What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is three in circumcision?
Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.
What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness?
Not 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."
But 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,)
Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world?
Someone might argue,"If my falsehood enhances God's thruthfulness and so increases his glory , why am I still conderned as a sinner?"
Why 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.
What shall conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.
As it is written;"There is no one righteous, not even one,
there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
All have turned away, they ahve together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."
"Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit," "The poison of vipers is on their lips,"
"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness,"
"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and misery mark their ways,
and the way of peace they do not know."
"There is no fear of God before their eyes."
Now we know that whatever the nlaw says, it says to tgose who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whjole world held accountable to God.
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believer. There is no difference.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
and are justified freely by his frace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice; because in his forbearance unpunished-
he did it to demonstrate his justice at then present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Where then, is boasting> It is exclided. On what principle? On that of observing tghe law? No, but on that of faith.
For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.
Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too?, Yes, of Gentiles too,
since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith,
Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all Rather, we uphold the law.
Romans 4
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter?
If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about- but not before God.
What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God. and it was credited to him as righteousness."
Now when a man words, his wages are not credited to him as righteousness,"
However, to the man who does not work, but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works;
:Blessed are they whose transgressions are foreigiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man whose sin he Lord will never count against him,"
Is thjis blessedness only for the circum cised or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness.
Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after, but before!
And he received the sign of circumcision. a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might he credited to them.
And he is also thef ather of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless,
because law bring wrath, And where there is no law there is no tansgression.
Therefore , the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring- not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, He is thef ather of us all
As it is written; "I have made you a father of many nations," He is our father in the sight of God in whom he believed-the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be,"
Without weakening in his faith he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead- since he was about a hundred years old- and that Sarah;s womb was also dead.
Yet he did not waver through un belief regarding then promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.
being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
This is why "It was credited to him as righteousness,"
The words "it was credited to him as righteousness,"
but also for us, to whiom God will credit righteousness- for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
He was delivered over tod eath for our sins and was raised to life for our justification,
Romans 5
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
though whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance,
perseverance, character; and characte, hope.
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this While we were still sinners, Christ died for us,
Since we have still sinners, Christ died for us, blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
For if, when we were God's enemies ,we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord jesus, Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation
Therefore , just as sin enrered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-
for before the law was given , sin was in the world, But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.
Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgement followed one sin and brought condemnantio, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification,
For if, by the respass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the goft of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
For just as tjhrough the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
The law was added so that the trespass might increase, But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.
so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteounsness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.