Catholic Commentary on Romans 5

"God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

Peace with God

Romans 5 opens with the first fruits of justification: since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. But Paul goes further: we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. The chain of suffering, perseverance, character, and hope is not a pious sentiment but a theological claim: the suffering of the Christian, passed through faith, becomes the raw material of the spiritual virtues that the Spirit is forming.

Then the central verse of the chapter, one of the central verses of the whole letter: God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Not while we were trying, not while we were making progress, not while we were good enough. While we were still sinners. The timing is the whole argument. Divine love is not responsive to human worthiness. It is the initiative that precedes worthiness and makes it possible. The Catechism calls this the greatest act of God's love for humanity, the gift given before it could be deserved or earned (CCC 604).

Adam and Christ

The chapter ends with one of Paul's most profound theological moves: the parallel between Adam and Christ. Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people because all sinned. But the gift is not like the trespass: 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. Adam brought condemnation; Christ brings justification. Sin reigned in death; grace reigns through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. St. Irenaeus called this recapitulation the master key of salvation history: what Adam lost in disobedience, Christ restored in obedience.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Sit with that today. Not after you improved. Not after you cleaned up the worst things. While you were still in the middle of it. That is when he died for you. Let that knowledge do what it is designed to do: dissolve every argument for despair and every hesitation before the throne of grace.

Prayer

Lord God, while we were still sinners, your Son died for us. We have been justified by his blood and saved from your wrath through him. Let the love poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit be the foundation of our hope, which will never put us to shame. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

5
The Triumph of Faith
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have * 5:1 Or let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice † 5:2 Or exult; also in verses 3 and 11 in the hope of the glory of God.
 
3 Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
Christ’s Sacrifice for the Ungodly
(John 3:1–21)
 
6 For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
 
9 Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him! 10 For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! 11 Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Death in Adam, Life in Christ
(Genesis 3:1–7)
 
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned. 13 For sin was in the world before the law was given; but sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the way that Adam transgressed. He is a pattern of the One to come.
 
15 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, abound to the many! 16 Again, the gift is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment that followed one sin brought condemnation, but the gift that followed many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive an abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
 
18 So then, just as one trespass brought condemnation for all men, so also one act of righteousness brought justification and life for all men. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
 
20 The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

*5:1 5:1 Or let us have

†5:2 5:2 Or exult; also in verses 3 and 11

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