Romans 3:30 - Printer Friendly

ESV: since God is one — who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

NIV: since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

NASB: since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.

CSB: since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

NLT: There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.

KJV: Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

NKJV: since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

This completes a thought begun in the previous verse. Paul has just written that God is the God of both the Jews and the Gentiles. Many Jewish people throughout Israel's history might have objected to that statement. In their minds, God was Israel's God. The Gentile nations worshiped a collection of other gods and idols, so they could not claim the One True God as their own.

Paul's point however is that "God is one." In other words, there are no other gods. Gentiles will not stand before the judgment seat of Baal, or Zeus, or any other false god after they die. Those gods literally do not exist. Rather, all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, are accountable to the one, true God for their sin and for their faith.

In both cases, the only hope to be declared righteous by God, to be justified, is faith in Christ. When it comes to that judgment, God will justify the circumcised, meaning Jewish people, and the uncircumcised, meaning everyone else, through faith in Christ. The people of Israel have some advantage in their special relationship to God (Romans 3:1–2), but they will be held accountable to the exact same standards as anyone else (Romans 3:9–10).

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.