GOD’S RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT

2 Therefore, every one of youE,g who judges is without excuse.h For when you judge another,i you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth. 3 Do you think—anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same—that you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you despise the riches of his kindness,j restraint,k and patience,l not recognizingF that God’s kindnessm is intended to lead you to repentance? 5 Because of your hardened and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrathn for yourself in the day of wrath,o when God’s righteous judgment is revealed. 6 He will repay each one according to his works:G,p 7 eternal lifeq to those who by persistence in doing goodr seek glory, honor,s and immortality;t 8 but wrath and anger to those who are self-seekingu and disobey the truthv while obeying unrighteousness. 9 There will be affliction and distressw for every human being who does evil, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek;x 10 but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no favoritism with God.y

12 For all who sin without the lawz will also perish without the law, and all who sin underH the law will be judged by the law. 13 For the hearers of the lawaa are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified.I 14 So, when Gentiles, who do not by nature have the law,ab doJ what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the lawK is written on their hearts.ac Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts either accuse or even excuse themL 16 on the day when God judgesad what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus.ae

JEWISH VIOLATION OF THE LAW

17 Now ifM you call yourself a Jew, and rely on the law,af and boast in God, 18 and know his will, and approve the things that are superior,ag being instructed from the law, 19 and if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light to those in darkness, 20 an instructor of the ignorant, a teacher of the immature, having the embodiment of knowledge and truthah in the law—21 you then, who teach another,ai don’t you teach yourself? You who preach, “You must not steal”—do you steal? 22 You who say, “You must not commit adultery”—do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob temples?aj 23 You who boast in the law,ak do you dishonor God by breaking the law?* 24 For, as it is written: The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.N,al

CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART

25 Circumcision benefits you if you observe the law, but if you are a lawbreaker, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.am 26 So if an uncircumcisedan man keeps the law’s requirements,ao will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 A man who is physically uncircumcised, but who keeps the law, will judge youap who are a lawbreaker in spite of having the letter of the law and circumcision. 28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly,aq and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. 29 On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly,ar and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter.O,as That person’s praise is not from people but from God.at

PAUL ANSWERS AN OBJECTION

3 So what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 2 Considerable in every way. First, they were entrusteda with the very words of God.b 3 What then? If some were unfaithful,c will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Absolutely not!d Let God be true, even though everyone is a liar,e as it is written:

That you may be justified in your words

and triumph when you judge.A,f

5 But if our unrighteousness highlightsB God’s righteousness,g what are we to say?h I am using a human argument:C,i Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath? 6 Absolutely not! Otherwise, how will God judge the world?j 7 But if by my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?k 8 And why not say, just as some people slanderously claim we say, “Let us do what is evil so that good may come”?l Their condemnation is deserved!

THE WHOLE WORLD GUILTY BEFORE GOD

9 What then? Are we any better off?D Not at all! For we have already charged that both Jewsm and Greeksn are all under sin,F,o 10 as it is written:

There is no one righteous, not even one.

11 There is no one who understands;

there is no one who seeks God.

12 All have turned away;

all alike have become worthless.

There is no one who does what is good,

not even one.G,p

13 Their throat is an open grave;

they deceive with their tongues.H,q

Vipers’ venom is under their lips.I,r

14 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.J,s

15 Their feet are swift to shed blood;

16 ruin and wretchedness are in their paths,

17 and the path of peace they have not known.K,t

18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.L,u

19 Now we know that whatever the law says,v it speaks to those who are subject to the law,M,w so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment.N,x 20 For no one will be justifiedO in his sight by the works of the law,y because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.z

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD THROUGH FAITH

21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed,aa attested by the Law and the Prophets.P,ab 22 The righteousness of God is through faithac in Jesus ChristQ,ad to all who believe,ae since there is no distinction.af 23 For all have sinnedag and fall short of theR glory of God; 24 they are justified freely by his graceah through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.ai 25 God presented him as the mercy seatS,aj by his blood,ak through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint Godal passed over the sins previously committed.am 26 God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.

BOASTING EXCLUDED

27 Where, then, is boasting?an It is excluded. By what kind of law?u,ao By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a lawV of faith. 28 For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.ap 29 Or is God the God of Jews only?aq Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is one Godar who will justify the circumcised by faithas and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not!at On the contrary, we uphold the law.au

ABRAHAM JUSTIFIED BY FAITH

4 What then will we say that Abraham, our forefatherav according to the flesh, has found?W 2 If Abraham was justifiedX by works,aw he has something to boast about—but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.A,a 4 Now to the one who works,b pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly,c his faith is credited for righteousness.

DAVID CELEBRATING THE SAME TRUTH

6 Likewise, David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

7 Blessed are those whose lawless acts are forgiven

and whose sins are covered.

8 Blessed is the person

the Lord will never charge with sin.B,d

ABRAHAM JUSTIFIED BEFORE CIRCUMCISION

9 Is this blessing only for the circumcised,e then? Or is it also for the uncircumcised? For we say, Faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness.A,f 10 In what way, then, was it credited—while he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? It was not while he was circumcised, but uncircumcised. 11 And he received the sign of circumcisiong as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith* h while still uncircumcised. This was to make him the fatheri of all who believej but are not circumcised, so that righteousness may be credited to them also. 12 And he became the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith our father Abraham had while he was still uncircumcised.

THE PROMISE GRANTED THROUGH FAITH

13 For the promise to Abrahamk or to his descendants that he would inherit the worldl was not through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 If those who are of the law are heirs,m faith is made empty and the promise nullified, 15 because the law produces wrath.n And where there is no law,o there is no transgression.

16 This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace,p to guarantee it to all the descendantsq—not only to the one who is of the lawD but also to the one who is of Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations—E,r in the presence of the God in whom he believed, the one who gives life to the deads and callst things into existence that do not exist.u 18 He believed, hoping against hope, so that he became the father of many nationsE,v according to what had been spoken: So will your descendants be.F,w 19 He did not weaken in faith when he consideredG his own body to be already deadx (since he was about a hundred years old)y and also the deadness of Sarah’s womb.z 20 He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,aa 21 because he was fully convincedab that what God had promised, he was also able to do.ac 22 Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness.A,ad 23 Now it was credited to himA was not written for Abraham alone,ae 24 but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in himaf who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.ag 25 He was delivered up forH our trespassesah and raised for our justification.ai