Romans 5:19 continues, “For just as through the disobedience of one man the many were constituted sinners, so also through the obedience of the One the many will be constituted righteous.” On the cross Christ obeyed God even unto death (Phil. 2:8). God recognized the death of Christ on the cross as obedience and a righteous act. Through this one obedient act of Christ, the many, that is, the believers, will be constituted righteous. The obedience of Christ has constituted us righteous; that is, through His obedience, grace—God personified—comes to give us life and enjoyment. When Christ, the living God, comes into our being as grace, we are constituted righteous. We were constituted sinful, but now we are reconstituted righteous.
Whether we are sinners or are righteous depends not on our actions but on our inward constitution. Through his fall Adam received an element that was not created by God. This was the satanic nature, which became the constituting essence and main element of fallen man. It is this constituting essence and element that constituted all men sinners. We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. Whether we do good or evil, in Adam we have been constituted sinners. This is due to our inward element, not our outward actions.
In contrast, Christ constitutes us righteous. When He, the living God, comes into our being as grace for our enjoyment, we are constituted righteous. He becomes the constituting essence and element in us that can transform us from sinners into sons of God. He alone is able to accomplish such a reconstituting work.
Romans 5:20-21 continues, saying that grace, having superabounded, “might reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The preceding points revealed in Romans 5:15-19 are expressed in the following sentence: The grace of God and the gift in grace of Christ justify us that we may have the divine life and reign in life. God has grace, and He desires to give us His grace through Christ. God’s grace with the gift in grace of Christ—the gift of righteousness—has justified us that we may have life and reign in life. Through the obedience of Christ, He as grace has come into us to constitute us righteous persons. Now grace has superabounded in order that it might reign in us, that is, that it might rule in us as a king through righteousness, which we have received, unto eternal life. It is unto eternal life that the grace of God with the gift of Christ has justified us. The abounding grace brings us into the experience of the eternal life.
It is through righteousness that grace reigns unto eternal life. Righteousness is the footing, the base, and the means for God to dispense Himself to us as grace. This righteousness gives us the ground to claim God as our grace. We may say, “Lord, You cannot withhold Yourself from me as grace, because I stand on the ground of justification. You have given Christ to be my righteousness as a gift, and I stand on this position. Lord, give Yourself to me as grace for my enjoyment.” By giving grace to us, God manifests His righteousness (1:17). Furthermore, the power of this grace operates in us and produces subjective righteousness, making us right with God, with others, and even with ourselves; and it not only subdues sin but also overcomes Satan and death in our being. Thus, grace reigns through righteousness, resulting in eternal life.
The grace of God has superabounded that it might reign in us unto eternal life. On the one hand, according to 5:17, we will reign, that is, we will reign in life by the abundance of grace. On the other hand, according to verse 21, grace reigns, that is, grace reigns in us unto eternal life. Hence, grace reigns in us, and we reign through grace. For grace to reign unto eternal life means that grace reigns over us and over everything so that we can enjoy the eternal life; the reign of grace results in eternal life. It is in this eternal life that we shall reign. Unto in verse 21 means “for.” Grace reigns for the eternal life. This indicates that we may gain eternal life for our enjoyment.
Moreover, for grace to reign unto eternal life means that we are now enthroned as kings and are reigning in life over all things unto an issue, a consummation. The issue of our present reigning in life will be the New Jerusalem as the universal incorporation of God and man. Revelation 22:5 says, “They will reign forever and ever.” That reigning is an issue—a glorious, eternal, corporate consummation of our present reigning in life through the abundance of grace and the abundance of the gift of righteousness unto eternal life. Therefore, the New Jerusalem is the fulfillment of the word in Romans 5:21 that grace reigns unto eternal life. It will be a strong testimony of the consummation of the divine life carried out by grace. Grace reigning unto eternal life means that grace reigns to bring in the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is grace reigning. Grace as God will reign in the New Jerusalem; hence, the New Jerusalem is the consummation of God reigning as grace.
Romans 5:12-21 gives us a comparison between sin and grace; there are two lines with two issues and two results. Verses 15 and 16 clearly show a comparison between the offense and the gift. These verses help us to understand that in Romans 5:12-21 there is a comparison between two lines, that is, the line of Satan and the line of God. The former is the line of sin with the issue of offenses and the result of death; the latter is the line of grace with the issue of the gift and the result of life and unto eternal life.
On the one hand, sin is of Satan. In a very real sense, sin is Satan personified; it is nothing less than Satan himself (v. 12; 7:11, 13, 20). Out of sin issue offenses, and offenses result in death (5:15, 17). Here we have Satan, sin, offenses, and death. On the other hand, grace is of God. In fact, grace is God personified; it is nothing less than God Himself for our enjoyment (John 1:17; Gal. 2:20; cf. 1 Cor. 15:10). Out of grace issues the gift, and the gift results in justification not only of life but eventually unto eternal life (Rom. 5:17, 21). Here we have God, grace, the gift, justification of life, and justification unto eternal life.
Furthermore, sin reigns in death, whereas grace reigns in life and unto life. Here we see two results. The result of the line of Satan is death; the result of the line of God is life—it is both of life and unto life. Sin reigns by the authority of death and brings in death by its reign. Thus, a sinner must die. Once we were in the kingdom of death, and sin was our king through death. Now we are in another kingdom, the kingdom of life, and Christ as grace is our King. This grace reigns through righteousness, resulting in eternal life, a life which will transform our whole being, sanctify us completely, and deal thoroughly with our disposition. Thus, we will become sanctified, transformed, conformed, and glorified persons. This is the enjoyment and experience of Christ as the grace of God and the gift of God.
In Christ, through His one righteous act, we may receive justification of life and unto life. We can even reign by His grace and by the gift of righteousness (v. 17), and grace reigns in us (v. 21). When we reign, grace reigns; when grace reigns, we reign. In fact, grace and we are one entity, and this grace is the personification of the Triune God. Today the Triune God is our grace for our enjoyment that we may experience justification by faith, justification of life, and justification unto life.
There are five crucial words in Romans 5:15-21: grace, gift, justification, life, and reign. The grace of God and the gift of the one man Jesus Christ are for our justification, and justification is for us to have the divine life that we may reign in life. In other words, the grace of God and the gift of Christ, the gift of righteousness, are for our justification unto life that we may have life, live it out, and live in a reigning way.