Romans 5:21

Having said that grace appeared superabundantly, the apostle, lest we be faithless, shows that such a manifestation of it corresponds to its purpose, and says: sin was the king, and death was the soldier armed by it. If sin reigned over us, having death as …

Then when he says that as sin has reigned to death, he shows the effect of abundant grace, an effect that corresponds by way of opposition to that of sin. That as sin, introduced by the first man and abounding through the law, has reigned, …

That as sin had reigned - so grace also might reign - Which could not reign before the fall; before man had sinned. Through righteousness to eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord - Here is pointed out the source of all our blessings, the rich and free grace of God.

That as sin hath reigned unto death,....

As the reign of a tyrant and oppressor is a foil to set off the succeeding reign of a just and gentle prince and to make it the more illustrious, so doth the reign of sin set off the reign of grace. Sin reigned unto death; it was a cruel bloody reign.

I shall not pretend to enter into the fullness of this text, but merely select that topic, "Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Our Apostle represents man as being subject to two great kings. Sin is the grim tyrant, to whom, in the first place, man has bowed his willing neck. The reign of sin is a reign of terror and delusion; it promises pleasure, but being full of all manner of deceivableness, of unrighteousness, it gives pain even in this world—and in the world to come—eternal death!

(2) What is called original sin--or that depraved tendency to evil with which every child of Adam comes into the world--is not formally treated of in this section (and even in the seventh chapter, it is rather its nature and operation than its connection with the first sin which is handled).

I shall not pretend to enter into the fullness of this text, but merely select that topic, "Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Our Apostle represents man as being subject to two great kings. Sin is the grim tyrant, to whom, in the first place, man has bowed his willing neck. The reign of sin is a reign of terror and delusion; it promises pleasure, but being full of all manner of deceivableness, of unrighteousness, it gives pain even in this world—and in the world to come—eternal death! An awful contemplation is that of the reign of sin. Permitted to come into this world as an usurper—having mounted its throne upon the heart of man by flattering blandishments, and crafty pleasantries, it was not long before it fully developed itself. Its first act was to smite Eden with blast and mildew by its breath; its next act was to slay the second child of man, and that by the hand of the eldest-born. Since then, its reign has been scarlet with blood, black with iniquity, and fraught with everything that can make the heart of man sad and wretched! Oh Sin, you tyrant monster, all the demons that ever sat upon the throne of Rome were never such as you are! And all the men, who, from the wild north, have come forth as the scourges of man, the destroying angels of our race, though they have waded up to their knees in the blood of mortals, have never been so terrible as you are! You have reigned in death and that an eternal death—a death from which there shall be no resurrection—a death which casts souls into an eternal grave—a grave of fire! Our Apostle now changes the subject, and represents man under the gracious state, as rejoicing in another government, ruled by another king.

That as sin hath reigned unto death - As extensively, as deeply, as universally, as sin, whether implying the act of transgression or the impure principle from which the act proceeds, or both. Hath reigned, subjected the whole earth and all its inhabitants; the whole soul, and all its powers and faculties, unto death, temporal of the body, spiritual of the soul, and eternal of both; even so, as extensively, deeply, and universally might grace reign - filling the whole earth, and pervading, purifying, and refining the whole soul: through righteousness - through this doctrine of free salvation by the blood of the Lamb, and by the principle of holiness transfused through the soul by the Holy Ghost: unto eternal life - the proper object of an immortal spirit’s hope, the only sphere where the human intellect can rest, and be happy in the place and state where God is; where he is seen As He Is; and where he can be enjoyed with out interruption in an eternal progression of knowledge and beatitude: by Jesus Christ our Lord - as the cause of our salvation, the means by which it is communicated, and the source whence it springs. Thus we find, that the salvation from sin here is as extensive and complete as the guilt and contamination of sin; death is conquered, hell disappointed, the devil confounded, and sin totally destroyed. Here is glorying: To him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings and priests to God and his Father, be glory and dominion, for ever and ever. Amen. Hallelujah! The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth! Amen and Amen. What highly interesting and momentous truths does the preceding chapter bring to our view! No less than the doctrine of the fall of man from original righteousness; and the redemption of the world by the incarnation and death of Christ. […]