Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of works? No, but on that of faith.
Parallel translations
- WEB Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.
- KJV Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
- NKJV Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.
- NASB Where then is boasting? It has been excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.
- NLT Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Because salvation is by faith, all human boasting is excluded. We have nothing to brag about before God.
Overview
Paul draws out a consequence of justification by faith: it leaves no room for pride. Salvation is not by 'a law of works' that we could accomplish, but by 'a law of faith' that simply receives God's gift. This guards the gospel against self-congratulation and gives all glory to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 24
- Rom 4:2If Abraham was indeed justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God.
- Rom 2:23You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
- 1 Cor 1:29–31so that no one may boast in His presence.
- Rom 2:17Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;
- Eph 2:8–10For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,
- Gal 3:22But the Scripture pronounces all things confined by sin, so that by faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe.
- Rom 7:21So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
- Zeph 3:11On that day you will not be put to shame for any of the deeds by which you have transgressed against Me. For then I will remove from among you those who rejoice in their pride, and you will never again be haughty on My holy mountain.
- 1 Jn 5:11–12And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
- Rom 7:25Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
- Rom 11:6And if it is by grace, then it is no longer by works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.
- Luke 18:9–14To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable:
- John 3:36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”
- Rom 3:19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- Mark 16:16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
- Rom 8:2For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.
- Ezek 16:62–63So I will establish My covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD,
- 1 Cor 4:7For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
- Rom 7:23But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me.
- Rom 9:11Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God’s plan of election might stand,
- Rom 9:32Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
- Gal 2:16know that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
- Ezek 36:31–32Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and abominations.
- Rom 10:5For concerning the righteousness that is by the law, Moses writes: “The man who does these things will live by them.”
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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 3:27 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.
Original language
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