For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
For if by one man's offence. (This reading is preferable to Tischendorf's-`by one offence' х en (G1722) heni (G1520) paraptoomati (G3900)] - which is supported by A D E F G, two copies of the Old Latin, and no other authorities: whereas the received reading is supported by 'Aleph (') B C K L, many cursives, two copies of the Old Latin, the Vulgate-in unius delicto-both Syriac versions, and the Memphitic, and most of the fathers. Lachmann and Tregelles retain it, and most critics prefer it.) Death reigned by ('the') one; much more they which receive ('the') abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness - that is, 'justifying righteousness,'
Shall reign in life by one ('through the one'), Jesus Christ. We have here the two ideas of Romans 5:15-16 sublimely combined into one, as if the subject had grown upon the apostle as he advanced in his comparison of the two cases. Here, for the first time in this section, does he speak of that LIFE which springs out of justification, in contrast with the death which springs from sin and follows condemnation. The proper idea, therefore, of the word "life" here is, 'Right to live'-`Righteous life'-life possessed and enjoyed with the good will, and in conformity with the eternal law, of "Him that sitteth on the Throne;" life, therefore, in its widest sense-life in the whole man and throughout the whole duration of human existence, the life of blissful and loving relationship to God in soul and body forever and ever. It is worthy of note, too, that while he says death "reigned over" us through Adam, he does not say Life 'reigns over us' through Christ; lest he should seem to invest this new life with the very attribute of the death-that of fell and malignant tyranny-of which we were the hapless victims.
Nor does he say Life reigns in us, which would have been a Scriptural enough idea; but, which is much more pregnant, "We shall reign in life." While freedom and might are implied in the figure of 'reigning,' 'life' is represented as the glorious territory or atmosphere of that reign. And by recurring to the idea of Romans 5:16 - as to the "many offences" whose complete pardon shows "the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness" - the whole statement amounts to this: 'If one man's one offence let loose against us the tyrant power of Death, to hold us as its victims in helpless bondage, "much more," when we stand forth enriched with God's "abounding grace," and in the beauty of a complete absolution from countless offences, shall we expatiate in a life divinely owned and legally secured, "reigning" in exultant freedom and unchallenged might, through that other matchless "One," Jesus Christ!' (On the import of the future tense in this last clause, see the notes at Romans 5:19 and Romans 6:5.)
Fourth: To sum up all in one word-Humanity owes its ruin and its recovery to TWO MEN: condemnation to the one, justification to the other; death to the one, life to the other (Romans 5:18-19)