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For God does not show favoritism.
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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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This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
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The Jews and the Law
Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;
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You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
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As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
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No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.
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God’s Faithfulness
What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?
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Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.
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What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness?
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Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.”
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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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Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world?
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Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?”
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there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.
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“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
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Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
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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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for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
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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—
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Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,
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since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.
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If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God.
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What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
