Romans 3:21–26

Context

This passage belongs to the Epistle to the Romans, which the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome. From 1:18 through 3:20, Paul argues that Gentiles and Jews alike are under sin. Then, with "But now" in verse 21, he changes direction and explains "the righteousness of God" that has been manifested apart from keeping the law. The discussion that follows in 3:27–31 and the treatment of Abraham in chapter 4 further develop the argument of this passage. Because its language is compressed, interpreters differ over the meaning of individual words.

Interpretations

• Reformation tradition: Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Reformed churches, following Martin Luther and John Calvin, understand "the righteousness of God" as a righteousness that God gives as a gift to those who believe. They read "justified freely" in verse 24 as justification, in which God declares sinners righteous, much as a judge pronounces a verdict in a court of law. Luther is reported to have regarded this passage as the center of Romans and of the whole Bible.
• Wesleyan tradition: Methodist, Holiness, and related churches accept justification as a gift of grace. At the same time, they emphasize the sanctification that follows justification and cite "all them that believe" as grounds for holding that salvation is open to all people.
• Catholic interpretation: The Catholic Church understands justification as a real transformation by which grace makes a person righteous. In 1999 the Lutheran World Federation and the Holy See issued the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, setting out a basic consensus on justification by grace.
• "New Perspective on Paul": E. P. Sanders, James D. G. Dunn, N. T. Wright, and others draw attention to "there is no difference" in verse 22. They hold that the passage addresses how Jews and Gentiles become one people, and they tend to read "the righteousness of God" as God's faithfulness to his covenant. This reading has drawn considerable criticism from within the Reformation tradition.

Debates and Issues

• "Faith of Jesus Christ": The Greek expression in verse 22 can be translated either as "faith in Jesus Christ" or as "the faithfulness of Jesus Christ," and scholars debate the point. The Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version adopt the former sense.
• Propitiation: The word hilastērion in verse 25 is read in three ways: as a sacrifice that turns away the wrath of God, as a sacrifice that cleanses and removes sin, or as the "mercy seat," the covering of the ark of the covenant on which blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16. Hebrews 9:5 uses the same word for the mercy seat. When the British scholar C. H. Dodd argued for the sense of "cleansing from sin," Leon Morris and others offered rebuttals. Translations differ, rendering the term "propitiation," "sacrifice of atonement," and so on.
• "Passing over": The term rendered "passing over" in verse 25 refers not to forgiveness but to God's deferring punishment and leaving sins unpunished for a time. Many commentaries read the passage as explaining that God did not simply overlook past sins but displayed his own righteousness at the cross.

In the Korean Church

Verse 23 is widely used to explain human sin in evangelistic booklets, including The Four Spiritual Laws of Korea Campus Crusade for Christ. The word "freely" in verse 24 is often cited in sermons on grace and salvation.

Related Passages

• Romans 3:28
• Romans 4:1–5
• Romans 5:6–10
• Galatians 2:16
• 2 Corinthians 5:21