The Righteousness of God Through Faith

21 But now the ⁿrighteousness of God has been ^omanifested apart from the law, ^palthough the Law and the Prophets ^qbear witness to it— 22 the ^rrighteousness of God through ^sfaith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is ^tno distinction: 23 for ^uall have ^vsinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are ^wjustified ^xby his grace as a ^ygift, through the ^zredemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a ^apropitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine ^bforbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of ^cthe one who has faith in Jesus.

27 Then what becomes of our ^dboasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the ^elaw of faith. 28 For ^fwe hold that one is ^gjustified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 ^hOr is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since ⁱGod is one—^jwho will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 ^kDo we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Abraham Justified by Faith

1 ^lWhat then shall we say was gained by Abraham, ^mour forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to ⁿboast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? ^o“Abraham believed God, and it was ^pcounted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now ^qto the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but ^rbelieves in¹ him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

9 Is this ^ublessing then only for the circumcised, ^vor also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received ^wthe sign of circumcision as a seal of the ^xrighteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

The Promise Realized Through Faith

13 For the ^ypromise to Abraham and his offspring ^zthat he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 ^aFor if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but ^bwhere there is no law ^cthere is no transgression.

16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to ^dthe one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, ^e“I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God ^fin whom he believed, who ^ggives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ^h“So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith ⁱwhen he considered his own body, which was ^jas good as dead (since he was about ^ka hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness² of Sarah’s womb. 20 No ^lunbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was ^m“counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but ⁿfor ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in ^ohim who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up ^pfor our trespasses and ^qraised for our ^rjustification.

Peace with God Through Faith

1 Therefore, since we have been ^sjustified by faith, we³ have ^tpeace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained ^uaccess by faith⁴ into this grace in which we stand, and we⁵ rejoice^{6 v}in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we ^wrejoice in our sufferings, ^xknowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and ^yhope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been ^zpoured into our hearts ^athrough the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

6 For ^bwhile we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us ^cin that ^dwhile we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the ^ewrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were ^freconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also ^grejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

12 Therefore, ^hjust as sin came into the world ⁱthrough one man, and ^jdeath ^kthrough sin, and so death spread to all men⁷ because ^lall sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before ^mthe law was given, but ⁿsin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, ^owho was a ^ptype of the one who was to come.

15 But the free ^qgift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded ^rfor many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

18 Therefore, as one trespass⁸ led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness⁹ leads to ^sjustification and life for ^tall men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s ^uobedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Future Glory

18 For I consider that ^gthe sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with ^hthe glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For ⁱthe creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that ^jthe creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits ^kof the Spirit, ^lgroan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this ^mhope we were saved. Now hope ⁿthat is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

20 But in fact Christ has been ^mraised from the dead, ⁿthe firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as ^oby a man came death, ^pby a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be ^qmade alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his ^rcoming those who ^sbelong to Christ. 24 Then comes ^tthe end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying ^uevery rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until ^vhe has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 ^wThe last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For ^x“God¹ has put ^yall things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, ^zthen the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a ⁿnew creation.^{1 o}The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ ^preconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling² the world to himself, not ^qcounting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ^rambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake ^she made him to be sin ^twho knew no sin, ^uso that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

9 making known¹ to us the ^qmystery of his will, according to his purpose, which ^rhe set forth in Christ² 10 as a plan for the ^sfullness of time, ^tto unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him.

11 In him we have obtained an ^uinheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

One in Christ

11 Therefore remember that ^xat one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called ^ythe circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, ^zalienated from the commonwealth of Israel and ^astrangers to ^bthe covenants of ^cpromise, ^dhaving no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus ^eyou who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our ^fpeace, who has made us both ^gone and has broken down ^hin his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 ⁱby abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might ^jreconcile us both to God ^kin one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and ^lpreached ^mpeace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have ⁿaccess in ^oone Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,¹ but you are ^pfellow citizens with the saints and members of the ^qhousehold of God, 20 ^rbuilt on the ^sfoundation of the ^tapostles and prophets, ^uChrist Jesus himself being the ^vcornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, ^wbeing joined together, grows into a ^xholy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being ^ybuilt together into a ^zdwelling place for God by² the Spirit.

The Mystery of the Gospel Revealed

1 For this reason I, Paul, a ^aprisoner of Christ Jesus ^bon behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the ^cstewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the ^dmystery was made known to me by ^erevelation, ^fas I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 ^gwhich was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy ^hapostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 ⁱThis mystery is³ that the Gentiles are ^jfellow heirs, ^kmembers of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

7 Of this gospel I was made a ^lminister according to the gift of ^mGod’s grace, which was given me ⁿby the working of his power. 8 To me, ^othough I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and ^pto bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery ^qhidden for ages in⁴ God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God ^rmight now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the ^sheavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal ^tpurpose that ^uhe has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have ^vboldness and ^waccess with ^xconfidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to ^ylose heart over what I am suffering ^zfor you, which is your glory.

20 and through him ^lto reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, ^mmaking peace by the blood of his cross.