Author: Ben Bourland

16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. Romans 5:16

This verse presents a theological contrast between the consequences of Adam’s sin and the gift of grace through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul explains that the judgment resulting from one man’s sin—Adam—led to condemnation. In contrast, the free gift that comes after many trespasses leads to justification. This highlights several theological themes.

First, it points out the contrast between Adam and Christ. Adam’s single act of disobedience brought condemnation to humanity, while Christ’s act of sacrifice brings justification even after so many sins. This sets up a situation where Adam represents the fall and Christ represents redemption.

Second, it contrasts judgment and gift. Judgment is the rightful consequence of our sin, showing God’s justice. The gift, however, is undeserved and shows God’s mercy. God’s grace is not a reversal of judgment but a crediting of it to Jesus, Who paid for it.

Third, the verse contrasts condemnation and justification. Condemnation is a legal declaration of guilt, while justification is a legal declaration of righteousness. Through Christ, we believers are not just forgiven—we are declared righteous.

Fourth, it shows the scope of grace. Adam’s sin affected all people, but Christ’s gift is available to all who receive it by faith. Grace is not limited by the number or severity of sins; it is abundant and sufficient.

Spiritually, this verse teaches that while sin has real consequences, God’s grace is greater. It invites believers to trust in the sufficiency of Christ’s righteousness and marvel at the depth of divine mercy.

APPLICATION

I can apply this verse to my life by remembering that grace is not something I earn—it’s a gift that covers even my repeated failures. When I mess up, I don’t have to live under the weight of condemnation. Instead, I can turn to Christ, knowing that His gift of justification is stronger than my sin. That frees me to live with hope and humility.

It also reminds me to extend grace to others. If God’s gift can cover many trespasses, then I shouldn’t be stingy with forgiveness or quick to judge. I want to reflect that same mercy in how I lead, mentor, and parent—offering restoration instead of punishment when someone falls short.

Finally, this verse helps me stay grounded in gratitude. I didn’t earn this standing with God, and I can’t lose it by failing. That truth gives me courage to keep going, even when I feel inadequate. I’m not defined by my worst moment—I’m defined by Christ’s gift

15 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. Romans 5:15

In these next 3 verses, I will cover in as many days, are 3 amazing truths that Paul shares with us. The first is the Grace of God that has come to so many after the trespass of one man, Adam for that which died. So, the gift is not like the sin Adam committed. It is so much more because of Who the grace is offered through. By the sin Adam committed, we are born into sin because of the nature of sin that was passed down to us by birth. BUT, Jesus, Who committed no sin, willingly gave Himself as the ultimate sacrifice to bring about the grace through God to all who trust in His Son Jesus.

So, the gift of Jesus is so much more than the sin that sunk us. We just need to accept it in a surrendering way. Trusting in Jesus means that He becomes the Lord of our life. There is no sharing of our heart when it comes to Him. He is either has it all or He hasn’t been given it, at all.

APPLICATION

Do I live every facet of my life surrendered to Him? He has my heart but this carcass, world I live in, and the great deceiver have not left…surrender to God is a second-by-second choice. That choice, however; is reinforced with an acknowledgement of what He has done and the gift I have received through that work. It is not only a commitment I made, it is a moment-by-moment recognition in gratefulness of the hope in eternity I have because of King Jesus.

9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. Romans 4:9-12

This is such an awesome point that Paul is making here in Romans 4 and can be applied to our own lives today. I can call myself a Christian and even have the title of elder or even Follower of Jesus…but that does not make me righteous.

Abraham was declared righteous by faith before he was circumcised. This means his right standing with God wasn’t based on a physical act or religious identity. Circumcision was a sign, a seal of the righteousness he already had by faith. Therefore, Abraham is the spiritual father of:

• The uncircumcised who believe (Gentiles),
• And the circumcised who not only bear the sign but who also follow Abraham’s example of faith – faith in the Lord Jesus now that the He as the Messiah, has come to bear sin.

Faith, not ritual, title, or heritage, is the basis for being made right with God. This opens the door for everyone—Jew and Gentile alike—to be part of God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

APPLICATION

I need to be careful of the Pharisaical propensities that I might have as a serving follower of Jesus. I must preach the gospel to myself every morning and live a life that is not my own. I have been purchased at the highest price. I still live in this earthly carcass that is bent on responding to the world’s pleasures and enticement of sin. I am reminded of Hebrews 12:1&2a. “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud witnesses, let us through off everything that hinders, the sin that so easily entangles…let us run with perseverance, the race that has been set before us, looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” This is one of my memorized passages of scripture and one that is so wonderful to pray through to remind myself Who matters.

5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” Romans 4:5-8

Just as a someone has their monetary debts covered by a gift of mercy, Jesus bore our sin, and the Father does not count them against us! How crazy is that?!?

When Jesus secured our freedom from sin, God forgave our lawless deeds. God’s plan for us is so perfect. When we accept the truth of Jesus and His blood poured out for us, our sin is covered. We still did them, the old man in us did live, and our new man remembers what we have been saved from. It is this heart condition that David is talking about above from Psalm 31:1&2. This passage continues with “I acknowledged my sin to You, and I did not cover my iniquity!” I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

David was a man after God’s own heart yet as we know, David was no saint. He committed some of the most heinous sins, yet in his grief and shame, he humbled himself before the LORD of Hosts and cast all his sin at the foot of God. His faith produced a bestowing of righteousness and the moniker of a “man after God’s own heart”. David’s story, from his earliest years, was a man who knew God was real, saw the hand of God so deliberately in his own life, yet also fell in so many yucky ways. In the end it was his brokenness and contrite heart before the Lord that captured God’s favor on him.

The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
    You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

Psalm 51:17 (NLT)

APPLICATION

Psalm 51:17 is such a beautiful capture of the type of heart God is looking for. He is not looking for the righteous pious servant, no, God is looking for a broken and contrite heart that stands before a mighty and holy God. A heart that recognizes the depravity it contains relative to pure and just God. This must be my state in all that I do – whether that is at work or serving as an elder at church. He is everything, I am nothing…if anything good comes from His life in me, it is only Him Who deserves all the glory. In short, my life IS HIS. It is He Who lives in me.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and  are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. Romans 3:21-24

Wow! I have been chewing on this one passage for multiple days. Reading it, reading the passage before it, and reading it again.

The first underlined piece above comes right after Paul talking about those who are judged ‘under the law’…all of us. We are sunk in our sin that is defined by the law of Moses. There is no way to escape it! Until…the “BUT NOW”. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law. Meaning, following under the rule of the law was impossible. We sin and then the law just helps us see that we have sinned. There is no way for the law to save us because it is impossible for us to stay obedient to the law. “But NOW” there is a new way to receive the righteousness that only ‘following the law perfectly’ could produce before.

through the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for ALL who believe

For those who believe AND have faith in Jesus Christ, EVEN THOUGH they have ALL SINNED and fallen short of the glory of God, ARE JUSTIFIED by His GRACE as a GIFT, through the redemption that IS IN Christ Jesus.

This propitiation by His blood is ONLY received by FAITH. It’s all here —It’s amazing to me that it could not be any more clear but so many are still confused.

Tomorrow we are going to see how it is that God had passed righteousness onto people in the Old Testament through something called ‘Forbearance’.

APPLICATION

Oh, how grateful I am to the Creator God of all that we know and see, to provide us a way to receive His gift of righteousness we could never earn. My sin, even if it is small, is enough to separate me from God for all eternity…but no, in His love He manifested another way other than the impossible way of perfectly adhering to the Law…through faith in His Son, the Truth, the Life, and the Way. Thank you, God, Almighty for the gift of your Son!!

19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. Romans 3:19-20

It may look like Paul is singling someone out here….but he is not. Those under the law is -> every unredeemed human being. The children of Israel have the law through Moses and the Gentiles have the works of the law written on their hearts (Romans 1:20). So, every single person is held accountable to God.

“Every mouth stopped” — there is simply nothing anyone can say in their defense when God’s guilty verdict is pronounced on the whole human race. Finally in verse 20, Paul tells us that no human being can appropriately follow the law God requires. Every single one of us are plagued with the inability to follow it perfectly.

The law makes sin known to each person, but that knowledge can’t save us from the sin that has been revealed to us. This is the condition every person must come to fundamental understanding of; applied to their own lives, in order to see the amazing gift of the gospel.

APPLICATION

Even after coming to this place in my own life, seeing my own separation from God in sin that carries with it a deserving of the wrath of God, and laying all of my worthlessness at the feet of Jesus…I still need to preach this to myself every day. My justified spirit lives in this fallible carcass. My dependence on the Lord, His Word, and His Holy Spirit are His tools that give me the strength and discernment to see my sin and confess it before God and repent. I hope to get as close as I can to being like God’s Son before He returns or takes me home. That means that I must continue to throw off the old self and embrace the transformed heart that desires God, not this world or anything in it.

9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Romans 3:9-18

No single person (outside of our Lord Jesus Christ) can stand and say that they have done enough to get to heaven. Being better than the person standing next to you is not going to make the bar. Paul’s whole message is that there is no way to a Hope in Heaven that we can do by our own means. We all, through the fall of Adam and Eve have inherited a sinful heart and before we can even reason to do right, we have already sinned to the extent that we deserve to be punished for it. Paul goes into excruciating detail on all the ways we have all stepped in to the state of guilt before a Holy and Pure God.

Just look in the world we live in today. Our news is full of it, our TV is infested with it, and no matter where you go on Social Media, it is rampant. Our only hope is a faith in the One Who already paid the ultimate price….a sacrifice of perfect man Who has no sin, so that He could be made sin for us. Experiencing the separation from God that we all deserve. BUT, the Father raised Him on the 3rd day, setting Him on the throne to not only rule Heaven today, but also the be the Judge on that fateful day.

APPLICATION

I deserve what I was destined to receive before I met my Savior. It is only by God’s grace through His Son alone that I have an eternal hope. Spiritual death for me has been conquered by Jesus Christ and His righteousness has been credited to me. For this! I am forever grateful and serve Him with all that I am, and all that I can do. Thank you, Jesus, for rescuing me from the pit!