Romans 5:20–21
“But the law came in so that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
A person may become a Christian by conviction, by professing belief in Jesus Christ, through family background, or for other reasons, such as marrying a Christian. However, this does not necessarily constitute true faith. True faith is faith that makes a decision and acts to follow Jesus.
Just as through the disobedience of one man, Adam, all people became sinners, so also through the obedience of one Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, humanity becomes righteous. Yet becoming righteous is not merely being justified. Through one man, Adam, all became sinners. Now, through Jesus, humanity becomes righteous. Here, righteousness does not merely mean “being regarded as righteous,” but truly becoming righteous.
Because of Adam, we all became unrighteous: possessing a sinful nature, corrupted, and unworthy to receive eternal life, for nothing unclean can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Now, because of Jesus, humanity has the possibility of becoming righteous, yet this process does not occur automatically.
The context of these verses is the struggling Roman congregation. Paul is speaking to believers in Rome who lived out an active faith—a faith expressed through obedience and faithfulness. Therefore, we should not simply take these statements and apply them carelessly to our own lives while not living as the Roman believers did. Such an attitude is misleading. We must understand the context. The stories in the Bible must be extracted for their truth and wisdom—this is genuine truth.
The Roman believers had faith and were justified. To have faith means to act, just as Abraham acted on his faith. Thus, if someone claims to have faith, he must act like Abraham. Through one man, Adam, all sinned; through one Person, Jesus, humanity becomes righteous. Becoming righteous is not merely being justified; it is truly becoming righteous. For what purpose? For eternal life.
Therefore, the concept of grace must not be narrowed merely to a gift that enables people to escape hell and enter heaven. Such an understanding is misleading and deceives many. It makes it seem as though human beings do not need to struggle because Jesus has already struggled for them. This is incorrect. We too must struggle. Within grace lies the possibility of possessing the same quality of life that Jesus possessed.
Grace is not merely a gift that allows people to enter heaven and escape hell; within it is the potential and power to possess the quality of life of Jesus. In grace, there is authority (exousia) to live a life of the same quality as that lived by Jesus.
If grace is understood only as a gift to keep people from hell, without being linked to the transformation of life quality into the likeness of Jesus, then this is not a complete understanding of grace. Grace understood merely as a gift to avoid hell is grace without responsibility; it is futile. It is the same as salvation that is extremely precious but becomes meaningless because it is not worked out with fear and trembling.
That is why believers must live in grace. To live in grace means no longer living in sin. To live in grace means living in responsibility: not living according to the flesh, but living according to the Spirit.
Within grace, there is power that enables us to come out of the sinful nature and experience life transformation, even new birth. However, a new birth is not automatic. New birth is a struggle, not a one-sided event accomplished by God without human involvement. This is the misunderstanding many Christians have, causing many to die spiritually because they assume that God has done everything and that the entire Christian life is merely a divine script. Christianity understood in this way is a corrupted Christianity.