Romans 3:22 - Printer Friendly

ESV: the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:

NIV: This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,

NASB: but it is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction,

CSB: The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction.

NLT: We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

KJV: Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

NKJV: even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;

Paul has thoroughly and completely eliminated the possibility that anyone can be made right with God by following the law. Simply put, absolutely nobody seeks God sufficiently to earn the label "righteous" (Romans 3:10). That means all people, Jew and Gentile, deserve the wrath of God for sin. Having said that, and making it clear that no person has any hope of heaven by their own efforts, Paul has suddenly thrown open the door to another way to be made righteous. To be made righteous before God is the only way to be saved from God's wrath.

Paul sums up very clearly that the righteousness of God is available to humans through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. How is this possible? Paul will go on to show that only Jesus ever kept the law perfectly. He then died for the sins of all of us lawbreakers. When we place our faith in Jesus, God gives us credit for His righteousness and receives Jesus' payment of His own death for our sin.

The verse ends with the beginning of a new thought: "There is no distinction." Paul means that there is no difference between any groups of human beings. He will say in the next verse that all have sinned and fall short of God's glory. This includes every kind of people group: Jews, Gentiles, men, women, the oppressed, the oppressors, those who do good works and those who do not. Everyone sins, and none of us earn God's glory.

Romans 3:21–31 finally introduces the ''good news'' part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Up to this point, Paul has shown that even following the law cannot spare us from being judged by God for our sin. Now Paul announces that, through faith in Christ, we can be made righteous in God's sight. Entirely apart from the law, we can be redeemed by the atoning sacrifice of Christ's blood, willingly shed for our sin. This gift of God's grace instead of wrath is available to everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike. This is truly good news!

Romans 3 begins with a question-and-answer scheme. These are responses one might expect from someone opposed to what Paul wrote in Romans 2. Next, Paul quotes from a series of Old Testament passages. These Scriptures show that those writers also agreed that nobody, not one person, deserves to be called righteous. Paul declares emphatically that no one will be justified by following the works of the law. Finally, though, he arrives at the good news: righteousness before God is available apart from the law through faith in Christ's death for our sin on the cross.

The prior chapter explained that God's judgment on sin will come to all men, whether or not they understand the literal law. Faith in God, in the heart, matters more to God than rote obedience. At the start of this chapter, Paul answers a series of questions from an imagined objector to those teachings. Next, he quotes a series of Old Testament passages which support His teaching that human beings are by nature sinful. Each of us turns away from God. Nobody can be justified by the law, Paul insists. Fortunately, it is possible to attain God's righteousness: but only by His grace, through faith in Christ's atoning sacrifice for our sin on the cross. We must come to this by faith, and it is available to Jews and Gentiles alike.

The book of Romans is the New Testament's longest, most structured, and most detailed description of Christian theology. Paul lays out the core of the gospel message: salvation by grace alone through faith alone. His intent is to explain the good news of Jesus Christ in accurate and clear terms. As part of this effort, Paul addresses the conflicts between law and grace, between Jews and Gentiles, and between sin and righteousness. As is common in his writing, Paul closes out his letter with a series of practical applications.