(Tap footnote to read it. Old Testament quotations/allusions are underlined. [Brackets] indicate a textual variant.fnWhen two (or more) different copies of an original manuscript disagree on any given word or phrase — addition, omission, word order, etc. — the disagreement is called a "textual variant". ~99% of existing textual variants are either minor (like spelling), obviously not original (often appearing only in a few late manuscripts), or don't affect meaning (like "Jesus Christ" vs. "Christ Jesus"). The ~1% that remain do not affect any central doctrine of Christianity. The BOS Bible only marks significant textual variants that affect the meaning; smaller variants that do not affect meaning won't be marked for readability. "Love" with a caret ("^love") is agapé.fn"agapé" The Greek words ἀγάπη (agapé, noun), and ἀγαπάω (agapaó; verb) are typically translated "love". However, unlike our English word "love" – which primarily speaks of affection and feelings — agapé centers on choice and behavior. It’s the "love" based on will, choice, behavior, and action; not feelings. (Feelings-based love is the Greek word φιλέω (phileó), which properly means "brotherly love/affection".) Thus, you could hate someone passionately and still treat him with "agapé". Agapé "love" is best understood as the pursuit of what is most beneficial to someone or something, regardless of the cost to yourself or the type of response received from the person or thing. It can also indicate a preference for someone or something over other things. An asterisk (*) indicates a verb in the Greek perfect tense.fnThe Greek perfect tense signifies a completed action in the past with a result and/or an ongoing state that extends into the present. For example, Hebrews 12:2 says in part: "He *sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"; the verb for "sat" is in the perfect tense, indicating that He sat down once (completed action in the past), and also that He remains seated until the present moment (ongoing state).)
God is righteous
(Parallel teachings: Romans 9:6-29)
- 1 Then what is the advantage of the Jew? Or what is the benefit of the circumcision?
- 2 Much in every way, for it’s primarily that they were indeed entrusted with the oracles of God.
- 3 For what if some disbelieved? Their unbelief won’t nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?
- 4 May it never be! But let God be true though every man is a liar, just as it’s *written: “that you might be made righteous in your words, and will prevail when you’re judged.”fnquotation/allusion to Psalm 51:4
- 5 But if our unrighteousness proves God’s righteousness, what will we say: is God – the One inflicting wrath – unrighteous? (I speak as a man might.)
- 6 May it never be! Otherwise, how will God judge the world?
- 7 But if the truth of God overflowed for His glory through my lie, why am I also still judged as a sinner?
- 8 And why not say: “We should do evil so good might come”? Just as we’re blasphemously charged with saying and as some men report us to say, men whose condemnation is just.
No man is righteous
- 9 What then, are we better? Not at all! For we previously brought an accusation against both Jews and Greeks that all are under sin.
- 10 Just as it’s *written: “There is no righteous man, not even one.
- 11 “There is no man understanding, there is no man seeking out God.
- 12 “All turned away, together they became good for nothing.fn“good for nothing” is one word in Greek. It describes someone or something that has become no longer useful for anything. Here, it translates a Hebrew verb from Psalm 14:3 that means to turn something sour, rancid, or be corrupted (e.g. milk going sour), which makes it no longer useful. There is no man doing good, there isn’t even one.”fnquotation/allusion to Psalm 14:1-3
- 13 “Their throat is an *open grave, their tongues were continually deceiving.”fnquotation/allusion to Psalm 5:9 “The venom of aspsfn“asps” an asp is a highly poisonous snake whose venom is very often fatal when left untreated. Further, the venom works quickly, making it even more dangerous. is under their lips,“fnquotation/allusion to Psalm 140:3
- 14 “men whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”fnquotation/allusion to Psalm 10:7
- 15 “Their feet are swift to spill blood,
- 16 “complete ruin and misery are in their ways,
- 17 “and they didn’t know the way of peace.”fnquotation/allusion to Isaiah 59:7-8
- 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”fnquotation/allusion to Psalm 36:1
- 19 Yet we *know that whatever the law says, it speaks to the men under the law so that every mouth might be stopped, and all the world might become indefensibly liable to convictionfn“indefensibly liable to conviction” is one word in Greek. It refers to the legal status of having no valid defense remaining in a courtroom, and thus the accused is liable to an adverse ruling (conviction as guilty) from the judge. However, it does not mean that the accused is convicted, merely that he is liable to a conviction. before God.
- 20 Therefore, no flesh will be made righteous in His sightfnquotation/allusion to Psalm 143:2 by the works of the law, for accurate knowledge of sin comes through the law.
Righteousness from God through Jesus
(Parallel teachings: Galatians 2:15-21; Philippians 3:4-11; Ephesians 2:1-10)
- 21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been made known, being testified of by the law and the prophets,
- 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus the Anointed for all [and on all] the men believing, for there’s no distinction,
- 23 for all sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
- 24 being made righteous by His freely given grace through the redemptionfn“redemption” This Greek word refers to the act of freeing a slave or prisoner of war by the payment of a ransom. Acts 20:28 and 1 Peter 1:18-19 make it clear that the “ransom” was Jesus’s blood, and verses like Romans 6:17 and 2 Timothy 2:26 indicate that we were slaves of sin and held captive by the devil respectively. There have been four major views on this ransom and what it means throughout church history: (1) The ransom was paid to God. (2) The ransom was paid to Satan to free us from his captivity. (3) The ransom was paid to death itself. (4) The ransom is metaphorical, similar to the idiom “He paid the ultimate price”. This view says that no one was “paid” anything, but rather that it cost Jesus something valuable (His life) to free us. This has precedent in the Old Testament, since 2 Samuel 7:23 says that God “redeemed” Israel from Egypt, and yet God didn’t “pay” anyone. Isaiah 52:3 promises that God will “redeem without money” as part of the intro to Isaiah 53, which is arguably the most famous prophecy about Jesus in the Old Testament. in Jesus the Anointed,
- 25 whom God set forth as purification lidfnquotation/allusion to Leviticus 16 (the whole chapter). Also, “purification lid” is one word in Greek, usually translated “propitiation” or “mercy seat” here. Its only other occurrence is in Hebrews 9:5 referring to the lid of the Ark of the Covenant. In the Septuagint (an ancient translation of the Old Testament into Greek), this word was used almost exclusively for the ark’s lid. The Hebrew equivalent (kappōret) is often translated into English as “mercy seat”, but high-level peer-reviewed scholarship dedicated to the field (e.g., Milgrom, Levine, Gane, Sklar, Wright, Gorman, etc.) is largely united on seeing it as a place for purification. Purification was necessary because sins committed outside the Tabernacle could defile sacred space (e.g. Leviticus 20:1-3, Numbers 19:13, etc.). The Day of Purification (aka “Day of Atonement”) ritual in Leviticus 16 cleansed sin’s defilement (Leviticus 16:29-30) from sacred space, since God might depart if the people’s sins weren’t cleansed (Ezekiel 5:11, Ezekiel 8:6, etc.). This ritual involved sprinkling the blood of a purification offering (aka “sin offering”; see note on Romans 8:3) onto the lid of the ark to purify sacred space from the people’s sins. Notably, the Hebrew verb traditionally translated “make atonement” means “to purify” or “to cleanse” in a sacrificial context. Here in Romans, Paul is likely pointing to the ritual in Leviticus 16 to present Jesus as the true place where sins are cleansed, since He is called a purification offering in other passages. The translation “purification lid” was chosen to capture this background. through faith in His blood for a demonstration of His righteousness, because of the intentional overlooking of previously *committed sins in the forbearance of God,
- 26 for the demonstration of His righteousness in the present season, for Him to be righteous and also making righteous the man whose faith is in Jesus.
- 27 Where then is the boasting? It was excluded. Through what law? Of works? Certainly not! But through the law of faith.
- 28 For we consider a man to be made righteous by faith apart from the works of the law.
- 29 Or is God only the God of the Jews? Isn’t He also God of the gentiles? Yes! Of the gentiles too,
- 30 since there’s indeed one God who will make the circumcision righteous by faith and the uncircumcision righteous through the same faith.
- 31 Then, do we nullify the law through faith? May it never be! Instead, we establish the law.
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