There is one objection here. Others might say: if God has done us good, and we have come ungrateful to Him, He is even more faithful; then why is He angry, that is, He punishes us, if we have become the cause of His justification and victory? Such is the objection. The Apostle resolves it very wisely and in rebuke of the Jews. From the fact that God punishes you, it does not follow that you are the cause of God's victory; for it is unjust for the victor to punish him who was the cause of the victory. But God is not unjust: otherwise, how can God judge the world if He is unjust? Therefore, when God punishes you, and He is not unjust, it follows that you did not become the cause of His victory by sinning: for God could have conquered otherwise, if you had not been evil. The words, I say, according to human reasoning, have this meaning. Thus, he says, I answer in justification of God according to human reason, that is, as only a man of sound mind can answer: for the actions of God have some reasons that are incomprehensible to us, surpass human reason, and do not need our protection.

For if God's faithfulness is exalted by my unfaithfulness to the glory of God, why else should I be judged as a sinner? and shall we not do evil that good may come out, as some curse us, and say that we teach so? Righteous is the judgment upon such.

He repeats what he said before, in order to make it clear. If through my transgression God appeared righteous and faithful; then why, finally, should they condemn me, who have benefited the glory of God? In that case, I do not deserve condemnation, but a reward. And if this is true, then what the Gentiles say about us will also be true. The pagans, hearing the words of Paul: "When sin abounded, grace abounded" (Romans 5:20), subjected them to ridicule and asserted that the Christians were saying: "Let us do evil, that good may come out, let us sin more, that grace may abound." These words of the Gentiles, spoken by them in mockery and mockery of us, are also true in the present case, if we assume that God manifests His goodness through our wickedness and ingratitude. But in fact, it is not so. The speech of the pagans is always the speech of the speakers, a lie. Righteous is the judgment on such, that is, they will be punished justly. Thus, by sinning, I do not become the cause of God's justification, because I am condemned as a sinner; for if I had sinned for the glory of God, I would not have been condemned.

So, what then? Do we have an advantage? Not at all. For we have already proved that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin, as it is written, There is neither righteous nor one; there is no one who understands; no one seeks God; all have gone astray, they are worthless to one; there is no one who does good, there is none. Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues; the poison of adders is on their lips. Their lips are full of backbiting and bitterness. Their feet are quick to shed blood; destruction and destruction in their ways; they do not know the way of peace. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Having said above that the Jews have a certain advantage, because the law has been entrusted and entrusted to them, he now proves that they have no advantage in their works. For because they have not kept what is entrusted to them, they will be subjected to great condemnation. Therefore, although they had a certain advantage as chosen by God, but since by their deeds they dishonored the God who honored them and chose them, not only do they no longer have any advantage, but they will also be subjected to greater condemnation. He says, as it were, on behalf of the Jews: "What then?" Do we have an advantage, are we superior to others, are we Jews more pleasing to God, who have received the law and circumcision? Not at all. For the Jews, to say the least, sinned in the same way as the Gentiles. And where can this be seen from? Of the prophets, namely David and Isaiah. For the speech that begins with the words, "No one is righteous," and ends thus: "Curses and sorrows are full of essence," belongs to David (Psalm 13:3,5; 9:28; 139:4), and the speech from the words "their feet are swift to the words they know not the way of peace" belongs to Isaiah (Isaiah 59:7,8); then again follow the words of David (Psalm 35:2). Therefore he presents the most significant prophets as accusers of the Jews, and shows that they speak in perfect accord. Why, after the words of Isaiah, the words of David are again quoted. For Isaiah speaks clearly of the Jews; David also speaks of them. Further, as soon as one deviates from good, he immediately becomes useless. For depravity is nothing but the perversion of the natural motives for good: wherefore, by stirring up a man to the unnatural, it makes him useless. For nature no longer uses it, just as it does not use it in the administration of the affairs of its sick. Destruction and destruction are sin, for nothing destroys the soul so much as sin, in its wrong way. For virtue, as our natural good, makes us a smooth and smooth path, and depravity, as an unnatural thing, known for its shortcomings and excesses, sometimes makes us rush upward, and sometimes downward, and therefore makes our movement uneven and difficult; Not to mention the fact that she prepares a punishment for us after that. They do not know the way of peace, that is, of a godly life; for a godly life is the path of tranquility. Take, says the Lord, My yoke, and you will find rest (Matt. 11:29): this is the way to the true peace of Christ!

But we know that the law, if it speaks, speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth is stopped, and the whole world becomes guilty before God, because by the works of the law no flesh will be justified before Him; for sin is known by the law.

So that the Jews may not object: This is not spoken to us, it says: the law, if it says anything, it speaks to those who are under the law. What, he says, is there any need to speak to others, when the law has been given to you? The whole Old Testament is called the law, and not only the law of Moses, just as he now called the prophecies of Isaiah and David the law. Words stop every mouth, depicts the boasting of the Jews and the unstoppable striving of their tongue. With them the prophet bridled it like a rushing stream. But the Apostle does not mean that they sinned in order that their lips might be stopped; but for this reason they were rebuked by the prophets, so that they would not represent their sins by their sins of ignorance, and would not boast. And not only the Jews, but the whole world becomes guilty before God, that is, condemned, devoid of boldness, not justified by their own works, but in need of outside help, that is, of the grace of Christ. Why then do you, Jew, boast of the law, when you are guilty on an equal footing with the rest of the world, as not justified by the works of the law?

Sin is known by the law. But now, independently of the law, the righteousness of God has appeared, of which the law and the prophets testify.

If you, Jew, boast of the law, know that it is the cause of a greater punishment for you. For through him thou hast learned sin, and whoever sins consciously threatens him with a greater punishment. But this happened through your negligence, for you did not flee from the sin that became known to you, and therefore brought upon yourself a greater punishment. How will you be freed from this punishment? If you accept God's righteousness, independent of the law. For God will justify us, even though we have no works; for God is almighty. He expressed it beautifully: it appeared in order to show that the truth of God existed before, but was hidden. And by the words of which the law and the prophets testify, it also shows that it is not something new, but that both the law of Moses and the prophets spoke of it, wherefore it is worthy of acceptance; for although it is independent of the law, yet it is in perfect accord with the law to justify us.

The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ in all and on all who believe, for there is no difference, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely, by His grace, through redemption in Christ Jesus.

This righteousness, he says, that is, the justification by which God has justified us, descends upon all through faith. When we offer faith, all are justified, Jews and Gentiles. For there is no difference. A Jew is not preferred to a Gentile because he has received the law. For he also sinned, since from the law he learned only how to recognize sin, and not how to avoid it. Even if he did not sin as much as the heathen, he is equally devoid of glory, because he has offended God, and the offender reaps the fruit not of glory, but of ignominy. But don't despair. All are justified freely by the grace of God, and this grace comes through redemption, that is, through the complete deliverance made by Christ, for He justified us by giving Himself as a ransom for us.

Whom God has offered as a propitiation sacrifice in His blood through faith, to show His righteousness in the forgiveness of sins committed before, in the time of God's longsuffering, to show His righteousness at the present time, that He may appear righteous and justifying him who believes in Jesus.

He mentioned purification (by the sacrifice of propitiation) and blood, in order to convince the Jew that forgiveness and justification are accomplished through Christ. If, he reasons, you believed that sins were forgiven by the blood of sheep; how much more are they resolved by the blood of Christ, and if the purification of the law, being the image of Christ, had such power, then the truth itself has much greater power. "Purification" (purgatory) was the name given to the cover of the ark, decorated with cherubim placed on both sides of it. It pointed to human nature, which was the veil of divinity that covered Him, but was glorified by the angelic powers that served Him by reason of his union with God the Word. He said it in order to show that deliverance by the Blood of Christ was predestined from ancient times for healing from paralysis, that is, deadening from sins committed before, during the time of God's longsuffering. For although we have enjoyed much goodness, yet we have become like the paralytic and the dead. And this happened to show the truth of God, so that not only God Himself would appear righteous, but also others who were dead in sin could be resurrected and justified, just as the manifestation of wealth consists in the fact that someone should not only be rich himself, but also be able to make others rich. Therefore, do not be ashamed, if you are justified in this way. If God arrogates this work to Himself, that is, exalts and boasts in it, as justifying us at the present time, that is, when sin has reached its utmost limit, and when we have acknowledged as if we were paralyzed and dead, then why should you, O Jew, be ashamed of such the glory of God?

Where, then, is there anything to boast about? Destroyed. What law? the law of affairs? No, but by the law of faith.