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and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
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I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
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The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:
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The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”
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When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:
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about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;
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“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.
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You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.
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Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him—
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The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.”
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“Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.
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and I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.
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As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.”
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For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
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Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
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God’s Righteous Judgment
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
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But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
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For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
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But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.)
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No One Is Righteous
What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.
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As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;
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Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
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Righteousness Through Faith
But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
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This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,
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God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—
