1:20. Christ has made peace by the blood of His cross. By this, He removed everything that disturbed the relationship. He did this once for all, and because that work is finished, peace becomes the personal portion of each person who is justified by faith. We enter into it one by one. When Paul knew by faith that he was justified, peace with God became his. When I knew that I was justified, peace became mine. When you knew it, peace became yours. Until we did know, we did not have peace; instead, we had doubts and fears—and probably plenty of them.

Peace stands first among the blessings of the Gospel. It heads the list, but it does not exhaust it. Faith not only brings us into peace but also gives us access into the grace or favour of God. We stand in God’s favour. We know it and begin to enjoy it by faith. The nature of this favour is not defined here. From Ephesians 1:6, however, we know that it is “the favour of the Beloved.” No favour could be higher or more intimate than that.

This favour is a present reality. We will never be more in favour than we are now, although our enjoyment of it will be much greater on the day when our hope becomes reality. Our hope is not merely “glory,” but the glory of God. Who would not rejoice in such a hope?

As to all the guilt of our past, we are justified and at peace with God. As to the present, we stand in divine favour. As to the future, we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. But what about the difficulties and tribulations that fill our path on the way to glory?

Even in these we rejoice, astonishing as that may seem—for the word translated “glory” in verse 3 is the same word translated “rejoice” in the previous verse. Paul is still describing the proper and normal effects of the Gospel in the hearts of those who receive it. The secret of our ability to rejoice in what is naturally so distasteful to us is that we know what these things are designed to produce.

Tribulations are not pleasant in themselves; they are painful. Yet they set in motion a whole sequence of things that are excellent and blessed—patience, proven character (experience), hope, and the love of God poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. For the believer, tribulations have become a kind of spiritual exercise that greatly develops his spiritual strength. Instead of working against us, they become a source of gain. What a triumph of the grace of God that is!

Have you ever met an older believer who immediately impressed you as being full of quiet endurance, deeply experienced, full of hope in God, and radiating a distinctly divine love? If so, you would almost certainly find that such a person had gone through many tribulations with God. Paul recognized this and therefore rejoiced in tribulations. If we see things in this light—the true light—we will rejoice in them too.

Notice that here, for the first time in this unfolding of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit is mentioned. The Apostle does not pause to explain exactly how He is received. He simply refers to the fact that He is given to believers, and that His blessed work is to pour the love of God into our hearts. Ephesians 1:13 shows clearly that He is given when we have believed the Gospel of our salvation, and that is exactly the point we have reached at the beginning of Romans 5. It is therefore very fitting that the first mention of the Spirit appears here.

Our hearts would be very dark were it not for the bright beams of God’s love poured into them by the Holy Spirit. As it is, they are indeed bright. Yet the light that shines into them has its source outside of them. If we start searching our own hearts to find love, we make a serious mistake—as serious as searching the moon to find the sun. Moonlight is reflected sunlight—second-hand sunlight—but the sun itself is not there. In the same way, all the light of God’s love that shines in the believer’s heart comes from a great “sun” outside himself. That “sun” is the death of Christ.

Therefore, in verses 6–8, His death is again presented to us—this time as the final and never-to-be-repeated expression of God’s love, a love far beyond anything human. God loved us when there was nothing lovable about us—when we were without strength, ungodly, sinners, and even enemies, as verse 10 reminds us.

That death has brought us not only justification but also reconciliation. The guilt of our sins has been removed, and the alienation between us and God has also been taken away. Because of this, a twofold salvation is certain to be ours.

A day of wrath is coming. This has already been mentioned twice in the epistle (Rom. 1:18; 2:5). We will be saved from that day through Christ. From other Scriptures, we know that He will save us from it by taking us out of the scene before the wrath falls.

In addition, being reconciled, we will be saved by His life. This is an ongoing salvation that we continually need, and will need as long as we are in this world. He lives on high for us, His people. When Moses went up on the hill and interceded for Israel, they were saved from their enemies (see Ex. 17). In the same way, we are saved by our Lord, who lives in God’s presence for us.

The epistle opened by telling us that the Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. We now learn that when we speak of being “saved,” we are using a word with a very broad meaning. We have indeed been saved by believing the Gospel, but it is also true that we will be saved from the spiritual dangers and conflicts of this present age and from the wrath of the age to come.

In verses 9–11, we find not only salvation but also justification and reconciliation. These words are more specific and have a more limited scope. There is no future aspect attached to them. They are entirely present realities for the believer. “Now justified by His blood” (v. 9). “We have now received the reconciliation” (v. 11). We will never be more justified than we are today. We will never be more reconciled than we are today—though soon we will enjoy the reconciliation that has already been accomplished more fully. But we will be more fully saved than we are today, when, in the age to come, we stand in glorified bodies like Christ.

By believing the Gospel, we receive the reconciliation today and are therefore able to rejoice in God. Once, we were afraid of Him and shrank from His presence, like Adam hiding among the trees of the garden. Now we boast in Him and rejoice. And this is entirely God’s work through our Lord Jesus Christ. What a triumph of grace!

Up to this point, the Gospel has been presented in relation to our sins. Our actual offences have been in view, and we have discovered God’s way of justifying us from them and bringing us into His favour. But our fallen condition involved more than that. There was also what we might call the racial question.

For our racial head, we must go back to Adam—and to Adam in his fallen state, for he did not beget sons and daughters until after he had fallen. His fall occurred through an act of sin, but that act brought in a condition of sin that penetrated his entire being. His whole spiritual nature was so fundamentally altered that all his descendants were affected. He could only beget children “in his own likeness, after his image” (Gen. 5:3)—the likeness and image of a fallen man. This kind of heredity is a terrible reality, confirmed by Scripture. Does God, in the Gospel, intend to deal with this dreadful blight on the human race? Can He address the nature from which acts of sin spring—the root that produces the hideous fruits—as well as the fruits themselves?

He can. In fact, He has. Romans 5, from verse 12 onward, unfolds the effects of what He has done. Exactly what He has done is not stated in so many words, but it is clearly implied. This passage is admittedly difficult, and this is one factor in its difficulty. Another factor is that, in several verses, the translation is obscure and even slightly inaccurate. A third difficulty lies in the fact that this side of the truth is often overlooked; where that is the case, we plunge into unfamiliar waters here and easily get out of our depth.

First, notice that verses 13–17 form a parenthesis and are printed as such, enclosed in brackets. To grasp the main line of thought, we read from verse 12 directly to verse 18. Then we see that the main thrust of the passage is the contrast between one man who sinned, involving others in the results of his transgression, and Another who accomplished a righteous act, bringing others into the blessed effects of that act. The whole passage emphasizes a tremendous contrast, centered on Adam on the one hand and Christ on the other. If Adam stands as the head of a fallen race under death and condemnation, Christ stands as the Head of a new race in righteousness and life.

We may say, then, that what God has done is to raise a new Head for humanity in the Lord Jesus Christ. Before He formally took the place of Head, He accomplished perfect righteousness through obedience unto death. By virtue of His death and resurrection, believers stand no longer connected with Adam but with Christ. They have been, so to speak, grafted into Christ. They are no longer “in Adam” but “in Christ.” This underlying fact is implied in the passage, while the glorious consequences flowing from it are elaborated.

Look again at verses 12, 18, and 19—especially verse 18. If you have Darby’s New Translation, read that verse there. You will see that the words in italics in the Authorized Version can be omitted, that the marginal reading is better, and that the word translated “upon” (twice) should instead be “towards.” The contrast is between the one offence of Adam, whose effect was condemnation towards all people, and the one righteousness of Christ, completed in His death, whose effect is justification of life towards all people.

If we reflect quietly for a few moments, we soon notice that although all people have come under condemnation, not all have come under justification. Exactly. This verse states only the general bearing of the respective acts, and it is true that from God’s side, as far as His intention in Christ’s death goes, it stretches towards all. The next verse goes on to the actual effects of these acts, and only “many”—more accurately, “the many”—are in view.

By “the many” we understand those—and only those—who are under the respective headships. In Adam’s case, “the many” does, in fact, include all people, since by nature we are all of his race. In Christ’s case, not all people are of His race, but only all believers. All people were constituted sinners by Adam’s disobedience. All believers are constituted righteous by Christ’s obedience, even unto death.

So in these three verses, we have this sequence: on the one side, one man, Adam, one offence, all people constituted sinners, all sinning, and therefore death and condemnation upon all. On the other side, one Man Christ, one righteousness in obedience to death, and those under His headship constituted righteous in justification of life.

Now look at the five verses within the parentheses. The first two address a difficulty that might arise in the minds of those familiar with the law. Adam sinned against a definite command; therefore, his sin was a transgression. After that, about 2,500 years passed before the law of Moses was given, and only then did transgression in the strict sense become possible again. Between those two points, there was no transgression, because there was no law to transgress. Yet sin was universal, as proved by the universal reign of death. The practical difference is this: sin is not “imputed” when there is no law—that is, it is not put to one’s account in the same way. Only those who have had the law will be judged by the law, as we saw in chapter 2.

Even so, it remains true that sin and death have reigned universally. All of Adam’s descendants are implicated in his fall. Accordingly, the contrast between Adam and Christ is developed in verses 15–17. Each verse emphasizes a different detail, but the main point is stated at the beginning of verse 15: the gift through Christ does not in any way fall short of the offence through Adam; in fact, it goes beyond it.

In verse 15, the word “many” appears twice, just as it does in verse 19. Here also, it is more precisely “the many,” meaning those under each headship respectively. Adam brought in death upon all under his headship, which in practice means every human being. Jesus Christ has brought in the grace of God and the gift in grace to “the many” who are under Him—that is, to all believers.

Verse 16 adds the contrast between condemnation and justification. In this respect, the gift surpasses the sin. Condemnation resulted from one offence. Justification has been triumphantly achieved by grace in spite of many offences.

Another contrast appears in verse 17. The condemnation and justification mentioned in verse 16 are what we might call the immediate effects. As soon as anyone is under Adam, he is under condemnation. As soon as anyone is under Christ, he is in justification. But what are the ultimate effects? The ultimate result of Adam’s sin was the universal reign of death over his descendants. The ultimate result of Christ’s righteous work is that all who are His receive an abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness, so that they reign in life. Not only will life reign, but we will reign in life—a truly astonishing thought! No wonder the gift is said to go beyond the offence.

Verses 20 and 21 review and summarize what we have seen. The law was brought in so that sin might be fully exposed. Sin was present all along, but when the law was given, sin became highly visible as deliberate transgression—offence clearly written down to man’s account. The law was followed, after a proper interval, by the grace that reached us in Christ. We can see, therefore, three stages: first, the period before the law, when there was sin but no transgression; second, the period of the law, when sin abounded and rose like mountains; third, the coming in of grace through Christ—grace that has risen like a mighty flood, overtopping the mountains of human sin.

In the Gospel, grace not only overflows—it reigns. We who have believed are under the gracious rule of grace, a grace that reigns through righteousness, because the cross was supremely a work of righteousness. And the glorious end and climax of the story is eternal life. Here, the limitless horizon of eternity begins to open before us. We see the river of grace. We see the channel of righteousness, cut by the work of the cross, through which it flows. Finally, we see the boundless ocean of eternal life, into which it empties.

And all of this is “by Jesus Christ our Lord.” He has accomplished all. He is the Head under whom we stand as believers, and therefore the Fountainhead from whom all these blessings flow to us. It is because we are in His life that all these things are ours. Our justification is a justification of life, for in Christ we have a life that is beyond any possibility of condemnation—a life in which we are cleared not only from all our offences but also from the state of sin in which we once lay as connected with Adam.

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