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Romans 5:20
“The law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly;”
The Apostle Paul is writing to believers in Rome, likely around the mid-first century CE. In this part of his letter, he's explaining how God's grace, given through Jesus, overcomes the pervasive power of sin that entered the world through Adam.
What does it mean to lean into 'more exceeding grace' rather than despair in the face of deep-seated human failings?
Then — the setting
Paul wrote this letter to the church in Rome, likely from Corinth, sometime in the mid-50s CE. He was preparing for a visit and wanted to lay out his understanding of the Gospel, particularly the universal need for salvation and God's solution through Christ. In Romans 5, he connects Adam's sin, which brought death to all humanity, with Christ's act of righteousness, which brings justification and life. The 'law' here refers to the Mosaic Law given to Israel. Paul argues its primary function was not to save, but to highlight the extent of humanity's inability to live up to God's standards, thereby making the need for grace even more apparent. This was a crucial point for his Jewish and Gentile readers, many of whom were struggling with the role of the Law in the new covenant.
Across the Testaments
This passage is in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, while the term 'grace' (חֵן, *chen*) is used, the concept of God's steadfast love (חֶסֶד, *hesed*) and mercy are prominent themes that lay the groundwork for Paul's argument. Prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah frequently lament Israel's sinfulness and disobedience, yet God's promises of restoration and forgiveness always exceed their failures (e.g., Isaiah 1:18, Jeremiah 31:31-34). The New Testament, particularly through Paul, fully unveils how this divine character of overflowing mercy finds its ultimate expression in the atoning work of Jesus Christ, making God's grace not just available, but 'super-abundant' (hyper-perisseuō in Greek) in the face of human sin, both personal and systemic.
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Read alongside it
This immediately follows, addressing the potential misunderstanding that abundant grace means we should continue sinning.
This Old Testament passage describes God's compassionate and abundant mercy, which echoes Paul's theme of grace.
Paul reiterates that salvation is by grace through faith, not by works, reinforcing the unmerited nature of grace.
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