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.
Paul is drawing a sharp contrast between two defining moments in human history — the sin of Adam (the first man, described in Genesis) and the grace of Jesus Christ. According to the Bible, when Adam disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, sin and death entered the human story and affected everyone who came after him. But Paul's entire point is that the scales aren't just balanced by Jesus — they're overwhelmed. Grace doesn't simply cancel out sin; it floods past it. The word "overflow" is deliberate: God's gift through Jesus is disproportionately, extravagantly greater than the damage caused by one man's failure.
Father, I confess it's easier to keep a ledger than to believe in overflow. Where I've been calculating what I deserve, break open something bigger in me. Thank you that your grace isn't measured out in careful drops — it floods. Help me live like someone who has been completely drenched in it. Amen.
Think about the worst thing you've ever done — the one you replay at 2 AM, the one you're still not sure you've been forgiven for. Now imagine trying to pour that into a cup, and someone responds by turning on a fire hydrant. That's the image Paul is painting here. Not a careful, measured exchange — an overflow. A disproportionate, almost reckless response from God. What's striking is that Paul doesn't minimize the damage. He acknowledges that one man's failure changed everything for everyone — that's a heavy, uncomfortable truth. But then he pivots: "how much more." Grace isn't damage control. It's an entirely different kind of force operating on an entirely different scale. You don't have to earn your way back to zero before God's gift reaches you. The overflow is already headed your way.
What does the word "overflow" suggest about how Paul understands grace — and how does that compare to how you typically think about forgiveness?
Is there something in your own life you've quietly wondered whether grace could really cover? What makes it hard to accept that it can?
Paul connects all of humanity to Adam's failure without individual choice. Does that feel fair to you, and how do you wrestle with that idea honestly?
How might believing grace is disproportionate — more than enough, not just barely enough — change how freely you extend forgiveness to someone who has hurt you?
What would it look like, in a concrete and specific way this week, to live as if you actually believed grace has already overflowed into your hardest situation?
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5
Wherefore , as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Romans 5:12
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Titus 2:11
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Romans 5:19
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:23
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ephesians 2:8
Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Matthew 20:28
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.
Romans 5:18
But the free gift [of God] is not like the trespass [because the gift of grace overwhelms the fall of man]. For if many died by one man's trespass [Adam's sin], much more [abundantly] did God's grace and the gift [that comes] by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, overflow to [benefit] the many.
AMP
But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
ESV
But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
NASB
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
NIV
But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.
NKJV
But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.
NLT
Yet the rescuing gift is not exactly parallel to the death-dealing sin. If one man's sin put crowds of people at the dead-end abyss of separation from God, just think what God's gift poured through one man, Jesus Christ, will do!
MSG