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The Letter to the Romans 3

3 You Jews might say, “If what you have said is true, then surely being a Jew is not advantageous! Surely being circumcised is not beneficial at all!” 2 Then I would say, “Being a Jew benefits a person in many ways!” This is certainly true because, first of all, God trusted the Jews with preserving what he had said in the Scriptures. 3 So you might say, “Some of these Jews were certainly unfaithful to God! How unfaithful those people are certainly cannot invalidate how faithful God is!” 4 Then I would say, “Of course not!” On the contrary, God is always truthful, but everyone else is not. This is what David meant when he wrote in the Scriptures, “The result of my sin is that people will acknowledge that you, God, are right when you speak and victorious when people try to judge you.”

5 But you might say, “Suppose this is true and how unrighteous we Jews are actually confirms how righteous God is. That could not possibly mean that God is unrighteous because he punishes us!” (When I talk like this, I am expressing how human beings think.) 6 Then I would say, “Of course not! If God were unrighteous when he punishes us, then he could not possibly judge anyone in the world!” 7 But then you might say, “Suppose this is true, and my lying further glorifies God and how truthful he is. If that is so, then surely God should not still judge me as if I were sinning! 8 And if this is true, then you should just tell us to act wickedly in order that good things can happen!” (This is exactly what some people say falsely about me and claim that I say. It is right for God to condemn people who speak and act this way!)

9 You Jews might then say, “If what you have said is true, then we are surely not superior to non-Jewish people!” And I would say that indeed we are not. I say this because I have previously charged that all Jews and non-Jewish people cannot stop being sinful. 10 This is what the prophets meant when they wrote in the Scriptures, “No one is righteous, no one at all!”

11 “No one thinks wisely. No one is even trying to know God!

12 Everyone has refused to obey God. As a whole, they are worthless for doing what God wants. No one is kind, no one at all!”

13 “What people say is morally corrupt like the smell of rotten corpses in a grave! They constantly deceive people by what they say!” “What they say hurts people, like the venom of venomous snakes!” 14 “They constantly curse others and speak harshly against them.” 15 “They rush eagerly to murder people. 16 Wherever they go, they destroy lives and make people suffer. 17 They do not understand how to live peacefully with others.” 18 “They do not fear God at all!”

19 Certainly, we Jews know all that God says in his laws applies to the Jews, to whom God gave his laws. This is in order that no one can excuse themselves from being judged by God. This is also in order that God can justly punish everyone in the world as guilty. 20 This is true because God will not make anyone righteous with himself simply because they obey the laws he gave the Jews. This is so because those laws only make people aware of how sinful they are.

21 But now God has revealed how he makes people righteous. Becoming righteous is not related to obeying the laws God gave the Jews. Yet, in what they wrote in the Scriptures Moses and the prophets testify about how God makes people righteous. 22 How God makes people righteous is by trusting in Jesus the Messiah. God will make all types of people righteous if they trust in Jesus. This is because God does not distinguish between different types of people. 23 This is because all types of people sin and fail to acquire the glorious status from God. 24 God makes these sinful people righteous as a gift because he is so kind. People receive this gift from God when God unites them to Jesus the Messiah, who redeemed them from being punished for being sinful. 25 God offered Jesus as the one who atones for everyone’s sins. People are rescued from being punished for being sinful by trusting in his sacrificial death. God did this in order to show how God makes people righteous. This happened because God disregarded people’s sinful acts that they had previously done. 26 God did this because he is so tolerant. God also did this in order to show how he makes people righteous during our time. This is for the purpose of showing that God is righteous and that he makes people righteous if they trust in Jesus.

27 You Jews might say, “If what you have said is true, then surely no one can boast!” Then I would say, “Indeed, no one can!” Then you might say, “Surely we can become righteous by obeying the laws God gave the Jews! Surely doing those things will make us righteous!” Then I would say, “Absolutely not! On the contrary, people become righteous by trusting in Jesus the Messiah. 28 Indeed, we Jewish Christians consider people to become righteous by trusting in Jesus the Messiah. Being righteous is not related to doing those things that God commanded in the laws he gave the Jews.” 29 Or you might say, “Surely God is not only the God of the Jews. Surely he is the God of all the nations too!” So I would say, “Absolutely! He is the God of all the nations too. 30 This is true because there is certainly only one God for all people. He will make righteous both the Jews who trust in Jesus and the non-Jewish people who trust in Jesus.” 31 You Jews might say, “Then surely we make the laws God gave us invalid by trusting in Jesus!” So I would say, “Of course not! On the contrary, we confirm that what God said in those laws is valid.”

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