4 let it not be! and let God become true, and every man false, according as it hath been written, `That Thou mayest be declared righteous in Thy words, and mayest overcome in Thy being judged.'
Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned, And done the evil thing in Thine eyes, So that Thou art righteous in Thy words, Thou art pure in Thy judging.
and we have known that the Son of God is come, and hath given us a mind, that we may know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ; this one is the true God and the life age-during!
Law then do we make useless through the faith? let it not be! yea, we do establish law.
`And to the messenger of the assembly in Philadelphia write: These things saith he who is holy, he who is true, he who is having the key of David, he who is opening and no one doth shut, and he shutteth and no one doth open!
He who is believing in the Son of God, hath the testimony in himself; he who is not believing God, a liar hath made Him, because he hath not believed in the testimony that God hath testified concerning His Son;
upon hope of life age-during, which God, who doth not lie, did promise before times of ages,
And for me, let it not be -- to glory, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which to me the world hath been crucified, and I to the world;
and God `is' faithful, that our word unto you became not Yes and No,
I say, then, Did they stumble that they might fall? let it not be! but by their fall the salvation `is' to the nations, to arouse them to jealousy;
What, then, shall we say? unrighteousness `is' with God? let it not be!
That which is good then, to me hath it become death? let it not be! but the sin, that it might appear sin, through the good, working death to me, that the sin might become exceeding sinful through the command,
What then? shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? let it not be!
let it not be! we who died to the sin -- how shall we still live in it?
he who is receiving his testimony did seal that God is true;
the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Lo, a man, a glutton, and a wine-drinker, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners, and wisdom was justified of her children.'
I bow myself toward Thy holy temple, And I confess Thy name, For Thy kindness, and for Thy truth, For Thou hast made great Thy saying above all Thy name.
The sum of Thy word `is' truth, And to the age `is' every judgment of Thy righteousness!
Only -- vanity `are' the low, a lie the high. In balances to go up they than vanity `are' lighter.
Dost thou also make void My judgment? Dost thou condemn Me, That thou mayest be righteous?
The Rock! -- perfect `is' His work, For all His ways `are' just; God of stedfastness, and without iniquity: Righteous and upright `is' He.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Romans 3
Commentary on Romans 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
The apostle, in this chapter, carries on his discourse concerning justification. He had already proved the guilt both of Gentiles and Jews. Now in this chapter,
The many digressions in his writings render his discourse sometimes a little difficult, but his scope is evident.
Rom 3:1-18
Rom 3:19-31
From all this Paul infers that it is in vain to look for justification by the works of the law, and that it is to be had only by faith, which is the point he has been all along proving, from ch. 1:17, and which he lays down (v. 28) as the summary of his discourse, with a quod erat demonstrandu-hich was to be demonstrated. We conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law; not by the deeds of the first law of pure innocence, which left no room for repentance, nor the deeds of the law of nature, how highly soever improved, nor the deeds of the ceremonial law (the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin), nor the deeds of the moral law, which are certainly included, for he speaks of that law by which is the knowledge of sin and those works which might be matter of boasting. Man, in his depraved state, under the power of such corruption, could never, by any works of his own, gain acceptance with God; but it must be resolved purely into the free grace of God, given through Jesus Christ to all true believers that receive it as a free gift. If we had never sinned, our obedience to the law would have been our righteousness: "Do this, and live.' But having sinned, and being corrupted, nothing that we can do will atone for our former guilt. It was by their obedience to the moral law that the Pharisees looked for justification, Lu. 18:11. Now there are two things from which the apostle here argues: the guiltiness of man, to prove that we cannot be justified by the works of the law, and the glory of God, to prove that we must be justified by faith.