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Well, then, are we better off? Not entirely, for we have already brought the charge against Jews and Greeks alike that they are all under the domination of sin,(A) 10 as it is written:(B)

“There is no one just, not one,
11     there is no one who understands,
        there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have gone astray; all alike are worthless;
    there is not one who does good,
        [there is not] even one.
13 Their throats are open graves;
    they deceive with their tongues;
the venom of asps is on their lips;(C)
14     their mouths are full of bitter cursing.(D)
15 Their feet are quick to shed blood;(E)
16     ruin and misery are in their ways,
17 and the way of peace they know not.
18     There is no fear of God before their eyes.”(F)

19 Now we know that what the law[a] says is addressed to those under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world stand accountable to God,(G) 20 since no human being will be justified in his sight[b] by observing the law; for through the law comes consciousness of sin.(H)

III. Justification Through Faith in Christ

Justification Apart from the Law.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. 3:19 The law: Paul here uses the term in its broadest sense to mean all of the scriptures; none of the preceding texts is from the Torah or Pentateuch.
  2. 3:20 No human being will be justified in his sight: these words are freely cited from Ps 143:2. In place of the psalmist’s “no living person,” Paul substitutes “no human being” (literally “no flesh,” a Hebraism), and he adds “by observing the law.”
  3. 3:21–31 These verses provide a clear statement of Paul’s “gospel,” i.e., the principle of justification by faith in Christ. God has found a means of rescuing humanity from its desperate plight: Paul’s general term for this divine initiative is the righteousness of God (Rom 3:21). Divine mercy declares the guilty innocent and makes them so. God does this not as a result of the law but apart from it (Rom 3:21), and not because of any merit in human beings but through forgiveness of their sins (Rom 3:24), in virtue of the redemption wrought in Christ Jesus for all who believe (Rom 3:22, 24–25). God has manifested his righteousness in the coming of Jesus Christ, whose saving activity inaugurates a new era in human history.