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The Amplification of Justification

12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people[a] because[b] all sinned—

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 5:12 tn Here ἀνθρώπους (anthrōpous) has been translated as a generic (“people”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.
  2. Romans 5:12 tn The translation of the phrase ἐφ᾿ ᾧ (eph hō) has been heavily debated. For a discussion of all the possibilities, see C. E. B. Cranfield, “On Some of the Problems in the Interpretation of Romans 5.12,” SJT 22 (1969): 324-41. Only a few of the major options can be mentioned here: (1) the phrase can be taken as a relative clause in which the pronoun refers to Adam, “death spread to all people in whom [Adam] all sinned.” (2) The phrase can be taken with consecutive (resultative) force, meaning “death spread to all people with the result that all sinned.” (3) Others take the phrase as causal in force: “death spread to all people because all sinned.”

15 All is pure to those who are pure. But to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and consciences are corrupted.

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16 They profess to know God but with their deeds they deny him, since they are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

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because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so.

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Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

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Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

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Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth,[a] unless a person is born of water and spirit,[b] he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

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Footnotes

  1. John 3:5 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
  2. John 3:5 tn Or “born of water and wind” (the same Greek word, πνεύματος [pneumatos], may be translated either “spirit/Spirit” or “wind”). sn Jesus’ somewhat enigmatic statement points to the necessity of being born “from above,” because water and wind/spirit/Spirit come from above. Isaiah 44:3-5 and Ezek 37:9-10 are pertinent examples of water and wind as life-giving symbols of the Spirit of God in his work among people. Both occur in contexts that deal with the future restoration of Israel as a nation prior to the establishment of the messianic kingdom. It is therefore particularly appropriate that Jesus should introduce them in a conversation about entering the kingdom of God. Note that the Greek word πνεύματος is anarthrous (has no article) in v. 5. This does not mean that spirit in the verse should be read as a direct reference to the Holy Spirit, but that both water and wind are figures (based on passages in the OT, which Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel should have known) that represent the regenerating work of the Spirit in the lives of men and women.

What is born of the flesh is flesh,[a] and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

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Footnotes

  1. John 3:6 sn What is born of the flesh is flesh, i.e., what is born of physical heritage is physical. (It is interesting to compare this terminology with that of the dialogue in John 4, especially 4:23, 24.) For John the “flesh” (σάρξ, sarx) emphasizes merely the weakness and mortality of the creature—a neutral term, not necessarily sinful as in Paul. This is confirmed by the reference in John 1:14 to the Logos becoming “flesh.” The author avoids associating sinfulness with the incarnate Christ.

For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another. [a] But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us in full measure[b] through Jesus Christ our Savior. And so,[c] since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.”[d]

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Footnotes

  1. Titus 3:4 tn Verses 4-7 are set as poetry in NA28. These verses probably constitute the referent of the expression “this saying” in v. 8.
  2. Titus 3:6 tn Or “on us richly.”
  3. Titus 3:7 tn This is the conclusion of a single, skillfully composed sentence in Greek encompassing Titus 3:4-7. Showing the goal of God’s merciful salvation, v. 7 begins literally, “in order that, being justified…we might become heirs…”
  4. Titus 3:7 tn Grk “heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”