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World English Bible: Romans

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This is the opening chapters (1–4) of Paul's Epistle to the Romans, a first-century theological letter in the Christian New Testament epistolary tradition. Paul's central argument is that all humanity — both Jews and Gentiles — stands guilty before God and equally in need of salvation, which comes not through observance of the Mosaic Law but through faith in Jesus Christ. He builds this case in stages: first establishing that Gentiles are without excuse because God's existence is evident in creation, then turning on Jewish readers to argue that possessing the Law while breaking it offers no advantage, and culminating in the declaration that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The distinctive theological move is Paul's insistence that justification by faith predates and supersedes circumcision and the Law, demonstrated by the example of Abraham, who was counted righteous by faith before he was circumcised. This makes Abraham the spiritual father of all believers regardless of ethnic or religious identity — a radical universalism that collapses the boundary between Jew and Gentile in matters of salvation.

World English Bible: Romans

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