Romans 3:1-6:6

New King James Version

God’s Judgment Defended

3 What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? ²Much in every way! Chiefly because ^(A)to them were committed the ^[a]oracles of God. ³For what if ^(B)some did not believe? ^(C)Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? ⁴^(D)Certainly not! Indeed, let ^(E)God be ^[b]true but ^(F)every man a liar. As it is written:

^(G)“That You may be justified in Your words,
And may overcome when You are judged.”

⁵But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? ^(H)(I speak as a man.) ⁶Certainly not! For then ^(I)how will God judge the world?

⁷For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? ⁸And why not say, ^(J)“Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their ^[c]condemnation is just.

All Have Sinned^(K)

⁹What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that ^(L)they are all under sin.

¹⁰As it is written:

^(M)“There is none righteous, no, not one;
¹¹There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
¹²They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
¹³“Their^(N) throat is an open ^[d]tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
^(O)“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
¹⁴“Whose^(P) mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
¹⁵“Their^(Q) feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶Destruction and misery are in their ways;
¹⁷And the way of peace they have not known.”
¹⁸“There^(R) is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹Now we know that whatever ^(S)the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that ^(T)every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become ^[e]guilty before God. ²⁰Therefore ^(U)by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

God’s Righteousness Through Faith

²¹But now ^(V)the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, ^(W)being witnessed by the Law ^(X)and the Prophets, ²²even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all ^[f]and on all who believe. For ^(Y)there is no difference; ²³for ^(Z)all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴being justified ^[g]freely ^(AA)by His grace ^(AB)through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵whom God set forth ^(AC)as a ^[h]propitiation ^(AD)by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over ^(AE)the sins that were previously committed, ²⁶to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Boasting Excluded

²⁷^(AF)Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸Therefore we conclude ^(AG)that a man is ^[i]justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. ²⁹Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, ³⁰since ^(AH)there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. ³¹Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

Abraham Justified by Faith^(AI)

4 What then shall we say that ^(AJ)Abraham our ^(AK)father^[j] has found according to the flesh? ²For if Abraham was ^(AL)justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. ³For what does the Scripture say? ^(AM)“Abraham believed God, and it was ^[k]accounted to him for righteousness.” ⁴Now ^(AN)to him who works, the wages are not counted ^[l]as grace but as debt.

David Celebrates the Same Truth

⁵But to him who ^(AO)does not work but believes on Him who justifies ^(AP)the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, ⁶just as David also ^(AQ)describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:

⁷“Blessed^(AR) are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
⁸Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”

Abraham Justified Before Circumcision

⁹Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. ¹⁰How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. ¹¹And ^(AS)he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that ^(AT)he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, ¹²and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father ^(AU)Abraham had while still uncircumcised.

The Promise Granted Through Faith

¹³For the promise that he would be the ^(AV)heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴For ^(AW)if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, ¹⁵because ^(AX)the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

¹⁶Therefore it is of faith that it might be ^(AY)according to grace, ^(AZ)so that the promise might be ^[m]sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, ^(BA)who is the father of us all ¹⁷(as it is written, ^(BB)“I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, ^(BC)who gives life to the dead and calls those ^(BD)things which do not exist as though they did; ¹⁸who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, ^(BE)“So shall your descendants be.” ¹⁹And not being weak in faith, ^(BF)he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), ^(BG)and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, ²¹and being fully convinced that what He had promised ^(BH)He was also able to perform. ²²And therefore ^(BI)“it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

²³Now ^(BJ)it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, ²⁴but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe ^(BK)in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵^(BL)who was delivered up because of our offenses, and ^(BM)was raised because of our justification.

Faith Triumphs in Trouble

5 Therefore, ^(BN)having been justified by faith, ^[n]we have ^(BO)peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²^(BP)through whom also we have access by faith into this grace ^(BQ)in which we stand, and ^(BR)rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³And not only that, but ^(BS)we also glory in tribulations, ^(BT)knowing that tribulation produces ^[o]perseverance; ⁴^(BU)and perseverance, ^[p]character; and character, hope. ⁵^(BV)Now hope does not disappoint, ^(BW)because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Christ in Our Place

⁶For when we were still without strength, ^[q]in due time ^(BX)Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. ⁸But ^(BY)God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Much more then, having now been justified ^(BZ)by His blood, we shall be saved ^(CA)from wrath through Him. ¹⁰For ^(CB)if when we were enemies ^(CC)we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved ^(CD)by His life. ¹¹And not only that, but we also ^(CE)rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Death in Adam, Life in Christ^(CF)

¹²Therefore, just as ^(CG)through one man sin entered the world, and ^(CH)death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— ¹³(For until the law sin was in the world, but ^(CI)sin is not imputed when there is no law. ¹⁴Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, ^(CJ)who is a type of Him who was to come. ¹⁵But the free gift is not like the ^[r]offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded ^(CK)to many. ¹⁶And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many ^[s]offenses resulted in justification. ¹⁷For if by the one man’s ^[t]offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

¹⁸Therefore, as through ^[u]one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through ^(CL)one^[v] Man’s righteous act the free gift came ^(CM)to all men, resulting in justification of life. ¹⁹For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by ^(CN)one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

²⁰Moreover ^(CO)the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace ^(CP)abounded much more, ²¹so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 What shall we say then? ^(CQ)Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ²Certainly not! How shall we who ^(CR)died to sin live any longer in it? ³Or do you not know that ^(CS)as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus ^(CT)were baptized into His death? ⁴Therefore we were ^(CU)buried with Him through baptism into death, that ^(CV)just as Christ was raised from the dead by ^(CW)the glory of the Father, ^(CX)even so we also should walk in newness of life.

⁵^(CY)For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶knowing this, that ^(CZ)our old man was crucified with Him, that ^(DA)the body of sin might be ^[w]done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.