Bible Strands
Romans 5:20
The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul writes to the Roman church, concluding his comparison of Adam’s disobedience and Christ’s obedience by introducing the Mosaic law’s role in the unfolding narrative.
The words — παρεισῆλθεν (pareisēlthen) means “entered,” and πλεονάσῃ (pleonasē) means “may abound,” tracking the law’s sudden arrival and the subsequent multiplication of trespass.
The thread — This dynamic runs through Romans 6:1, which questions whether believers should continue in sin so grace may increase, and surfaces in Psalms 25:11 and Titus 3:3 where human failure meets divine pardon.
Why it lands — The text states that the law was introduced to multiply trespasses, yet declares that grace surpasses that increase, requiring a reader to accept grace’s supremacy over sin without treating the law’s function as permission for continued rebellion.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Cross-references
- Romans 6:1 What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase?
- Psalms 25:11 For the sake of Your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, for it is great.
- Titus 3:3 For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
- Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
- Galatians 3:19 Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the seed to whom the promise referred. It was administered through angels by a mediator.
- Romans 4:15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.
- Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
- Luke 7:47 Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, for she has loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
- Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,