Romans 3:1
Τί οὖν τὸ περισσὸν τοῦ Ἰουδαίου, ἢ τίς ἡ ὠφέλεια τῆς περιτομῆς;
What, therefore, is the superiority of the Jew, or what the profit of circumcision?
Paraphrase: Now after all this, you might accuse me of making light of the privileges of the Jewish people. After all, if God accepts (Romans 2:29) only those who receive His gift of righteousness (Romans 1:17) and show this by a sincere love for God and His commands (Romans 2:25), then what value is there in being a member of God’s covenant people? If pagans and Jews stand on the same ground before God (Romans 2:27), then there is no advantage to being raised in the covenant community. Furthermore, the sign of circumcision, which we treasure so much, is pretty much worthless and of no value.
Comments:
Romans 3:2
πολὺ κατὰ πάντα τρόπον. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ὅτι ἐπιστεύθησαν τὰ λόγια τοῦ θεοῦ.
Much according to every way. For, of first importance, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.
Paraphrase: This accusation I wholeheartedly reject. The Jews have huge advantages over the pagan gentiles. The greatest privilege of the Jewish people is the word of God which God has given to them. (Romans 2:27; Romans 9:4-5) By reading the Bible, they can learn about the great covenant of grace which God made with their fathers (Acts 13:32) and of God’s eternal faithfulness to all His covenant promises. (Joshua 21:45)
Comments:
See Stuart (p124) on πρῶτον μὲν.
Romans 3:3
τί γάρ; εἰ ἠπίστησάν τινες, μὴ ἡ ἀπιστία αὐτῶν τὴν πίστιν τοῦ θεοῦ καταργήσει;
For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief cancel the faithfulness of God?
Paraphrase: In fact, I will go so far as to say this in defense of the privileges of the Jewish people. Even the unfaithfulness of some of the Jewish people to the covenant which God made with them will not bring God to cancel His promises to them. I have much to say on this later; see this letter chapters 9-11.
Comments:
Paul will point out in Romans 9 that God’s election is not of the Jews as an ethnic people but is of individuals from among them. God makes no promise to save every ethnic Jew as a Jew. In Romans 10, Paul shows that it is believers who will receive His promised blessings regardless of their ethnicity.
Romans 3:4
μὴ γένοιτο· γινέσθω δὲ ὁ θεὸς ἀληθής, πᾶς δὲ ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης, καθὼς γέγραπται· Ὅπως ἂν δικαιωθῇς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου καὶ νικήσεις ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαί σε.
May it never be, but let God be true, and every man a liar even as it is written, “So that you might be justified in your words and gain the victory when you are judged.”
Paraphrase: But should we really even entertain the idea that God will somehow fail to keep His word? True, people make and break promises all the time, but not God. Whatever the situation, we can all be sure of this. When He makes a promise, He will keep that promise. The grass withers and the flowers fade but the word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8) Note the very different spirit that lived in the heart of the great king of the Jewish people. David wrote: “Against you, and you alone, I have sinned; I have done evil in Your sight. You are right in what You say, and Your judgment against me is just.” (Psalm 51:4) Never for a moment did it cross David’s mind that God’s verdict against him was anything but perfectly just (Genesis 18:25) or that God had failed him in some way. We should approach the present issue in the same spirit.
Comments:
For γινέσθω, see BBG 33.8.
A careful survey of the verb justify is in Morison (p163).
Note principle 23.
Romans 3:5
εἰ δὲ ἡ ἀδικία ἡμῶν θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην συνίστησιν, τί ἐροῦμεν; μὴ ἄδικος ὁ θεὸς ὁ ἐπιφέρων τὴν ὀργήν; κατὰ ἄνθρωπον λέγω.
But if our unrighteousness displays the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath? I say as a man.
Paraphrase: Now some of you have heard rumors of my teaching. That is one of the reasons I am writing you this letter; I don’t want you to misunderstand me on this point. You may have heard that I teach that our sin actually magnifies the grace of God. (Romans 3:8; 6:1) That our covenant-breaking actually highlights God’s covenant-keeping. After all, for God to save righteous people is wonderful enough but how much more wonderful does God’s commitment to His promise appear when He saves unrighteous people! Naturally, from this line of thinking comes the objection, why then does God judge us so severely when our sin actually serves His purpose of exalting the glory of His Name? For myself, I shudder to even repeat such blasphemies, but I really want you to understand me correctly.
Comments:
See principle 26.
One of the Jewish errors here appears to be that they understood God’s righteousness as only His faithfulness to save and not His faithfulness to punish. This was a common error. (Deuteronomy 28:63; Jeremiah 7)
That God acts for the glory of His Name is taught in so many different places in the Bible. Consider the constantly recurring phrase, “They they shall know that I am YHWH.” or “Then you will know…”
Romans 3:6
μὴ γένοιτο· ἐπεὶ πῶς κρινεῖ ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον;
May it never be, since how will God judge the world?
Paraphrase: Clearly we must dismiss these thoughts entirely; they are straight from hell. We all agree that God has set a day in which He will summon everyone to His judgment seat. (Ecclesiastes 11:9; 12:14) There, He will hand down a verdict to every person in keeping with the life that they lived (Romans 14:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10), and this verdict will be perfectly just. We all agree on that, so let us lay aside any thought that God is anything but perfectly just. You can read more of my thoughts on this in chapter 6 of this letter.
Comments:
Romans 3:7
εἰ δὲ ἡ ἀλήθεια τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν τῷ ἐμῷ ψεύσματι ἐπερίσσευσεν εἰς τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, τί ἔτι κἀγὼ ὡς ἁμαρτωλὸς κρίνομαι,
But if the truth of God in my lie abounds to His Glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?
Paraphrase: And there is the similar slander that even my lies work to magnify the grace of God. Now we all agree that God is true to His word, but think how much more evident this is when God is so true to His word and promise that He actually saves those who are dishonest! Again, this line of thinking leads directly to the thought, why am I condemned as a sinner when my lies are actually exalting God’s glory all the higher?
Comments:
Romans 3:8
καὶ μὴ καθὼς βλασφημούμεθα καὶ καθώς φασίν τινες ἡμᾶς λέγειν ὅτι Ποιήσωμεν τὰ κακὰ ἵνα ἔλθῃ τὰ ἀγαθά; ὧν τὸ κρίμα ἔνδικόν ἐστιν.
and not even as we are slandered and even as some disclose us to say that Let us do evil in order that good might come? Whose judgment is right.
Paraphrase:
Comments:
Romans 3:9
Τί οὖν; προεχόμεθα; οὐ πάντως, προῃτιασάμεθα γὰρ Ἰουδαίους τε καὶ Ἕλληνας πάντας ὑφ’ ἁμαρτίαν εἶναι,
Romans 3:10
καθὼς γέγραπται ὅτι Οὐκ ἔστιν δίκαιος οὐδὲ εἷς,
Rom 3:11
οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ συνίων, οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ ἐκζητῶν τὸν θεόν·
Rom 3:12
πάντες ἐξέκλιναν, ἅμα ἠχρεώθησαν· οὐκ ἔστιν ποιῶν χρηστότητα, οὐκ ἔστιν ἕως ἑνός.
Rom 3:13
τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος ὁ λάρυγξ αὐτῶν, ταῖς γλώσσαις αὐτῶν ἐδολιοῦσαν, ἰὸς ἀσπίδων ὑπὸ τὰ χείλη αὐτῶν,
Rom 3:14
ὧν τὸ στόμα ἀρᾶς καὶ πικρίας γέμει·
Rom 3:15
ὀξεῖς οἱ πόδες αὐτῶν ἐκχέαι αἷμα,
Rom 3:16
σύντριμμα καὶ ταλαιπωρία ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν,
Rom 3:17
καὶ ὁδὸν εἰρήνης οὐκ ἔγνωσαν.
Rom 3:18
οὐκ ἔστιν φόβος θεοῦ ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν.
Romans 3:19
Οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι ὅσα ὁ νόμος λέγει τοῖς ἐν τῷ νόμῳ λαλεῖ, ἵνα πᾶν στόμα φραγῇ καὶ ὑπόδικος γένηται πᾶς ὁ κόσμος τῷ θεῷ·
Now we know that what things the law says, to those in the law it speaks in order that every mouth might be stopped and the entire world might be answerable to God.
Paraphrase: Now all men are arraigned before God in His court, and the matters which I have listed above are the charges to which they must answer. Furthermore, we know that no indictment can be brought against a person unless that person is under the jurisdiction of that law. We don’t hold a person responsible to obey laws which don’t apply to him. (Romans 2:12) Now we have shown that the Gentiles have a law from God as well as the Jews. Both are under the law and accountable to God. In fact, the entire world is under God’s jurisdiction and is now brought to the bar of His perfect justice; and when the charges are read, there is nothing left for them to say in their defense. Their mouths, which were so full of arguments and objections before, are now closed tight. (Psalms 63:11; 107:42; Job 5:16) They have nothing to say in their defense any longer; it only remains for them to hear the Judge pronounce the awful sentence. (Hebrews 10:26-27)
Comments:
Romans 3:20
διότι ἐξ ἔργων νόμου οὐ δικαιωθήσεται πᾶσα σὰρξ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, διὰ γὰρ νόμου ἐπίγνωσις ἁμαρτίας.
because, by the works of the law, all flesh is not justified before Him, for through the law knowledge of sin.
Paraphrase: The reason for this sentence of condemnation is simple. Not one single person can be set right with God by keeping His laws. No matter how perfectly he might live and no matter how strict his obedience might be, it falls short of what God requires. In fact, the hard truth is that our very attempt to gain justification with God by obeying His commands leads us more and more to see just how far short we’ve fallen from His perfect standard. The law is the very thing that exposes our guilt and takes every objection and argument out of our mouth. The justice of God’s verdict is now plain and obvious for all to see.
Comments:
Romans 3:21
Νυνὶ δὲ χωρὶς νόμου δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ πεφανέρωται, μαρτυρουμένη ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν,
but now, without the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed being testified by the law and the prophets,
Paraphrase: Now in this situation, the sinner has nowhere to go and nowhere to hide. (Hebrews 4:13) The record of his life is marked by repeated transgressions of the law of God, and there’s simply no way to escape the punishment which is sure to come. Now this brings me to the good news, which I had mentioned previously. (Romans 1:17) In the gospel, God sets forth a righteousness which we do not obtain by a strict and careful obedience to God’s law. This seems impossible to us when we first hear of it. How can any person possibly be set right with God if he has not obeyed all of God’s commands? Well this is the gospel, my friends. This is the good news; and if you recall your study of Scripture, you will find that in both the Pentateuch and the prophets, God hinted at this glorious reality.
Comments:
I understand χωρις νόμου here as without law-keeping.
Along with the translators of the NIV (1984), I understand θεοῦ here to be a genitive of origin.
Romans 3:22
δικαιοσύνη δὲ θεοῦ διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, εἰς πάντας τοὺς πιστεύοντας, οὐ γάρ ἐστιν διαστολή.
i.e. the righteousness of God through faith of Jesus Christ to all believers, for there is no distinction.
Paraphrase: Now this righteousness is received by every person as God’s gift the moment they believe in Jesus Christ. Every believer is in a saving union with Jesus; and as a result of this union, they receive this gift. Furthermore, this gift is given to any person who believes in Jesus regardless of their ethnicity. (Galatians 3:28) Where there is faith in Jesus, there is justification. It is that simple.
Comments:
Stuart (p147): The Attics often employed δε as a sign of resumption.
I take Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ as an objective genitive contrary to the NET translators which is the only major translation that translates it as a subjective genitive. Hendriksen says that in this verse, Paul is pointing back to the theme of the entire book which was first given in Romans 1:16-17; i.e. there is a righteousness from God to every one who believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. If this connection is in Paul’s mind, then the genitive is certainly objective. Support for this idea comes from the fact that the phrase “righteousness of God” is taken up here never having been mentioned previously since Romans 1:17 (except with a different meaning in Romans 3:5). cf Lange on this verse (p129).
Godet (p147): This righteousness is granted to faith, not assuredly because of any merit inherent in it,—for this would be to fall back on works, the very thing which the new dispensation wishes to exclude, but because of the object of faith. Therefore it is that this object is expressly mentioned, Jesus Christ.
Mackintosh (p334): Now in this sense it is not putting it too strongly to say that union with Christ is a brief name for all that the apostles mean by salvation. For St Paul and St John, oneness with Christ is to be redeemed and to be redeemed is oneness with Christ.
Romans 3:23
πάντες γὰρ ἥμαρτον καὶ ὑστεροῦνται τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ,
For all sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Paraphrase: Let me expand on this. Every person, regardless of whether Jew or a Gentile, has sinned against God and brought down on themselves God’s wrath and judgment. (John 3:18) One person is not more guilty than another; all have fallen short of God’s perfect holiness. The glory of God is His holiness, and He will not tolerate the least thing contrary to it. The covenant which God originally made with Adam reflected this holiness. That is why this covenant demanded perfect obedience, nothing less. (Genesis 2:17)
Comments:
I take γαρ here as explicative and epexegetic. See Abbott (p88).
Romans 3:24
δικαιούμενοι δωρεὰν τῇ αὐτοῦ χάριτι διὰ τῆς ἀπολυτρώσεως τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ·
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.
Paraphrase: Now those very same people who are under God’s judgment, God declares Not Guilty! in His courtroom. Yes, it’s true; they are justified by the Great Judge Himself even though in themselves, they remain sinners. This is the wonder of the gospel which we never can fully comprehend. How is it possible? It happens because God is full of grace and delights in showing mercy. His grace led Him to find a new way to justify sinners. Here is how He does it. He does not require any merit from them. They do not have to produce any personal righteousness of their own. Neither, however, does God simply pardon sin without requiring any kind of punishment for sin committed. On the contrary, God justifies sinners by looking to what Jesus did for them. Jesus redeemed His people by giving His life as the price (Mark 10:45) which God’s justice demanded for the liberation of His people. This is why God’s perfect justice no longer has any claim against sinners because it is satisfied with the death of Jesus in their place. (Galatians 3:13) He took the penalty which they deserved; and as a result, they are now Not Guilty! in God’s courtroom.
Comments:
On δωρεαν, see Witsius §41.
Romans 3:25
ὃν προέθετο ὁ θεὸς ἱλαστήριον διὰ πίστεως ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ αἵματι εἰς ἔνδειξιν τῆς δικαιοσύνης αὐτοῦ διὰ τὴν πάρεσιν τῶν προγεγονότων ἁμαρτημάτων
whom God set forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood for a proof of His righteousness on account of the passing over of sins committed previously.
Paraphrase: Now how was it that Jesus set us free? What did Jesus do such that God could now justify people who are clearly guilty? The truth is that Jesus redeemed His people by becoming a sacrifice. This sacrifice, as was typified by many of the sacrifices in the Mosaic law, removed God’s wrath. (Leviticus 4:20, 26, 31, 35) Jesus shedding His blood (Hebrews 9:22) on the cross was not just the end of His life. His death had far more significance than that. It was a result of all the wrath of God being poured out on Him. The justice of God crushed Him (Isaiah 53:10) and punished Him because He was carrying the guilt of all our sin. (Isaiah 53:4-5) Now with this sacrifice, the justice of God was satisfied and accepted it as a sufficient payment for our guilt. Now God publicly displays the cross of Jesus to all the world as the only way any person can be set right with Him. God calls to everyone that if they will take refuge in this atoning death, they will receive a full and free forgiveness of all their sin. Now, you might wonder why it was that Jesus had to suffer such awful pains and agonies. Why couldn’t God have simply overlooked our sin and forgave it without Jesus having to suffer so? The first reason is this. Consider the fact that we committed many sins in our past life as did our ancestors. Why didn’t God punish these sins immediately? Why didn’t He immediately damn us and them to eternal punishment? Why the delay? What are we to think of God’s integrity as a moral governor of this world if He punishes some sins while passing by others? Perhaps God doesn’t really hate sin as much as He says? Well here we have the first reason for Christ’s sufferings. In the crucifixion of Jesus, God gave us a clear revelation of what He thinks of sin. God never overlooks sin or passes it by; He always punishes it. Sin is so obnoxious to His perfect holiness that instead of leaving it unpunished, He has punished the same in his beloved Son Jesus Christ, with the bitter and shameful death of the cross.
Comments:
Deissmann (p124) argues against the idea that ἱλαστήριον here is a reference to the cover of the ark of the covenant כַּפֹּרֶת.
We must distinguish between expiation and propitiation. (p478) Expiation is to take away sin and its guilt. Sin is expiated. Propitiation is to take away someone’s wrath. In the Bible, God is propitiated. See Crawford (very bottom of p77); cf Grotius (p308). Dodd (chp5) argued that ἱλαστήριον should be understood here as expiation, not propitiation (and therefore no idea of turning away God’s wrath). He translated this verse: “For God designed him to be the means of expiating sin by his sacrificial death, effective through faith.” Various writers have refuted Dodd on this point; see Stott, The Cross of Christ, p166; Morris, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, p145; Nicole, Standing Forth, p343.
Read Trench’s very interesting comment on Cocceius’ view that sins under the old covenant were πάρεσιν but not ἄφεσις. Witsius denied this (§38) but Trench goes on to defend a distinction between these two words. See also Neander. Brown writes (right column, middle p209):
The strictly accurate view of believers under the Old Testament is not that of a company of pardoned men, but of men whose sins, put up with and passed by in the mean time, awaited a future expiation in the fulness of time; or, to express it otherwise, of men pardoned on the credit of an atonement which all the sacrifices of their own economy did not yield, and only rendered to Justice when, “in the end of the world, Christ appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (see on Luke 9:31; and on Heb. 9:15, and 11:39, 40).
McCune:
In the animal sacrifice arrangement, however, objective sin required objective sacrifice so that there was not the notion of ethical finality to the transaction, not the least in the mind of God. He forgave sinners “on credit” by validating the animal sacrifices on the basis of the coming sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb foreordained before the foundation of the world to be the sin-bearer (1 Peter 1:20). In His forbearance, God “passed over” the sins of the Old Testament offerers (Romans 3:25) having predestined the final removal that would come with the infinite expiatory sacrifice of Christ. This sacrifice also brought the “redemption of the sins that were committed under the first covenant” (Hebrews 9:15). Systematic Theology 2.181.
The governmental view of the atonement is taught here (see Hodge), but Christ’s atonement does far more than this.
Romans 3:26
ἐν τῇ ἀνοχῇ τοῦ θεοῦ, πρὸς τὴν ἔνδειξιν τῆς δικαιοσύνης αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ νῦν καιρῷ, εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν δίκαιον καὶ δικαιοῦντα τὸν ἐκ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ.
in the toleration of God, towards the revelation of His righteousness at the present time, in order that He might be just and the One justifying the one by faith of Jesus.
Paraphrase: Now it is clear that God’s not punishing the sins of our fathers immediately was not because He didn’t think their sin was serious or that it didn’t deserve punishment. No, He was waiting for that time when Jesus would die. (Hebrews 9:15) Once that had taken place, God could justify any sinner He pleased. Yes, it’s true; the death of Christ made it possible for God to maintain His perfect justice and still justify persons who are clearly guilty. How is this possible? (Exodus 23:7; Proverbs 17:15) Well consider first that God remains perfectly just because the sin of man was punished. Christ took that penalty, and the justice of God is satisfied. Consider second, that, by the death of Christ, all legal obstacles have been cleared out of the way of any man’s salvation. Whether he be Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, or even the worst of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15) it no longer makes any difference. (Galatians 3:28) Because of what Christ has done, God can justify anyone He pleases and show mercy to who He will. And what is God’s will in this? It is that whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but will have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Comments:
Hodge (p356): Christ did and suffered precisely what the law demanded of each man personally and of every man indiscriminately, and it may be, at any time, applied to the redemption of one man as well as to another, as far as the satisfaction itself is concerned. Putting these two things together, therefore, the sufficiency for all and the exact adaptation to each, it is plain as the sun in the heavens that the death of Christ did remove all legal obstacles out of the way of God’s saving any man he pleases. In this sense, if you please, Christ did make the salvation of all men indifferently possible, a parte Dei. He can apply it to any whomsoever He will; but since His will never changes, there can be no distinction between His present will and His eternal design.
Shedd (p84): Paul implies that if God had justified the ungodly without the ἱλαστήριον, he would not have been δίκαιος.
Clearly, the justifying spoken of here is not making someone righteousness as in forming someone’s character. Why would anyone question God’s justice if this is what is meant by justifying? Clearly, it is pronouncing someone righteous which is in view here, and this would lead someone to question God’s justice based on verses like Exodus 23:7; Proverbs 17:15.
Romans 3:27
Ποῦ οὖν ἡ καύχησις; ἐξεκλείσθη. διὰ ποίου νόμου; τῶν ἔργων; οὐχί, ἀλλὰ διὰ νόμου πίστεως.
Therefore, where boasting? It is excluded. Through what kind of law? of works? No, but through the law of faith.
Paraphrase: Now if this is how we are saved, then what place is there for boasting (Romans 2:17, 23) in our own merits or in what we have earned through our own efforts? It is entirely excluded, and why is this? Dear friends, recall the two covenants. (Galatians 4:24) If salvation were by a covenant of works, then boasting in our own merits would be entirely appropriate. People could legitimately point to their own efforts as the deciding factor in their salvation. (Romans 4:1-3) But if salvation is by a covenant of grace and is given to us as a gift (Romans 4:4; 5:15-17; 6:23), then even our best acts of righteousness play no role in our justification before the bar of God. We have nothing at all to boast about.
Comments:
Fitzmyer on this verse: “Paul thus insists that the uprightness that comes to human beings in virtue of faith in Christ Jesus is something alien to them; it is the uprightness of Christ himself that is ascribed to them and that in no way depends on their own merits or striving. It comes to them from God himself as a grace, so all boasting is excluded.”
Romans 3:28
λογιζόμεθα γὰρ δικαιοῦσθαι πίστει ἄνθρωπον χωρὶς ἔργων νόμου.
For we reckon a man to be justified by faith without works of the law.
Paraphrase: For this is the truth we have been trying to teach you all along; this is the grand conclusion of everything I have been saying to you. No one can get right with God by a strict and careful obedience of God’s law. By law-keeping, there is simply no possibility of gaining His favor. It is only on the terms of the covenant of grace that we can be right with God, and these terms call for simple faith in Jesus; and it is by this union with Christ that we are put right with God.
Comments:
Fitzmyer on this verse: That emphasis and the qualification “apart from deeds of (the) law” show that in this context Paul means “by faith alone.” Recall the controversy over Luther’s translation of this verse. See Schaff (p361), Grisar (p515), Pohle (p288).
Romans 3:29
ἢ Ἰουδαίων ὁ θεὸς μόνον; οὐχὶ καὶ ἐθνῶν; ναὶ καὶ ἐθνῶν,
or the God of Jews only? and not of gentiles? Yes, even of gentiles.
Paraphrase: Or are you still thinking that God has only made a covenant with the Jews? that He is only interested in saving them and doing them good and has no concern for outsiders? for the gentiles? Put away this wicked thought. We have already said that justification cannot be gained by a strict obedience to the Mosaic law or to any law. If this were so, then perhaps you would be correct in thinking that God is only for the Jewish people. After all, the gentiles know nothing of Moses’ law. But now God’s mercy is not given to anyone based on their merits, but on God’s grace. Therefore, the door is thrown wide open to all people regardless of their ethnicity. Whoever will surrender their life to Jesus and follow Him is saved no matter if they are Jew or gentile. (Acts 11:18)
Comments:
Romans 3:30
εἴπερ εἷς ὁ θεός, ὃς δικαιώσει περιτομὴν ἐκ πίστεως καὶ ἀκροβυστίαν διὰ τῆς πίστεως.
If indeed God is one, who justifies the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through faith
Paraphrase: Do we not all agree that God is one? (Galatians 3:20) Well then, do you believe that the one God would be divided on something this important? that He would justify the gentiles one way and the Jews another? It’s unthinkable. God is one, and He justifies people in the same way; it’s by faith for the circumcised and by that same faith for the uncircumcised.
Comments:
The article τῆς is anaphoric (GGBB 217) as Clarke explains on this verse:
It is fanciful to suppose that the apostle has one meaning when he says, εκ πιστεως, BY faith, and a different meaning when he says, δια της πιστεως, THROUGH faith. Both the prepositions are to be understood in precisely the same sense; only the addition of the article της, in the last case, extends and more pointedly ascertains the meaning. It is one and the same God who shall justify the believing Jews by faith; and the believing Gentiles δια της πιστεως, by THAT SAME faith.
Romans 3:31
νόμον οὖν καταργοῦμεν διὰ τῆς πίστεως; μὴ γένοιτο, ἀλλὰ νόμον ἱστάνομεν.
Do we therefore cancel the law through faith? May it never be! but we establish the law.
Paraphrase: Am I suggesting then that we dismiss God’s law and cast it aside as something useless and of no value to us? After all, if we are justified by faith and not by our law-keeping, then why do we need the law? Do not think this way, dear friends. This is not at all what I am suggesting even though some people continue to slander me by claiming that this is my teaching. (Romans 3:8; 6:1-2) On the contrary, my teaching regarding the covenant of grace actually establishes the law and puts us on the right footing for successfully obeying it.
Comments:
This line of teaching is resumed in chapter 6.