The passage
      v21-22. Having established that right-standing before God cannot be maintained through obedience to the law, Paul announces that a "righteousness of God" (God's faithfulness in keeping his promises realized in his saving of a people to stand eternally right before him), of which the Old Testament scriptures testify, is available to all humanity "apart from law" (independent of obedience to the law). This "righteousness of God" rests on "the faithfulness of Jesus Christ" (not "faith in Jesus Christ") and is appropriated through a personal reliance on the promises of God in Christ ("to all who believe").
      v23-24. Paul goes on to remind his readers that all people are rebels in the sight of God; we have all built our house on sand and await its destruction, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Yet, the equality of our condemnation images the equality of our justification. All (those who believe in Christ), whether they be Jewish believers under the law, or Gentile believers outside the law, can eternally share in the gift of a perfect righteous status in the sight of God through the sacrificial work of Christ on the cross.
      v25-26. Awarding the sinner right-standing before God, apart from their own righteousness, seems to undermine justice. Yet, justice is satisfied in the sacrificial death of Christ (a propitiatory sacrifice, a sacrifice which diverts the wrath of God from the sinner to the sacrifice). God is a just God, and justice demands that sin is dealt with. Rather than deal with it in us, in a gracious act of kindness, God deals with it in Christ. Sin was punished in the person of Jesus who became the believing sinner's substitute. Therefore, God can justly approve the sinner who rests on the "faithfulness of Jesus" (his substitutionary sacrifice "in his blood").
      v27-30. Paul now concludes his argument. He declares that any "boasting" about an assumed special standing before God on the basis of law-obedience is "excluded" and this because all believers, those under the law (Jewish believers) and those outside the law (Gentile believers), are justified by faith apart from the law.

Preaching to Baby Boomers
      The Baby Boomers have come of age and this was celebrated in the election, some years ago, of the first Baby Boomer US president, Bill Clinton. Strictly speaking, Baby Boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. They are the children of the prosperous post-war era, and today they are getting ready to retire. As a group, they are indulged; they were given all they wanted as children. They are individuals, highly educated, more refined than the "between the wars" children, wary of authority and form for form sake, into social justice and environmentalism. They are attention-seeks who like their ego stroked. They like to be seen as unique. Philosophically they are of a liberal humanist mould - egalitarian, but increasingly wary of scientific rationalism. They are no longer sure that the world can be understood and controlled by the application of rational thought.
      In Western society, it is this group, more than any other in recent history, who have abandoned the Christian church. They might have been sent to Sunday School, but church has no relevance for them. In one sense this is good because it means that they have cast off the shackles of nominalism. Yet, it also means they have only rarely heard the gospel of God's grace in Christ. They have thrown out the baby with the bathwater of legalistic pietism, ritual, institutional power, manipulative marketing, dictatorial management.....
      The gospel announces our eternal acceptance in the sight of God through a personal reliance on Jesus, an acceptance free from the clutter of piety and religiosity. This is the substance of Paul's exposition of the doctrine of justification in our passage for study. In our generation, we have failed to understand the substance of this doctrine and so have tended to muddy the waters for Baby Boomers. Too often we have presented commitment to Jesus in terms of ethical expectations, or denominational association. It is not too late to communicate the grace of God to Baby Boomers and certainly not to late with generation X and X+Y.

v21
      Paul now sets out to examine the upside of "the manifestation of the righteousness of God." The exegesis of v21-26 is very difficult, but an excellent overview may be found in Stuhlmacher's essay in "Reconciliation, Law and Righteousness", Fortress, 1986.
      de "but" Here is adversative. Paul has established the universality of sin and the nondiscriminatory nature of God's condemnation of sin, either for those outside, or under the law. But the other side of "God's righteousness", his saving grace, now manifested in Christ, is also at work, and this for those with a faith like Abraham's.
      nuni "[but] now" - Either expressing a logical step in the argument, or a step in time, or both, Barrett. Temporal seems best. The condemnation of sinners and the vindication of the righteous by faith, both of which evidence the righteousness of God, functioned within the old covenant without the evidential vindication of the faithful. Sin reigned and those with a faith like Abraham's could only but cry out to God for mercy, given that the blood of bulls and goats could never cover their sin. "But now .........."
      dikaiosunh qeou "a righteousness from God" - righteousness of God. We can dispense with the pietistic idea of "God's righteousness" as a divine morality to be lived out by faith, and must choose between the genitive "of God" being partitive, "that status of being right with God which comes as his gift", O'Brien; or possessive/subjective, "the saving activity of God", Talbert, "God's dynamic fidelity to his covenant promises", Dumbrell. See The righteousness of God. "God does make us acceptable to him", CEV.
      cwriV + gen. "apart [from law]" - without. An eternal right-standing in the sight of God that does not require obedience to the Mosaic law. Some argue for law in general, eg. the conscience of a Gentile, but this is unlikely. "Apart from the law" implies that justification (covenant compliance) was possible, under the old covenant, by obedience to the law. Sanders (see the new perspective on Paul) rightly identifies covenant inclusion for the children of Abraham as an act of grace, but proceeds to argue (on the basis of his research into the religion of second temple Judaism) that members of the covenant go forward, maintaining themselves in salvation by obedience to the law ("covenant nomism"). It is certainly likely that this thinking was dominant in first century Judaism and that Jewish believers and their Gentile converts ("the weak", 15:1) brought it with them into the church. Clearly, "the weak" held that a believer's standing before God is maintained and/or progressed by obedience to the law of Moses (the heresy of nomism). Yet, surely this is the heresy that Paul is arguing against, given that covenant acceptance (being right with God) always rested on faith, not obedience, cf. the example of Abraham, ch. 4. The law but exposes sin and thus refocus faith in the mercy of God. The Old Testament saint, faced with their sin and the inability of the sacrificial system to atone for wilful sin (it only covered inadvertent sin), could only look in faith to a merciful God for the provision of a perfect sacrificial lamb. "And now" says Paul, "(in Christ) a righteousness of God (here, the saving activity of God) is manifested (and also appropriated) apart from the law, a reality to which the scriptures testify." For Paul, the Christian life proceeds as it began, by grace through faith. A person stands eternally right before God "independently of the law", NEB.
      pefanerwtai (fanerow) perf. pas. "has been made known" - has been manifest, made clear, revealed, made known. The sense here is "revealed", as of divine revelation, therefore "manifested". That which God manifests, here his "righteousness", may be freely appropriated. The perfect emphasizes the fact that righteousness has been "revealed" apart from the law. Paul's thesis derives from God, as revealed in the scriptures ("the Law and the Prophets" - an OT technical term) and so is not of his own making.

v22a
      The "righteousness of God" which is manifested apart from the law is manifested in the faithfulness of Jesus.
      dia + gen. "through" - by means of. Some argue that the preposition here takes a causal, rather than instrumental sense - "they gained right standing because they believed in Jesus", but an instrumental sense is best where "faith" is taken as "faithfulness".
      pistewV Ihsou "faith in Jesus" - The obvious question is, are we dealing with a subjective or objective genitive? Most commentators opt for an objective genitive, Christ being the object of the faith, "by believing in Jesus", Moffatt, etc. Yet, subjective is possible = Christ's faith, or more properly, his faithfulness, cf. Gal.2:16. "Through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ", is argued by Longenecker and others as being not only logical, but better grammar. Taken as an objective genitive we end up with a pleonasm (redundant words), "through faith in Jesus to those who have faith in Jesus", better, "the righteousness of God is manifested (and therefore realized) by means of the faithfulness of Christ (the cross) for all who put their trust in God (in all ages, Abraham included)."
      eiV "to" - into. Here, the sense is "with respect to", BAGD; possibly "extending to all", "reaching unto and extending over all", Lightfoot.
      touV pisteuontaV (pisteuw) part. "who believe" - the ones believing. Participle as a substantive. "Faith in Jesus brings us to an understanding of what God's purposes are, includes us in them and puts us right with God", Dumbrell.

v22b-23
      Paul now explains how there is no "distinction" in God's righteousness in that all sin and are condemned (irrespective of a person's standing under the law) and all (those who believe) are justified (irrespective of a person's standing under the law) by means of the redemption wrought by Christ, v24.
      ou gar estin diastolh "there is no difference" - "God treats everyone alike", CEV. When it comes to sin, all have sinned, Jew and Gentile alike, and God treats all equally. Note Paul's repetition of "all".
      hJmarton (aJmartanw) aor. "sinned" - missed the mark. The aorist is probably gnomic indicating a universal truth; all humans have sinned from Adam onward. A constative sense is also present where the action of the sinning is viewed in its entirety.
      uJsterountai (uJsterew) pres. "fall short" - lack, miss out, fail to reach. The present tense indicating the continuation of the action of falling short. Some scholars take the verb here as middle and suggest "feel want", but this is unlikely.
      doxhV (a) "glory" - The manifestation of divine wonder, here possibly of God's gracious kindness in salvation. So, "is far away from God's saving presence", TEV, therefore, "far away from the God who saves", TH. "Deprived of the divine glory", REB, sticks with NIV etc. which touches on the idea that humanity was to share divinity, but this was lost through sin (later to be restored in Christ).
      qeou (oV) "God". "God" here is obviously a subjective genitive, in that the "glory" belongs to him and we have failed to receive it. As objective, eg. failing to glorify God, is unlikely.

v24
      dikaioumenoi (dikaiow) pres. part. "are justified" - being justified. Attendant circumstance participle identifying an action accompanying the verb "sinned", v23. Of course, it is the "all who believe" who are "justified", not the all who "have sinned", but here Paul is explaining that "there is no distinction" for those under, or without the law, as regard sin, but also as regard justification, since justification derives from God's covenant faithfulness, not our obedience. Often defined as "declared right", although what God declares right (approved) is right. The word leans toward a forensic sense rather than an ethical one, ie. it concerns judicial innocence, not moral rectitude. The debate over "declared righteous" ("put right", TEV) and "made righteous" is one of long standing. See Barrett for "made righteous." A definition such as "being in the right with God", Dumbrell, of a person being judged "covenant compliant", probably gets close to its intended meaning. This state of "being" in the sight of God is eternal and rests wholly on God's mercy in the faithfulness of Christ appropriated through faith and not on a person's attention to ethics, whether Old or New Testament law.
      dwrean adv. "freely" - without cost, for nothing, a gift freely given. "Believers are justified as a gift", Davies. The accusative noun here is used adverbially, "in the manner of a gift", Morris. "For nothing", Moffatt; "by God's free grace alone", NEB.
      cariti (iV itoV) "grace" - something given freely and generously, even where this gift is undeserving. The Biblical sense of the word is something like "covenant mercy" - forgiveness bestowed on members of the covenant where a just condemnation would be more appropriate. "God treats us much better than we deserve", CEV, where this translation expresses "grace" in terms of the "overwhelming kindness of God."
      apolutrwsewV (iV ewV) "redemption" - deliverance by means of the payment of a price. The word finds its origin in the payment of a price for the release of prisoners. "Through the ransom provided in Christ Jesus", Moffatt; probably better than the softer "sets us free", CEV, "deliverance", Goodspeed. There is no indication to whom the ransom was paid; it was certainly not Satan.

v25
      Paul, in v25-26, explains how God has achieved the "redemption" (v24) of mankind. "God displayed his righteousness in offering the faithfulness of Christ (his submission to the cross) as a propitiatory sacrifice, having, in the past, graciously passed over human sin, in order to, on one hand act rightly, while at the same time approve (justify) those who live out their lives in the faithfulness of Christ."
      proeqeto (protiqhmi) aor. mid. "presented" - set forth publicly, purposed. The sense, "purposed" is probably best here, "God appointed him", Phillips, although the public nature of what was done gives some weight to "put forward", NRSV. See Cranfield for "purposed".
      iJlasthrion (on) "a sacrifice of atonement" - the means of expiation, or propitiation. Given the context, "propitiation", in the terms of the turning aside of God's wrath from the sinner to the sacrifice (Christ), is a reasonable translation, AV, Moffatt, Phillips ....; see Cranfield p.216. "Expiating sin", eg. REB, in the sense of make amends for, is softer and often preferred by modern scholars in that it moves away from the idea of an angry God, although God's anger at sin is certainly not hidden in the scriptures. The NIV, as with NRSV..., has put stress on the "sacrifice", but the verb means "make atonement", not "offer a sacrifice."
      pistewV (iV ewV) "faith [in his blood]" - The same difficulty that existed in v22 presents here. "Paul could well be saying that Christ's faithfulness in his blood (ie. his submission to a sacrificial death) was the propitiatory sacrifice that God had purposed (cf. Phil.2:8)", Davies.
      aiJmati (a atoV) dat. "blood" - Blood as poured out in death, so Christ's sacrifice; "by his sacrificial death", NEB.
      eiV "[he did this] to" - to, into, for. The preposition here may carry the sense of either, purpose or result. NIV etc. opts for purpose, but result seems more appropriate, "this served to demonstrate." God's actions do demonstrate his character, but it is unlikely he acts just to demonstrate his character.
      endeixin (iV ewV) "demonstrate" - the means by which one knows that something is a fact, a proof, evidence, verification, indication*. "Vindicate", Goodspeed, is very unlikely. The atonement reveals (better than "proves") that God is a just God, he does right, particularly in his mercy and kindness toward his creatures. "To show", CEV.
      dikaiosunhV (h) "justice" - righteousness, justice. Most commentators opt for "justice". God's act of salvation in Christ reveals that he is a just God. Although unlikely, it is possible for the word to take a forensic, rather than moral sense here. "This served to show that he approves, in his sight, those who have faith in Christ's sacrificial death."
      dia + acc. "because" - because of. The usual causal sense is most likely. God's justice is highlighted because of his overlooking of sin and dealing with it in his own time through the sacrificial death of Jesus. Another possibility is to take the preposition to mean "with a view to", while taking the word "forbearance" to mean "forgiveness. So, God's justice is highlighted with a view to his forgiveness of sins previously committed.
      thn paresin (iV ewV) "in his forbearance he had left" - the overlooking, passing over, passing by. The setting aside of sins committed beforehand, to be dealt with at a later time. "Overlooked, NEB, is better than "wiped out" ("forgave"), Phillips. Like Nelson, who chose to put the spy glass to his bad eye, God chose to "wink at" sin for a time.
      progegonotwn (proginomai) perf. "committed beforehand" - having previously occurred. Perfect emphasizing continuation of the condition. Possibly past sins, so Luther, "the sins of the past", REB, but also what is commonly called, recurrent sin, ongoing sin. God has chosen, in his mercy, to deal with sin, past, present and future, in the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ.

v26
      anoch/ (h) dat. " - " forbearance, patience. Paul again repeats the truth that God has withheld his judgment on sin and that this shows that he is just/righteous. See above.
      eiV to einai "so as to be" - Articular infinitive with the preposition expressing purpose, "in order that", although result is an outside possibility.
      en tw/ nun kairw/ "at the present time" - in the present time. The "now" is highlighted here. See v21.
      kai "[so as to be just] and [the one who justifies]" - and. God is a righteous God (condemns sin) "as well as" a God who sets he sinner (with faith) right. Note how some commentators draw a distinction here, taking "and" to mean "although", "and yet", Cranfield. "There is no antithesis between God's justice and his mercy", Stott.
      ton ek pistewV Ihsou "those who have faith in Jesus" - the one out of/from faithfulness of Jesus. We strike the same problem with the word "faith" which we faced in v22 and v25. The grammar again implies "the faithfulness of Jesus" rather than "faith in Jesus" ie. subjective/descriptive genitive, rather than objective. The preposition ek, "out of / from" then happily takes its natural meaning; those who are justified, who are in the right with God, are those who "draw from / live out their lives in" the faithfulness of Christ, his obedient submission to the cross on our behalf.

v27
      Paul, drawing a conclusion from his argument so far, declares that boasting of an assumed standing under the law is excluded and this because all believers, those under the law (Jewish believers) and those outside the law (Gentile believers), are justified by faith apart from the law, v27-30.
      hJ kauchsiV (iV ewV) "boasting" - the boasting. "Glorying / boasting" as an act. Paul refers a number of times to "glorying". "Glorying", in itself, is a positive attribute, but "glorying/boasting" about one's standing before God on the basis of religious observance, particularly law-obedience, is anything but positive. The way of faith excludes such boasting. New perspective commentators tend toward the idea that the boast is in possessing the law, as against the Gentiles who don't possess it. Paul's argument would then be against those Jews who possess the law, but who lack faith and therefore fail to keep it.
      exekleisqh (ekkleiw) aor. "it is excluded" - eliminated, excluded, not allowed. Aorist underlines the definite end of any ground for boasting.
      poiou "what" - what kind of. Most commentators suggest "what?", "what principle", but "what kind of law" is possibly Paul's intended sense, see below.
      nomou (oV) "principle" - law. "Basis", Hendrickson, "law", in the sense of "general rule", "norm" or "principle", which is then carried to "on the principle of doing deeds?" Moffatt = justification on the basis of performance, and "the principle of faith" = justification on the basis of faith. Although this view is widely accepted, there remains the possibility that Paul is still using "law" in the sense of "the law of Moses / Torah", see Schreiner. If this is the case then Paul is identifying two aspects of the law of Moses: "the law of works", law as it relates to obedience as a means of maintaining right-standing before God; "the law of faith", the law as it relates to faith as a means of maintaining right-standing before God. Glorying before God on the basis of obedience to the law is "excluded" by a glorying before God in a faith which fulfills ("upholds", see v31) the law ("fulfilled" in that faith is counted as obedience to law ["the obedience of faith"], or that the function of the law to expose sin and lead to faith for justification fulfills the law, or faith in the obedience of Christ who on our behalf fulfills the law, or faith fulfills the law in that it prompts Christ-likeness in a believers walk in the Spirit ......!). Possibly, although unlikely, "law of faith" refers to the law of Christ, laws appropriate to Christians, eg. "the law of love." twn ergwn (on) "on that of observing [the law]" - of works [of law (understood)]. A technical term often used by Paul, the meaning of which has long been debated. These notes proceed on the basis that "works of the law" are those "deeds done in obedience to the law of Moses for the purpose of maintaining and/or progressing standing in the presence of God" (ie. nomism). The conservative / reformed / Lutheran view is that "works of the law are works in which the persons who do them trust as if they are justified by doing them and they are righteous on account of their works", Luther, "the means of self righteousness", Bultmann (= legalism). The (see the new perspective) trio, Sanders, Dunn (with some adjustments) and Wright, argue that "works of the law" are the elements of Jewish particularity which, under the new covenant, no longer apply and thus no longer separate Jew from Gentile.

v28
      logizomeqa (logizomai) pres. "we maintain" - reckon, consider, think. The rational conclusion of a thinking person, "we hold", Moffatt, = "we believers hold". Possibly more specifically, "we apostles hold."
      anqrwpon (oV) "a man" - "We see that people are acceptable ....", CEV. Paul is using inclusive language, but we need to handle it differently now to be inclusive.
      ergwn (on) "observing [the law]" - works of law. "Doing something the law tells us to do", JB.

v29
      ouci "is he not" - Introducing a rhetorical question expecting an affirmative answer.

v30
      eiper "since" - if it is true that, if indeed, if after all. This conjunction prepares for a logical conclusion and is therefore, weightier than just "if". "Since we all agree that there is one God, then ...." "If it be true", NEB
      peritomhn (h) "circumcised" - circumcision. Here, those circumcised = those Jews who believe in Christ.
      dia + gen. "through" - by means of. "On the basis of ....."
      thV pistewV "that same faith" - the faith. "By faith also", Phillips.