The Condemnation of the Jew

2:17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law36 and boast of your relationship to God37 2:18 and know his will38 and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law,39 2:19 and if you are convinced40 that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 2:20 an educator of the senseless, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the essential features of knowledge and of the truth—2:21 therefore41 you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 2:22 You who tell others not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor42 idols, do you rob temples? 2:23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by transgressing the law! 2:24 For just as it is written, “the name of God is being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”43

2:25 For circumcision44 has its value if you practice the law, but45 if you break the law,46 your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 2:26 Therefore if the uncircumcised man obeys47 the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 2:27 And will not the physically uncircumcised man48 who keeps the law judge you who, despite49 the written code50 and circumcision, transgress the law? 2:28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is outward in the flesh, 2:29 but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart51 by the Spirit52 and not by the written code.53 This person’s54 praise is not from people but from God.

3:1 Therefore what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the value of circumcision? 3:2 Actually, there are many advantages.1 First of all,2 the Jews3 were entrusted with the oracles of God.4 3:3 What then? If some did not believe, does their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God? 3:4 Absolutely not! Let God be proven true, and every human being5 shown up as a liar,6 just as it is written: “so that you will be justified7 in your words and will prevail when you are judged.”8

3:5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates9 the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he?10 (I am speaking in human terms.)11 3:6 Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world? 3:7 For if by my lie the truth of God enhances12 his glory, why am I still actually being judged as a sinner? 3:8 And why not say, “Let us do evil so that good may come of it”?—as some who slander us allege that we say.13 (Their14 condemnation is deserved!)

The Condemnation of the World

3:9 What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, 3:10 just as it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one,

3:11 there is no one who understands,

there is no one who seeks God.

3:12 All have turned away,

together they have become worthless;

there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.”15

3:13 “Their throats are open graves,16

they deceive with their tongues,

the poison of asps is under their lips.”17

3:14 “Their mouths are18 full of cursing and bitterness.”19

3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,

3:16 ruin and misery are in their paths,

3:17 and the way of peace they have not known.”20

3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”21

3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under22 the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 3:20 For no one is declared righteous before him23 by the works of the law,24 for through the law comes25 the knowledge of sin. 3:21 But now26 apart from the law the righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets)27 has been disclosed—3:22 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ28 for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 3:24 But they are justified29 freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 3:25 God publicly displayed30 him31 at his death32 as the mercy seat33 accessible through faith.34 This was to demonstrate35 his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed.36 3:26 This was37 also to demonstrate38 his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just39 and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness.40

3:27 Where, then, is boasting?41 It is excluded! By what principle?42 Of works? No, but by the principle of faith! 3:28 For we consider that a person43 is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law.44 3:29 Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles too? Yes, of the Gentiles too! 3:30 Since God is one,45 he will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 3:31 Do we then nullify46 the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead47 we uphold the law.

The Illustration of Justification

4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh,1 has discovered regarding this matter?2 4:2 For if Abraham was declared righteous3 by the works of the law, he has something to boast about—but not before God. 4:3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited4 to him as righteousness.”5 4:4 Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation.6 4:5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous,7 his faith is credited as righteousness.

4:6 So even David himself speaks regarding the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

4:7 “Blessed8 are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;

4:8 blessed is the one9 against whom the Lord will never count10 sin.”11

4:9 Is this blessedness12 then for13 the circumcision14 or also for15 the uncircumcision? For we say, “faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.”16 4:10 How then was it credited to him? Was he circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not circumcised but uncircumcised! 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised,17 so that he would become18 the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised,19 that they too could have righteousness credited to them. 4:12 And he is also the father of the circumcised,20 who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed when he was still uncircumcised.21

4:13 For the promise22 to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 4:14 For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified.23 4:15 For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression24 either. 4:16 For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace,25 with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants—not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham,26 who is the father of us all 4:17 (as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”).27 He is our father28 in the presence of God whom he believed—the God who29 makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do.30 4:18 Against hope Abraham31 believed32 in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations33 according to the pronouncement,34 “so will your descendants be.”35 4:19 Without being weak in faith, he considered36 his own body as dead37 (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 4:20 He38 did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 4:21 He was39 fully convinced that what God40 promised he was also able to do. 4:22 So indeed it was credited to Abraham41 as righteousness.

4:23 But the statement it was credited to him42 was not written only for Abraham’s43 sake, 4:24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 4:25 He44 was given over45 because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of46 our justification.47