Romans 3

God's Righteousness Upheld

1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?

4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written,
"That you may be justified in your words,
and prevail when you are judged."

5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.)6 By no means! For then how could God judge the world?7 But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?8 And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

No One Is Righteous

9 What then? Are we Jewst any better off?t No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,

10 as it is written:
"None is righteous, no, not one;
11  no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one."
13  "Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive."
"The venom of asps is under their lips."
14  "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."
15  "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16  in their paths are ruin and misery,
17  and the way of peace they have not known."
18  "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.20 For by works of the law no human beingt will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

The Righteousness of God Through Faith

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Romans 3

1 What good is it to be a Jew? What good is it to be circumcised? 2 It is good in a lot of ways! First of all, God's messages were spoken to the Jews. 3 It is true that some of them did not believe the message. But does this mean that God cannot be trusted, just because they did not have faith?

4 No, indeed! God tells the truth, even if everyone else is a liar. The Scriptures say about God,t
“Your words
will be proved true,
and in court
you will win your case.”
5 If our evil deeds show how right God is, then what can we say? Is it wrong for God to become angry and punish us? What a foolish thing to ask. 6 But the answer is, “No.” Otherwise, how could God judge the world? 7 Since your lies bring great honour to God by showing how truthful he is, you may ask why God still says you are a sinner.

8 You might as well say, “Let's do something evil, so that something good will come of it!” Some people even claim that we are saying this. But God is fair and will judge them as well.

No one is good

10 The Scriptures tell us,t
“No one is acceptable to God!

11 Not one of them understands
or even searches for God.

12 They have all turned away
and are worthless.
There isn't one person
who does right.

13 Their words are liket
an open pit,
and their tongues are good
only for telling lies.
Each word is as deadly
as the fangs of a snake,

14 and they say nothingt
but bitter curses.

15 These people quicklyt
become violent.

16 Wherever they go,
they leave ruin
and destruction.

17 They don't know how
to live in peace.

18 They don't even fear God.”t
19 We know that everything in the Law was written for those who are under its power. The Law says these things to stop anyone from making excuses and to let God show that the whole world is guilty.

20 God doesn't accept people simply because they obey the Law. No, indeed! All the Law does is to point out our sin.t

God's way of accepting people

25-26 God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life's blood, so that by faith in him we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the past he was right to be patient and forgive sinners. This also shows that God is right when he accepts people who have faith in Jesus.
27 What is left for us to boast about? Not a thing! Is it because we obeyed some law? No! It is because of faith. 28 We see that people are acceptable to God because they have faith, and not because they obey the Law. 29 Does God belong only to the Jews? Isn't he also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, he is! 30 There is only one God, and he accepts Gentiles as well as Jews, simply because of their faith.t 31 Do we destroy the Law by our faith? Not at all! We make it even more powerful.