Romans 3:1-20 (NIV84)

Romans 3

God’s Faithfulness

¹What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? ²Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.

³What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? ⁴Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written:
“So that you may be proved right when you speak
and prevail when you judge.”^[a]

⁵But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) ⁶Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? ⁷Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” ⁸Why not say—as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say—”Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is deserved.

No One is Righteous

⁹What shall we conclude then? Are we any better^[b]? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. ¹⁰As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
¹¹there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
¹²All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”^[c]
13“Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”^[d]
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”^[e]
14“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”^[f]
15“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶ruin and misery mark their ways,
¹⁷and the way of peace they do not know.”^[g]
18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”^[h]

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. ²⁰Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

Footnotes:

1. Romans 3:4 Psalm 51:4
2. Romans 3:9 Or worse
3. Romans 3:12 Psalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3; Eccles. 7:20
4. Romans 3:13 Psalm 5:9
5. Romans 3:13 Psalm 140:3
6. Romans 3:14 Psalm 10:7
7. Romans 3:17 Isaiah 59:7,8
8. Romans 3:18 Psalm 36:1