f

Much more the grace of God, and the gift

by grace, which is by one Man, Jesus

Christ, hath abounded unto many.

B

5:16,17. d  And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the

gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the

free gift is of many offences unto justification.

e

For if by one man's offence death reigned

by one;

f

Much more they which receive abundance of

grace and of the gift of righteousness shall

reign in life by One, Jesus Christ.

A

a  Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon

all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of One the free

gift came upon all men unto justification of life.  For as by one man's

disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall

many be made righteous.

b

Moreover the law entered, that the offence might

abound.  But where sin abounded, grace did much more

c

That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so

might grace reign through righteousness unto

eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord'.

It will be seen that verses 15-17 form a large parenthesis, the theme

of verses 12-14 being resumed and restated in verses 18-21.  Conybeare and

Howson in a note to Romans 5:12 say:

`Much difficulty has been caused to interpreters here by the `as'

(hosper, which introduces the first member of the parallel) having no

answering `so' (houtos, nor anything equivalent to it) to introduce the

The difficulty vanishes when we perceive by the structure, that the

argument is restated in verses 18-21, where the needed `even so', that is

absent in verses 12-14, is found in its proper place.  We shall make fewer

exegetical errors, and practise a truer humility, if, as our guiding

principle, we take the words of Psalm 119:128 `I esteem all Thy precepts

concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way', and criticize

ourselves instead of criticizing the Scriptures.

The first item of teaching in Romans 5:12 is continued in the reference

to Adam -- `by one man'.  The most casual perusal of the chapter can hardly

fail to bring under notice the repetition of this feature, and a careful

examination shows that in the ten verses 12-21, there are no less than twelve

occurrences of this word `one' in various connections:

`By one man sin entered into the world' (Rom. 5:12).

`If through the offence of one many be dead' (5:15).

`The gift by grace, which is by One Man, Jesus Christ'  (5:15).

`Not as it was by one that sinned' (5:16).

`The judgment was by one to condemnation' (5:16).

`For if by one man's offence death reigned by one' (5:17).

`They which receive ... shall reign in life by One' (5:17).