God's Righteousness Upheld
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Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?
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By no means! 5Let God be true though 6every one were a liar, as it is written, 7"That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you 8are judged."
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But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict 9wrath on us? (10I speak in a human way.)
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By no means! For then how could 11God judge the world?
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But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, 12why am I still being condemned as a sinner?
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And why not 13do evil that good may come?--as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.
No One Is Righteous
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What then? Are we Jewsa any better off?b No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both 14Jews and 15Greeks, are 16under sin,
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as it is written: 17"None is righteous, no, not one;
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no one understands; no one seeks for God.
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All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."
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18"Their throat is 19an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." 20"The venom of asps is under their lips."
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21"Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."
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22"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
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in their paths are ruin and misery,
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and 23the way of peace they have not known."
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24"There is no fear of God before their eyes."
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Now we know that whatever 25the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, 26so that every mouth may be stopped, and 27the whole world may be held accountable to God.
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For 28by works of the law no human beingc will be justified in his sight, since 29through the law comes knowledge of sin.
The Righteousness of God Through Faith
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But now 30the righteousness of God 31has been manifested apart from the law, although 32the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it--
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the righteousness of God 33through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. 34For there is no distinction:
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for 35all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
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whom God 39put forward as 40a propitiation 41by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in 42his divine forbearance he had passed over 43former sins.
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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.
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44Then 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.
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For we hold that one is justified by faith 45apart from works of the law.
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Or 46is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
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since 47God is one--who will justify the circumcised by faith and 48the uncircumcised through faith.
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Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)