1 THEREFORE being justified by faith, [ Or because we are in the process of changing our character. ] we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. [ Paul's clearest description here of God's character and attributes that what characterizes God as the fact that he loves his enemies. He doesn't hate his enemies, he loves them and he demonstrates this love for them by sacrificing himself and his son. He gives what we need, before we deserved it, while we were still his enemies. ]

7  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. [ A clear contrast between those two different ways of using God's law. The way that normal people work, Paul says the way that most of us work most of the time is that maybe we'd be willing to die for a friend. If it's a really, really good friend, maybe we'd do it, but even then, maybe not. Maybe not. That's because we love our friends and if we love our friends, the more that we love them, the better they are to us, the more likely we might be willing to die for them. ]

8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. [ Paul contrasts the previous verse with how God works. God doesn't weigh in the balance whether or not you're a friend or an enemy in terms of whether or not he's willing to die for you. God goes out of his way to do it for all of us who have positioned ourselves as his enemies by suppressing the truth about him, by worshiping the creature rather than the creator. So God does exactly the opposite. God doesn't weigh in the balance, whether or not I'm going to respond the right way or whether or not I'm doing what he wants. ]

9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.[ The only use of atonement in the New Testament of the King James version of the Bible. Russell M. Nelson said: “In the English language, the components are at-one-meant, suggesting that a person is at one with another. Other languages employ words that connote either expiation or reconciliation. Expiation means ‘to atone for.’ Reconciliation comes from Latin roots re, meaning ‘again’; con, meaning ‘with’; and sella, meaning ‘seat.’ Reconciliation, therefore, literally means ‘to sit again with.’…In Hebrew, the basic word for atonement is kaphar, a verb that means ‘to cover’ or ‘to forgive.’ Closely related is the Aramaic and Arabic word kafat, meaning ‘a close embrace’—no doubt related to the Egyptian ritual embrace….While the words atone or atonement, in any of their forms, appear only once in the King James translation of the New Testament, they appear 35 times in the Book of Mormon. As another testament of Jesus Christ, it sheds precious light on His Atonement.” (Ensign, Nov. 1996, pp.34-5 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 85)) ].

12 Wherefore, as by one man [ Adam. ] sin entered into the world, and death [ And because of the sin death was brought upon mankind. ] by sin; and so death passed upon all men, [ Everyone is going to die. ] for that all have sinned: [ And everyone will sin(miss the mark). See Moses 6. We are born into a sinful world therefore sin is conceived in our hearts, ]

13  (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. [ See Moses 5. There was no law until 3 generations after they were removed from the Garden, we saw what happened when Adam tried to teach the law to his posterity. ]

14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. [ Linking Adam to Christ. For since by man came death, even so in Christ shall all men be made alive. Adam sacrificed his lifestyle so that man might be, and Christ sacrificed his life so that man might overcome death. ]

15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.

17 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.)

18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

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

21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.