Romans 3
[SUP]10 [/SUP]As it is written, None is righteous, just and truthful and upright and conscientious, no, not one.
[SUP]11 [/SUP]No one understands [no one intelligently discerns or comprehends]; no one seeks out God.
[SUP]12 [/SUP]All have turned aside; together they have gone wrong and have become unprofitable and worthless; no one does right, not even one!
[SUP]13 [/SUP]Their throat is a yawning grave; they use their tongues to deceive (to mislead and to deal treacherously). The venom of asps is beneath their lips.
[SUP]14 [/SUP]Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
[SUP]15 [/SUP]Their feet are swift to shed blood.
[SUP]16 [/SUP]Destruction [as it dashes them to pieces] and misery mark their ways.
[SUP]17 [/SUP]And they have no experience of the way of peace [they know nothing about peace, for a peaceful way they do not even recognize].
[SUP]18 [/SUP]There is no [reverential] fear of God before their eyes.
[SUP]19 [/SUP]Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that [the murmurs and excuses of] every mouth may be hushed and all the world may be held accountable to God.
[SUP]20 [/SUP]For no person will be justified (made righteous, acquitted, and judged acceptable) in His sight by observing the works prescribed by the Law. For [the real function of] the Law is to make men recognize
and be conscious of sin [[SUP][
a][/SUP]not mere perception, but an acquaintance with sin which works toward repentance, faith, and holy character].
[SUP]21 [/SUP]But now the righteousness of God has been revealed independently
and altogether apart from the Law, although actually it is attested by the Law and the Prophets,
[SUP]22 [/SUP]Namely, the righteousness of God which comes by believing
with personal trust
and confident reliance on Jesus Christ (the Messiah). [And it is meant] for all who believe. For there is no distinction,
[SUP]23 [/SUP]Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory [SUP][b][/SUP]which God bestows and receives.
[SUP]24 [/SUP][All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,
[SUP]25 [/SUP]Whom God put forward [[SUP][
c][/SUP]before the eyes of all] as a mercy seat
and propitiation by His blood [the cleansing and life-giving sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation, to be received] through faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over
and ignored former sins without punishment.
[SUP]26 [/SUP]It was to demonstrate
and prove at the present time ([SUP][
d][/SUP]in the now season) that He Himself is righteous and that He justifies
and accepts as righteous him who has [true] faith in Jesus.