Romans 3:9-25

New King James Version

All Have Sinned^(A)

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

¹⁰As it is written:

^(C)“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^(D) throat is an open ^[a]tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
^(E)“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
¹⁴“Whose^(F) mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
¹⁵“Their^(G) feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶Destruction and misery are in their ways;
¹⁷And the way of peace they have not known.”
¹⁸“There^(H) is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹Now we know that whatever ^(I)the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that ^(J)every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become ^[b]guilty before God. ²⁰Therefore ^(K)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 ^(L)the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, ^(M)being witnessed by the Law ^(N)and the Prophets, ²²even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all ^[c]and on all who believe. For ^(O)there is no difference; ²³for ^(P)all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴being justified ^[d]freely ^(Q)by His grace ^(R)through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵whom God set forth ^(S)as a ^[e]propitiation ^(T)by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over ^(U)the sins that were previously committed,

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Footnotes

Romans 3:13 grave
Romans 3:19 accountable
Romans 3:22 NU omits and on all
Romans 3:24 without any cost
Romans 3:25 mercy seat

Romans 3:9-26

The Message

We’re All in the Same Sinking Boat

^9-20So where does that put us? Do we Jews get a better break than the others? Not really. Basically, all of us, whether insiders or outsiders, start out in identical conditions, which is to say that we all start out as sinners. Scripture leaves no doubt about it:

There’s nobody living right, not even one,
    nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God.
They’ve all taken the wrong turn;
    they’ve all wandered down blind alleys.
No one’s living right;
    I can’t find a single one.
Their throats are gaping graves,
    their tongues slick as mudslides.
Every word they speak is tinged with poison.
    They open their mouths and pollute the air.
They race for the honor of sinner-of-the-year,
    litter the land with heartbreak and ruin,
Don’t know the first thing about living with others.
    They never give God the time of day.

This makes it clear, doesn’t it, that whatever is written in these Scriptures is not what God says about others but to us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the first place! And it’s clear enough, isn’t it, that we’re sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? Our involvement with God’s revelation doesn’t put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else’s sin.

God Has Set Things Right

^21-24But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.

^25-26God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it’s now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness.

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New King James Version (NKJV)

The Message (MSG)

Romans 3:9-25 New King James Version

All Have Sinned(A)