Romans 2:13

2:13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous. ¹ 

Romans 3:20

3:20 For no one is declared righteous before him ²  by the works of the law, ³  for through the law comes ⁴  the knowledge of sin.

Romans 4:2

4:2 For if Abraham was declared righteous ⁵  by the works of the law, he has something to boast about – but not before God.

Romans 5:9

5:9 Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous ⁶  by his blood, ⁷  we will be saved through him from God’s wrath. ⁸ 

Romans 9:9

9:9 For this is what the promise declared: ⁹  “About a year from now ¹⁰  I will return and Sarah will have a son.” ¹¹ 

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¹ tn The Greek sentence expresses this contrast more succinctly than is possible in English. Grk “For not the hearers of the law are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be declared righteous.”

² sn An allusion to Ps 143:2.

³ tn Grk “because by the works of the law no flesh is justified before him.” Some recent scholars have understood the phrase ἒργα νόμου (erga nomou, “works of the law”) to refer not to obedience to the Mosaic law generally, but specifically to portions of the law that pertain to things like circumcision and dietary laws which set the Jewish people apart from the other nations (e.g., J. D. G. Dunn, Romans [WBC], 1:155). Other interpreters, like C. E. B. Cranfield (“‘The Works of the Law’ in the Epistle to the Romans,” JSNT 43 [1991]: 89-101) reject this narrow interpretation for a number of reasons, among which the most important are: (1) The second half of v. 20, “for through the law comes the knowledge of sin,” is hard to explain if the phrase “works of the law” is understood in a restricted sense; (2) the plural phrase “works of the law” would have to be understood in a different sense from the singular phrase “the work of the law” in 2:15; (3) similar phrases involving the law in Romans (2:13, 14; 2:25, 26, 27; 7:25; 8:4; and 13:8) which are naturally related to the phrase “works of the law” cannot be taken to refer to circumcision (in fact, in 2:25 circumcision is explicitly contrasted with keeping the law). Those interpreters who reject the “narrow” interpretation of “works of the law” understand the phrase to refer to obedience to the Mosaic law in general.

⁴ tn Grk “is.”

⁵ tn Or “was justified.”

⁶ tn Grk “having now been declared righteous.” The participle δικαιωθέντες (dikaiwqente") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

⁷ tn Or, according to BDF §219.3, “at the price of his blood.”

⁸ tn Grk “the wrath,” referring to God’s wrath as v. 10 shows.

⁹ tn Grk “For this is the word of promise.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “About this time I will return.” Since this refers to the time when the promised child would be born, it would be approximately a year later.

¹¹ sn A quotation from Gen 18:10, 14.