New Living Translation
Romans 5:15
15But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:15 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
- English Standard Version (ESV)But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
- New King James Version (NKJV)But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.
Context of Romans 5:15
13Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. 14Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. 16And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
Read all of Romans 5Romans 5:15 word by word
ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὡς τὸ παράπτωμα οὕτως καὶ τὸ χάρισμα. εἰ γὰρ τῷ τοῦ ἑνὸς παραπτώματι οἱ πολλοὶ ἀπέθανον, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἡ χάρις τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἡ δωρεὰ ἐν χάριτι τῇ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐπερίσσευσεν.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Butἀλλάalla · butG235
- notοὐou · noG3756
- asὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
- the offenceὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- the offenceπαράπτωμαparaptōma · trespassG3900
- soοὕτωςhoutō · thus(-ly)G3779
- alsoκαίkai · andG2532
- the free giftχάρισμαcharisma · giftG5486
- Forγάρgar · forG1063
- ifεἰei · ifG1487
- of oneεἷςheis · oneG1520
- manyπολύςpolus polos · muchG4183
- be deadἀποθνήσκωapothnēskō · to dieG599
- moreμᾶλλονmallon · moreG3123
- the graceχάριςcharis · graceG5485
- of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
- the giftδωρεάdōrea · free giftG1431
- byἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
- manἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444
- JesusἸησοῦςIēsous · JesusG2424
- ChristΧριστόςChristos · ChristG5547
- hath aboundedπερισσεύωperisseuō · to exceedG4052
- untoεἰςeis · towardG1519
Cross-references for Romans 5:15
- Romans 5:16And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.
- Isaiah 55:8“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
- John 3:16“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
- John 4:10Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
- Romans 5:12When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
- Daniel 12:2Many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting disgrace.
- Matthew 20:28For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
- Matthew 26:28for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.
- Ephesians 2:8God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
- Romans 6:23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
- 2 Corinthians 9:15Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!
- Hebrews 2:9What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone.
- 1 John 4:9God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.
- 1 John 5:11And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
- Romans 5:20God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.
- Isaiah 53:11When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.
Commentaries on Romans 5:15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15But not as the offense, so also is the free gift - The same learned writer, quoted above, continues to observe: - "It is evident that the apostle, in this and the two following verses, is running a parallel, or making a comparison between the offense of Adam and its consequence; and the opposite gift of God and its consequences. And, in these three verses, he shows that the comparison will not hold good in all respects, because the free gift, , bestows…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15But not as the offence - This is the first point of contrast between the effect of the sin of Adam and of the work of Christ. The word “offence” means properly a fall, where we stumble over anything lying in our way It then means sin in general, or crime Matthew 6:14-15; Matthew 18:35. Here it means the fall, or first sin of Adam. We use the word “fall” as applied to Adam, to denote his first offence, as being that act by which he fell from an elevated…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-19Verses 15-19 Through one man's offence, all mankind are exposed to eternal condemnation. But the grace and mercy of God, and the free gift of righteousness and salvation, are through Jesus Christ, as man: yet the Lord from heaven has brought the multitude of believers into a more safe and exalted state than that from which they fell in Adam. This free gift did not place them anew in a state of trial, but fixed them in a state of justification, as Adam…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15Paul uses the word many to contrast with one. Many does not always mean all, but it can include everyone if the context suggests it. In this passage, the many who suffer death because of Adam clearly includes everyone (see 5:12). However, Paul explains elsewhere that the many who receive the gift of forgiveness through Jesus Christ does not include everyone (see 11:1–5).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. But--"Yet," "Howbeit." not as the offence--"trespass." so also is the free gift--or "the gracious gift," "the gift of grace." The two cases present points of contrast as well as resemblance. For if, &c.--rather, "For if through the offense of the one the many died (that is, in that one man's first sin), much more did the grace of God, and the free gift by grace, even that of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound unto the many." By "the many" is meant the…Read the comment
Topics related to Romans 5:15
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Romans 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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