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Romans 5:21 – Eternal – Death or Life

Posted on February 24, 2010 by Will

Romans 5:21

so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Truth to Learn

Even though we were ruled over by sin in the past, God’s grace will reign over us because of the righteousness that He imputes to us when we submit to Him as our Lord.

Behind the Words

The words “reigned” and “might reign” are translated from basileuō, meaning “to reign” or “to be king” as we saw back in verse fourteen. The verb forms in this verse are very telling. “Reigned” is in the aorist, active, indicative indicating a past action occurring at a point in time. Hence, it could be translated as “began to reign” or “reigned” as we have it in this translation. However, “might reign” is an aorist, active, subjunctive, which implies something that is not necessarily occurring at the moment but that might occur in the future.

“Eternal” is translated from the Greek word aiōnios, which is from aiōn, meaning “an age” or “a long period of time.” Hence, aiōnios means “perpetual, everlasting, or eternal.

The word translated “Lord” is kurios, which comes from the noun kuros, meaning “might or power.” The word kurios means “one who is supreme in authority or power, a master, or an owner.” When we refer to Jesus Christ as our Lord we are saying that he is our owner, the one who has supreme authority over all that we do and that we have submitted our will to His.

Meaning Explained

Paul now ties-up the entire chapter in this one verse. Previously Paul taught us that the Law came in to make the presence of sin much more evident. It was the spotlight that made sin undeniable. And he said that where sin was more apparent, grace was even more so. That is, as the knowledge of sin became greater, the recognition of the immenseness of the grace became even greater. To use a military analogy, the greater and more powerful the enemy, the greater is the reputation of the army that conquers that enemy.

Paul now makes the final comparison. On the one hand, sin has reigned unbeatable in the past, producing death. From 2Thessalonians we know that this death is everlasting:

… and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9)

But in the final showdown, grace will defeat the enemy. It will reign over death and through righteousness (imputed by that grace) it will produce in us eternal life. This grace which allows righteousness to be imputed to us is only made possible through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Application

Thank you, Heavenly Father for helping me see my sinfulness and for your gracious gift, the blood of your only begotten son that paid for my sins. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the promise of eternal life rather than the eternal punishment that I deserve. Truly, you are worthy of my worship and my praise! You are my Owner, my Master, and my Lord, and I willingly submit my will to yours. Amen.

In God’s service, for His glory,

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Romans 5:17 – A Reigning Gift

Posted on February 18, 2010 by Will

Romans 5:17

For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

Truth to Learn

We will reign with Christ because of what He has done for us.

Behind the Words

“Offence” is from the word paraptōma, which we saw a couple verses back meaning “a falling by the wayside.”

“Death” is a word we haven’t looked at yet. It is from the Greek word thanatos, which is based on the verb thaneskō, meaning “to die.” Thanatos is actually an adjective in form but it is a noun in usage. It is used to refer to physical death (the death of our physical bodies) as well as spiritual death (exclusion from the presence and favor of God). The base meaning of this word implies separation. Regarding physical death it is the separation of the soul and spirit from the body. With respect to spiritual death is the separation of the spirit from the presence and favor of God.

The word “receive” is translated from the Greek word lambanō, meaning “to take, to accept, or to receive.” It is expressed here as a participle (who are receiving).

The word translated “abundance” is perisseia, which is based on the verb perisseuō, which we also saw a couple of verses back. Perisseia roughly means “more than enough” or “an overflowing.”

Meaning Explained

Paul now combines and summarizes the previous two verses in a single statement. He starts off with, “For if by one man’s offense death reigned.” This is another first class conditional phrase as we saw two verses back, so we can read it as, “For since by one man’s offense death reigned” But the word, “man’s” is not present in the original, so we can read this as, “For since by one offense death reigned by one (man).” Paul says death has reigned as a result of one offense by one man.

The next phrase starts out with “much more.” In other words, this phrase is of even greater impact than the previous phrase. This phrase, “those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness,” is talking about those of us who have been saved by grace through faith.

He now makes a play on words in the midst of this very difficult passage. In the first part of this verse, Paul talked about death reigning over all of mankind as a result of sin. Now he says that we who are saved will reign in life; that is, in heaven we will reign with Christ in a state of eternal life. And that reign of ours, with Christ, will be as a result of one man, Jesus Christ.

Now let’s read this entire verse: “For since by one offense death reigned by one (man), much more those receiving an excess of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One (man), Jesus Christ.”

Application

Death reigns over us because of what Adam did, and no matter how much good we try to do, we cannot earn our way out of it. Our eternal reign with Christ, however, is God’s overflowing gift to us because of what Jesus Christ has done for us.

In God’s service, for His glory,

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Romans 5:14 – Sin on the Throne

Posted on February 15, 2010 by Will

Romans 5:14

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

Truth to Learn

Even those who lived before the Law were sinners and suffered death as a result.

Behind the Words

“Reigned” is from basileuō, which is the verb form of the noun basileus, meaning “a king.” Thus we see that basileuō literally means “to be king” or as we have it in this verse, “to reign.”

The word “likeness” is translated from homoiōma, which is derived from the verb homoioō, meaning “to make like.” Hence, homoiōma means “a resemblance” or “a likeness.” This word does not imply any relationship between the two things, only a similarity in appearance or function.

The word translated “transgression” is the Greek word parabasis, meaning “to go beyond, cross over, or overstep.” It is most often used to indicate an overstepping of a legal limit. Hence, it usually means “to violate a law or regulation.”

“Type” is translated from the Greek word tupos, which literally refers to “a die or a stamp that is used to make similar impressions or representations.” Figuratively, it refers to something that has the form or resemblance of something else.

Meaning Explained

Paul is now driving home the fact that we discussed in the previous verse. That is, that death was visited upon all men from Adam all the way up until the Law was delivered by Moses. Therefore, all the people who lived before the Law must have been sinners.

Just to help us all with a little bit of perspective: the time from Adam to Moses is around 2500 years. That’s longer than from the time of Christ until the present. The period of “the Law,” the time from the giving of the Law until the death of Christ, is about 1300 years. So the amount of time between Adam and Moses is roughly 40% of the entire history of mankind.

Paul here says that death reigned over mankind before the Law even though these people didn’t sin in the same manner as Adam. Sin is sin no matter how great or how small, and it doesn’t matter whether a person sinned once or many, many times. Everyone who descended from Adam, even before the Law was delivered, is a sinner and suffers death as a result of their sin.

The closing statement in this verse is a significant transitional statement. It says that Adam was a “type” of the one who is to come (referring to Christ). In other words, Jesus Christ is a type of Adam. Paul gives a description of what he means by this in 1Corinthians15:45-49 where he refers to Christ as the “last Adam.” But here, Paul will compare, or more correctly, contrast, the two men (Adam and Jesus) to show us how the conduct of both Adam and Jesus has a lasting effect on each one of us personally. But he will also show us the distinct difference in the results of their actions.

Application

While it’s true we can all blame Adam for our sinfulness, we can’t blame him for our sins. Because of our sins we face death. However, because of Jesus Christ, we can experience eternal life, even though we will experience physical death.

In God’s service, for His glory,

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Romans 5:12 – Ancestral Sin

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Will

Romans 5:12

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—

Truth to Learn

Our sinfulness is a result of our being a descendant of Adam.

Behind the Words

The words “just as” are translated from the Greek word hōsper, which is used to introduce the first member of a comparison. However, Paul never grammatically introduces the second member, although it is clear that he is comparing the sin-producing work of Adam with the atoning work of Christ.

“Entered” is from the Greek eiserchomai, which is composed of eis, meaning “into” or “unto” and erchomai, meaning “to come” or “to go.” Hence, it means “to come into.” It is expressed in the aorist tense indicating an action that was completed at a point in time in the past.

The word “spread” is dierchomai, which is composed of a form of dia, meaning “through” or “throughout” and erchomai, meaning “to come” or “to go.” This word is immediately followed by the preposition epi, meaning “upon.” So, we see that Paul is saying “came through upon” or “spread to.”

Meaning Explained

This passage, beginning here and continuing through verse twenty-one, has been described as one of the most difficult parts of the New Testament. Unfortunately the brevity of these daily devotional studies will prevent us from going into the depth necessary to have a full understanding of this passage.

The first thing we see in this verse is that sin entered this world through one man, Adam. Adam was commanded not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam disobeyed, thus sinning against God. Up until that time sin had not existed in our physical world.

The second thing we see is that death entered into this world by this sin. Paul will tell us in the next chapter that the result of sin is death. Here he tells us that it was through Adam’s sin that death became a reality to us all. We see by implication that had Adam never sinned, he never would have died. In fact, God warned him about death being the consequence of disobedience when He first commanded Adam not to eat of that tree, “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” [Genesis 2:17]

The third thing we see in this verse is that from Adam’s sin, death spread to all of us. There is no disputing that all men die. Paul is simply telling us here that this death that Adam suffered as a result of his sin is passed on to all of his descendents. The reason that we all die is because we all sinned.

In this passage Paul does not say whether he is referring to physical death or spiritual death, though his implication is physical death based on the next few verses.

Now, hang in there because there’s more to come in the following verses.

Application

We are sinners because we are descendants from Adam. We can blame Adam for our sinfulness, but we can’t blame Adam for our sins. That’s why we need a Savior.

In God’s service, for His glory,

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Romans 5:10 – Living Salvation

Posted on February 9, 2010 by Will

Romans 5:10

For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Truth to Learn

Our debt was paid by Jesus’ death, but it is his resurrection to life that secures our salvation.

Behind the Words

“Enemies” is from echthros, which means “hatred, enmity, hostility, or antagonistism.” In Greek, this word is expressed in the nominative, plural. Therefore, a literal translation is “hated ones” or “enemies.”

The word translated “reconciled” is the Greek word katallassō, which is made up of kata, used as an intensifier and allasso, meaning “to change the form or nature of something.” In the New Testament this word is used to indicate the change that God makes in man through conversion so that he may be reconciled to the holy God.

The words “much more” are pollō mallon in the Greek. Mallon is a comparative indicating “more in quality or quantity” and pollō means “much in quantity or amount.” The word pollō has its own comparative form, indicating more of one thing than another. The fact that both words are used together indicates an emphasis in the comparison, that is, “a whole lot more!”

Meaning Explained

This verse represents one of the pinnacles of great theological truth found in the book of Romans. In the previous verse we learned that we were justified by the shedding of His (God the Son’s) blood and, as a result, we will be saved from His (God, the Father’s) wrath at the judgment. Now we see that it was through the death of Jesus Christ that this reconciliation took place. And now that we have been reconciled, of even greater importance is the fact that we shall be saved (from the wrath to come) by His life.

There is a subtle statement here that we don’t want to read past without recognizing. Yes, we will be saved from the wrath of God (from the Great White Throne Judgment and the lake of fire) which we discussed in the previous verse, and this is a particular point that Paul wants us to understand. The previous verse said that we will be saved from the wrath through Him. However, this verse amplifies that statement by saying that we will be saved through “His life.” Do you see that? It is the blood that satisfies God’s justice but it is Jesus’ resurrected life, the fact that he lives to intercede for us, that guarantees we will be saved and live eternally. That is the essence of the gospel which we must believe to be saved; Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, and He was raised from the dead (given life) that we might be saved from the Wrath of God. His eternal life is the guarantee that we, too, will be given eternal life. We must believe both in the death and the resurrection, for according to Paul, it is this resurrection and the life that He now possesses by which we will be saved.

Jesus gave His life to pay the penalty of our sins, and God the Father gave that life back to Him so that we might be saved from the wrath of our sins, if we believe in it.

Application

Do you believe it? If so, you will be saved from the wrath that you deserve. However, if you don’t believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, you will suffer the wrath that God says we so justly deserve.

In God’s service, for His glory,

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2 Peter 1:14 – The Final Doorway

Posted on April 22, 2009 by admin

2 Peter 1:14

because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

Truth to Learn

Life here on earth is short and only temporary. What we do during this time, however, will have eternal consequences.

Behind the Words

The expression “put it aside” comes from the Greek word apothesis, which is a compound word made up of apo, meaning “from” or “away from” and a form of tithemi, which means “to lay something down” or “to put something in the proper place.” It is the word that is used to express the removing of one’s clothes and laying them down or putting them away. It expresses a calm, casual experience.

The word “tabernacle” appeared in the previous verse and, in the Greek text, also appears in this verse, though it has been translated as the word “it” in the New International Version which we have here. A literal translation of the first half of this verse would be:

having known that soon is the laying aside of my tabernacle

Tabernacle is a word that is often misunderstood today. Because of its reputation for great acoustics, the Mormon Tabernacle, a huge, massive structure built expressly for public performances, is what is often thought of when we hear this word. However, that’s not at all what this word means. It comes from the Greek word skēnōmatos, which refers to “a tent.” It is a small flimsy structure that is used in a transient nature as a temporary dwelling place. Similarly, our earthly body is not permanent nor something for us to use in a public display to draw attention to ourselves. It is, rather, a flimsy, temporary dwelling place for our soul.

Meaning Explained

Peter knows that the time of his death was drawing near. The type of death he should die was prophesied by Christ some 30 years earlier (John 21:18,19). On the surface it seems that this is all Peter has to say in today’s verse. But, as is often the case with Scripture, if we are in a hurry when we read, we dash right past some nuggets on the way. This nugget is what Peter refers to as his tent or his tabernacle. He knows that this body is temporary and the time spent in it is fleeting. But he is ready to calmly and confidently lay it aside and walk into eternity. He’s not looking at death, he’s looking at eternity with Christ.

One day in the future we too will put off this temporary dwelling place as we pass through the gates that lead from this life to eternity. It is both an end and a beginning, the end of our time on this earth and the beginning of glory in the presence of the Lord. When we walk through that door, we will be able to look back and see whether it has been a life of service (the production of eternal rewards) or a life of emptiness (time wasted that could have been used for God’s glory), which Solomon called “vanity.”

Application

When you reach death’s door will you be ready to calmly lay aside this tabernacle and head into eternity? Or will you finally realize that you could have done much more if your focus had been on God instead of yourself?

It’s not too late! We still have time left, so let’s get to work for God and for His glory!

In God’s service, for His glory,

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