Bible Study Romans 3
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Romans 3 · WEB

All Have Sinned and Are Justified Freely by Grace

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Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the profit of circumcision?
2Much in every way! Because first of all, they were entrusted with the revelations of God.
3For what if some were without faith? Will their lack of faith nullify the faithfulness of God?
4May it never be! Yes, let God be found true, but every man a liar. As it is written, "That you might be justified in your words, and might prevail when you come into judgment."
5But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what will we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath? I speak like men do.
6May it never be! For then how will God judge the world?
7For if the truth of God through my lie abounded to his glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?
8Why not (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), "Let's do evil, that good may come?" Those whose judgment is just.
9What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way. For we previously warned both Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin.
10As it is written, "There is no one righteous; no, not one.
11There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God.
12They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is no one who does good, no, not so much as one."
13"Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit." "The poison of vipers is under their lips."
14"Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."
15"Their feet are swift to shed blood.
16Destruction and misery are in their ways.
17The way of peace, they haven't known."
18"There is no fear of God before their eyes."
19Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God.
20Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight; for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
21But now apart from the law, a righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified by the law and the prophets;
22even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all those who believe. For there is no distinction,
23for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;
24being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;
25whom God set forth to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God's forbearance;
26to demonstrate his righteousness at this present time; that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.
27Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what manner of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.
28We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
29Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn't he the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
30since indeed there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith, and the uncircumcised through faith.
31Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be! No, we establish the law.
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Summary

After indicting both Gentile and Jew, Paul fields objections: Did being entrusted with God's words mean nothing? Doesn't human sin somehow promote God's glory? He bats them away and then convicts the whole human race with a string of Old Testament quotations — none righteous, none who seek God, all under sin. The law's purpose, he says, is to silence every mouth and bring the world to know its guilt; the law cannot justify anyone. But now, apart from the law (though witnessed by it), the righteousness of God has been revealed through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe — all have sinned, and all are justified freely by grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an atoning sacrifice. This way God can be both just (sin punished at the cross) and the justifier of those who have faith in Jesus. Boasting is excluded; one God justifies Jew and Gentile alike on the same terms.

Themes

  • God's faithfulness despite human unfaithfulness
  • The universal guilt of humanity under sin
  • The law's role: not to justify but to expose sin
  • Righteousness from God by faith in Jesus
  • The cross as the place where God is both just and justifier

Key verses

  • Romans 3:10 — “There is no one righteous; no, not one.”
  • Romans 3:20 — “By the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight; for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.”
  • Romans 3:23-24 — “All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
  • Romans 3:26 — “That he might himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.”

Context & background

Written c. AD 56-57 from Corinth. Verses 10-18 form a catena (chain of OT quotations) drawn primarily from Psalms (14:1-3, 53:1-3, 5:9, 140:3, 10:7, 36:1) and Isaiah (59:7-8) — a sustained scriptural diagnosis of human sinfulness. The Greek word translated "atoning sacrifice" or "propitiation" (v. 25, *hilastērion*) was the term for the mercy seat — the gold cover of the ark in the Holy of Holies, sprinkled with blood on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16). Paul is saying Jesus is the true mercy seat, the place where God's wrath is satisfied and his mercy meets the sinner. "Passing over of prior sins" (v. 25) explains how God, in his patience throughout Old Testament history, "passed over" or held in abeyance the full punishment of sin — until the cross, where that long forbearance was vindicated as just rather than indulgent. This passage is the theological heart of Romans and arguably of the whole NT exposition of the gospel.

Cross-references

  • Ephesians 2:8-9 — Salvation by grace through faith — the same gospel in different words.
  • Galatians 2:16 — "A man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus" — Paul's parallel formulation.
  • Isaiah 59:7-8 — Quoted in vv. 15-17.
  • Leviticus 16 / Hebrews 9:11-14 — The mercy seat (atonement cover) — the typology behind v. 25.
  • Psalm 14:1-3 / 53:1-3 — Quoted in vv. 10-12, the universal verdict on humanity.

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    What does Paul say is the purpose of the Old Testament Law (Romans 3:20)?

  2. Observe

    According to Romans 3:23-24, what is the universal human condition, and what is God's provision for it?

  3. Interpret

    Paul says God set forth Christ as an "atoning sacrifice" (*hilastērion*) through faith in his blood (Romans 3:25). What does this Greek term — also used for the mercy seat in the tabernacle — reveal about the theology of the cross?

  4. Interpret

    Paul asks, "Where then is the boasting? It is excluded" (Romans 3:27). Why is boasting excluded, and what does this reveal about the nature of salvation by grace through faith?

  5. Apply

    Romans 3:23 says "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Where in your life are you still subtly trying to be the exception — the one whose goodness, sincerity, or effort might earn what only grace can give?

  6. Apply

    If boasting is excluded (Romans 3:27), what would change about your prayers, your sense of self, and your posture toward others if you truly lived as one justified entirely by grace?

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