Romans 3:20

3:20 For no one is declared righteous before him ¹  by the works of the law, ²  for through the law comes ³  the knowledge of sin.

Romans 4:10

4:10 How then was it credited to him? Was he circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not circumcised but uncircumcised!

Romans 6:9

6:9 We know ⁴  that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he is never going to die ⁵  again; death no longer has mastery over him.

Romans 7:20

7:20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.

Romans 9:21

9:21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay ⁶  one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? ⁷ 

Romans 10:12

10:12 For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him.

Romans 13:3

13:3 (for rulers cause no fear for good conduct but for bad). Do you desire not to fear authority? Do good and you will receive its commendation,

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¹ sn An allusion to Ps 143:2.

² 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.

³ tn Grk “is.”

⁴ tn Grk “knowing.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

⁵ tn The present tense here has been translated as a futuristic present (see ExSyn 536, where this verse is listed as an example).

⁶ tn Grk “Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make from the same lump.”

⁷ tn Grk “one vessel for honor and another for dishonor.”