Romans Chapter 5 Vs. 20

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: Rom 5:20

entered, that the... The law with its many statutes entered to condemn the many kinds of offenses and make man know in detail what sin was. It was added until the seed should come (Gal. 3:19-25). Those who accept Christ receive free pardon of all offenses and grace abounds and reigns in life (Rom. 5:20-21; 1Jhn. 1:9; Rev. 1:5). If one sin was too great and heinous for grace to pardon, then grace would cease to reign in righteousness and sin would be more powerful than Jesus Christ and His power.

When God gave the law to man, it showed man how far short he had fallen in God’s ways. There was absolutely no way that fleshly man could keep God’s law. Man realized he needed a Savior. Through the grace of God, Jesus Christ became our Savior.

Although the Mosaic Law is not flawed, its presence caused man’s sin to increase. Thus it made men more aware of their own sinfulness and inability to keep God’s perfect standard, and it served as a tutor to drive them to Christ (Gal 3:24).

A remaining question in this discussion is, Where does the Mosaic Law fit into all this and why? Paul explained, The Law was added so that the trespass (paraptōma, cf. Rom. 5:15-19) might increase (“abound”). The word “added” should be rendered “came in beside,” for it translates the verb pareisēlthen. Two similar verbs, eisēlthen and diēlthen, were used in Rom. 5:12. Gal. 2:4 is the only other place in the New Testament that uses the Greek verb for “came in beside.”

Is the statement in Rom. 5:20 a purpose or a result clause? The coming of the Mosaic Law (clearly meant here in light of Rom. 5:13-14) did result in the abounding of “the trespass” (the consequence of any law), but (also in the light of Rom. 5:13-14 and Rom. 4:15) the Mosaic Law came in “so that” (purpose) abounding sin might be recognized as abounding trespass.

The result was that where sin increased (lit., “abounded”; cf. Rom. 5:20) grace increased all the more (“overflowed superlatively”; cf. “overflow” in Rom. 5:15). What a contrast! No matter how great human sin becomes, God’s grace overflows beyond it and abundantly exceeds it. No wonder Paul wrote that God’s grace “is sufficient” (2Cor. 12:9). God’s goal (hina, so, introduces a purpose clause) is that His grace might reign through righteousness (the righteousness of Christ provided for people) to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.