Romans 3
3
God Remains Faithful
1Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Is there any value in the ceremony of circumcision? 2Yes, there are great benefits! First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God.#3:2 Greek the oracles of God.
3True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful? 4Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him,
“You will be proved right in what you say,
and you will win your case in court.”#3:4 Ps 51:4 (Greek version).
5“But,” some might say, “our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us?” (This is merely a human point of view.) 6Of course not! If God were not entirely fair, how would he be qualified to judge the world? 7“But,” someone might still argue, “how can God condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?” 8And some people even slander us by claiming that we say, “The more we sin, the better it is!” Those who say such things deserve to be condemned.
All People Are Sinners
9Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles,#3:9 Greek or Greeks. are under the power of sin. 10As the Scriptures say,
“No one is righteous—
not even one.
11No one is truly wise;
no one is seeking God.
12All have turned away;
all have become useless.
No one does good,
not a single one.”#3:10-12 Pss 14:1-3; 53:1-3 (Greek version).
13“Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.
Their tongues are filled with lies.”
“Snake venom drips from their lips.”#3:13 Pss 5:9 (Greek version); 140:3.
14“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”#3:14 Ps 10:7 (Greek version).
15“They rush to commit murder.
16Destruction and misery always follow them.
17They don’t know where to find peace.”#3:15-17 Isa 59:7-8.
18“They have no fear of God at all.”#3:18 Ps 36:1.
19Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 20For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
Christ Took Our Punishment
21But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses#3:21 Greek in the law. and the prophets long ago. 22We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
23For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
27Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.
29After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. 30There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.#3:30 Greek whether they are circumcised or uncircumcised. 31Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.
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Romans 3: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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Romans 3
3
1WHAT advantage then hath the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision?
2Much every way. First indeed, because the words of God were committed to them.
3For what if some of them have not believed? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid.
4But God is true; and every man a liar, as it is written, That thou mayest be justified in thy words, and mayest overcome when thou art judged.
5But if our injustice commend the justice of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust, who executeth wrath?
6(I speak according to man.) God forbid: otherwise how shall God judge this world?
7For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie, unto his glory, why am I also yet judged as a sinner?
8And not rather (as we are slandered, and as some affirm that we say) let us do evil, that there may come good? whose damnation is just.
9What then? Do we excel them? No, not so. For we have charged both Jews, and Greeks, that they are all under sin.
10As it is written: There is not any man just.
11There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12All have turned out of the way; they are become unprofitable together: there is none that doth good, there is not so much as one.
13Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have dealt deceitfully. The venom of asps is under their lips.
14Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15Their feet swift to shed blood:
16Destruction and misery in their ways:
17And the way of peace they have not known:
18There is no fear of God before their eyes.
19Now we know, that what things soever the law speaketh, it speaketh to them that are in the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be made subject to God.
20Because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified before him. For by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21But now without the law the justice of God is made manifest, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.
22Even the justice of God, by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe in him: for there is no distinction:
23For all have sinned, and do need the glory of God.
24Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption, that is in Christ Jesus,
25Whom God hath proposed to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to the shewing of his justice, for the remission of former sins,
26Through the forbearance of God, for the shewing of his justice in this time; that he himself may be just, and the justifier of him, who is of the faith of Jesus Christ.
27Where is then thy boasting? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.
28For we account a man to be justified by faith, without the works of the law.
29Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also.
30For it is one God, that justifieth circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
31Do we, then, destroy the law through faith? God forbid: but we establish the law.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.