Romans 2:12

2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law ¹  will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Romans 2:15

2:15 They ²  show that the work of the law is written ³  in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend ⁴  them, ⁵ 

Romans 6:14

6:14 For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 8:15

8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, ⁶  but you received the Spirit of adoption, ⁷  by whom ⁸  we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Romans 9:18

9:18 So then, ⁹  God ¹⁰  has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden. ¹¹ 

Romans 9:32

9:32 Why not? Because they pursued ¹²  it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works. ¹³  They stumbled over the stumbling stone, ¹⁴ 

Romans 12:6

12:6 And we have different gifts ¹⁵  according to the grace given to us. If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith.

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¹ sn This is the first occurrence of law (nomos) in Romans. Exactly what Paul means by the term has been the subject of much scholarly debate. According to J. A. Fitzmyer (Romans [AB], 131-35; 305-6) there are at least four different senses: (1) figurative, as a “principle”; (2) generic, meaning “a law”; (3) as a reference to the OT or some part of the OT; and (4) as a reference to the Mosaic law. This last usage constitutes the majority of Paul’s references to “law” in Romans.

² tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

³ tn Grk “show the work of the law [to be] written,” with the words in brackets implied by the Greek construction.

⁴ tn Or “excuse.”

⁵ tn Grk “their conscience bearing witness and between the thoughts accusing or also defending one another.”

⁶ tn Grk “slavery again to fear.”

⁷ tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).”

⁸ tn Or “in that.”

⁹ sn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn Grk “So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.”

¹² tn Grk “Why? Because not by faith but as though by works.” The verb (“they pursued [it]”) is to be supplied from the preceding verse for the sake of English style; yet a certain literary power is seen in Paul’s laconic style.

¹³ tc Most mss, especially the later ones (א² D Ψ 33 Ï sy), read νόμου (nomou, “of the law”) here, echoing Paul’s usage in Rom 3:20, 28 and elsewhere. The qualifying phrase is lacking in א* A B F G 6 629 630 1739 1881 pc lat co. The longer reading thus is weaker externally and internally, being motivated apparently by a need to clarify.

tn Grk “but as by works.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “the stone of stumbling.”

¹⁵ tn This word comes from the same root as “grace” in the following clause; it means “things graciously given,” “grace-gifts.”