ris3n's Apologetics Codex
Romans 3.26
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Passage

Romans 3.26

Book: Romans · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

24. being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25. whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God;

26. for the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus.

  1. Where then is the glorying? It is excluded. By what manner of law? of works? Nay: but by a law of faith. 28. We reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. (Romans 3:24-28, ASV)
WEB

24. being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; 25. whom God sent to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God’s forbearance;

26. to demonstrate his righteousness at this present time; that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.

  1. Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28. We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. (Romans 3:24-28, WEB)
KJV

24. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; set forth: or, foreordained remission: or, passing over

26. To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

  1. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. (Romans 3:24-28, KJV)
YLT

24. being declared righteous freely by His grace through the redemption that [is] in Christ Jesus, 25. whom God did set forth a mercy seat, through the faith in his blood, for the shewing forth of His righteousness, because of the passing over of the bygone sins in the forbearance of God

26. for the shewing forth of His righteousness in the present time, for His being righteous, and declaring him righteous who [is] of the faith of Jesus.

  1. Where then [is] the boasting? it was excluded; by what law? of works? no, but by a law of faith: 28. therefore do we reckon a man to be declared righteous by faith, apart from works of law. (Romans 3:24-28, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul the apostle
  • Audience: the believers in Rome, a church Paul had long wanted to visit but had not yet seen (1:10-13)
  • Location: most likely written from Corinth, home of Paul's host Gaius (16:23; compare 1 Corinthians 1:14), and commending Phoebe of nearby Cenchreae (16:1), who probably carried the letter
  • Time period: c. AD 56-57, near the end of Paul's third missionary journey, as he prepared to take the collection to Jerusalem (15:25-26)

Theological reading

"For the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus." The verse closes the paragraph that begins "But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested" (3:21).

The problem. Verse 25 says God had been "passing over" (Strong's G3929) "the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance (G463) of God." Passing over sin is not the same as dealing with it. A judge who lets the guilty go is not righteous, and Scripture says so plainly: "He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to Jehovah" (Proverbs 17:15). Yet Paul will say that God "justifieth the ungodly" (Romans 4:5). Verse 26 states how both can be true.

The answer. God "set forth" Christ "to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood" (3:25; hilasterion, G2435). At the cross God shows that sin has not been overlooked. So he is "just" (G1342), and he is "the justifier" (G1344) of the one who believes. The two words share a Greek root, and Paul sets them side by side on purpose: God does not give up being just in order to justify. "At this present season" (G2540, kairos) sets the cross against the long period of forbearance before it. Many Protestant interpreters read the verse as a statement that Christ bore the penalty sin deserved; see Penal Substitutionary Atonement, and Atonement for the wider discussion.

"Faith in Jesus." The phrase is literally "of the faith of Jesus," as Young's Literal Translation renders it: "declaring him righteous who [is] of the faith of Jesus." Most translations read it as faith placed in Jesus; some scholars read it as Jesus' own faithfulness. On either reading justification rests on Jesus, and not on "the works of the law" (3:28). See Justification by Faith.

Justice and mercy in one act. The verse answers the question every moral religion has to face: how can a just God forgive? It is the point at which World Religions Compared by Their Ultimate Ending locates Christianity's distinctive claim, that God satisfied justice and gave mercy in the same act.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.