Chapter 3

1What advantage is there, then, in being Jewish? What benefit is there in circumcision?

2There is great benefit in every way. First of all, the Jewish people were entrusted with God’s words.

3What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness cancel God’s faithfulness?

4Absolutely not! God must be recognized as truthful, even if every human being proves to be a liar. As Scripture says to God, “So you will be shown to be right in what you say, and you will win your case when you are put on trial.”

5But if our wrongdoing makes God’s justice stand out more clearly, what should we say? Is God unjust when he brings punishment in his anger? I am arguing from an ordinary human point of view.

6Absolutely not! If that were true, how could God judge the world?

7Someone might object, “If my lie makes God’s truthfulness all the more evident and brings him honor, why am I still judged as a sinner?”

8And why not say, as some people slander us by claiming we say, “Let us do evil so that good may come from it”? Their condemnation is deserved.

9So are we Jews in a better position before God? Not at all. We have already charged that Jews and Greeks—that is, non-Jews—are all under the power of sin.

10As Scripture says, “No one does what is right—not even one person.

11“No one understands. No one searches for God.

12“Everyone has turned away; together they have become corrupt. No one acts with kindness—not even one person.

13“Their throat is an open grave; their words bring death. They use their tongues to deceive. Snake venom lies behind their lips.

14“Their mouths are full of curses and bitterness.

15“They are quick to shed blood.

16“They leave ruin and misery wherever they go.

17“They have never learned the road that leads to peace.

18“They have no reverence for God.”

19We know that everything the law says is addressed to those who live under it. As a result, every mouth is silenced—no one has a defense—and the whole world is held accountable to God.

20No human being will be declared right in God’s sight by doing what the law requires. The law makes people recognize their sin.

21But now God has revealed how he puts people right with him, apart from keeping the law. The Law and the Prophets—the Jewish Scriptures—confirm this.

22God puts people right through faith in Jesus the Messiah, for everyone who believes. There is no distinction,

23because everyone has sinned and falls short of sharing in God’s glory.

24Yet God freely declares them right through his generous kindness, because Jesus the Messiah has secured their freedom.

25God presented Jesus as the sacrifice that deals with sin, to be received by trusting in his blood—his sacrificial death. God did this to show that he is just, because he had passed over sins committed in the past.

26God had held back in patience. His purpose was to show his justice at the present time: he is just, and he declares right the person who trusts in Jesus.

27So where is there room for boasting? It has been shut out. What kind of rule shuts it out? A rule based on actions? No, a rule based on faith.

28We conclude that a person is declared right through faith, apart from doing what the law requires.

29Or is God only the God of Jews? Is he not also the God of non-Jews? Yes, he is the God of non-Jews too.

30Since there is one God, he will declare circumcised Jews right on the basis of faith and uncircumcised non-Jews right through that same faith.

31Do we then cancel the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead, we uphold the law.