Paul is building a courtroom and nobody gets acquitted because no one has obeyed the law. The Jews have the law and break it. The Gentiles have conscience and ignore it. By works of the law no human being will be justified in God’s sight, because the law’s job is to show you what sin is. It does not fix it. Paul needs you to hear how total the diagnosis is before he gives you the cure in the next passage. The cure only makes sense when you know how sick you are.

The Rev. Neil Wehmas, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Ida Grove, IA, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Romans 3:1-20.

To learn more about St. Paul Lutheran, visit stpaulig.org.

Why does doing the right thing sometimes feel impossible? Why do feelings of guilt follow us even when we’ve been forgiven? These aren’t new questions. St. Paul wrote his letter to the Romans for a church he had never visited, and yet he addressed the struggles every Christian knows firsthand: the weight of the law, the persistence of sin, the sufficiency of what God has done in Christ. Romans covers enormous ground. Paul moves from the universal problem of sin through justification by faith, the role of baptism, the war between flesh and spirit, God’s faithfulness to Israel, and the shape of life together in the body of Christ. There’s a reason the Reformation was born in this letter. Join us on Thy Strong Word as we open up Romans, weekdays at 11am or on-demand anytime, at KFUO.org.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: thystrongword@kfuo.org.

Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation. Through the mission gifts of people like you, LHF translates, publishes, distributes and introduces books that are Bible-based, Christ-centered and Reformation-driven. Learn more at lhfmissions.org.

Romans 3:1-20

God’s Righteousness Upheld

[1] Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? [2] Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. [3] What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? [4] By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written,

“That you may be justified in your words,

and prevail when you are judged.”

[5] But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) [6] By no means! For then how could God judge the world? [7] But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? [8] And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

No One Is Righteous

[9] What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, [10] as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;

[11] no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

[12] All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.”

[13] “Their throat is an open grave;

they use their tongues to deceive.”

“The venom of asps is under their lips.”

[14] “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

[15] “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

[16] in their paths are ruin and misery,

[17] and the way of peace they have not known.”

[18] “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

[19] Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. [20] For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.