Romans 1-4

New International Reader's Version

1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. I serve Christ Jesus. I have been appointed to be an apostle. God set me apart to tell others his good news. ² He promised the good news long ago. He announced it through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. ³ The good news is about God’s Son. He was born into the family line of King David. ⁴ By the Holy Spirit, he was appointed to be the mighty Son of God. God did this by raising him from the dead. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. ⁵ We received grace because of what Jesus did. He made us apostles to the Gentiles. We must invite all of them to obey God by trusting in Jesus. We do this to bring glory to him. ⁶ You also are among those Gentiles who are appointed to belong to Jesus Christ.

⁷ I am sending this letter to all of you in Rome. You are loved by God and appointed to be his holy people.

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Paul Longs to Visit Rome

⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you. People all over the world are talking about your faith. ⁹ I serve God with my whole heart. I preach the good news about his Son. God knows that I always remember you ¹⁰ in my prayers. I pray that now at last it may be God’s plan to open the way for me to visit you.

¹¹ I long to see you. I want to make you strong by giving you a gift from the Holy Spirit. ¹² I want us to encourage one another in the faith we share. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that I planned many times to visit you. But until now I have been kept from coming. My work has produced results among the other Gentiles. In the same way, I want to see results among you.

¹⁴ I have a duty both to Greeks and to non-Greeks. I have a duty both to wise people and to foolish people. ¹⁵ So I really want to preach the good news also to you who live in Rome.

¹⁶ I want to preach it because I’m not ashamed of the good news. It is God’s power to save everyone who believes. It is meant first for the Jews. It is meant also for the Gentiles. ¹⁷ The good news shows God’s power to make people right with himself. God’s power to be made right with him is given to the person who has faith. It happens by faith from beginning to end. It is written, “The one who is right with God will live by faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4)

God’s Anger Against Sinners

¹⁸ God shows his anger from heaven. It is against all the godless and evil things people do. They are so evil that they say no to the truth. ¹⁹ The truth about God is plain to them. God has made it plain. ²⁰ Ever since the world was created it has been possible to see the qualities of God that are not seen. I’m talking about his eternal power and about the fact that he is God. Those things can be seen in what he has made. So people have no excuse for what they do.

²¹ They knew God. But they didn’t honor him as God. They didn’t thank him. Their thinking became worthless. Their foolish hearts became dark. ²² They claimed to be wise. But they made fools of themselves. ²³ They would rather have statues of gods than the glorious God who lives forever. Their statues of gods are made to look like people, birds, animals and reptiles.

²⁴ So God let them go. He allowed them to do what their sinful hearts wanted to. He let them commit sexual sins. They made one another’s bodies impure by what they did. ²⁵ They chose a lie instead of the truth about God. They worshiped and served created things. They didn’t worship the Creator. But he is praised forever. Amen.

²⁶ So God let them continue to have their shameful desires. Their women committed sexual acts that were not natural. ²⁷ In the same way, the men turned away from their natural love for women. They burned with sexual desire for each other. Men did shameful things with other men. They suffered in their bodies for all the wrong things they did.

²⁸ They didn’t think it was important to know God. So God let them continue to have evil thoughts. They did things they shouldn’t do. ²⁹ They are full of every kind of sin, evil and ungodliness. They want more than they need. They commit murder. They want what belongs to other people. They fight and cheat. They hate others. They say mean things about other people. ³⁰ They tell lies about them. They hate God. They are rude and proud. They brag. They think of new ways to do evil. They don’t obey their parents. ³¹ They do not understand. They can’t be trusted. They are not loving and kind. ³² They know that God’s commands are right. They know that those who do evil things should die. But they continue to do those very things. They also approve of others who do them.

God Judges Fairly

2 If you judge someone else, you have no excuse for it. When you judge another person, you are judging yourself. You do the same things you blame others for doing. ² We know that when God judges those who do evil things, he judges fairly. ³ Though you are only a human being, you judge others. But you yourself do the same things. So how do you think you will escape when God judges you? ⁴ Do you disrespect God’s great kindness and favor? Do you disrespect God when he is patient with you? Don’t you realize that God’s kindness is meant to turn you away from your sins?

⁵ But you are stubborn. In your heart you are not sorry for your sins. You are storing up anger against yourself. The day of God’s anger is coming. Then his way of judging fairly will be shown. ⁶ God “will pay back each person in keeping with what they have done.” (Psalm 62:12; Proverbs 24:12) ⁷ God will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good. They want glory, honor, and life that never ends. ⁸ But there are others who only look out for themselves. They don’t accept the truth. They go astray. God will pour out his great anger on them. ⁹ There will be trouble and suffering for everyone who does evil. That is meant first for the Jews. It is also meant for the Gentiles. ¹⁰ But there will be glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good. That is meant first for the Jews. It is also meant for the Gentiles. ¹¹ God treats everyone the same.

¹² Some people do not know God’s law when they sin. They will not be judged by the law when they die. Others do know God’s law when they sin. They will be judged by the law. ¹³ Hearing the law does not make a person right with God. People are considered to be right with God only when they obey the law. ¹⁴ Gentiles do not have the law. Sometimes they just naturally do what the law requires. They are a law for themselves. This is true even though they don’t have the law. ¹⁵ They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts. The way their minds judge them proves this fact. Sometimes their thoughts find them guilty. At other times their thoughts find them not guilty. ¹⁶ This will happen on the day God appoints Jesus Christ to judge people’s secret thoughts. That’s part of my good news.

The Jews and the Law

¹⁷ Suppose you call yourself a Jew. You trust in the law. You brag that you know God. ¹⁸ You know what God wants. You agree with what is best because the law teaches you. ¹⁹ You think you know so much more than the people you teach. You think you’re helping blind people. You think you are a light for those in the dark. ²⁰ You think you can make foolish people wise. You act like you’re teaching little children. You think that the law gives you all knowledge and truth. ²¹ You claim to teach others, but you don’t even teach yourself! You preach against stealing. But you steal! ²² You say that people should not commit adultery. But you commit adultery! You hate statues of gods. But you rob temples! ²³ You brag about the law. But when you break it, you rob God of his honor! ²⁴ It is written, “The Gentiles say evil things against God’s name because of you.” (Isaiah 52:5; Ezekiel 36:22)

²⁵ Circumcision has value if you obey the law. But if you break the law, it is just as if you hadn’t been circumcised. ²⁶ And sometimes those who aren’t circumcised do what the law requires. Won’t God accept them as if they had been circumcised? ²⁷ Many are not circumcised physically, but they obey the law. They will prove that you are guilty. You are breaking the law, even though you have the written law and are circumcised.

²⁸ A person is not a Jew if they are a Jew only on the outside. And circumcision is more than just something done to the outside of a man’s body. ²⁹ No, a person is a Jew only if they are a Jew on the inside. And true circumcision means that the heart has been circumcised by the Holy Spirit. The person whose heart has been circumcised does more than obey the written law. The praise that matters for that kind of person does not come from other people. It comes from God.

God Is Faithful

3 Is there any advantage in being a Jew? Is there any value in being circumcised? ² There is great value in every way! First of all, the Jews have been given the very words of God.

³ What if some Jews were not faithful? Will the fact that they weren’t faithful keep God from being faithful? ⁴ Not at all! God is true, even if every human being is a liar. It is written,

⁵ Doesn’t the fact that we are wrong prove more clearly that God is right? Then what can we say? Can we say that God is not fair when he brings his anger down on us? As you can tell, I am just using human ways of thinking. ⁶ God is certainly fair! If he weren’t, how could he judge the world? ⁷ Someone might argue, “When I lie, it becomes clearer that God is truthful. It makes his glory shine more brightly. Why then does he find me guilty of sin?” ⁸ Why not say, “Let’s do evil things so that good things will happen”? Some people actually lie by reporting that this is what we say. They are the ones who will rightly be found guilty.

No One Is Right With God

⁹ What should we say then? Do we Jews have any advantage? Not at all! We have already claimed that Jews and Gentiles are sinners. Everyone is under the power of sin. ¹⁰ It is written,

¹⁹ What the law says, it says to those who are ruled by the law. Its purpose is to shut every mouth and make the whole world accountable to God. ²⁰ So no one will be considered right with God by obeying the law. Instead, the law makes us more aware of our sin.

Becoming Right With God by Faith

²¹ But now God has shown us his saving power without the help of the law. But the Law and the Prophets tell us about this. ²² We are made right with God by putting our faith in Jesus Christ. This happens to all who believe. It is no different for the Jews than for the Gentiles. ²³ Everyone has sinned. No one measures up to God’s glory. ²⁴ The free gift of God’s grace makes us right with him. Christ Jesus paid the price to set us free. ²⁵ God gave Christ as a sacrifice to pay for sins through the spilling of his blood. So God forgives the sins of those who have faith. God did all this to prove that he does what is right. He is a God of mercy. So he did not punish for their sins the people who lived before Jesus lived. ²⁶ God did all this to prove in our own time that he does what is right. He also makes right with himself those who believe in Jesus.

²⁷ So who can brag? No one! Are people saved by the law that requires them to obey? Not at all! They are saved because of the law that requires faith. ²⁸ We firmly believe that a person is made right with God because of their faith. They are not saved by obeying the law. ²⁹ Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of Gentiles? Yes, he is their God too. ³⁰ There is only one God. When those who are circumcised believe in him, he makes them right with himself. Suppose those who are not circumcised believe in him. Then God also will make them right with himself. ³¹ Does faith make the law useless? Not at all! We agree with the law.

Abraham’s Faith Made Him Right With God

4 What should we say about these things? What did Abraham, the father of our people, discover about being right with God? ² Did he become right with God because of something he did? If so, he could brag about it. But he couldn’t brag to God. ³ What do we find in Scripture? It says, “Abraham believed God. God accepted Abraham’s faith, and so his faith made him right with God.” (Genesis 15:6)

⁴ When a person works, their pay is not considered a gift. It is owed to them. ⁵ But things are different with God. He makes ungodly people right with himself. If people trust in him, their faith is accepted even though they do not work. Their faith makes them right with God. ⁶ King David says the same thing. He tells us how blessed people are when God makes them right with himself. They are blessed because they don’t have to do anything in return. David says,

⁹ Is that blessing only for those who are circumcised? Or is it also for those who are not circumcised? We have been saying that God accepted Abraham’s faith. So his faith made him right with God. ¹⁰ When did it happen? Was it after Abraham was circumcised, or before? It was before he was circumcised, not after! ¹¹ He was circumcised as a sign of the covenant God had made with him. It showed that his faith had made him right with God before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the father of all believers who have not been circumcised. God accepts their faith. So their faith makes them right with him. ¹² And Abraham is also the father of those who are circumcised and believe. So just being circumcised is not enough. Those who are circumcised must also follow the steps of our father Abraham. He had faith before he was circumcised.

¹³ Abraham and his family received a promise. God promised that Abraham would receive the world. It would not come to him because he obeyed the law. It would come because of his faith, which made him right with God. ¹⁴ Do those who depend on the law receive the promise? If they do, faith would mean nothing. God’s promise would be worthless. ¹⁵ The law brings God’s anger. Where there is no law, the law can’t be broken.

¹⁶ The promise is based on God’s grace. The promise comes by faith. All of Abraham’s children will certainly receive the promise. And it is not only for those who are ruled by the law. Those who have the same faith that Abraham had are also included. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷ It is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” (Genesis 17:5) God considers Abraham to be our father. The God that Abraham believed in gives life to the dead. Abraham’s God also creates things that did not exist before.

¹⁸ When there was no reason for hope, Abraham believed because he had hope. He became the father of many nations, exactly as God had promised. God said, “That is how many children you will have.” (Genesis 15:5) ¹⁹ Abraham did not become weak in his faith. He accepted the fact that he was past the time when he could have children. At that time Abraham was about 100 years old. He also realized that Sarah was too old to have children. ²⁰ But Abraham kept believing in God’s promise. He became strong in his faith. He gave glory to God. ²¹ He was absolutely sure that God had the power to do what he had promised. ²² That’s why “God accepted Abraham because he believed. So his faith made him right with God.” (Genesis 15:6) ²³ The words “God accepted Abraham’s faith” were written not only for Abraham. ²⁴ They were written also for us. We believe in the God who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. So God will accept our faith and make us right with himself. ²⁵ Jesus was handed over to die for our sins. He was raised to life in order to make us right with God.