Passage
for if by the offence of the one the death did reign through the one, much more those, who the abundance of the grace and of the free gift of the righteousness are receiving, in life shall reign through the one--Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:17 (YLT)
Nearby Context
Romans 5:15 But, not as the offence so also <FI>is<Fi> the free gift; for if by the offence of the one the many did die, much more did the grace of God, and the free gift in grace of the one man Jesus Christ, abound to the many;
Romans 5:16 and not as through one who did sin <FI>is<Fi> the free gift, for the judgment indeed <FI>is<Fi> of one to condemnation, but the gift <FI>is<Fi> of many offences to a declaration of `Righteous,'
Romans 5:17 for if by the offence of the one the death did reign through the one, much more those, who the abundance of the grace and of the free gift of the righteousness are receiving, in life shall reign through the one--Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:18 So, then, as through one offence to all men <FI>it is<Fi> to condemnation, so also through one declaration of `Righteous' <FI>it is<Fi> to all men to justification of life;
Romans 5:19 for as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were constituted sinners: so also through the obedience of the one, shall the many be constituted righteous.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "grace", "offence", "death", "reign", "through", "much", "abundance", and "free". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "grace" and "offence", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 16's "and not as through one who did..." into verse 18's "So then as through one offence to...", so "grace" and "offence" belong inside that flow. In Romans context, the local focus is righteousness by faith, union with Christ, life in the Spirit, and God's covenant faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "grace" and "offence" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.