Romans 3
BSASBPaul answers the question of what advantage the Jew has, then shows from Scripture that Jews and Gentiles alike are guilty before God. The law cannot make anyone right with God; it only shows our sin. God has now revealed a righteousness that comes as a gift through faith in Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice satisfies both God’s justice and His mercy.
Romans 3:1-2
If Jews are sinners just like everyone else, did their special status mean anything? Paul says it meant much. Above all, God trusted Israel with His own spoken words, the Scriptures. That was a real privilege, though it did not exempt them from judgment.
BSA: entrusted (“given the responsibility, trusted with”): Israel’s privilege was also a duty: they were guardians of God’s message for the whole world.
Greek: λόγια (logia, G3051) — “oracles, sayings of God.” This word was used for solemn utterances from God. Paul calls the Scriptures God’s own speech, not merely Israel’s history.
See also: Psalm 147:19-20.
Romans 3:3-4
Some Israelites did not believe. Does that cancel God’s promises? Paul’s answer is a firm no. God stays true even if every human being proves false. He quotes David’s confession that God is right in His words and wins His case when He judges.
BSA: nullify (“make useless”): Human unbelief cannot render God’s promises empty or ineffective. proved right (“justified, vindicated”): God is shown to be in the right, as in a courtroom where His verdict stands.
Greek: μὴ γένοιτο (mē genoito, G3361) — “may it never be.” This is Paul’s strongest way of rejecting an idea. He uses it repeatedly in this letter, and here it shuts down any thought that God could be unfaithful.
See also: Psalm 51:4.
Romans 3:5-6
Someone might argue that if our sin makes God’s goodness shine brighter, then God is unfair to punish us. Paul admits he is speaking as a human would. He rejects the idea at once: if God could not rightly judge, He could not judge anyone in the world.
BSA: highlights (“commends, demonstrates”): The objector says our sin shows off God’s righteousness by contrast, as a dark cloth shows off a jewel.
Romans 3:7-8
The same twisted argument returns: if my lie makes God’s truth look better, why blame me? Paul says this logic leads to the slander that we should do evil so good may come. He wants no part in it. Those who reason this way are rightly condemned.
BSA: slanderously (“falsely”): Paul’s critics invented this accusation against his teaching of grace; he never taught it.
Romans 3:9
So are Jews better off than Gentiles? Not in the matter of guilt. Paul has already argued that Jew and Greek alike are under sin. Sin is pictured as a power that rules over everyone, not just as a few bad acts.
BSA: under (“subject to, controlled by”): Sin is described as a master, so that everyone starts out as its servant.
Greek: προῃτιασάμεθα (proētiasametha, G4256) — “we have already charged.” This is a legal word for bringing an accusation. Paul presents chapters 1 and 2 as the case already laid out before the court.
Romans 3:10-12
Paul now strings together verses from the Psalms, mainly Psalm 14, to show that Scripture itself condemns everyone. No one is righteous, no one truly understands, no one seeks God, and all have turned aside. This describes the whole human race, not a few worse people.
BSA: seeks (“searches for, investigates”): Left to ourselves, no one earnestly goes looking for God. worthless (“unprofitable, useless”): Like spoiled milk, humanity has gone sour and no longer serves the purpose it was made for.
See also: Psalm 14:1-3; Ecclesiastes 7:20.
Romans 3:13-14
The charge now turns to speech. Throats like open graves give off the stench of death. Tongues deceive, lips carry snake venom, and mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Words reveal what is in the heart, and these verses show the damage sin does through them.
BSA: venom (“poison”): Hurtful words work like a snakebite, spreading harm that is hard to undo.
See also: Psalm 5:9; Psalm 140:3; Psalm 10:7.
Romans 3:15-18
From words, Paul moves to deeds. Feet hurry toward violence, and ruin and misery trail behind. People do not know the way of peace. The root of it all is the last line: no fear of God before their eyes. Without reverence for Him, everything else goes wrong.
BSA: fear (“reverence, awe”): This is not terror but deep respect for who God is, and its absence is where the trouble starts.
See also: Isaiah 59:7-8; Psalm 36:1.
Romans 3:19
What the law says, it says to those under it, meaning Israel. The point is that no one can plead innocent. Every excuse is silenced, and the whole world stands answerable to God.
BSA: silenced (“stopped, unable to speak”): In God’s court the accused have nothing left to say in their own defense.
Greek: ὑπόδικος (hypodikos, G5267) — “answerable at court, liable to judgment.” This courtroom word pictures the whole world standing before the judge with no defense to offer.
Romans 3:20
Keeping the law cannot make anyone right with God. The law’s job is different: it is like a mirror or a measuring line that shows how crooked we are. It shows us our sin, but it cannot remove it.
BSA: justified (“declared righteous, made right”): To be justified is to be pronounced right with God, as a judge’s verdict, not to earn the title by effort.
Greek: ἐπίγνωσις (epignōsis, G1922) — “full knowledge, clear recognition.” The law does not just mention sin. It brings a sharp, personal recognition of it.
See also: Galatians 2:16.
Romans 3:21-22
Now comes the turn. God’s own righteousness has been shown openly, and it comes without the law as the way in. Yet it is nothing new, since the Law and the Prophets point to it. It comes through faith in Jesus Christ, to everyone who believes.
BSA: revealed (“made manifest, unveiled”): What was long hinted at has now been brought fully into the open in Christ.
Greek: πεφανέρωται (pephanerōtai, G5319) — “has been made visible.” The tense speaks of something shown once and still standing in plain view: God’s saving righteousness is out in the open.
See also: Philippians 3:9.
Romans 3:23
There is no distinction because all have sinned. Everyone falls short of God’s glory, the splendor and perfection He made us to reflect. It is like an archer’s arrow that drops short of the target, whether by a little or a lot.
BSA: glory (“honor, praise, divine splendor”): We were made to share in God’s radiance and honor, and sin leaves us short of that.
Greek: ὑστεροῦνται (hysterountai, G5302) — “are lacking, come short.” The verb is in the present tense. It describes an ongoing shortfall, not a single failure in the past.
Romans 3:24
Those who believe are declared righteous as a gift. They did not earn it. It is paid for by redemption in Christ Jesus, the picture of a captive being bought out of slavery. Grace is the source, and Christ is the price.
BSA: freely (“without cost or obligation, as a gift”): Justification cannot be purchased or earned. It is handed over as a pure gift. redemption (“being set free from sin”): Christ’s work buys us out of the bondage that held us.
Greek: δωρεάν (dōrean, G1432) — “as a gift, without payment.” The same word is used elsewhere for ‘without a cause’. We are justified with nothing on our side to deserve it.
See also: Ephesians 2:8-9.
Romans 3:25
God Himself set forth Jesus as the atoning sacrifice, received by faith in His blood. This shows God’s justice. In His patience He had passed over sins before Christ came, and the cross shows that He never overlooked them. The penalty was dealt with there.
BSA: atoning sacrifice (“propitiation, mercy seat”): Jesus is both the sacrifice that deals with sin and the place where God meets sinners in mercy. forbearance (“patience, tolerance”): God held back His judgment, not because sin did not matter, but because He had a plan to deal with it.
Greek: ἱλαστήριον (hilastērion, G2435) — “mercy seat, place or means of atonement.” The same word names the gold lid of the ark, where blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement. Christ is the true meeting place of mercy and justice.
See also: Leviticus 16:14-15; Hebrews 9:15.
Romans 3:26
The cross also shows God’s righteousness now, in the present. Here is the wonder: God stays completely just and yet declares right the person who trusts Jesus. He does not bend the law. The penalty was paid in full.
BSA: just (“fair, innocent, upright”): God does not lower His standard to forgive. His justice remains whole.
Romans 3:27-28
If salvation is a gift received by faith, no one has anything to brag about. Boasting is shut out. Faith is only the open hand that receives, and it earns nothing. So a person is declared right with God by faith, apart from keeping the law.
BSA: boasting (“pride or glorying in one’s achievements”): The gospel removes any ground for taking credit before God. justified (“made right, declared innocent”): God gives the verdict of ’not guilty’ as a standing, not as a wage.
Greek: ἐξεκλείσθη (exekleisthē, G1576) — “was shut out.” The door is closed on boasting. It is not left slightly open.
See also: Ephesians 2:9.
Romans 3:29-30
If God were only the God of the Jews, justification by the law might make sense. But there is one God over all peoples, and He justifies Jew and Gentile the same way, by faith. The ground of acceptance is the same for everyone.
See also: Romans 10:12.
Romans 3:31
Does faith make the law pointless? Not at all. Paul says faith upholds the law. It agrees with what the law reveals about sin, honors its penalty as paid in Christ, and begins to do what the law always asked.
BSA: uphold (“establish, confirm”): Faith does not cancel the law but makes it stand firm in its proper place.
Greek: ἱστάνομεν (histanomen, G2476) — “we make stand, we establish.” The verb means to set something upright and firm, the opposite of throwing it down.
See also: Matthew 5:17.