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God's Way of Accepting People

21 Now we see how God does make us acceptable to him. The Law and the Prophets[a] tell how we become acceptable, and it isn't by obeying the Law of Moses. 22 (A) God treats everyone alike. He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. 23 All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. 24 But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins. 25-26 (B) God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life's blood, so by faith in him we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the past he was right to be patient and forgive sinners. This also shows that God is right when he accepts people who have faith in Jesus.

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Footnotes

  1. 3.21 The Law and the Prophets: The Jewish Scriptures, that is, the Old Testament.

Righteousness Through Faith

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God(A) has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.(B) 22 This righteousness(C) is given through faith(D) in[a] Jesus Christ(E) to all who believe.(F) There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,(G) 23 for all have sinned(H) and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified(I) freely by his grace(J) through the redemption(K) that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[b](L) through the shedding of his blood(M)—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished(N) 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 3:22 Or through the faithfulness of
  2. Romans 3:25 The Greek for sacrifice of atonement refers to the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant (see Lev. 16:15,16).