Romans 5:21

so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Romans 5:21 ESV


Verse 21 is a continuation of Paul of verse 20, and parallels verse 20. First we see Paul jumping back to sin and it's power over the lost:

as sin reigned in death

It is so important to recognize the power that sin has over those who are slaves to it. The direct effect of sinfulness is a physical and spiritual death. As long as we are condemned because of our sinfulness, in light of God's holiness, we are subject to death - death rules over us and controls us, we have no power to free ourselves from it. Death will ultimately catch up to us, no matter what. Paul laid out in several other verses this same power that sin has over it's slaves:

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned  Romans 5:12

Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.  Romans 5:14

For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.  Romans 5:17


Since spiritual death, brought on by sinfulness that God cannot tolerate, is the lack of a restored relationship with God, we can also know that, for those who are currently physically alive but in bondage to sin, death is a daily experience - an active, ongoing existence without the perfect peace that comes from knowing God, resulting in a chasing after the wind.

I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 1:14

Separating us from God, sin also has the power to cloud the minds and hearts of those who are slaves to it, giving sin the power to reign over it's subjects -  so that they are powerless to recognize or even desire their only way to true freedom. Sin does this by appealing to the fleshly lusts and desires of the lost, thus causing the Light and the Way to appear foolish and unwanted:

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  1 Cor. 1:18

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Cor. 2:14

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. John 3:19

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.  John 3:20

Those verses describe very clearly the power of sin that Paul is talking about, the power to cause spiritual and physical death to the lost, to reign over them by causing them to want the very thing that is killing them and reject the only thing that can save them!


But, Paul then lays out God's answer to our situation:

grace also might reign through righteousness 

Grace, being the unmerited, or unearned, favor of God on someone, has the power to reign - to overcome sin and death! What is the channel, or path, through which this grace destroys sin and death? Righteousness! Only perfect righteousness can overthrow the sinfulness that condemns the lost.

God's act of grace in releasing prisoners from their bondage to sinfulness and death is powered by perfect righteousness!

For those who have been saved, and have entered into a relationship with God, being credited with perfect righteousness by the grace of God, that grace now reigns - and we are now obedient slaves to the grace and righteousness of our holy and perfect God!

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.  Romans 6:17,18

  

Paul told us in verse 17 who made this perfect righteousness available to a group of lost sinners: 

For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

One man made forgiveness, and perfect righteousness, available to us...Jesus Christ...alone. Paul restates this crucial truth in verse 21:

leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord

The grace and righteousness that lead to eternal life are offered through Jesus Christ...never because of anything we have done and always in spite of all that we have done. We cannot miss this truth:

If we ever think that something we have done, or are doing, has any bearing on our salvation whatsoever, we have sinfully and tragically destroyed the perfect, finished work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.