Romans 3

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¹Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the profit of circumcision? ✦ ²Much in every way! Because first of all, they were entrusted with the revelations of God. ✦ ³For what if some were without faith? Will their lack of faith nullify the faithfulness of God? ✦ ⁴May it never be! Yes, let God be found true, but every man a liar. As it is written, “That you might be justified in your words, and might prevail when you come into judgment.” ✦ ⁵But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what will we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath? I speak like men do. ✦ ⁶May it never be! For then how will God judge the world? ✦ ⁷For if the truth of God through my lie abounded to his glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? ✦ ⁸Why not (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), “Let us do evil, that good may come?” Those who say so are justly condemned. ✦ ⁹What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way. For we previously warned both Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin. ✦ ¹⁰As it is written, “There is no one righteous; no, not one. ✦ ¹¹There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God. ✦ ¹²They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is no one who does good, no, not so much as one.” ✦ ¹³“Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit.” “The poison of vipers is under their lips”; ✦ ¹⁴“whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” ✦ ¹⁵“Their feet are swift to shed blood. ✦ ¹⁶Destruction and misery are in their ways. ¹⁷The way of peace, they haven’t known.” ✦ ¹⁸“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” ✦ ¹⁹Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God. ✦ ²⁰Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin. ✦ ²¹But now apart from the law, a righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified by the law and the prophets; ✦ ²²even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all those who believe. For there is no distinction, ✦ ²³for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; ✦ ²⁴being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; ✦ ²⁵whom God sent to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God’s forbearance; ✦ ²⁶to demonstrate his righteousness at this present time; that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus. ✦ ²⁷Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. ✦ ²⁸We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. ✦ ²⁹Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn’t he the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ✦ ³⁰since indeed there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith, and the uncircumcised through faith. ✦ ³¹Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be! No, we establish the law. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

Rom 3 ·28 Gal 3 ·21 Rom 5 ·14 Rom 4 ·13 Rom 11 ·13 Rom 9 ·12 Rom 7 ·11 Gal 2 ·11

Christ at the center

Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.

How Romans 3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
VideoMike Winger — BibleThinkerMike Winger · Free · reformed
Free verse-by-verse studies through whole books plus careful apologetics — "learn to think biblically about everything." (Reformed-leaning, non-denominational.)

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Romans videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Romans 3YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Romans 3David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on RomansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Romans 3Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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