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Romans 3

1

What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?

2

Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.

3

What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness?

4

Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: "So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge."

5

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.)

6

Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world?

7

Someone might argue, "If my falsehood enhances God's truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?"

8

Why not say--as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say--"Let us do evil that good may result"? Their condemnation is deserved.

9

What shall we conclude then? Are we any better ? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.

10

As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one;

11

there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.

12

All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."

13

"Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit." "The poison of vipers is on their lips."

14

"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."

15

"Their feet are swift to shed blood;

16

ruin and misery mark their ways,

17

and the way of peace they do not know."

18

"There is no fear of God before their eyes."

19

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.

20

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

21

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.

22

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,

23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

24

and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

25

God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished--

26

he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

27

Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith.

28

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

29

Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,

30

since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

31

Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

Romans 4

1

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter?

2

If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about--but not before God.

3

What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."

4

Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.

5

However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

6

David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

7

"Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

8

Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."

9

Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness.

10

Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!

11

And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.

12

And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

13

It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

14

For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless,

15

because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

16

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

17

As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed--the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.

18

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

19

Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead.

20

Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,

21

being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

22

This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness."

23

The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone,

24

but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

25

He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

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