Romans:3
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What special privilege ,
then ,
has the Jew ?
Or what is the use of circumcision ?
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Much in every way .
First of all ,
because to them were entrusted the oracles of God .
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Supposing some of them have proved faithless ?
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By no means !
Be sure that God is ever true ,
though all mankind prove false .
As it is written ,
That thou mayest be found just in thine argument ,
And gain thy cause when thou contendest .
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But if our unrighteousness thus brings out Gods righteousness ,
what shall we say ?
Is God unrighteous -
I speak after the manner of men -
when he inflicts his anger on us ?
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Be it far from us ;
for in that case how could God judge the world ?
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But if by a falsehood of mine the truthfulness of God has been made to redound to his glory ,
why am I still tried as a sinner ?
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And why not say (
as I myself am slanderously reported to say ), "
Let us do evil that good may come out of it "?
Such arguments are rightly condemned .
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What then ?
Are we Jews in a better position ?
Not at all ,
for I have already charged all ,
both Jews and Gentiles ,
with being under sin .
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As it is written .
There is none righteous ,
no ,
not one ;
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There is none that understands ,
none that seeks for God !
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All have swerved from the right path ;
Every one of them has become corrupt .
There is none that practises good ,
no ,
not one .
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Their throat is an open grave ;
With their tongues they have used deceit .
The venom of asps is under their lips .
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Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness .
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Their feet are swift to shed blood .
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Destruction and ruin are in their paths ;
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And the path of peace they have not known .
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Reverence for God is not before their eyes .
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Now we know that whatever the Law says ,
it speaks to those who are under the Law ;
so that every mouth may be shut ,
and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God .
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For no man will be justified in Gods sight by works of the Law ;
for through the Law comes the consciousness of sin .
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But now ,
quite apart from any law ,
a righteousness coming from God has been fully brought to light ,
continually witnessed to by the Law and the Prophets .
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I mean a righteousness coming from God through faith in Jesus Christ ,
for all who believe .
For there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile ,
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since all have sinned and lack the glory which comes from God ;
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but they are now being justified by his free grace through the deliverance that is in Christ Jesus .
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For God openly set him forth for himself as an offering of atonement through faith ,
by means of his blood ,
in order to show forth his righteousness -
since in his forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed -
to show forth his righteousness ,
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I say ,
at this present time ;
that he himself might be just ,
and yet the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus .
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Then what becomes of boasting ?
It is shut out .
What sort of law forbids it ?
A law of works ?
No ,
but a law of faith .
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For I conclude that a man is justified by faith ,
altogether apart from the deeds of the Law .
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Is God then the God of the Jews alone ,
and not of the Gentiles also ?
He is God of the Gentiles also ,
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since there is one God who will justify the circumcised through faith ,
and by their faith will he justify the uncircumcised .
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Do we then render law invalid through faith ?
Certainly not ;
on the contrary we make it stand .