Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹⁶ I’m not ashamed of the good news; it’s God’s power, bringing salvation to everyone who believes—to the Jew first, and also, equally, to the Greek. ¹⁷ This is because God’s covenant justice is unveiled in it, from faithfulness to faithfulness. As it says in the Bible, “the just shall live by faith.”

²² God’s covenant justice comes into operation through the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah, for the benefit of all who have faith. For there is no distinction: ²³ all sinned, and fell short of God’s glory— ²⁴ and by God’s grace they are freely declared to be in the right, to be members of the covenant, through the redemption which is found in the Messiah, Jesus.

Jesus’ death reveals God’s covenant justice

²⁵ God put Jesus forth as the place of mercy, through faithfulness, by means of his blood. He did this to demonstrate his covenant justice, because of the passing over (in divine forbearance) of sins committed beforehand. ²⁶ This was to demonstrate his covenant justice in the present time: that is, that he himself is in the right, and that he declares to be in the right everyone who trusts in the faithfulness of Jesus.

The God of both Jew and Gentile

²⁷ So what happens to boasting? It is ruled out! Through what sort of law? The law of works? No: through the law of faith! ²⁸ We calculate, you see, that a person is declared to be in the right on the basis of faith, apart from works of the law.

²⁹ Or does God belong only to Jews? Doesn’t he belong to the nations as well? Yes, of course, to the nations as well, ³⁰ since God is one. He will make the declaration “in the right” over the circumcised on the basis of faith, and over the uncircumcised through faith.

³¹ Do we then abolish the law through faith? Certainly not! Rather, we establish the law.

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Master, Master’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; only people who do the will of my father in heaven. ²² On that day lots of people will say to me, ‘Master, Master—we prophesied in your name, didn’t we? We cast out demons in your name! We performed lots of powerful deeds in your name!’

²³ “Then I will have to say to them, ‘I never knew you! You’re a bunch of evildoers—go away from me!’ ”

True obedience

²⁴ “So, then, everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ Heavy rain fell; floods rose up; the winds blew and beat on that house. It didn’t fall, because it was founded on the rock. ²⁶ And all those who hear these words of mine and don’t do them—they will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ Heavy rain fell; floods rose up; the winds blew and battered the house—and down it fell! It fell with a great crash.”

²⁸ When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching. ²⁹ He was teaching them, you see, on his own authority, quite unlike their scribes.