And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.
Parallel translations
- WEB Why 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.
- BSB Why not say, as some slanderously claim that we say, “Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is deserved!
- NKJV And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.
- NASB And why not say (just as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let’s do evil that good may come of it”? Their condemnation is deserved.
- NLT And some people even slander us by claiming that we say, “The more we sin, the better it is!” Those who say such things deserve to be condemned.
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
This logic would mean 'let us do evil that good may come' — a slander against Paul's teaching, and those who reason so are justly condemned. The gospel never licenses sin.
Overview
Paul exposes the objection's true conclusion: doing evil so that good may result. Some slanderously accused Paul of teaching this. He flatly condemns the idea, declaring such reasoning justly deserves condemnation. Grace and the magnifying of God's glory never excuse sin; this guards the gospel against antinomian misuse, a point Paul revisits in Romans 6.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Rom 6:1What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
- Rom 6:15What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
- Rom 5:20Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
- Rom 7:7What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
- 1 Pet 3:16–17Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
- Jude 1:4For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Matt 5:11Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 3:8 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.