Romans 3: Law, Grace, and the New Covenant

by | Posted June 1st at 8:02am

Here is a detailed, verse-by-verse exposition of Romans 3, providing insights into the themes of law versus grace and the new covenant, with a special focus on Romans 3:21-31, where the righteousness of God, apart from the law, is revealed.

Note: As you read, you can view the Bible text by hovering over the scriptures or clicking them. In the primary texts of our study, I have them after the colon.

Romans 3:1-2: “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.”

Paul begins by affirming the special privileges of the Jews, chiefly that they were entrusted with God’s revealed Word (the oracles). This establishes that the Jews had a unique role in redemptive history, but this privilege does not guarantee righteousness or salvation by itself.

The law and prophetic revelation were given to Israel, but this does not mean they are justified by the law (the old covenant). The oracles point forward to the righteousness revealed in Christ, which is the true remedy for sin.

Romans 3:3-4: “What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though everyone were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”

Paul anticipates an objection: if some Jews are unfaithful, does that nullify God’s faithfulness? He emphatically denies this, affirming God’s unchanging truth and justice. God’s righteousness and faithfulness stand regardless of human failure. The law reveals human sinfulness, but God’s covenant faithfulness is the basis for justification, not human merit.

Romans 3:5-8: “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.”

Paul rejects the idea that sin could somehow glorify God or that grace encourages sinning. God’s justice and judgment remain intact. Grace is not a license to sin but a remedy for sin. The new covenant righteousness is a gift, not a reward for wrongdoing. This underscores God’s holiness and justice even as He offers grace.

Romans 3:9-18: “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, as it is written: None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

This passage catalogues universal human sinfulness, both Jew and Gentile alike, emphasizing total depravity and the law’s inability to produce righteousness. The law exposes sin but cannot justify it. The vivid imagery of sin in every part of man’s being shows the depth of human corruption and the need for God’s remedy in grace.

Below is a table summarizing  Man’s Fallen Nature.

The Law’s Purpose: Revealing Sin, Not Providing Righteousness

Romans 3:19-20: “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. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

The law’s role is to bring conviction and reveal sin, not to justify. It silences all boasting and makes all guilty before God. The law is a tutor to bring us to Christ by showing our inability to meet God’s standards. (Galatians 3:23-26). Justification cannot come through law-keeping but only through faith apart from works.

Romans 3:21-26: “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 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; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

This is the heart of the gospel: God’s righteousness is now revealed apart from the law through faith in Jesus Christ, who is the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for sin.

The divine provision for man’s unrighteousness. The righteousness of God is His own perfect standard, which He must demand, but now it is provided freely by grace through Christ’s redemption. This righteousness is not earned but imputed by faith, making the believer justified before God.

This righteousness is “apart from the law” in the sense that it is not based on human works or law-keeping but on the new covenant of grace established by Christ’s sacrifice. The law attests to this righteousness but does not produce it.

Romans 3:27-31: “Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.”

Paul concludes that boasting is excluded because justification is by faith, not works. God is the God of both Jews and Gentiles, justifying all who believe.

Faith does not nullify the law but fulfills and establishes it because its true purpose is realized in the righteousness that comes from faith. The new covenant does not abolish God’s standards but provides the means to meet them through grace. This underscores the unity of God’s plan and the universal availability of salvation through faith, not ethnic privilege or law-keeping.

Summary of Law vs. Grace and the New Covenant in Romans 3

The law reveals sin and condemns, but cannot justify or save. It functions to stop boasting and show humanity’s need for a Saviour.

The righteousness of God is His own perfect standard, which He demands but also freely provides through Jesus Christ.

Justification is by faith, apart from the works of the law, highlighting the new covenant of grace that supersedes the old covenant of law.

Though our sovereign head—our forefather Adam sinned, passing condemnation to us all, we have an escape: Grace is God’s remedy for sin.

: “I deserved Hell; Jesus took my Hell on the cross; there is nothing left for me but His Heaven.”

This gospel is not a human invention but God’s eternal plan revealed in Christ, exclusive and final.

Faith in Christ is the means by which both Jew and Gentile are justified, fulfilling rather than nullifying the law.

This detailed verse-by-verse approach to theological exposition on the contrast between law and grace and the establishment of the new covenant righteousness through faith in Christ. It highlights the profound shift from law-based righteousness to grace-based justification that Paul proclaims as God’s Saving Grace through Christ.

Article posted by Glen R. Jackman, founder of GraceProclaimed.org

Glen has optimized his eldership role to teach the full scope of the New Covenant of Jesus Christ without boundaries.
You can read his testimony.