Romans 3
3
All the World Guilty
1Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 2Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? 4May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written,
“That You may be justified in Your words,
And prevail when You are judged.”
5But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.) 6May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world? 7But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 8And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just.
9What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 10as it is written,
“There is none righteous, not even one;
11There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
12All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.”
13“Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
15“Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17And the path of peace they have not known.”
18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; 20because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
Justification by Faith
21But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. 29Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.
31Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.
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Romans 3: NASB1995
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Romans 3
3
1So, do Jews have anything that other people do not have? Is there anything special about being circumcised? 2Yes, of course, there is in every way. The most important thing is this: God trusted the Jews with his teachings. 3It is true that some Jews were not faithful to God. But will that stop God from doing what he promised? 4No! God will continue to be true even when every person is false. As the Scriptures say:
“So your words may be shown to be right.
You are fair when you judge me.” Psalm 51:4
5When we do wrong, that shows more clearly that God is right. So can we say that God is wrong to punish us? (I am talking as men might talk.) 6No! If God could not punish us, then God could not judge the world.
7A person might say, “When I lie, it really gives God glory, because my lie shows God’s truth. So why am I judged a sinner?” 8It would be the same to say, “We should do evil so that good will come.” Some people find fault with us and say that we teach this. Those who say such things about us are wrong, and they should be punished.
All People Are Guilty
9So are we Jews better than others? No! We have already said that Jews and non-Jews are the same. They are all guilty of sin. 10As the Scriptures say:
“There is no one without sin. None!
11There is no one who understands.
There is no one who looks to God for help.
12All have turned away.
Together, everyone has become evil.
None of them does anything good.” Psalm 14:1-3
13“Their throats are like open graves.
They use their tongues for telling lies.” Psalm 5:9
“Their words are like snake’s poison.” Psalm 140:3
14“Their mouths are full of cursing and hate.” Psalm 10:7
15“They are always ready to kill people.
16Everywhere they go they cause ruin and misery.
17They don’t know how to live in peace.” Isaiah 59:7-8
18“They have no fear of or respect for God.” Psalm 36:1
19The law commands many things. We know that those commands are for those who are under the law. This stops all excuses and brings the whole world under God’s judgment, 20because no one can be made right with God by following the law. The law only shows us our sin.
How God Makes People Right
21But God has a way to make people right with him without the law. And God has now shown us that way which the law and the prophets told us about. 22God makes people right with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. This is true for all who believe in Christ, because all are the same. 23All people have sinned and are not good enough for God’s glory. 24People are made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They are made right with God by being made free from sin through Jesus Christ. 25God sent him to die in our place to take away our sins. We receive forgiveness through faith. And all of this is because of the blood of Jesus’ death. This showed that God always does what is right and fair. God was right in the past when he was patient and did not punish people for their sins. 26And God gave Jesus to show today that God does what is right. God did this so that he could judge rightly and also make right any person who has faith in Jesus.
27So do we have a reason to brag about ourselves? No! And why not? It is the way of faith that stops all bragging, not the way of following the law. 28A person is made right with God through faith, not through what he does to follow the law. 29Is God only the God of the Jews? Is he not also the God of the non-Jews? 30Of course he is, for there is only one God. He will make Jews right with him by their faith. And he will also make non-Jews right with him through their faith. 31So do we destroy the law by following the way of faith? No! Faith causes us to be what the law truly wants.
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