Romans 3:1–4:23
1 Then what 1advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?
2 Great in every respect. First of all, that athey were entrusted with the boracles of God.
3 What then? If asome 1did not believe, their 2unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?
4 aMay it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found ba liar, as it is written,
“cThat You may be justified in Your words,
And prevail when You 1are judged.”
5 But if our unrighteousness 1ademonstrates the righteousness of God, bwhat shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (cI am speaking in human terms.)
6 aMay it never be! For otherwise, how will bGod judge the world?
7 But if through my lie athe truth of God abounded to His glory, bwhy am I also still being judged as a sinner?
8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “aLet us do evil that good may come”? 1Their condemnation is just.
9 What then? 1aAre we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both bJews and cGreeks are dall under sin;
“aThere is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.”
13 “aTheir throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
“bThe poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “aWhose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
15 “aTheir feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And the path of peace they have not known.”
18 “aThere is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the aLaw says, it speaks to bthose who are 1under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and call the world may become accountable to God;
20 because aby the works 1of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for 2bthrough the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
21 But now apart 1from the Law athe righteousness of God has been manifested, being bwitnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
22 even the arighteousness of God through bfaith cin Jesus Christ for dall those 1who believe; for ethere is no distinction;
23 for all 1ahave sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified as a gift aby His grace through bthe redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
25 whom God displayed publicly as aa 1propitiation 2bin His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, 3because in the cforbearance of God He dpassed over the sins previously committed;
26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who 1has faith in Jesus.
27 Where then is aboasting? It is excluded. By bwhat kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.
28 1For awe maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works 2of the Law.
29 Or ais God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
30 since indeed aGod bwho will justify the 1circumcised 2by faith and the 3uncircumcised through faith cis one.
31 Do we then nullify 1the Law through faith? aMay it never be! On the contrary, we bestablish the Law.
Justification by Faith Evidenced in Old Testament
1 What then shall we say that Abraham, 1our forefather aaccording to the flesh, has found?
2 For if Abraham was justified 1by works, he has something to boast about, but anot 2before God.
3 For what does the Scripture say? “aAbraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
4 Now to the one who aworks, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.
5 But to the one who does not work, but abelieves in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,
6 just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “aBlessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven,
And whose sins have been covered.
8 “aBlessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not btake into account.”
9 Is this blessing then on 1athe circumcised, or on 2the uncircumcised also? For bwe say, “cFaith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.”
10 How then was it credited? While he was 1circumcised, or 2uncircumcised? Not while 1circumcised, but while 2uncircumcised;
11 and he areceived the sign of circumcision, ba seal of the righteousness of the faith which 1he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be cthe father of dall who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them,
12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which 1he had while uncircumcised.
13 For athe promise to Abraham or to his 1descendants bthat he would be heir of the world was not 2through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.
14 For aif those who are 1of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified;
15 for athe Law brings about wrath, but bwhere there is no law, there also is no violation.
16 For this reason it is 1by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with agrace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to ball the 2descendants, not only to 3those who are of the Law, but also to 3cthose who are of the faith of Abraham, who is dthe father of us all,
17 (as it is written, “aA father of many nations have I made you”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, bwho gives life to the dead and 1ccalls into being dthat which does not exist.
18 In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become aa father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “bSo shall your 1descendants be.”
19 Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now aas good as dead since bhe was about a hundred years old, and cthe deadness of Sarah’s womb;
20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, agiving glory to God,
21 and abeing fully assured that bwhat God had promised, He was able also to perform.
22 Therefore ait was also credited to him as righteousness.
23 Now anot for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him,