Romans 3–6

PAUL ANSWERS AN OBJECTION

3So what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? ²Considerable in every way. First, they were entrusted^a with the very words of God.^{b 3}What then? If some were unfaithful,^c will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? ⁴Absolutely not!^d Let God be true, even though everyone is a liar,^e as it is written:

That you may be justified in your words

and triumph when you judge.^Af

⁵But if our unrighteousness highlights^B God’s righteousness,^g what are we to say?^h I am using a human argument:^Ci Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath? ⁶Absolutely not! Otherwise, how will God judge the world?^{j 7}But if by my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?^{k 8}And why not say, just as some people slanderously claim we say, “Let us do what is evil so that good may come”?^l Their condemnation is deserved!

THE WHOLE WORLD GUILTY BEFORE GOD

⁹What then? Are we any better off?^D Not at all! For we have already charged that both Jews^m and Greeksⁿ are all under sin,^{Eo 10}as it is written:

There is no one righteous, not even one.

¹¹There is no one who understands;

there is no one who seeks God.

¹²All have turned away;

all alike have become worthless.

There is no one who does what is good,

not even one.^Fp

¹³Their throat is an open grave;

they deceive with their tongues.^Gq

Vipers’ venom is under their lips.^Hr

¹⁴Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.^Is

¹⁵Their feet are swift to shed blood;

¹⁶ruin and wretchedness are in their paths,

¹⁷and the path of peace they have not known.^Jt

¹⁸There is no fear of God before their eyes.^Ku

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says,^v it speaks to those who are subject to the law,^Lw so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment.^{Mx 20}For no one will be justified^N in his sight by the works of the law,^y because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.^z

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD THROUGH FAITH

²¹But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed,^aa attested by the Law and the Prophets.^{Oab 22}The righteousness of God is through faith^ac in Jesus Christ^Pad to all who believe,^ae since there is no distinction.^{af 23}For all have sinned^ag and fall short of the^Q glory of God; ²⁴they are justified freely by his grace^ah through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.^{ai 25}God presented him as the mercy seat^Raj by his blood,^ak through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God^al passed over the sins previously committed.^{am 26}God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.

BOASTING EXCLUDED

²⁷Where, then, is boasting?^an It is excluded. By what kind of law?^Aao By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law^B of faith. ²⁸For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.^{ap 29}Or is God the God of Jews only?^aq Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, ³⁰since there is one God^ar who will justify the circumcised by faith^as and the uncircumcised through faith. ³¹Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not!^at On the contrary, we uphold the law.^au

ABRAHAM JUSTIFIED BY FAITH

4What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather^av according to the flesh, has found?^{C 2}If Abraham was justified^D by works,^aw he has something to boast about—but not before God. ³For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.^{Ea 4}Now to the one who works,^b pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. ⁵But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly,^c his faith is credited for righteousness.

DAVID CELEBRATING THE SAME TRUTH

⁶Likewise, David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

⁷Blessed are those whose lawless acts are forgiven

and whose sins are covered.

⁸Blessed is the person

the Lord will never charge with sin.^Fd

ABRAHAM JUSTIFIED BEFORE CIRCUMCISION

⁹Is this blessing only for the circumcised,^e then? Or is it also for the uncircumcised? For we say, Faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness.^{Ef 10}In what way, then, was it credited—while he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? It was not while he was circumcised, but uncircumcised. ¹¹And he received the sign of circumcision^g as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith^h while still uncircumcised. This was to make him the fatherⁱ of all who believe^j but are not circumcised, so that righteousness may be credited to them also. ¹²And he became the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith our father Abraham had while he was still uncircumcised.

THE PROMISE GRANTED THROUGH FAITH

¹³For the promise to Abraham^k or to his descendants that he would inherit the world^l was not through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. ¹⁴If those who are of the law are heirs,^m faith is made empty and the promise nullified, ¹⁵because the law produces wrath.ⁿ And where there is no law,^o there is no transgression.

¹⁶This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace,^p to guarantee it to all the descendants^q—not only to the one who is of the law^A but also to the one who is of Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations—^Br in the presence of the God in whom he believed, the one who gives life to the dead^s and calls^t things into existence that do not exist.^{u 18}He believed, hoping against hope, so that he became the father of many nations^Bv according to what had been spoken: So will your descendants be.^{Cw 19}He did not weaken in faith when he considered^D his own body to be already dead^x (since he was about a hundred years old)^y and also the deadness of Sarah’s womb.^{z 20}He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,^{aa 21}because he was fully convinced^ab that what God had promised, he was also able to do.^{ac 22}Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness.^{Ead 23}Now it was credited to him^E was not written for Abraham alone,^{ae 24}but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him^af who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.^{ag 25}He was delivered up for^F our trespasses^ah and raised for our justification.^ai

FAITH TRIUMPHS

5Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,^aj we have peace^G with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.^{ak 2}We have also obtained access through him^al by faith^H into this grace in which we stand,^am and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³And not only that,^an but we also boast in our afflictions,^ao because we know that affliction produces endurance,^{ap 4}endurance produces proven character,^aq and proven character produces hope. ⁵This hope will not disappoint us,^ar because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts^as through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

THE JUSTIFIED ARE RECONCILED

⁶For while we were still helpless, at the right time,^at Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. ⁸But God proves^au his own love for us^av in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹How much more then, since we have now been justified by his blood,^aw will we be saved through him from wrath.^{a 10}For if, while we were enemies,^b we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.^{c 11}And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.^d

DEATH THROUGH ADAM AND LIFE THROUGH CHRIST

¹²Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man,^e and death through sin,^f in this way death spread to all people,^g because all sinned.^{A 13}In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to a person’s account when there is no law.^{h 14}Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression.ⁱ He is a type of the Coming One.^j

¹⁵But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of the one man^k Jesus Christ overflowed to the many. ¹⁶And the gift is not like the one man’s sin, because from one sin came the judgment,^l resulting in condemnation, but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification.^{B 17}If by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life^m through the one man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is justification leading to lifeⁿ for everyone. ¹⁹For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners,^o so also through the one man’s obedience^p the many will be made righteous. ²⁰The law came along to multiply the trespass.^q But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more^{r 21}so that, just as sin reigned in death,^s so also grace will reign^t through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

THE NEW LIFE IN CHRIST

6What should we say then?^u Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply?^{v 2}Absolutely not!^w How can we who died to sin^x still live in it? ³Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized^y into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?^{z 4}Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death,^aa in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead^ab by the glory of the Father,^ac so we too may walk in newness^C of life.^{ad 5}For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death,^ae we…