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Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

and patience, experience; and experience, hope;

and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given unto us.

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

For scarcely will one die for a righteous man, yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die.

But God commendeth His love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

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

11 And not only that, but we shall also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

12 Therefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed onto all men, for all have sinned.

13 For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the similitude of Adam’s transgression, he being the figure of Him that was to come.

15 But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one Man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

16 And not as it was by one who sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is for many offenses unto justification.

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

18 Therefore as by the offense of one, judgment to condemnation came upon all men, even so by the righteousness of One, the free gift unto justification of life came upon all men.

19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.

20 Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound,

21 that, as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

16 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.

17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

18 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.

19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

God's friends

So we see that God has accepted us as right because we believe in him. As a result, we are friends with God, because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. Also, because we trust Jesus Christ, he has caused us to know that God is very kind. That makes us strong in our lives here. We also are sure that we will live with God in heaven. So we are very happy.[a]

We are happy even when we have troubles and pain. That is because we know that those troubles help us to become patient and strong. And when we remain strong, we show that we trust God. When we trust God like that, it causes us to hope for God's help. And when we hope like that, it will not disappoint us. That is because we know that God loves us very much. God has given his Holy Spirit to be with us. The Holy Spirit causes us to know God's love very well.

At one time we were weak and we could not help ourselves. Then, at the right time, Christ died to save us. He died on behalf of people who have turned away from God. Nobody will agree to die on behalf of another person, even if that person has done what is right. Maybe someone might be brave enough to die on behalf of a person who is very good. But God has shown us how much he loves us. Even when we still did not obey God, Christ died on our behalf.

Because Christ died on the cross, God has accepted us as right with himself. So we certainly know that Christ will save us when God judges everyone. Because of Jesus, God will not be angry with us and punish us. 10 While we were still God's enemies, God's Son died on our behalf. As a result, we became God's friends. So, now that we are God's friends, his Son will certainly save us. Christ will save us because he is alive again. 11 But that is not everything! We are very happy now because of what God has done for us. Our Lord Jesus Christ has made this possible. It is because of him that we have now become God's friends.

Adam and Christ

12 It was because of one man, Adam, that sin came into the world.[b] Death was the result of Adam's sin. Because of that, death came to all people, because everyone failed to obey God. 13 Before God gave his Law to Moses, people did wrong things. Sin was already there in the world. But at that time, God did not say that people were guilty, because there was no law for them to obey. 14 But still death ruled all people, from the time when Adam lived until the time when Moses lived. Everyone died, even those who did not fail in the same way that Adam failed.

Adam shows us something about God's special Messiah who would come at a future time. 15 But they are not the same. Adam was the man who did not obey what God said to him. Jesus Christ is the man who brought God's free gift to people. Adam was just one person but many people died because of his sin. But God has shown in a greater way that he is very kind to people. Very many people have received God's gift because of one man, Jesus Christ. Christ has been very kind to many people!

16 Also, God's gift is different from the result of Adam's sin. Adam chose not to obey God once and punishment came as a result. But the result of God's gift is greater. People have done many wrong things, not only one wrong thing. But God accepts them as right with him. 17 One man, Adam, did not obey God, and death began to rule everyone as a result. But what the one man, Jesus Christ, did is much greater! Because of him, people can become right with God. They receive that great gift from God because he is very good and very kind. Because of what Jesus Christ has done, those people will rule like kings in their lives.

18 So God's punishment came to all people because of that one wrong thing that Adam did. But the one thing that Christ did makes people free. God accepts all people because of that one good thing that Christ did. Those people receive true life from God. 19 One man did not obey God and, as a result, many people became guilty because of their sins. But, because one man did obey God, many people will become right with God.[c]

20 God gave his Law to Moses to show more clearly that people were doing wrong things. But when people did more and more wrong things, God continued to be kind in more and more ways. 21 We see that sin ruled people's lives and brought death to them. But God's gift makes people right with him, and that is what rules their lives. People receive that gift because God is kind. As a result, they will have life with God for ever, because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done.

Footnotes

  1. 5:2 If we trust Jesus Christ and we believe that he died on the cross as a sacrifice on our behalf, then we are happy. We know that God is kind and he makes us strong in the life that we live here. We also know that one day we will live with God in heaven. We will see that God is very great and we will praise him.
  2. 5:12 Adam was the first person that God made. See Genesis 1:26-27. God told Adam that he must not eat any fruit from a certain tree. But Adam did not obey God. See Genesis 2:15—3:13.
  3. 5:19 Jesus Christ died on the cross as a sacrifice, so that God would forgive people's sins. As a result, God forgives the sins of the many people who believe in Jesus. They become right with God. These people do not receive death as a punishment for sin. Instead, they receive true life as a gift from God, because he is kind.