What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?
Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)
God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?
For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?
And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.
What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
Their feet are swift to shed blood:
Destruction and misery are in their ways:
And the way of peace have they not known:
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
Romans 3 is a pivotal chapter in Paul's letter to the Romans, addressing fundamental questions about sin, righteousness, and salvation. It builds upon the arguments presented in the previous chapters, demonstrating the universal need for God's grace and revealing the means by which that grace is received: through faith in Jesus Christ. This chapter is crucial for understanding the core message of the gospel and its implications for both Jews and Gentiles.
The Advantage of Being a Jew (Romans 3:1-8)
Paul anticipates objections to his previous statements about God's impartial judgment. If both Jews and Gentiles are judged by God, what advantage is there in being a Jew? What is the benefit of circumcision (Romans 3:1)? Paul clarifies that the Jews were entrusted with the very words of God (Romans 3:2). They received the "oracles"—the scriptures—which is a unique privilege and responsibility.
However, Paul acknowledges that some Jews were unfaithful. Does their unfaithfulness nullify God's faithfulness (Romans 3:3)? Absolutely not! (Romans 3:4). God's faithfulness is not contingent on human faithfulness. Even if everyone else is a liar, God remains true. In fact, the unrighteousness of Israel, and of all humanity, serves to highlight the righteousness of God.
This leads to a further objection: if our unrighteousness highlights God's righteousness, how can it be fair for God to judge us (Romans 3:5)? Paul vehemently rejects the idea that God desires people to sin more and more to make Himself look better (Romans 3:5-8). Just because God turns our evil toward his good plan, we are still accountable for our own sin. Our unrighteousness does not negate the fact that we broke the law.
The Universality of Sin (Romans 3:9-20)
Paul transitions from the hypothetical dialogue to his central argument: both Jews and Gentiles are under sin (Romans 3:9). Having the law doesn't change that. The Jews may have sinned by ignoring the law, but the Gentiles sinned by ignoring their conscience. We started on different paths, but we ended up in the same hopeless place.
To demonstrate the pervasive nature of sin, Paul strings together a series of quotes from the Old Testament (Romans 3:10-18), painting a grim picture of human depravity. "None is righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10, quoting Psalm 14:1). He emphasizes how humans use their bodies—their throats, tongues, lips, feet, and eyes—to express their sinfulness. Our mouths are full of cursing (Romans 3:14); our feet are swift to shed blood (Romans 3:15). There is no fear of God before our eyes (Romans 3:18).
Paul's conclusion is stark: "by the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight" (Romans 3:20). The law reveals sin but offers no hope of salvation. Think of the law as a mirror that shows you who you really are. While a mirror reveals your messed-up hair, you don’t pull it off the wall and brush your hair with it! Mirrors don’t fix anything; they show us what needs fixing. The law was not designed to fix you, but to reveal what needs fixing.
Righteousness Through Faith (Romans 3:21-26)
The law cannot justify us, but Paul reveals that there is a way to be declared righteous in the eyes of God apart from the law (Romans 3:21). This righteousness is available through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. True, all have sinned and fall short of being able to participate in God's glory (Romans 3:23). When the standard is God’s glory, God’s righteousness, it makes no difference if we miss by an inch or a mile. If two men are running to catch a plane, and one man is an hour late, while the other is one minute late, who is in a worse situation? After all, they both missed the flight! It doesn’t matter if you are “better” than your neighbor. Your neighbor is not the standard. God is the standard, and we all fall short.
But we can be justified—declared righteous before God—through God's grace as a gift (Romans 3:24). This is something we could never earn. Justification is a legal concept meaning that in God’s courtroom, he pronounced us innocent of all charges. He does this through what theologians call “imputation”—taking Jesus’s perfect record and crediting it to our accounts. Salvation is possible through the atoning sacrifice of Christ's blood when He died on the cross to pay for our sin. The redemption that is in Christ Jesus released us from spiritual bondage through the paying of a price, one that was too high for us to pay (and was continually gaining interest!).
God is the one who put Christ forward to be sacrificed in this way to show His own righteousness (Romans 3:25). The cross also acts as our atoning sacrifice, providing forgiveness through shed blood—in this case, Christ’s. Throughout the Old Testament, we see that God requires a blood payment for sin. It’s even how Israel escaped Egypt—when God saw lambs’ blood on their doorframes, his judgment “passed over” them. The blood sacrifice of Christ propitiated, or satisfied, the righteous demands of a holy God. Our sin must be paid for. God's just anger must be satisfied, and it was satisfied in Christ's death. That allowed God to become not the executioner but the justifier of everyone who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26).
Forgiveness always comes at a cost. God sent Jesus to repair our sin problem, but he didn’t leave a bill behind because he absorbed the cost himself. God sent Jesus to demonstrate his righteousness (Romans 3:26), not to show us how to earn our way to heaven. That’s the economy of grace. God gave the grace, so God gets the glory.
Faith for All (Romans 3:27-31)
Paul emphasizes that this gift of righteousness is available to everyone, both Jews and Gentiles alike (Romans 3:29). Nobody can earn it. Nobody deserves it. All who come by faith may receive it. Where, then, is boasting? (Romans 3:27). In an economy of grace, boasting is excluded (Romans 3:27).
Does this mean that we nullify the law through faith (Romans 3:31)? Absolutely not! (Romans 3:31). When you understand grace, you find that it’s exactly the opposite. You do the right thing, not because you’re driven to (as under the law), but because you’re grateful. If you really get grace, you can’t help but worship God, give to him, and love other people. Grace isn’t license to sin; it’s God’s supply of goodness. And it’s always more than enough. Faith establishes the law, fulfilling its intended purpose of pointing us to Christ and empowering us to live in obedience born of love and gratitude.
Romans 3 lays the groundwork for understanding God's plan of salvation. It reveals the depth of human sin, the inadequacy of the law to provide righteousness, and the glorious provision of God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This chapter is a cornerstone of Christian theology, offering hope and assurance to all who believe.
What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?
Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)
God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?
For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?
And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.
What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
Their feet are swift to shed blood:
Destruction and misery are in their ways:
And the way of peace have they not known:
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
Romans 3 is a pivotal chapter in Paul's letter to the Romans, addressing fundamental questions about sin, righteousness, and salvation. It builds upon the arguments presented in the previous chapters, demonstrating the universal need for God's grace and revealing the means by which that grace is received: through faith in Jesus Christ. This chapter is crucial for understanding the core message of the gospel and its implications for both Jews and Gentiles.
The Advantage of Being a Jew (Romans 3:1-8)
Paul anticipates objections to his previous statements about God's impartial judgment. If both Jews and Gentiles are judged by God, what advantage is there in being a Jew? What is the benefit of circumcision (Romans 3:1)? Paul clarifies that the Jews were entrusted with the very words of God (Romans 3:2). They received the "oracles"—the scriptures—which is a unique privilege and responsibility.
However, Paul acknowledges that some Jews were unfaithful. Does their unfaithfulness nullify God's faithfulness (Romans 3:3)? Absolutely not! (Romans 3:4). God's faithfulness is not contingent on human faithfulness. Even if everyone else is a liar, God remains true. In fact, the unrighteousness of Israel, and of all humanity, serves to highlight the righteousness of God.
This leads to a further objection: if our unrighteousness highlights God's righteousness, how can it be fair for God to judge us (Romans 3:5)? Paul vehemently rejects the idea that God desires people to sin more and more to make Himself look better (Romans 3:5-8). Just because God turns our evil toward his good plan, we are still accountable for our own sin. Our unrighteousness does not negate the fact that we broke the law.
The Universality of Sin (Romans 3:9-20)
Paul transitions from the hypothetical dialogue to his central argument: both Jews and Gentiles are under sin (Romans 3:9). Having the law doesn't change that. The Jews may have sinned by ignoring the law, but the Gentiles sinned by ignoring their conscience. We started on different paths, but we ended up in the same hopeless place.
To demonstrate the pervasive nature of sin, Paul strings together a series of quotes from the Old Testament (Romans 3:10-18), painting a grim picture of human depravity. "None is righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10, quoting Psalm 14:1). He emphasizes how humans use their bodies—their throats, tongues, lips, feet, and eyes—to express their sinfulness. Our mouths are full of cursing (Romans 3:14); our feet are swift to shed blood (Romans 3:15). There is no fear of God before our eyes (Romans 3:18).
Paul's conclusion is stark: "by the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight" (Romans 3:20). The law reveals sin but offers no hope of salvation. Think of the law as a mirror that shows you who you really are. While a mirror reveals your messed-up hair, you don’t pull it off the wall and brush your hair with it! Mirrors don’t fix anything; they show us what needs fixing. The law was not designed to fix you, but to reveal what needs fixing.
Righteousness Through Faith (Romans 3:21-26)
The law cannot justify us, but Paul reveals that there is a way to be declared righteous in the eyes of God apart from the law (Romans 3:21). This righteousness is available through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. True, all have sinned and fall short of being able to participate in God's glory (Romans 3:23). When the standard is God’s glory, God’s righteousness, it makes no difference if we miss by an inch or a mile. If two men are running to catch a plane, and one man is an hour late, while the other is one minute late, who is in a worse situation? After all, they both missed the flight! It doesn’t matter if you are “better” than your neighbor. Your neighbor is not the standard. God is the standard, and we all fall short.
But we can be justified—declared righteous before God—through God's grace as a gift (Romans 3:24). This is something we could never earn. Justification is a legal concept meaning that in God’s courtroom, he pronounced us innocent of all charges. He does this through what theologians call “imputation”—taking Jesus’s perfect record and crediting it to our accounts. Salvation is possible through the atoning sacrifice of Christ's blood when He died on the cross to pay for our sin. The redemption that is in Christ Jesus released us from spiritual bondage through the paying of a price, one that was too high for us to pay (and was continually gaining interest!).
God is the one who put Christ forward to be sacrificed in this way to show His own righteousness (Romans 3:25). The cross also acts as our atoning sacrifice, providing forgiveness through shed blood—in this case, Christ’s. Throughout the Old Testament, we see that God requires a blood payment for sin. It’s even how Israel escaped Egypt—when God saw lambs’ blood on their doorframes, his judgment “passed over” them. The blood sacrifice of Christ propitiated, or satisfied, the righteous demands of a holy God. Our sin must be paid for. God's just anger must be satisfied, and it was satisfied in Christ's death. That allowed God to become not the executioner but the justifier of everyone who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26).
Forgiveness always comes at a cost. God sent Jesus to repair our sin problem, but he didn’t leave a bill behind because he absorbed the cost himself. God sent Jesus to demonstrate his righteousness (Romans 3:26), not to show us how to earn our way to heaven. That’s the economy of grace. God gave the grace, so God gets the glory.
Faith for All (Romans 3:27-31)
Paul emphasizes that this gift of righteousness is available to everyone, both Jews and Gentiles alike (Romans 3:29). Nobody can earn it. Nobody deserves it. All who come by faith may receive it. Where, then, is boasting? (Romans 3:27). In an economy of grace, boasting is excluded (Romans 3:27).
Does this mean that we nullify the law through faith (Romans 3:31)? Absolutely not! (Romans 3:31). When you understand grace, you find that it’s exactly the opposite. You do the right thing, not because you’re driven to (as under the law), but because you’re grateful. If you really get grace, you can’t help but worship God, give to him, and love other people. Grace isn’t license to sin; it’s God’s supply of goodness. And it’s always more than enough. Faith establishes the law, fulfilling its intended purpose of pointing us to Christ and empowering us to live in obedience born of love and gratitude.
Romans 3 lays the groundwork for understanding God's plan of salvation. It reveals the depth of human sin, the inadequacy of the law to provide righteousness, and the glorious provision of God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This chapter is a cornerstone of Christian theology, offering hope and assurance to all who believe.