Study Desk

There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.

But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.

For God does not show favoritism.

For merely listening to the law doesn't make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight.

They demonstrate that God's law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.

You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for people who are lost in darkness.

You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. For you are certain that God's law gives you complete knowledge and truth.

For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision.

"But," some might say, "our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn't it unfair, then, for him to punish us?" (This is merely a human point of view.)

Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin.

Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God.

For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard.

Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,

for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

For the Scriptures tell us, "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith."

David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it:

"Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight.