NKJV Foundation Study Bible Romans

THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE
ROMANS
AUTHOR: All critical schools agree on the Pauline authorship of this foundational
book. The vocabulary, style, logic, and theological development are consistent with
Pauls other epistles. He wrote Romans in a.d. 57, near the end of his third missionary
journey, evidently during his three-month stay in Greece (Acts 20:36), more specifically, in Corinth. The church in Rome was well known (Rom. 1:8), and it had been
established for several years by the time of this letter. The believers were probably
numerous, and evidently they met in several places (16:116). The historian Tacitus
even referred to the Christians who were persecuted there under Nero in a.d. 64 as
an immense multitude, as the gospel filled the gap left by the practically defunct
polytheism of Roman religion.
TIME: c. a.d. 57
KEY VERSES: Rom. 1:1617
THEME: Most scholars think that Paul probably wrote this letter from Corinth,
shortly before going to Jerusalem with the relief funds for the believers there. At
this point in his life and ministry, his theology has been fully developed through
years of study and interaction with people as he preached the gospel. Romans systematically explains what Christ did, why He did it, and what has happened as a
result. It speaks to what we are as humans and how God has interacted with us
through Christ. It lays out Gods plan for the world, clarifying what has happened
and is still happening in biblical history. In this way, Paul forces us to deal with all
the false versions of reality inspired by our fallen human nature as opposed to Gods
gracious, sustaining plan.
Greeting
Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ,

a called to be an apostle, b separated to
the gospel of God 2cwhich He promised
before d through His prophets in the Holy
Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son Jesus
Christ our Lord, who was eborn of the
seed of David according to the flesh, 4 and
f declared to be the Son of God with power according gto the Spirit of holiness, by
the resurrection from the dead. 5Through
Him hwe have received grace and apostleship for iobedience to the faith among all
nations jfor His name, 6among whom you
also are the called of Jesus Christ;
7To all who are in Rome, beloved of God,
kcalled to be saints:
lGrace to you and peace from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:1 bondservant. A bondservant is a slave. Paul is

talking about a slavery taken voluntarily out of love
(see Ex. 21:16), unlike the forced slavery known to so
many in the Roman Empire.
1:4 declared. The word translated declared means
designated. Jesus did not become the Son of God
by the resurrection. Instead, the resurrection proved
that Jesus was the Son of God.
1:14 barbarians. Paul is referring to the non-Greek
Desire toVisit Rome
8First, m I thank my God through Jesus

Christ for you all, that nyour faith is spoken
of throughout the whole world. 9For oGod
is my witness, pwhom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that qwithout
ceasing I make mention of you always in
my prayers, 10making request if, by some
means, now at last I may find a way in the
will of God to come to you. 11For I long to see
you, that rI may impart to you some spiritual
gift, so that you may be established12that
is, that I may be encouraged together with
you by sthe mutual faith both of you andme.
13Now I do not want you to be unaware,
brethren, that I often planned to come to
you (but twas hindered until now), that I
might have some u fruit among you also,
just as among the other Gentiles. 14I am a
debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians,
Gentile populations, such as the northern European

peoples, the Britons, the Gauls, and the Celts.
1:1a1Tim. 1:11 bActs 9:15; 13:2 1:2cActs 26:6 dGal.
3:8 1:3eGal. 4:4 1:4fActs 9:20; 13:33 g[Heb. 9:14]
1:5hEph. 3:8 iActs 6:7 jActs 9:15 1:7k1Cor. 1:2, 24
l1Cor. 1:3 1:8m1Cor. 1:4 nRom. 16:19 1:9oRom.
9:1 pActs 27:23 q1Thess. 3:10 1:11rRom. 15:29
1:12sTitus 1:4 1:13t[1Thess. 2:18] uPhil. 4:17
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1242 Romans 1:15

both to wise and to unwise. 15So, as much
as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel
to you who are in Rome also.
The Just Live byFaith
16For vI am not ashamed of the gospel of

Christ,* for wit is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, xfor the Jew
first and also for the Greek. 17For yin it the
righteousness of God is revealed from faith
to faith; as it is written, zThe just shall live
by faith. *
Gods Wrath onUnrighteousness
18a For the wrath of God is revealed from

heaven against all ungodliness and bunrighteousness of men, who suppress the
truth in unrighteousness, 19because cwhat
may be known of God is manifest in them,
for dGod has shown it to them. 20For since
the creation of the world eHis invisible
attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His
eternal power and Godhead, so that they
are without excuse, 21because, although
they knew God, they did not glorify Him
as God, nor were thankful, but fbecame
futile in their thoughts, and their foolish
hearts were darkened. 22gProfessing to be
wise, they became fools, 23 and changed
the glory of the h incorruptible i God into
an image made like corruptible manand
birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
24jT herefore God also gave them up to
uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, kto
dishonor their bodies lamong themselves,
25who exchanged mthe truth of God nfor the
1:17 faith to faith. Faith is at the beginning of the salvation process, and it is the goal as well. Paul had faith
that God, through the Holy Spirit, could and would
build true righteousness in him. For the believer
this means prayerful self-examination, prayer to do
better, and careful response to those inner nudges
that say, dont say that... have pity... encourage
him... , etc.
1:1819 There Are No ExcusesSomeone once
said there were two points they understood about
God: (1) There is a God; and (2) I am not Him. Theologians use the term general revelation to describe
the concept Paul is teaching here in Romans 1. God
has revealed Himself through His creation so that
everyone can understand that He exists and that He
has created the world and man with a purpose. God
created man with an inner sense that there is something bigger out there, something that transcends
mankind. That something is God and He requires
recognition. The created world points us to God, but
we suppress that truth, preferring to put ourselves in
the place of God, in effect saying, There is no God
but me. Paul further says that, because the revelation is so clear, we have no excuse for missing it, no
legitimate reason for our blindness. People who do
not see it are guilty of not acknowledging the most
basic reality there is.
1:25 lie. This refers to the kind of wrong thinking that
led to idol worship. This lie refuses to honor both
lie, and worshiped and served the creature

rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to
ov ile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against
nature. 27Likewise also the men, leaving
the natural use of the woman, burned in
their lust for one another, men with men
committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error
which was due.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave
them over to a debased mind, to do those
things pwhich are not fitting; 29 being
filled with all unrighteousness, sexual
immorality,* wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife,
deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent,
proud, boasters, inventors of evil things,
disobedient to parents, 31undiscerning,
untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving,*
unmerciful; 32who, qknowing the righteous
judgment of God, that those who practice
such things rare deserving of death, not
only do the same but also sapprove of those
who practice them.
Gods Righteous Judgment
Therefore you are inexcusable, O man,

2whatever
whoever you are who judge, for in
you judge another you condemn
a
*1:16 NU-Text omits of Christ. *1:17 Habakkuk

2:4 *1:29 NU-Text omits sexual immorality.
*1:31 NU-Text omits unforgiving.
Gods law and His authority. When people stop knowing that God created the universe, that it is His, they
adopt all kinds of wrong thinking about sin, society,
morality, and especially, the role of God Himself.
1:27 what is shameful. Homosexuality is sin (Lev.
18:22), and the actions that are part of this lifestyle
are called shameful by God. In this passage Paul
explains that homosexual sin is the result of men having rejected God and exchanged what is natural for
the unnatural. The problems from this way of living
are themselves the penalty for this choice.
1:2932 being filled with all unrighteousness.
These verses contain one of the most complete lists
of sin in all of Scripture. This passage addresses not
only the fact that God judges rightly that these sins
are deserving of death, but it also addresses the idea
that approving of these sins is something God judges.
2:14 judge. Paul points out in this passage that anyone who judges others condemns himself, for in this
list of sins is something that everyone has been guilty
1:16vPs. 40:9, 10 w1Cor. 1:18, 24 xActs 3:26 1:17yRom.
3:21; 9:30 zHab. 2:4 1:18a[Acts 17:30] b2Thess. 2:10
1:19c[Acts 14:17; 17:24] d[John 1:9] 1:20ePs. 19:16
1:21fJer. 2:5 1:22gJer. 10:14 1:23h1Tim. 1:17; 6:15,
16 iDeut. 4:1618 1:24jEph. 4:18, 19 k1Cor. 6:18 lLev.
18:22 1:25m1Thess. 1:9 nIs. 44:20 1:26oLev. 18:22
1:28pEph. 5:4 1:32q[Rom. 2:2] r[Rom. 6:21] sHos. 7:3
2:1a[Rom. 1:20] b[Matt. 7:15]
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Romans 2:28 1243

yourself; for you who judge practice the
same things. 2But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against
those who practice such things. 3And do
you think this, O man, you who judge those
practicing such things, and doing the same,
that you will escape the judgment of God?
4Or do you despise cthe riches of His goodness, dforbearance, and elongsuffering, f not
knowing that the goodness of God leads
you to repentance? 5But in accordance with
your hardness and your impenitent heart
gyou are treasuring up for yourself wrath
in the day of wrath and revelation of the
righteous judgment of God, 6 who h will
render to each one according to his deeds:*
7eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor,
and immortality; 8but to those who are self-
seeking and ido not obey the truth, but obey
unrighteousnessindignation and wrath,
9tribulation and anguish, on every soul of
man who does evil, of the Jew jfirst and also
of the Greek; 10kbut glory, honor, and peace
to everyone who works what is good, to the
Jew first and also to the Greek. 11For l there
is no partiality with God.
12 For as many as have sinned without
law will also perish without law, and as
many as have sinned in the law will be
judged by the law 13 (for mnot the hearers
of the law are just in the sight of God, but
the doers of the law will be justified; 14for
when Gentiles, who do not have the law,
by nature do the things in the law, these,
although not having the law, are a law to
themselves, 15who show the nwork of the
law written in their hearts, their oconscience also bearing witness, and between
themselves their thoughts accusing or else
excusing them) 16pin the day when God
of in one way or another. Paul asks if the judgers
realize that it is God in His goodness who leads one
to repentance, and that only God can judge rightly.
Only He can judge the actions of the heart and person
without condemning Himself, for only He is without
sin.
2:4 repentance. Literally, this means to change
ones mind. In this context it means to reject ones
sinful habits and turn to God.
2:78 eternal life . . . doing good. According to
these verses it might seem that eternal life can be
gained by doing good. But Romans clearly teaches
justification by faith (3:22). The subject of this verse
is judgment, not justification. Jesus said that every
idle word men may speak, they will give account of
it in the day of judgment (Matt. 12:36). Even Christians will see both the good and the evil that they
have done. They are justified (considered righteous
and therefore not punished for their sins because
they have accepted Christs death on their behalf)
but they still have to see what they have done according to Gods righteous judgment. Good works are a
foundation for the time to come [eternity] (1Tim.
6:1719).
2:12 without law. Gentiles, who did not receive the
Mosaic law, were sometimes described by this term.
will judge the secrets of men qby Jesus

Christ, raccording to my gospel.
The Jews Guilty as theGentiles
17Indeed* syou are called a Jew, and trest

on the law, uand make your boast in God,
18 and vknow His will, and wapprove the
things that are excellent, being instructed
out of the law, 19and xare confident that you
yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to
those who are in darkness, 20an instructor
of the foolish, a teacher of babes, yhaving
the form of knowledge and truth in the
law. 21zYou, therefore, who teach another,
do you not teach yourself? You who preach
that a man should not steal, do you steal?
22You who say, Do not commit adultery,
do you commit adultery? You who abhor
idols, a do you rob temples? 23You who
bmake your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?
24 For cthe name of God is dblasphemed
among the Gentiles because of you, * as it
is written.
CircumcisionofNo Avail
25e For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a
breaker of the law, your circumcision has
become uncircumcision. 26T herefore, f if
an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his
uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, gjudge you
who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law?
28For h he is not a Jew who is one outwardly,
*2:6 Psalm 62:12; Proverbs 24:12 *2:17 NU-Text

reads But if. *2:24 Isaiah 52:5; Ezekiel 36:22
2:14 by nature do the things in the law. Gentiles

who still do such things as honor their parents,
respond in kindness, or live honestly, show that they
do have the idea of a basic moral law and the concepts of right and wrong.
2:16 secrets. According to the gospel that Paul
preached, God will judge not only peoples actions,
but their motives, or secrets.
2:1725 Self-RighteousnessPaul speaks of the
lamentable disparity between the truth that the Jews
knew, and their practice of the truth. Boasting about
having Gods law, while breaking the law in their lives,
brings upon them the strongest condemnation, and
establishes the truth that the law can only condemn.
2:4c[Eph. 1:7, 18; 2:7] d[Rom. 3:25] eEx. 34:6 fIs.
30:18 2:5g[Deut. 32:34] 2:6hPs. 62:12; Prov. 24:12
2:8i[2Thess. 1:8] 2:9j1Pet. 4:17 2:10k[1Pet. 1:7]
2:11lDeut. 10:17 2:13m[James 1:22, 25] 2:15n1Cor.
5:1 oActs 24:25 2:16p[Matt. 25:31] qActs 10:42;
17:31 r1Tim. 1:11 2:17sJohn 8:33 tMic. 3:11 uIs.
48:1, 2 2:18vDeut. 4:8 wPhil. 1:10 2:19xMatt. 15:14
2:20y[2Tim. 3:5] 2:21zMatt. 23:3 2:22aMal.
3:8 2:23bRom. 2:17; 9:4 2:24cEzek. 16:27 dIs.
52:5; Ezek. 36:22 2:25e[Gal. 5:3] 2:26f[Acts 10:34]
2:27gMatt. 12:41 2:28h[Gal. 6:15]
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1244 Romans 2:29

nor is circumcision that which is outward
in the flesh; 29but he is a Jew i who is one
inwardly; and jcircumcision is that of the
heart, kin the Spirit, not in the letter; l whose
praise is not from men but from God.
Gods Judgment Defended
What advantage then has the Jew,

3Much
or what is the profit of circumcision?
in every way! Chiefly because to
2
them were committed the oracles of God.

3For what if b some did not believe? cWill
their unbelief make the faithfulness of God
without effect? 4dCertainly not! Indeed, let
eGod be true but f every man a liar. As it is
written:
gThat You may be justified in Your words,
And may overcome when You are

judged. *
5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what
shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts
wrath? h(I speak as a man.) 6Certainly not!
For then ihow will God judge the world?
7For if the truth of God has increased
through my lie to His glory, why am I also
still judged as a sinner? 8And why not say,
j Let us do evil that good may come?as
we are slanderously reported and as some
affirm that we say. Their condemnation is
just.
All Have Sinned
9W hat then? Are we better than they?

Not at all. For we have previously charged
both Jews and Greeks that kthey are all
under sin.
10As it is written:
l There
11 There
is none righteous, no, not one;

is none who understands;
2:29 in the Spirit, not in the letter. The internal circumcision of the heart is the work of the Holy Spirit.
God condemns external observance if it is not the
product of a righteous heart (Is. 1:1018).
3:2 oracles of God. The entire Old Testament, the
laws and the covenants that have been given by God
Himself to the nation of Israel are the oracles, or the
things that God has spoken.
3:16 Destruction and misery. In verses 1018, Paul
quotes without formal introduction a number of different verses from the Old Testament. In these passages it is shown that man not only does not seek God,
but apart from Him they lack true goodness and will
treat each other with violence, cursing, being quick to
kill, and finding only destruction and misery.
3:18 fear of God. This is an Old Testament expression
for respect and reverence for God.
3:20 justified. A legal term used of the defendant
in a trial, justified means declared righteous. No
one will be declared righteous by doing what God
requires in the law.
3:23 Universal SinWe generally avoid the word
sin. We want to call it something other than what it
is because we dont like the implications of the word.
We dont like being told were rebels, that were
There is none who seeks after God.

They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not
one. *
13 Their m throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced
deceit;*
nThe poison of asps is under their lips;*
14 Whoseo mouth is full of cursing and
bitterness. *
15 Their p feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are in their
ways;
17 And the way of peace they have not
known. *
18 Thereq is no fear of God before their
eyes. *
19Now we know that whatever rthe law
says, it says to those who are under the law,
that severy mouth may be stopped, and all
the world may become guilty before God.
20T herefore tby the deeds of the law no
flesh will be justified in His sight, for by
the law is the knowledge of sin.
12
Gods Righteousness Through Faith
21 But now u the righteousness of God

apart from the law is revealed, vbeing
witnessed by the Law wand the Prophets,
22 even the righteousness of God, through
faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all* who
believe. For xthere is no difference; 23for
yall have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24being justified freely zby His
grace athrough the redemption that is in
*3:4 Psalm 51:4 *3:12 Psalms 14:13; 53:13;

Ecclesiastes 7:20 *3:13 Psalm 5:9Psalm
140:3 *3:14 Psalm 10:7 *3:17 Isaiah 59:7, 8
*3:18 Psalm 36:1 *3:22 NU-Text omits and
on all.
flawed and bent in our very natures, and that there is

nothing we can do about it on our own (Gen. 3:67).
We have this innate sense that we can overcome the
problem with a little more effort or maturity. Even
that innate sense is an illustration of the problem. The
bold hard facts always point us back to Pauls conclusions; were sinners, period.
3:24 redemption. Those who believe are justified,
that is, declared righteous, freely, by Gods grace
or favor. Christ Jesus died to provide redemption,
(or to buy back, in the same way we redeem a
promissory note). He died to pay the price required
to ransom sinners. He transfers His righteousness to
those who believe in Him, and on the basis of Christs
2:29i[1Pet. 3:4] jPhil. 3:3 kDeut. 30:6 l[1Cor. 4:5]
3:2aDeut. 4:58 3:3bHeb. 4:2 c[2Tim. 2:13]
3:4dJob 40:8 e[John 3:33] fPs. 62:9 gPs. 51:4
3:5hGal. 3:15 3:6i[Gen. 18:25] 3:8jRom. 5:20
3:9kGal. 3:22 3:10lPs. 14:13; 53:13; Eccl. 7:20
3:13mPs. 5:9 nPs. 140:3 3:14oPs. 10:7 3:15pProv.
1:16; Is. 59:7, 8 3:18qPs. 36:1 3:19rJohn 10:34
sJob 5:16 3:20t[Gal. 2:16] 3:21uActs 15:11 vJohn
5:46 w1Pet. 1:10 3:22x[Col. 3:11] 3:23yGal. 3:22
3:24z[Eph. 2:8] a[Heb. 9:12, 15]
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Romans 4:17 1245

Christ Jesus, 25whom God set forth bas a
propitiation cby His blood, through faith, to
demonstrate His righteousness, because in
His forbearance God had passed over d the
sins that were previously committed, 26 to
demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the
justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Boasting Excluded
27eW here is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the
law of faith. 28Therefore we conclude f that
a man is justified by faith apart from the
deeds of the law. 29Or is He the God of the
Jews only? Is He not also the God of the
Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30 since
gthere is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised
through faith. 31Do we then make void the
law through faith? Certainly not! On the
contrary, we establish the law.
Abraham Justified byFaith
What then shall we say that Abraham

4flesh?*
our father has found according to the
For if Abraham was justified by
a
b
2
works, he has something to boast about,

but not before God. 3For what does the
Scripture say? d Abraham believed God,
and it was accounted to him for righteousness. * 4Now eto him who works, the wages
are not counted as grace but as debt.
David Celebrates theSame Truth
5But to him who f does not work but believes on Him who justifies gthe ungodly,
his faith is accounted for righteousness,
6 just as David also h describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes
righteousness apart from works:
7
Blessedi are those whose lawless

deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
righteousness alone, believers can approach Gods

throne with praise.
3:25 propitiation. By His death, Christ satisfied the
justice of God. The word translated propitiation
refers to appeasement. No man can ever appease
God, for His wrath over sin and His judgment of sin
are totally just. But God in His mercy provided that
appeasement through Jesus Christ, who died on the
cross to pay for the sins of the world and to open the
way for sinners to come before our Holy God.
3:27 law of faith. The law of faith is a kind of play
on words. Paul has been talking about the fact that
the law does not give people a right relationship with
God. The only law about having this relationship
is that it must be by faith, not by deeds, whether
people are Jewish or Gentile. We can never earn our
salvation.
3:31 make void the law. In this passage the question
of either making the law void or establishing the law
means that if salvation is received by faith, it would
seem like the law was of no value. But actually the
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord

shall not impute sin. *
Abraham Justified Before

Circumcision
9Does this blessedness then come upon

the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was
accounted to Abraham for righteousness.
10 How then was it accounted? While he
was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not
while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. 11And jhe received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of
the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that khe might be the father of
all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be
imputed to them also, 12and the father of
circumcision to those who not only are of
the circumcision, but who also walk in the
steps of the faith which our father l Abraham had while still uncircumcised.
The Promise Granted Through Faith
13For the promise that he would be the

m heir of the world was not to Abraham or
to his seed through the law, but through

the righteousness of faith. 14 For n if those
who are of the law are heirs, faith is made
void and the promise made of no effect,
15because othe law brings about wrath; for
where there is no law there is no transgression.
16T herefore it is of faith that it might be
paccording to grace, qso that the promise
might be sure to all the seed, not only to
those who are of the law, but also to those
who are of the faith of Abraham, rwho is
the father of us all 17(as it is written, sI have
made you a father of many nations *) in
*4:1 Or Abraham our (fore)father according to the
flesh has found? *4:3 Genesis 15:6 *4:8 Psalm
32:1, 2 *4:17 Genesis 17:5
fact that Christ came, which was promised through

the whole Old Testament, and that He kept the law
perfectly, establishes the law as being valid. Only
after salvation can people keep the law at all, as Jesus
explained in Matthew 22:40, for the law is summed
up in loving God and loving our neighbor.
4:1 according to the flesh. Or by his own labor.
4:16 Abraham, who is the father of us all. Gods
promises to Abraham were not based on any performance or ritual, but on Abrahams belief, so Abraham
is the father of all who believe.
4:17 gives life to the dead. The description of God
3:25bLev. 16:15 cCol. 1:20 dActs 14:16; 17:30
3:27e[1Cor. 1:29] 3:28fGal. 2:16 3:30g[Gal. 3:8,
20] 4:1aIs. 51:2 bJames 2:21 4:2cRom. 3:20,
27 4:3dGen. 15:6 4:4eRom. 11:6 4:5f[Eph.
2:8, 9] gJosh. 24:2 4:6hPs. 32:1, 2 4:7iPs.
32:1, 2 4:11jGen. 17:10 kLuke 19:9 4:12lRom.
4:1822 4:13mGen. 17:46; 22:17 4:14nGal. 3:18
4:15oRom. 3:20 4:16p[Rom. 3:24] q[Gal. 3:22] rIs.
51:2 4:17sGen. 17:5
2/18/15 9:57 AM
1246 Romans 4:18

the presence of Him whom he believed
God, twho gives life to the dead and
calls those uthings which do not exist as
though they did; 18who, contrary to hope,
in hope believed, so that he became the
father of many nations, according to what
was spoken, vSo shall your descendants
be. * 19And not being weak in faith, whe
did not consider his own body, already
dead (since he was about a hundred years
old), xand the deadness of Sarahs womb.
20 He did not waver at the promise of God
through unbelief, but was strengthened
in faith, giving glory to God, 21and being
fully convinced that what He had promised yHe was also able to perform. 22 And
therefore zit was accounted to him for
righteousness. *
23Now a it was not written for his sake
alone that it was imputed to him, 24but also
for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe
bin Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from
the dead, 25cwho was delivered up because
of our offenses, and d was raised because of
our justification.
Faith Triumphs inTrouble
Therefore, having been justified

5through
by faith, we have* peace with God
our Lord Jesus Christ, through
a
2c
whom also we have access by faith into

this grace din which we stand, and erejoice
in hope of the glory of God. 3And not only
that, but f we also glory in tribulations,
gk nowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4hand perseverance, character;
and character, hope. 5iNow hope does not
disappoint, jbecause the love of God has
been poured out in our hearts by the Holy
Spirit who was given tous.
Christ inOur Place
6 For when we were still without

strength, in due time kChrist died for the
ungodly. 7For scarcely for a righteous man
will one die; yet perhaps for a good man
someone would even dare to die. 8 But
as one who gives life to the dead refers not only to

God making Abraham and Sarahs dead reproductive
systems alive, but also to the fact that God could and
did resurrect Jesus. That is the kind of God He is; belief
in the resurrection is central to Christianity, and also
to our belief in our own eternal life through Christ.
5:1 JustificationGods gracious justification of
the believer does not take place by stages or degrees.
It is an instantaneous judicial not guilty declaration,
based on the perfect obedience and the once-for-all
sacrifice of Christ. The believer now has peace with
God through Jesus Christ, full pardon of his sins, and
the title to eternal life. The crowning gift is an abiding
joy and peace in the Lord, which remains in spite of
outside circumstances.
5:12 one man. The one man is Adam.
5:13 imputed. Imputed means to charge to ones
account, as by an entry made into a ledger. In other
words, sin was present in the world from Adam
l God demonstrates His own love toward

us, in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. 9Much more then, having now been justified mby His blood, we
shall be saved nfrom wrath through Him.
10 For oif when we were enemies pwe were
reconciled to God through the death of
His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved qby His life.
11 And not only that, but we also rrejoice
in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received the
reconciliation.
Death inAdam, Life inChrist
12T herefore, just as sthrough one man

sin entered the world, and tdeath through
sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned13 (For until the law sin
was in the world, but usin is not imputed
when there is no law. 14Nevertheless death
reigned from Adam to Moses, even over
those who had not sinned according to
the likeness of the transgression of Adam,
vwho is a type of Him who was to come.
15But the free gift is not like the offense.
For if by the one mans offense many died,
much more the grace of God and the gift
by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ,
abounded wto many. 16And the gift is not
like that which came through the one who
sinned. For the judgment which came from
one offense resulted in condemnation, but
the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17For if by the
one mans offense death reigned through
the one, much more those who receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the
One, Jesus Christ.)
18T herefore, as through one mans offense judgment came to all men, resulting
in condemnation, even so through xone
Mans righteous act the free gift came yto
all men, resulting in justification of life.
*4:18 Genesis 15:5 *4:22 Genesis 15:6

*5:1 Another ancient reading is, let us have peace.
to Moses, but God did not keep an account of sins

before the giving of the law because there was no
law to obey or disobey. Those after Adam and before
Moses did not sin like Adam because there were no
prohibitions similar to the law of Moses. But they did
sin, and the way we know this is that death reigned.
They all died.
4:17 t[Rom. 8:11] uRom. 9:26 4:18vGen. 15:5
4:19wGen. 17:17 xHeb. 11:11 4:21y[Heb. 11:19]
4:22zGen. 15:6 4:23aRom. 15:4 4:24bActs
2:24 4:25cIs. 53:4, 5 d[1Cor. 15:17] 5:1aIs. 32:17
b[Eph. 2:14] 5:2c[Eph. 2:18; 3:12] d1Cor. 15:1 eHeb.
3:6 5:3fMatt. 5:11, 12 gJames 1:3 5:4h[James 1:12]
5:5iPhil. 1:20 j2Cor. 1:22 5:6k[Rom. 4:25; 5:8; 8:32]
5:8l[John 3:16; 15:13] 5:9mEph. 2:13 n1Thess. 1:10
5:10o[Rom. 8:32] p2Cor. 5:18 qJohn 14:19 5:11r[Gal.
4:9] 5:12s[1Cor. 15:21] tGen. 2:17 5:13u1John 3:4
5:14v[1Cor. 15:21, 22] 5:15w[Is. 53:11] 5:18x[1Cor.
15:21, 45] y[John 12:32]
2/18/15 9:57 AM
Romans 7:3 1247

19For as by one mans disobedience many
were made sinners, so also by zone Mans
obedience many will be made righteous.
20 Moreover a the law entered that the
offense might abound. But where sin
abounded, grace babounded much more,
21so that as sin reigned in death, even so
grace might reign through righteousness
to eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord.
Dead toSin, Alive toGod
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
6Certainly
not! How shall we who died
a
to sin live any longer in it? 3Or do you not

know that cas many of us as were baptized
into Christ Jesus d were baptized into His
death? 4T herefore we were eburied with
Him through baptism into death, that f just
as Christ was raised from the dead by gthe
glory of the Father, heven so we also should
walk in newness of life.
5i For if we have been united together in
the likeness of His death, certainly we also
shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6knowing this, that jour old man was
crucified with Him, that kthe body of sin
might be done away with, that we should
no longer be slaves of sin. 7For lhe who has
died has been freed from sin. 8Now mif we
died with Christ, we believe that we shall
also live with Him, 9knowing that nChrist,
having been raised from the dead, dies no
more. Death no longer has dominion over
Him. 10For the death that He died, oHe died
to sin once for all; but the life that He lives,
pHe lives to God. 11Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be qdead indeed to sin, but
ralive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
12sT herefore do not let sin reign in your
mortal body, that you should obey it in its
lusts. 13And do not present your tmembers
as instruments of unrighteousness to sin,
but upresent yourselves to God as being
alive from the dead, and your members as
5:19 many will be made righteous. Through the
sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, the believer who
has been declared righteous by God is continually
becoming more righteous in thought and action.
5:20 where sin abounded, grace abounded much
more. Once the law had been revealed, the sin
which was already there became much more obvious
because it had been explicitly illustrated how wrong
it was. But grace was even bigger than the sin. Sin can
never exceed the grace provided by God, and it loses
its threat when compared to the infinite grace of God.
6:6 crucified with Him. Simply put, a believer is not
the same person he or she was before conversion. A
believer is a new creation in Christ (2Cor. 5:17).
6:23 New Life: A Free GiftThis passage gets at
the central point of the Christian gospel. When we are
separated from God, sin directs our lives and there is
a wage, a consequence, for that sin: death and permanent separation from God. In stark contrast, we
do not earn a wage from God. His gifts are free and
abundantthe gift of eternal life. There is nothing
instruments of righteousness to God. 14For

vsin shall not have dominion over you, for
you are not under law but under grace.
From Slaves ofSintoSlaves ofGod
15W hat then? Shall we sin wbecause

we are not under law but under grace?
Certainly not! 16Do you not know that xto
whom you present yourselves slaves to
obey, you are that ones slaves whom you
obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of
obedience leading to righteousness? 17But
God be thanked that though you were
slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart
ythat form of doctrine to which you were
delivered. 18And zhaving been set free from
sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
19I speak in human terms because of the
weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more
lawlessness, so now present your members
as slaves of righteousness for holiness.
20 For when you were a slaves of sin,
you were free in regard to righteousness.
21bW hat fruit did you have then in the
things of which you are now ashamed? For
cthe end of those things is death. 22But now
d having been set free from sin, and having
become slaves of God, you have your fruit
to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
23 For ethe wages of sin is death, but f the
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord.
Freed fromtheLaw
do you not know, brethren (for I

7theOrspeak
to those who know the law), that
law has dominion over a man as long
as he lives? 2For athe woman who has a

husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband
dies, she is released from the law of her
husband. 3So then bif, while her husband
lives, she marries another man, she will
that one can do to earn this incredible gift. Eternal
life is just thateternalit never ceases. All fear of
death and its effects can end. Instead of being separated from God for all eternity, Christians will have
union with Him. Jesus Christ accomplished all of this
on the cross once and for all.
7:3 AdulteryIn this passage Paul uses the marriage relationship as an illustration of the believers
relationship to the law and Christ. A wife cannot
5:19z[Phil. 2:8] 5:20aJohn 15:22 b1Tim. 1:14
6:1aRom. 3:8; 6:15 6:2b[Gal. 2:19] 6:3c[Gal. 3:27]
d[1Cor. 15:29] 6:4eCol. 2:12 f1Cor. 6:14 gJohn 2:11
h[Gal. 6:15] 6:5iPhil. 3:10 6:6jGal. 2:20; 5:24; 6:14
kCol. 2:11 6:7l1Pet. 4:1 6:8m2Tim. 2:11 6:9nRev.
1:18 6:10oHeb. 9:27 pLuke 20:38 6:11q[Rom.
6:2; 7:4, 6] r[Gal. 2:19] 6:12sPs. 19:13 6:13tCol.
3:5 u1Pet. 2:24; 4:2 6:14v[Gal. 5:18] 6:15w1Cor.
9:21 6:16x2Pet. 2:19 6:17y2Tim. 1:13 6:18zJohn
8:32 6:20aJohn 8:34 6:21bRom. 7:5 cRom.
1:32 6:22dRom. 6:18; 8:2 6:23eGen. 2:17 f1Pet. 1:4
7:2a1Cor. 7:39 7:3b[Matt. 5:32]
2/18/15 9:57 AM
1248 Romans 7:4

be called an adulteress; but if her husband
dies, she is free from that law, so that she
is no adulteress, though she has married
another man. 4Therefore, my brethren, you
also have become cdead to the law through
the body of Christ, that you may be married to anotherto Him who was raised
from the dead, that we should dbear fruit
to God. 5For when we were in the flesh, the
sinful passions which were aroused by the
law ewere at work in our members f to bear
fruit to death. 6But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what
we were held by, so that we should serve
gin the newness of the Spirit and not in the
oldness of the letter.
Sins Advantage intheLaw
7W hat shall we say then? Is the law sin?

Certainly not! On the contrary, h I would
not have known sin except through the
law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, i You shall
not covet. * 8But jsin, taking opportunity
by the commandment, produced in me all
manner of evil desire. For kapart from the
law sin was dead. 9I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment
came, sin revived and I died. 10And the
commandment, l which was to bring life, I
found to bring death. 11For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me,
and by it killed me. 12Therefore mthe law is
holy, and the commandment holy and just
and good.
Law Cannot Save fromSin
13Has then what is good become death

to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might
appear sin, was producing death in me
through what is good, so that sin through
the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. 14For we know that the law is
spiritual, but I am carnal, nsold under sin.
marry another without committing adultery, but if

her husband is dead, she is free to marry another. In
the same way, believers must count the law (reconciliation with God by works) dead, in order to marry
Christ and have a new life. Believers cannot live by the
law and by grace, any more than a woman can have
two husbands.
7:6 newness of the Spirit... oldness of the letter.
Believers have a new life in the Holy Spirit, not in trying to gain life by obeying ancient or old laws.
7:8 apart from the law sin was dead. Sin can exist
without the law, but without a standard of right and
wrong, there can be no judgment of what is sin and
what is not.
7:9 when the commandment came, sin revived.
Oddly enough, the very rules against certain behaviors arouse the desire to perform those evil acts.
7:13 become death to me. The problem is not the
law; the problem is sin. Through the law, sin is shown
for what it is, and realization that we are dead in
sin. We cannot really be good, even when we know
what that is.
15For what I am doing, I do not understand.

oFor what I will to do, that I do not practice;
but what I hate, that I do. 16If, then, I do
what I will not to do, I agree with the law

that it is good. 17But now, it is no longer I
who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18For I
know that pin me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with
me, but how to perform what is good I do
not find. 19For the good that I will to do, I
do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that
I practice. 20Now if I do what I will not to
do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that
dwells inme.
21I find then a law, that evil is present
with me, the one who wills to do good. 22For
I qdelight in the law of God according to
rthe inward man. 23But sI see another law in
tmy members, warring against the law of
my mind, and bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin which is in my members. 24O
wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me ufrom this body of death? 25vI thank
Godthrough Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with the mind I myself serve the
law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
Free fromIndwelling Sin
is therefore now no condemna8whoThere

tion to those who are in Christ Jesus,*
do not walk according to the flesh,
a
but according to the Spirit. 2For bthe law

of cthe Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has
made me free from d the law of sin and
death. 3For ewhat the law could not do in
that it was weak through the flesh, f God
did by sending His own Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4that the righteous
requirement of the law might be fulfilled in
us who gdo not walk according to the flesh
*7:7 Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21 *8:1 NU-
Text omits the rest of this verse.
8:1 CondemnationGods justification (not

guilty), once pronounced, is final. Christs death
blots out the sins of His people, and when His work is
applied to the believer, there is no room for condemnation, for Gods justice has removed all grounds for
it forever. This does not mean that the believer does
not still deal with overcoming sin on a regular basis,
but through the work of the Holy Spirit, he can be free
from the tyranny of sin, and for the love of Christ, live
in a way that pleases his Savior.
8:3 the law could not do. The law can point out sin,
but it cannot do anything about sin itself.
8:4 the righteous requirement of the law might
7:4cGal. 2:19; 5:18 dGal. 5:22 7:5eRom. 6:13 fJames
1:15 7:6gRom. 2:29 7:7hRom. 3:20 iEx. 20:17;
Deut. 5:21; Acts 20:33 7:8jRom. 4:15 k1Cor. 15:56
7:10lLev. 18:5 7:12mPs. 19:8 7:14n2Kin. 17:17
7:15o[Gal. 5:17] 7:18p[Gen. 6:5; 8:21] 7:22qPs.
1:2 r[2Cor. 4:16] 7:23s[Gal. 5:17] tRom. 6:13, 19
7:24u[1Cor. 15:51, 52] 7:25v1Cor. 15:57 8:1aGal.
5:16 8:2bRom. 6:18, 22 c[1Cor. 15:45] dRom. 7:24, 25
8:3eActs 13:39 f[2Cor. 5:21] 8:4gGal. 5:16, 25
2/18/15 9:57 AM
Romans 8:31 1249

of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For bthe creation
was subjected to futility, not willingly, but
because of Him who subjected it in hope;
21because the creation itself also will be
delivered from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious cliberty of the children
of God. 22For we know that the whole creation dgroans and labors with birth pangs
together until now. 23Not only that, but we
also who have ethe firstfruits of the Spirit, f even we ourselves groan gwithin ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption,
the hredemption of our body. 24For we were
saved in this hope, but ihope that is seen is
not hope; for why does one still hope for
what he sees? 25But if we hope for what we
do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our
weaknesses. For j we do not know what
we should pray for as we ought, but kthe
Spirit Himself makes intercession for us*
Sonship Through theSpirit
with groanings which cannot be uttered.
12oT herefore, brethren, we are debtors
27Now l He who searches the hearts knows
not to the flesh, to live according to the what the mind of the Spirit is, because He
flesh. 13For pif you live according to the makes intercession for the saints maccordflesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you
ing to the will of God.
qput to death the deeds of the body, you
28 And we know that all things work towill live. 14 For ras many as are led by the
Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15For gethern for good to those who love God, to
those who are the called according to His
syou did not receive the spirit of bondage
29
oHe foreknew, pHe
again tto fear, but you received the uSpirit purpose. For whom
q
be conformed to the
of adoption by whom we cry out, vAbba, also predestined to
r
Father. 16wT he Spirit Himself bears wit- image of His Son, that He might30be the
ness with our spirit that we are children of firstborn among many brethren. MoreGod, 17and if children, then xheirsheirs of over whom He predestined, these He also
God and joint heirs with Christ, yif indeed scalled; whom He called, these He also tjuswe suffer with Him, that we may also be tified; and whom He justified, these He also
u glorified.
glorified together.
but according to the Spirit. 5For hthose who
live according to the flesh set their minds
on the things of the flesh, but those who
live according to the Spirit, i the things of
the Spirit. 6For j to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life
and peace. 7Because kthe carnal mind is
enmity against God; for it is not subject
to the law of God, lnor indeed can be. 8So
then, those who are in the flesh cannot
please God.
9But you are not in the flesh but in the
Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in
you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit
of Christ, he is not His. 10And if Christ is in
you, the body is dead because of sin, but the
Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11But
if the Spirit of mHim who raised Jesus from
the dead dwells in you, n He who raised
Christ from the dead will also give life to
your mortal bodies through His Spirit who
dwells in you.
From Suffering toGlory

18 For
I consider that zt he sufferings

of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19For athe earnest expectation
be fulfilled in us. The believer gains the righteous
standard of the lawlovenot by means of the law,
but by being in Christ and walking according to the
Spirit.
8:15 God the FatherGod is the Father of all who
believe in Christ in a special sense not shared by unbelievers. God is called their Father, first of all, because
they have a new standing before Him. While unbelievers are the offspring of God because He created
them (Acts 17:2829), they do not have the standing of sons or daughters. Their standing is rather as
condemned sinners before God the Judge (John
3:18; Rev. 20:11). When a person believes in Christ as
Savior, his estate is changed from condemnation to
sonship. This new standing grants to all believers the
legal right and spiritual privileges of divine sonship:
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17).
He gives them new life (John 3:3). This relationship
then is a family one involving many of the same realities that exist between an earthly father and child:
birth of the child (John 3:3); partaking of the fathers
Gods Everlasting Love

vIf
31W hat then shall we say to these things?
God is for us, who can be against us?
*8:26 NU-Text omits for us.
nature (2Pet. 1:4); the fathers care for the child (Matt.
6:3233; 7:911); and the fathers discipline of the
child (Heb. 12:68). This new Father-child relationship carries with it new brothers and sisters (Heb.
13:1). The one who believes in Christ as Savior enters
into the Father-child relationship with God on the
grounds of Christs sonship (Rom. 8:17; Heb. 2:17).
8:5hJohn 3:6 i[Gal. 5:2225] 8:6jGal. 6:8
8:7kJames 4:4 l1Cor. 2:14 8:11mActs 2:24 n1Cor.
6:14 8:12o[Rom. 6:7, 14] 8:13pGal. 6:8 qEph.
4:22 8:14r[Gal. 5:18] 8:15sHeb. 2:15 t2Tim. 1:7
u[Is. 56:5] vMark 14:36 8:16wEph. 1:13 8:17xActs
26:18 yPhil. 1:29 8:18z2Cor. 4:17 8:19a[2Pet. 3:13]
8:20bGen. 3:1719 8:21c[2Cor. 3:17] 8:22dJer.
12:4, 11 8:23e2Cor. 5:5 f2Cor. 5:2, 4 g[Luke 20:36]
hEph. 1:14; 4:30 8:24iHeb. 11:1 8:26jMatt.
20:22 kEph. 6:18 8:27l1Chr. 28:9 m1John 5:14
8:28n2Tim. 1:9 8:29o2Tim. 2:19 pEph. 1:5, 11
q[2Cor. 3:18] rHeb. 1:6 8:30s[1Pet. 2:9; 3:9] t[Gal.
2:16] uJohn 17:22 8:31vNum. 14:9
2/18/15 9:57 AM
1250 Romans 8:32

32wHe who did not
xdelivered Him up
spare His own Son, but

for us all, how shall He
not with Him also freely give us all things?
33W ho shall bring a charge against Gods
elect? yIt is God who justifies. 34zWho is he
who condemns? It is Christ who died, and
furthermore is also risen, awho is even at
the right hand of God, bwho also makes intercession for us. 35Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36As it is written:
cFor
Your sake we are killed all day

long;
We are accounted as sheep for the
slaughter. *
37dYet in all these things we are more
than conquerors through Him who loved
us. 38For I am persuaded that neither death
nor life, nor angels nor eprincipalities nor
powers, nor things present nor things to
come, 39nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
Israels RejectionofChrist
the truth in Christ, I am not lying,

9in theImytellHoly
conscience also bearing me witness
Spirit, that I have great sora
2b
row and continual grief in my heart. 3For

cI could wish that I myself were accursed
from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen* according to the flesh, 4who are Israelites, d to whom pertain the adoption, ethe
glory, f the covenants, gthe giving of the
law, hthe service of God, and i the promises;
5jof whom are the fathers and from kwhom,
according to the flesh, Christ came, l who is
over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.
8:3839 The Ultimate SecurityThe first chapters
of Romans contain the most complete and systematic
presentation of the gospel in the Scriptures. This passage is the bottom-line statement. Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ. Sadly, too
often we hear those words and arent able to apply
them to how we live on a day-to-day basis. Satan is
known as a deceiver. He will always try to persuade us
that Gods love is less than what it is. No matter what
the circumstances, no matter how much we mess up,
no matter how many powerful forces there are that
would try to damage our relationship with Him, God
will be there for us with His love.
8:39 shall be able to separate us. Christ created all
things, in heaven and... on earth, visible and invisible, and He was before all things, and in Him all
things consist (Col. 1:1617). If God, who was from
the beginning, is for us, no created thing can separate
us from His love. Our security in Him is absolute.
9:1 ConscienceThis word is used by Paul for the
witness within a person which scrutinizes, examines,
and renders a verdict on behavior. Paul is saying in
the passage that his conscience verifies the truthfulness of his statement that he has great grief over the
Jews rejection of the gospel. The Holy Spirit is the
revealer of truth to the soul, and only as the mind and
Israels Rejectionand Gods

Purpose
6m But it is not that the word of God has

taken no effect. For nthey are not all Israel
who are of Israel, 7onor are they all children
because they are the seed of Abraham;
but, pIn Isaac your seed shall be called. *
8T hat is, those who are the children of the
flesh, these are not the children of God; but
qthe children of the promise are counted as
the seed. 9For this is the word of promise:
rAt this time I will come and Sarah shall
have a son. *
10And not only this, but when sRebecca
also had conceived by one man, even by
our father Isaac 11(for the children not yet
being born, nor having done any good or
evil, that the purpose of God according to
election might stand, not of works but of
tHim who calls), 12it was said to her, uThe
older shall serve the younger. * 13As it is
written, vJacob I have loved, but Esau I
have hated. *
Israels Rejectionand Gods Justice
14W hat shall we say then? wIs there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!
15For He says to Moses, xI will have mercy
on whomever I will have mercy, and I will
have compassion on whomever I will have
compassion. * 16 So then it is not of him
who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God
who shows mercy. 17For ythe Scripture says
to the Pharaoh, zFor this very purpose I
have raised you up, that I may show My
power in you, and that My name may be
*8:36 Psalm 44:22 *9:3 Or relatives *9:7 Genesis 21:12 *9:9 Genesis 18:10, 14 *9:12 Genesis
25:23 *9:13 Malachi 1:2, 3 *9:15 Exodus 33:19
heart are taught by Scripture and governed by the

Holy Spirit is the voice of conscience a reliable guide
in life.
9:6 not all Israel. What about the Jewish people?
They had the law, the covenants, and the promises.
God has not changed His mind about His chosen
people. He always intended for them to understand
His whole message, up to and including the Messiah (Christ), as Paul has just explained. But God has,
throughout history, always worked with those who
believed, not just according to bloodline.
9:15 I will have mercy. God does not owe any of us
salvation. He has mercy on us in spite of the way we
act, not because of the way we act.
8:32wRom. 5:6, 10 x[Rom. 4:25] 8:33yIs.
50:8, 9 8:34zJohn 3:18 aMark 16:19 bHeb. 7:25; 9:24
8:36cPs. 44:22 8:37d1Cor. 15:57 8:38e[Eph. 1:21]
9:1a2Cor. 1:23 9:2bRom. 10:1 9:3cEx. 32:32
9:4dEx. 4:22 e1Sam. 4:21 fActs 3:25 gPs. 147:19 hHeb.
9:1, 6 i[Acts 2:39; 13:32] 9:5jDeut. 10:15 k[Luke 1:34,
35; 3:23] lJer. 23:6 9:6mNum. 23:19 n[Gal. 6:16]
9:7o[Gal. 4:23] pGen. 21:12 9:8qGal. 4:28 9:9rGen.
18:10, 14 9:10sGen. 25:21 9:11t[Rom. 4:17; 8:28]
9:12uGen. 25:23 9:13vMal. 1:2, 3 9:14wDeut. 32:4
9:15xEx. 33:19 9:17yGal. 3:8 zEx. 9:16
2/18/15 9:57 AM
Romans 10:6 1251

declared in all the earth. * 18Therefore He
has mercy on whom He wills, and whom
He wills He ahardens.
19You will say to me then, Why does He
still find fault? For bwho has resisted His
will? 20But indeed, O man, who are you to
reply against God? cWill the thing formed
say to him who formed it, Why have you
made me like this? 21Does not the d potter
have power over the clay, from the same
lump to make eone vessel for honor and
another for dishonor?
22W hat if God, wanting to show His
wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering f the vessels
of wrath gprepared for destruction, 23and
that He might make known hthe riches of
His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He
had i prepared beforehand for glory, 24even
us whom He jcalled, knot of the Jews only,
but also of the Gentiles?
25As He says also in Hosea:
l I will call them My people, who were
not My people,
And her beloved, who was not
beloved. *
26 Andm it shall come to pass in the place
where it was said to them,
You are not My people,
There they shall be called sons of the
living God. *
27Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:*
nThough the number of the children of
Israel be as the sand of the sea,
oThe remnant will be saved.
28 For He will finish the work and cut it
short in righteousness,
pBecause the Lord will make a short
work upon the earth. *
29And as Isaiah said before:
qUnless the Lord of Sabaoth* had left
us a seed,
9:20 reply against God. Herein lies the divine tension. The Lord says that He does not wish for any to
perish, but for all to come to repentance (2Pet. 3:9).
But He also says that no one comes to Jesus unless the
Father draws him (John 6:44). He has mercy on whom
He desires, and He hardens whom He desires (v. 18).
Paul insists on Gods right to do as He pleases. Even
though God both draws and hardens, He also says
that who He is and His worthiness to be worshiped
are made plain in creation, so man is without excuse
(Rom. 1:1821). The question is not, Why are some
saved and some condemned? Everyone deserves
condemnation and it is only by Gods grace that anyone is saved. We can be sure that whatever God does,
it will be righteous, and there is a bigger picture than
we can understand from our finite point of view. The
only real question is, How can I be saved?
9:32 stumbled. Being committed to righteousness
by works, Israel stumbled over the righteousness of
faith offered in Christ, just as God had already seen they
would and declared through the prophet Isaiah (v. 33).
rWe
would have become like Sodom,

And we would have been made like
Gomorrah. *
Present ConditionofIsrael
30What shall we say then? sThat Gentiles,

who did not pursue righteousness, have
attained to righteousness, teven the righteousness of faith; 31but Israel, upursuing the
law of righteousness, vhas not attained to
the law of righteousness.* 32Why? Because
they did not seek it by faith, but as it were,
by the works of the law.* For wthey stumbled
at that stumbling stone. 33As it is written:
xBehold,
I lay in Zion a stumbling stone

and rock of offense,
And ywhoever believes on Him will not
be put to shame. *
Israel Needs theGospel
Brethren, my hearts desire and

10
prayer to God for Israel* is that they
may be saved. For I bear them witness
2
athat
they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3For they being ignorant of bGods righteousness, and seeking
to establish their own crighteousness, have
not submitted to the righteousness of God.
4 For dChrist is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
5For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, eThe man who
does those things shall live by them. *
6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in
this way, f Do not say in your heart, Who
will ascend into heaven?* (that is, to bring
*9:17 Exodus 9:16 *9:25 Hosea 2:23

*9:26 Hosea 1:10 *9:27 Isaiah 10:22, 23
*9:28 NU-Text reads For the Lord will finish the
work and cut it short upon the earth. *9:29 Literally, in Hebrew, HostsIsaiah 1:9 *9:31 NU-
Text omits of righteousness. *9:32 NU-Text
reads by works. *9:33 Isaiah 8:14; 28:16
*10:1 NU-Text reads them. *10:5 Leviticus 18:5
*10:6 Deuteronomy 30:12
10:3 Self-RighteousnessThere are two things

which hinder people from submitting themselves to
Gods plan of salvation. The first is ignorance of Gods
own righteous character, and the second is human
pride. No one is ever a candidate for Christs righteousness unless he sees himself as utterly devoid of
all possibility of attaining it on his own merits.
10:4 For Christ is the end of the law. Christ fulfilled
all the requirements of the law, and He is also the
9:18aEx. 4:21 9:19b2Chr. 20:6 9:20cIs. 29:16
9:21dProv. 16:4 e2Tim. 2:20 9:22f[1Thess.
5:9] g[1Pet. 2:8] 9:23h[Col. 1:27] i[Rom.
8:2830] 9:24j[Rom. 8:28] kRom. 3:29 9:25lHos.
2:23 9:26mHos. 1:10 9:27nIs. 10:22, 23 oRom.
11:5 9:28pIs. 10:23; 28:22 9:29qIs. 1:9 rIs. 13:19
9:30sRom. 4:11 tRom. 1:17; 3:21; 10:6 9:31u[Rom.
10:24] v[Gal. 5:4] 9:32w[1Cor. 1:23] 9:33xIs. 8:14;
28:16 yRom. 5:5; 10:11 10:2aActs 21:20 10:3b[Rom.
1:17] c[Phil. 3:9] 10:4d[Gal. 3:24; 4:5] 10:5eLev. 18:5
10:6fDeut. 30:1214
2/18/15 9:57 AM
1252 Romans 10:7

Christ down from above) 7or, gWho will
descend into the abyss? * (that is, to bring
Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it
say? h The word is near you, in your mouth
and in your heart * (that is, the word of
faith which we preach): 9that i if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and
believe in your heart that God has raised
Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. 11For the Scripture
says, j Whoever believes on Him will not
be put to shame. * 12For kthere is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for l the
same Lord over all mis rich to all who call
upon Him. 13For nwhoever calls oon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. *
Israel Rejects theGospel
14 How then shall they call on Him in

whom they have not believed? And how
shall they believe in Him of whom they
have not heard? And how shall they hear
pwithout a preacher? 15And how shall they
preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
qHow beautiful are the feet of those
who preach the gospel of peace,*
Who bring glad tidings of good
things! *
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, rLord, who has believed our report? * 17So then faith comes
by hearing, and hearing by the word of
God.
18But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed:
sTheir sound has gone out to all the earth,
And their words to the ends of the
world. *
19 But I say, did Israel not know? First
Moses says:
tI will provoke you to jealousy by those
who are not a nation,
I will move you to anger by a ufoolish
nation. *
20But Isaiah is very bold and says:
vI was found by those who did not seek
Me;
I was made manifest to those who did
not ask for Me. *
opening to the only way of righteousness we can

ever have.
10:8 The word is near you. Righteousness by faith is
not far off and inaccessible, but it is as near as a persons mouth and heart.
10:11 Whoever. Paul emphasizes the universal offer
of salvation.
11:1 Has God cast away His people? Paul points out
that he himself is an Israelite, and was chosen by God
to be a believer and an apostle. As he develops this
thought, Paul reminds us that there has always been
a remnant of Israelites whom God has kept true to
Himself.
21But
to Israel he says:
day long I have stretched out My
hands
To a disobedient and contrary people. *
wAll
Israels RejectionNot Total
I say then, has God cast away His

11
people? Certainly not! For I also
am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham,
a
of the tribe of Benjamin. 2God has not cast

away His people whom d He foreknew. Or
do you not know what the Scripture says of
Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, 3eLord, they have killed Your
prophets and torn down Your altars, and I
alone am left, and they seek my life ?* 4But
what does the divine response say to him?
f I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to
Baal. * 5gEven so then, at this present time
there is a remnant according to the election
of grace. 6And hif by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer
grace.* But if it is of works, it is no longer
grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
7W hat then? i Israel has not obtained
what it seeks; but the elect have obtained
it, and the rest were jblinded. 8Just as it is
written:
k God has given
l Eyes that they
them a spirit of stupor,

should not see
And ears that they should not hear,
To this very day. *
9And David says:
mLet their table become a snare and a
trap,
A stumbling block and a recompense
to them.
10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that
they do not see,
And bow down their back always. *
*10:7 Deuteronomy 30:13 *10:8 Deuteronomy
30:14 *10:11 Isaiah 28:16 *10:13 Joel 2:32
*10:15 NU-Text omits preach the gospel of peace,
Who. Isaiah 52:7; Nahum 1:15 *10:16 Isaiah
53:1 *10:18 Psalm 19:4 *10:19 Deuteronomy
32:21 *10:20 Isaiah 65:1 *10:21 Isaiah
65:2 *11:3 1 Kings 19:10, 14 *11:4 1Kings
19:18 *11:6 NU-Text omits the rest of this
verse. *11:8 Deuteronomy 29:4; Isaiah
29:10 *11:10 Psalm 69:22, 23
11:810 ears that they should not hear. Paul quotes

Isaiah and David to show that Israels spiritual indifference was a continual pattern.
10:7gDeut. 30:13 10:8hDeut. 30:14 10:9iLuke
12:8 10:11jIs. 28:16 10:12kRom. 3:22, 29 lActs
10:36 mEph. 1:7 10:13nJoel 2:32 oActs 9:14
10:14pTitus 1:3 10:15qIs. 52:7; Nah. 1:15 10:16rIs.
53:1 10:18sPs. 19:4 10:19tDeut. 32:21 uTitus
3:3 10:20vIs. 65:1 10:21wIs. 65:2 11:1aJer.
46:28 b1Sam. 12:22 c2Cor. 11:22 11:2d[Rom. 8:29]
11:3e1Kin. 19:10, 14 11:4f1Kin. 19:18 11:5gRom.
9:27 11:6hRom. 4:4 11:7iRom. 9:31 j2Cor. 3:14
11:8kIs. 29:10, 13 lDeut. 29:3, 4 11:9mPs. 69:22, 23
2/18/15 9:57 AM
Romans 12:2 1253
Israels RejectionNot Final
11I say then, have they stumbled that they

should fall? Certainly not! But nthrough
their fall, to provoke them to ojealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. 12Now if
their fall is riches for the world, and their

failure riches for the Gentiles, how much
more their fullness!
13For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch
as pI am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14if by any means I may
provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh
and qsave some of them. 15For if their being
cast away is the reconciling of the world,
what will their acceptance be rbut life from
the dead?
16For if sthe firstfruit is holy, the lump is
also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the
branches. 17And if tsome of the branches
were broken off, uand you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and
with them became a partaker of the root
and fatness of the olive tree, 18vdo not boast
against the branches. But if you do boast,
remember that you do not support the root,
but the root supports you.
19You will say then, Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in. 20Well
said. Because of wunbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be
haughty, but fear. 21For if God did not spare
the natural branches, He may not spare
you either. 22Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell,
severity; but toward you, goodness,* xif you
continue in His goodness. Otherwise yyou
also will be cut off. 23And they also, zif they
do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted
in, for God is able to graft them in again.
24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree
which is wild by nature, and were grafted
contrary to nature into a cultivated olive
tree, how much more will these, who are
natural branches, be grafted into their own
olive tree?
25For I do not desire, brethren, that you
should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you
should be awise in your own opinion, that
bblindness in part has happened to Israel
11:25 mystery. The mystery is that Israel has been
temporarily and partially hardened, but God has not
rejected them.
11:26 all Israel. All Israel does not mean that every
individual in the nation will turn to the Lord. It means
that the nation as a whole will be saved, just as the
nation as a whole (but not every individual in it) is
now rejecting the Lord.
12:1 living sacrifice. In the Old Testament sacrificial
system, the job of the sacrificial lamb was ended
with its death. An individual or household selected
an animal according to the dictated forms, and it was
sacrificed to cover sins. Since Christ became the final
atonement for sin, we no longer need the old system.
But Paul is calling believers to consider their whole
life as a sacrifice dedicated to God and His purposes, a
living sacrifice, both holy and single-minded.
cuntil the fullness of the Gentiles has come

in. 26And so all Israel will be saved,* as it
is written:
d The
Deliverer will come out of Zion,

And He will turn away ungodliness
from Jacob;
27 For ethis is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins. *
28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the
election they are fbeloved for the sake of
the fathers. 29For the gifts and the calling
of God are girrevocable. 30For as you hwere
once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience,
31even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you
they also may obtain mercy. 32For God has
committed them iall to disobedience, that
He might have mercy on all.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of
the wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable are His judgments and His
ways past finding out!
34 For who has known the j mind of the
Lord?
Or kwho has become His counselor? *
35 Orl who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him? *
36 For mof Him and through Him and to
Him are all things, nto whom be glory forever. Amen.
Living Sacrifices toGod
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by

12
the mercies of God, that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, aca
ceptable to God, which is your reasonable

service. 2And cdo not be conformed to this
world, but dbe transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may eprove what
is that good and acceptable and perfect will
of God.
*11:22 NU-Text adds of God. *11:26 Or delivered

*11:27 Isaiah 59:20, 21 *11:34 Isaiah 40:13; Jeremiah 23:18 *11:35 Job 41:11
12:2 Walking in the SpiritConfession of sin in

itself is not enough to enable the believer to automatically walk in the Spirit. He or she must learn to
yield their whole self to God (Rom. 6:13; James 4:7).
This involves both the body (Rom. 12:1; 1 Cor. 6:20)
and the mind (Rom. 12:2), since what is conceived
11:11nIs. 42:6, 7 oRom. 10:19 11:13pActs 9:15; 22:21
11:14q1Cor. 9:22 11:15r[Is. 26:1619] 11:16sLev.
23:10 11:17tJer. 11:16 u[Eph. 2:12] 11:18v[1Cor.
10:12] 11:20wHeb. 3:19 11:22x1Cor. 15:2 y[John
15:2] 11:23z[2Cor. 3:16] 11:25aRom. 12:16 b2Cor.
3:14 cLuke 21:24 11:26dIs. 59:20, 21 11:27eIs.
27:9 11:28fDeut. 7:8; 10:15 11:29gNum. 23:19
11:30h[Eph. 2:2] 11:32i[Gal. 3:22] 11:34jIs. 40:13;
Jer. 23:18 kJob 36:22 11:35lJob 41:11 11:36mHeb.
2:10 nHeb. 13:21 12:1a2Cor. 10:14 bHeb. 10:18, 20
12:2c1John 2:15 dEph. 4:23 e[1Thess. 4:3]
2/18/15 9:57 AM
1254 Romans 12:3
Serve God withSpiritual Gifts

3 For
I say, f through the grace given to

me, to everyone who is among you, gnot to
think of himself more highly than he ought
to think, but to think soberly, as God has
dealt hto each one a measure of faith. 4 For
ias we have many members in one body,
but all the members do not have the same
function, 5 so j we, being many, are one
body in Christ, and individually members
of one another. 6Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is kgiven
to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us
l prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7or
ministry, let us use it in our ministering;
m he who teaches, in teaching; 8n he who exhorts, in exhortation; ohe who gives, with
liberality; phe who leads, with diligence;
he who shows mercy, qwith cheerfulness.
Behave Like a Christian
9rLet love be without hypocrisy. sAbhor

what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10tBe
kindly affectionate to one another with
brotherly love, uin honor giving preference
to one another; 11not lagging in diligence,
fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12vrejoicing in hope, wpatient in tribulation,
x continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13y distributing to the needs of the saints, zgiven
to hospitality.
14a Bless those who persecute you; bless
and do not curse. 15bRejoice with those who
rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
16cBe of the same mind toward one another.
d Do not set your mind on high things, but
associate with the humble. Do not be wise
in your own opinion.
17eRepay no one evil for evil. fHave regard for good things in the sight of all men.
18If it is possible, as much as depends on
you, glive peaceably with all men. 19Beloved, h do not avenge yourselves, but
in the mind is carried out by the body. Ones whole

being must be presented by a decisive act of the will
to God for His service. Yielding leads not only to dedication but also can result in separation: do not be
conformed to this world (Rom. 12:2). Finally, yielding
includes transformation of the mind. This work is said
to be accomplished through a lifetime of renewing
the mind. Mans mind has been darkened by sin (8:7;
Col. 1:21) and must be brought to the place where it
thinks as God thinks (Eph. 4:23). This renewing is said
to come especially through prayer in everything (Phil.
4:67) and through constant meditation on the Word
of God (Ps. 119:1). This transformation is a lifelong
process that will not be completed until we are with
Christ (Phil. 1:6; 1John 3:2).
12:45 FellowshipA believer must not view himself exclusively as an individual, but must also see himself as part of the whole, as a member of one body.
Fellowship in the New Testament sense is not merely
companionship, but a partnership, a responsibility to
one another that is financial, practical, and spiritual.
12:6 prophecy. In its narrower sense, prophecy
means the revealing of Gods will in a particular situation (Acts 13:13).
rather give place to wrath; for it is written,

I will repay, * says
i Vengeance is Mine,
the Lord. 20Therefore
j If
your enemy is hungry, feed him;

If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of
fire on his head. *
21Do not be overcome by evil, but k overcome evil with good.
Submit toGovernment
Let every soul be subject to the gov13

erning authorities. For there is no
authority except from God, and the aua
thorities that exist are appointed by God.

2T herefore whoever resists bthe authority
resists the ordinance of God, and those
who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers are not a terror to good
works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? cDo what is good,
and you will have praise from the same.
4 For he is Gods minister to you for good.
But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not
bear the sword in vain; for he is Gods minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him
who practices evil. 5Therefore dyou must
be subject, not only because of wrath ebut
also for conscience sake. 6For because of
this you also pay taxes, for they are Gods
ministers attending continually to this very
thing. 7fRender therefore to all their due:
taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to
whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to
whom honor.
Love Your Neighbor
8 Owe no one anything except to love

one another, for ghe who loves another
*12:19 Deuteronomy 32:35 *12:20 Proverbs

25:21, 22
12:9 love. There are three words used for love in

the New Testament: self-sacrificial love, brotherly
love, and kindly affection, the last of which is used
in this verse. The greatest proof of the truth of the
gospel message and of the reality of Jesus love is the
love believers show to each other.
12:20 coals of fire. Freed from vengeance, believers can give themselves to mercy, even toward their
enemies. Such unexpected acts of mercy might even
bring enemies to shame and repentance.
12:3fGal. 2:9 gProv. 25:27 h[Eph. 4:7] 12:4i1Cor.
12:1214 12:5j[1Cor. 10:17] 12:6k[John
3:27] lActs 11:27 12:7mEph. 4:11 12:8nActs
15:32 o[Matt. 6:13] p[Acts 20:28] q2Cor. 9:7
12:9r1Tim. 1:5 sPs. 34:14 12:10tHeb. 13:1 uPhil.
2:3 12:12vLuke 10:20 wLuke 21:19 xLuke 18:1
12:13y1Cor. 16:1 z1Tim. 3:2 12:14a[Matt. 5:44]
12:15b[1Cor. 12:26] 12:16c[Phil. 2:2; 4:2] dJer. 45:5
12:17e[Matt. 5:39] f2Cor. 8:21 12:18gHeb. 12:14
12:19hLev. 19:18 iDeut. 32:35 12:20jProv. 25:21, 22
12:21k[Rom. 12:1, 2] 13:1a1Pet. 2:13 13:2b[Titus
3:1] 13:3c1Pet. 2:14 13:5dEccl. 8:2 e[1Pet. 2:13, 19]
13:7fMatt. 22:21 13:8g[Gal. 5:13, 14]
2/18/15 9:57 AM
Romans 14:15 1255

has fulfilled the law. 9For the commandments, h You shall not commit adultery,You shall not murder,You shall not
steal,You shall not bear false witness, *
You shall not covet, * and if there is any
other commandment, are all summed up in
this saying, namely, i You shall love your
neighbor as yourself. * 10 Love does no
harm to a neighbor; therefore jlove is the
fulfillment of the law.
Put onChrist
11 And do this, knowing the time, that

now it is high time kto awake out of sleep;
for now our salvation is nearer than when
we first believed. 12The night is far spent,
the day is at hand. lTherefore let us cast off
the works of darkness, and mlet us put on
the armor of light. 13nLet us walk properly,
as in the day, onot in revelry and drunkenness, pnot in lewdness and lust, qnot
in strife and envy. 14 But rput on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and smake no provision for
the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
The Law ofLiberty
Receive one who is weak in the

14
faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat
a
all things, but he who is weak eats only

vegetables. 3Let not him who eats despise
him who does not eat, and clet not him who
does not eat judge him who eats; for God
has received him. 4dW ho are you to judge
anothers servant? To his own master he
stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to
stand, for God is able to make him stand.
5eOne person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let
each be fully convinced in his own mind.
6 He who f observes the day, observes it to
13:9 as yourself. This is not a command to love ourselves. It is a recognition that we do love ourselves,
and a command to love others just as genuinely and
sincerely.
13:10 Love. Love excludes murder, adultery, stealing, and lying. Therefore when we love, we automatically fulfill the prohibitions of the law.
14:1 weak in the faith. Those who are weak in the
faith are not unbelievers, but they have not yet
understood (or are not able to understand) some of
the deeper thinking about the not so clearly defined
situations that a Christian faces.
14:5 one day above another. This verse probably
relates to the holy days of the Old Testament ceremonial law. The exhortation does not mean it is wrong
to have strong convictions, but that all people must
have their own convictions. Concerning doubtful
things (v. 1), things that are not clearly defined as sin,
we as Christians are supposed to think deeply about
these things, and decide what we think best pleases
the Lord. We are not supposed to live by default,
doing what most others are doing, or being swayed
by the strongest voice. We may find that we need to
change our original conclusions, but we must do so
thoughtfully, not impulsively. We must not condemn
others who come to a different conclusion.
the Lord;* and he who does not observe

the day, to the Lord he does not observe
it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for ghe
gives God thanks; and he who does not eat,
to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God
thanks. 7For h none of us lives to himself,
and no one dies to himself. 8For if we ilive,
we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die
to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live
or die, we are the Lords. 9For j to this end
Christ died and rose* and lived again, that
He might be kLord of both the dead and the
living. 10But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your
brother? For l we shall all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ.* 11For it is written:
mAs I live, says the Lord,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to
God. *
12 So then neach of us shall give account
of himself to God. 13T herefore let us not
judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, onot to put a stumbling block or
a cause to fall in our brothers way.
The Law ofLove
14 I know and am convinced by the Lord

Jesus pthat there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything
to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15Yet
if your brother is grieved because of your
food, you are no longer walking in love.
qDo not destroy with your food the one for
*13:9 NU-Text omits You shall not bear false

witness. Exodus 20:1315, 17; Deuteronomy
5:1719, 21 Leviticus 19:18 *14:6 NU-Text
omits the rest of this sentence. *14:9 NU-Text
omits and rose. *14:10 NU-Text reads of God.
*14:11 Isaiah 45:23
14:12 account of himself to God. We must give

an account to God for these conclusions we have
reached about how to live, and in light of that, we
want to be sure that our conclusions do not cause
someone else to stumble.
14:14 unclean. Unclean means common, and refers
to the things prohibited by the Jewish ceremonial
law. If anyone considers some activity to be wrong,
then for him it is wrong to engage in that activity.
14:15 SelfishnessThis chapter concerns weak
and strong Christians and their attitudes toward
each other in practical matters within the church. If
a stronger brother fails to consider the scruples of
the weaker brother, the stronger brother violates the
13:9hEx. 20:1317; Deut. 5:1721 iLev. 19:18
13:10j[Matt. 7:12; 22:39, 40] 13:11k[1Cor. 15:34]
13:12lEph. 5:11 m[Eph. 6:11, 13] 13:13nPhil. 4:8
oProv. 23:20 p[1Cor. 6:9] qJames 3:14 13:14rGal.
3:27 s[Gal. 5:16] 14:1a[1Cor. 8:9; 9:22]
14:2b[Titus 1:15] 14:3c[Col. 2:16] 14:4dJames
4:11, 12 14:5eGal. 4:10 14:6fGal. 4:10 g[1Tim. 4:3]
14:7h[Gal. 2:20] 14:8i2Cor. 5:14, 15 14:9j2Cor.
5:15 kActs 10:36 14:10l2Cor. 5:10 14:11mIs. 45:23
14:12n1Pet. 4:5 14:13o1Cor. 8:9 14:14p1Cor.
10:25 14:15q1Cor. 8:11
2/18/15 9:57 AM
1256 Romans 14:16

whom Christ died. 16rTherefore do not let
your good be spoken of as evil; 17sfor the
kingdom of God is not eating and drinking,
but righteousness and tpeace and joy in the
Holy Spirit. 18For he who serves Christ in
these things* uis acceptable to God and approved by men.
19vT herefore let us pursue the things
which make for peace and the things by
which wone may edify another. 20xDo not
destroy the work of God for the sake of
food. yAll things indeed are pure, zbut it is
evil for the man who eats with offense. 21It
is good neither to eat ameat nor drink wine
nor do anything by which your brother
stumbles or is offended or is made weak.*
22 Do you have faith?* Have it to yourself
before God. bHappy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 23But
he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for cwhatever is not from faith is sin.*
Bearing Others Burdens
We then who are strong ought to

15
bear with the scruples of the weak,
and not to please ourselves. Let each of us
a
2b
please his neighbor for his good, leading to

edification. 3cFor even Christ did not please
Himself; but as it is written, d The reproaches of those who reproached You fell
on Me. * 4For ewhatever things were written before were written for our learning,
that we through the patience and comfort
of the Scriptures might have hope. 5fNow
may the God of patience and comfort grant
you to be like-minded toward one another,
according to Christ Jesus, 6 that you may
gwith one mind and one mouth glorify the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Glorify God Together
7Therefore hreceive one another, just ias

Christ also received us,* to the glory of God.
8Now I say that jJesus Christ has become a
obligations of love. He is selfishly putting his own

desires above the real needs of one who is weak in
faith.
14:16 good be spoken of as evil. Even if you have
decided that eating certain foods is in accord with
your understanding of what is pleasing to God, if it
causes another believer to be grieved by the choice
you have made, you should be eager to change. Your
freedom should not look like license or gluttony. The
kingdom of God is a lot more important than the
things we eat and drink.
14:21 stumbles. A believer does not have to abandon his own convictions, but love should cause him
to carefully observe how what he does affects others.
It is a sin (v. 23) to do something that you are really
convinced is wrong, even if others think it is all right.
In light of this, if a believer is influencing another to
violate his conscience, even if the believer is not violating his own conscience, he has caused the other
brother to stumble, and that should not happen.
15:3 Christ. Jesus Christ is the ultimate model for the
strong believer. He did not consider it robbery to be
servant to the circumcision for the truth of

God, kto confirm the promises made to the
fathers, 9and lthat the Gentiles might glorify
God for His mercy, as it is written:
mFor this reason I will confess to You
among the Gentiles,
And sing to Your name. *
10And again he says:
nRejoice, O Gentiles, with His people! *
11And again:
oPraise the Lord, all you Gentiles!
Laud Him, all you peoples! *
12 And again, Isaiah says:
pThere shall be a root of Jesse;
And He who shall rise to reign over
the Gentiles,
In Him the Gentiles shall hope. *
13Now may the God of hope fill you with
all q joy and peace in believing, that you
may abound in hope by the power of the
Holy Spirit.
From Jerusalem toIllyricum
14 Now rI myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full
of goodness, sfilled with all knowledge,
able also to admonish one another.* 15Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more
boldly to you on some points, as reminding
you, tbecause of the grace given to me by
God, 16that uI might be a minister of Jesus
Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the voffering of the Gentiles
*14:18 NU-Text reads this. *14:21 NU-

Text omits or is offended or is made weak.
*14:22 NU-Text reads The faith which you have
have. *14:23 M-Text puts Romans 16:2527 here.
*15:3 Psalm 69:9 *15:7 NU-Text and M-Text
read you. *15:9 2 Samuel 22:50; Psalm 18:49
*15:10 Deuteronomy 32:43 *15:11 Psalm 117:1
*15:12 Isaiah 11:10 *15:14 M-Text reads others.
equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation

(Phil. 2:57) so that He could clearly represent God
and His cause.
15:9 as it is written. Paul quotes from all three divisions
of the Old Testament (the Law, the Prophets, and the
Psalms) and from three great Jewish leaders (Moses,
David, and Isaiah) to demonstrate that Gods purpose
was always to bless the Gentiles through Israel.
15:12 root of Jesse. This is a title for the Messiah
(Christ). Jesse was the father of David, and the
14:16r[Rom. 12:17] 14:17s1Cor. 8:8 t[Rom.
8:6] 14:18u2Cor. 8:21 14:19vRom. 12:18 w1Cor.
14:12 14:20xRom. 14:15 yActs 10:15 z1Cor. 8:912
14:21a1Cor. 8:13 14:22b[1John 3:21] 14:23cTitus
1:15 15:1a[Gal. 6:1, 2] 15:2b1Cor. 9:22; 10:24,
33 15:3cMatt. 26:39 dPs. 69:9 15:4e1Cor. 10:11
15:5f1Cor. 1:10 15:6gActs 4:24 15:7hRom. 14:1, 3
iRom. 5:2 15:8jMatt. 15:24 k2Cor. 1:20 15:9lJohn
10:16 m2Sam. 22:50; Ps. 18:49 15:10nDeut. 32:43
15:11oPs. 117:1 15:12pIs. 11:1, 10 15:13qRom.
12:12; 14:17 15:14r2Pet. 1:12 s1Cor. 1:5; 8:1, 7, 10
15:15tRom. 1:5; 12:3 15:16uRom. 11:13 v[Is. 66:20]
2/18/15 9:57 AM
Romans 16:12 1257

might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy
Spirit. 17Therefore I have reason to glory in
Christ Jesus win the things which pertain
to God. 18For I will not dare to speak of any
of those things xwhich Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed,
yto make the Gentiles obedient19z in
mighty signs and wonders, by the power
of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem
and round about to Illyricum I have fully
preached the gospel of Christ. 20And so I
have made it my aim to preach the gospel,
not where Christ was named, alest I should
build on another mans foundation, 21but as
it is written:
b To
whom He was not announced, they

shall see;
And those who have not heard shall
understand. *
Plan toVisit Rome
22For this reason cI also have been much

hindered from coming to you. 23But now
no longer having a place in these parts,
and d having a great desire these many
years to come to you, 24whenever I journey
to Spain, I shall come to you.* For I hope to
see you on my journey, eand to be helped
on my way there by you, if first I may f enjoy your company for a while. 25But now
gI am going to Jerusalem to minister to
the saints. 26 For h it pleased those from
Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain
contribution for the poor among the saints
who are in Jerusalem. 27It pleased them
indeed, and they are their debtors. For i if
the Gentiles have been partakers of their
spiritual things, j their duty is also to minister to them in material things. 28T herefore, when I have performed this and
have sealed to them kthis fruit, I shall go
by way of you to Spain. 29l But I know that
when I come to you, I shall come in the
fullness of the blessing of the gospel* of
Christ.
30 Now I beg you, brethren, through the
Lord Jesus Christ, and mthrough the love of
the Spirit, nthat you strive together with me
Messiah was to be the Son of David. The Messiah is

both the Origin and the Offspring of David.
15:2526 KindnessOne of the New Testament
commands is that Christians display kindness toward
other believers (12:10). The Macedonian believers had
just gathered a love offering for the needy saints in
Jerusalem. Such kindness is a response to Gods wonderful kindness to us. In fact, wanting to reach out
to others is an evidence of our new birth, and as we
bless others in this way, we will find ourselves receiving similar blessings of kindness (Luke 6:38).
15:28 Spain. No one knows for sure if Paul ever got to
Spain, but he had it on his travel itinerary.
15:29 when I come to you. Paul did get to Rome, but
not in the time frame or way he had thought. God
had a special plan for Paul. The Lord would give him
the opportunity to testify of his faith in the emperors
court, but he would do so as a prisoner (Acts 28).
in prayers to God for me, 31othat I may be

delivered from those in Judea who do not
believe, and that pmy service for Jerusalem
may be acceptable to the saints, 32qthat I
may come to you with joy rby the will of
God, and may sbe refreshed together with
you. 33Now tthe God of peace be with you
all. Amen.
Sister Phoebe Commended
I commend to you Phoebe our sis16

ter, who is a servant of the church in
Cenchrea, that you may receive her in
2b
the Lord cin a manner worthy of the saints,

and assist her in whatever business she has
need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also.
Greeting Roman Saints
3 Greet d Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow

workers in Christ Jesus, 4who risked their
own necks for my life, to whom not only I
give thanks, but also all the churches of the
Gentiles. 5Likewise greet ethe church that
is in their house.
Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is
f the firstfruits of Achaia* to Christ. 6 Greet
Mary, who labored much for us. 7Greet
Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen
and my fellow prisoners, who are of note
among the gapostles, who also hwere in
Christ beforeme.
8 Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord.
9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in
Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. 10 Greet
Apelles, approved in Christ. Greet those
who are of the household of Aristobulus.
11Greet Herodion, my countryman.* Greet
those who are of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa,
who have labored in the Lord. Greet
the beloved Persis, who labored much
*15:21 Isaiah 52:15 *15:24 NU-Text omits I

shall come to you (and joins Spain with the next
sentence). *15:29 NU-Text omits of the gospel.
*16:5 NU-Text reads Asia. *16:11 Or relative
16:34 Priscilla and Aquila. This married couple is

never mentioned separately, perhaps because they
ministered so effectively together. Like Paul, they
were tentmakers, and worked with him in Corinth
and Ephesus (Acts 18:13,18,26).
16:810 Amplias... Urbanus... Stachys... Apelles.
15:17wHeb. 2:17; 5:1 15:18xActs 15:12; 21:19 yRom.
1:5 15:19zActs 19:11 15:20a[2Cor. 10:13, 15, 16]
15:21bIs. 52:15 15:22cRom. 1:13 15:23dActs 19:21;
23:11 15:24eActs 15:3 fRom. 1:12 15:25gActs
19:21 15:26h1Cor. 16:1 15:27iRom. 11:17
j1Cor. 9:11 15:28kPhil. 4:17 15:29l[Rom. 1:11]
15:30mPhil. 2:1 n2Cor. 1:11 15:31o2Tim. 3:11; 4:17
p2Cor. 8:4 15:32qRom. 1:10 rActs 18:21 s1Cor. 16:18
15:33t1Cor. 14:33 16:1aActs 18:18 16:2bPhil. 2:29
cPhil. 1:27 16:3dActs 18:2, 18, 26 16:5e1Cor. 16:19
f1Cor. 16:15 16:7gActs 1:13, 26 hGal. 1:22
2/18/15 9:57 AM
1258 Romans 16:13

in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, i chosen in
the Lord, and his mother and mine.
14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas,
Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren
who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus
and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and
Olympas, and all the saints who are with
them.
16j Greet one another with a holy kiss.
The* churches of Christ greet you.
Avoid Divisive Persons
17Now I urge you, brethren, note those

kwho cause divisions and offenses, con-
trary to the doctrine which you learned,

and l avoid them. 18 For those who are
such do not serve our Lord Jesus* Christ,
but m their own belly, and n by smooth
words and flattering speech deceive the
hearts of the simple. 19 For oyour obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want
you to be pw ise in what is good, and
simple concerning evil. 20And qthe God of
peace rwill crush Satan under your feet
shortly.
sT he grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
with you. Amen.
These were common slave names. Aristobulus. This
was a familiar Greek name, and this man may have
been the owner of the previously mentioned men, if
they were indeed slaves.
16:23 Gaius. Gaius of Corinth (1Cor. 1:14) not only
gave Paul lodging, but offered his house as a meeting
place for the church.
16:25 mystery. Paul speaks of his message as a
mystery (see 11:25) because Gods complete plan
of salvation was at first hidden but now was being
revealed. Part of the mystery is that the church will
Greetings fromPauls Friends
21tTimothy, my fellow worker, and u Lucius, vJason, and wSosipater, my countrymen, greet you.
22I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet
you in the Lord.
23x Gaius, my host and the host of the
whole church, greets you. yErastus, the
treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, a brother. 24zT he grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.*
Benediction
25Now ato Him who is able to establish

you baccording to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, caccording to the revelation of the mystery dkept secret since the
world began 26but enow made manifest, and
by the prophetic Scriptures made known to
all nations, according to the commandment
of the everlasting God, for f obedience to
the faith27 to g God, alone wise, be glory
through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.*
*16:16 NU-Text reads All the churches.

*16:18 NU-Text and M-Text omit Jesus.
*16:24 NU-Text omits this verse. *16:27 M-Text
puts Romans 16:2527 after Romans 14:23.
consist of both Jews and Gentiles united in one body

of Christ (Eph. 3:113).
16:13i2John 1 16:16j1Cor. 16:20 16:17k[Acts 15:1]
l[1Cor. 5:9] 16:18mPhil. 3:19 nCol. 2:4 16:19oRom.
1:8 pMatt. 10:16 16:20qRom. 15:33 rGen. 3:15 s1Cor.
16:23 16:21tActs 16:1 uActs 13:1 vActs 17:5 wActs
20:4 16:23x1Cor. 1:14 yActs 19:22 16:24z1Thess.
5:28 16:25a[Eph. 3:20] bRom. 2:16 cEph. 1:9 dCol.
1:26; 2:2; 4:3 16:26eEph. 1:9 fRom. 1:5 16:27gJude
25
2/18/15 9:57 AM

NKJV Foundation Study Bible Romans

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NKJV Foundation Study Bible Romans

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THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE

KEY VERSES: Rom. 1:1617

Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ,

1:1 bondservant. A bondservant is a slave. Paul is

Desire toVisit Rome

8First, m I thank my God through Jesus

Gentile populations, such as the northern European

1242 Romans 1:15

The Just Live byFaith

16For vI am not ashamed of the gospel of

Gods Wrath onUnrighteousness

18a For the wrath of God is revealed from

lie, and worshiped and served the creature

Gods Righteous Judgment

Therefore you are inexcusable, O man,

*1:16 NU-Text omits of Christ. *1:17 Habakkuk

Romans 2:28 1243

will judge the secrets of men qby Jesus

The Jews Guilty as theGentiles

17Indeed* syou are called a Jew, and trest

*2:6 Psalm 62:12; Proverbs 24:12 *2:17 NU-Text

2:14 by nature do the things in the law. Gentiles

1244 Romans 2:29

Gods Judgment Defended

What advantage then has the Jew,

them were committed the oracles of God.

And may overcome when You are

All Have Sinned

9W hat then? Are we better than they?

is none righteous, no, not one;

There is none who seeks after God.

Gods Righteousness Through Faith

21 But now u the righteousness of God

*3:4 Psalm 51:4 *3:12 Psalms 14:13; 53:13;

flawed and bent in our very natures, and that there is

Romans 4:17 1245

Abraham Justified byFaith

What then shall we say that Abraham

works, he has something to boast about,

David Celebrates theSame Truth

Blessedi are those whose lawless

righteousness alone, believers can approach Gods

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord

Abraham Justified Before

9Does this blessedness then come upon

The Promise Granted Through Faith

13For the promise that he would be the

to his seed through the law, but through

fact that Christ came, which was promised through

1246 Romans 4:18

Faith Triumphs inTrouble

Therefore, having been justified

whom also we have access by faith into

Christ inOur Place

6 For when we were still without

as one who gives life to the dead refers not only to

l God demonstrates His own love toward

Death inAdam, Life inChrist

12T herefore, just as sthrough one man

*4:18 Genesis 15:5 *4:22 Genesis 15:6

to Moses, but God did not keep an account of sins

Romans 7:3 1247

Dead toSin, Alive toGod

to sin live any longer in it? 3Or do you not

1:16 NU-Text omits of Christ. 1:17 Habakkuk

2:6 Psalm 62:12; Proverbs 24:12 2:17 NU-Text

3:4 Psalm 51:4 3:12 Psalms 14:13; 53:13;

4:18 Genesis 15:5 4:22 Genesis 15:6

9:17 Exodus 9:16 9:25 Hosea 2:23

11:22 NU-Text adds of God. 11:26 Or delivered