Galatians 3:11

3:11 Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous one will live by faith. ¹ 

Galatians 2:16

2:16 yet we know ²  that no one ³  is justified by the works of the law ⁴  but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. ⁵  And ⁶  we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ ⁷  and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one ⁸  will be justified.

Luke 18:9-13

The Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector

18:9 Jesus ⁹  also told this parable to some who were confident that they were righteous and looked down ¹⁰  on everyone else. 18:10 “Two men went up ¹¹  to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee ¹²  and the other a tax collector. ¹³  18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ¹⁴  ‘God, I thank ¹⁵  you that I am not like other people: ¹⁶  extortionists, ¹⁷  unrighteous people, ¹⁸  adulterers – or even like this tax collector. ¹⁹  18:12 I fast twice ²⁰  a week; I give a tenth ²¹  of everything I get.’ 18:13 The tax collector, however, stood ²²  far off and would not even look up ²³  to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful ²⁴  to me, sinner that I am!’ ²⁵ 

Romans 4:15

4:15 For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression ²⁶  either.

Romans 7:9-13

7:9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment sin became alive 7:10 and I died. So ²⁷  I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death! ²⁸  7:11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it I died. ²⁹  7:12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.

7:13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, so that it would be shown to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

Romans 8:7

8:7 because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so.

[3:11]  ¹ tn Or “The one who is righteous by faith will live” (a quotation from Hab 2:4).

[2:16]  ² tn Grk “yet knowing”; the participle εἰδότες (eidotes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[2:16]  ³ tn Grk “no man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.

[2:16]  ⁴ sn The law is a reference to the law of Moses.

[2:16]  ⁵ tn Or “faith in Jesus Christ.” A decision is difficult here. Though traditionally translated “faith in Jesus Christ,” an increasing number of NT scholars are arguing that πίστις Χριστοῦ (pisti" Cristou) and similar phrases in Paul (here and in v. 20; Rom 3:22, 26; Gal 3:22; Eph 3:12; Phil 3:9) involve a subjective genitive and mean “Christ’s faith” or “Christ’s faithfulness” (cf., e.g., G. Howard, “The ‘Faith of Christ’,” ExpTim 85 [1974]: 212-15; R. B. Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ [SBLDS]; Morna D. Hooker, “Πίστις Χριστοῦ,” NTS 35 [1989]: 321-42). Noteworthy among the arguments for the subjective genitive view is that when πίστις takes a personal genitive it is almost never an objective genitive (cf. Matt 9:2, 22, 29; Mark 2:5; 5:34; 10:52; Luke 5:20; 7:50; 8:25, 48; 17:19; 18:42; 22:32; Rom 1:8; 12; 3:3; 4:5, 12, 16; 1 Cor 2:5; 15:14, 17; 2 Cor 10:15; Phil 2:17; Col 1:4; 2:5; 1 Thess 1:8; 3:2, 5, 10; 2 Thess 1:3; Titus 1:1; Phlm 6; 1 Pet 1:9, 21; 2 Pet 1:5). On the other hand, the objective genitive view has its adherents: A. Hultgren, “The Pistis Christou Formulations in Paul,” NovT 22 (1980): 248-63; J. D. G. Dunn, “Once More, ΠΙΣΤΙΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ,” SBL Seminar Papers, 1991, 730-44. Most commentaries on Romans and Galatians usually side with the objective view.

[2:16]  ⁶ tn In Greek this is a continuation of the preceding sentence, but the construction is too long and complex for contemporary English style, so a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:16]  ⁷ tn Or “by faith in Christ.” See comment above on “the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.”

[2:16]  ⁸ tn Or “no human being”; Grk “flesh.”

[18:9]  ⁹ tn Grk “He”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:9]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and despised.” This is a second parable with an explanatory introduction.

[18:10]  ¹¹ sn The temple is on a hill in Jerusalem, so one would go up to enter its precincts.

[18:10]  ¹² sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[18:10]  ¹³ sn See the note on tax collectors in 3:12.

[18:11]  ¹⁴ tn Or “stood by himself and prayed like this.” The prepositional phrase πρὸς ἑαυτόν (pros eauton, “to/about himself”) could go with either the aorist participle σταθείς (staqeis, “stood”) or with the imperfect verb προσηύχετο (proshuceto, “he prayed”). If taken with the participle, then the meaning would seem at first glance to be: “stood ‘by himself’,” or “stood ‘alone’.” Now it is true that πρός can mean “by” or “with” when used with intransitive verbs such as ἵστημι ({isthmi, “I stand”; cf. BDAG 874 s.v. πρός 2.a), but πρὸς ἑαυτόν together never means “by himself” or “alone” in biblical Greek. On the other hand, if πρὸς ἑαυτόν is taken with the verb, then two different nuances emerge, both of which highlight in different ways the principal point Jesus seems to be making about the arrogance of this religious leader: (1) “prayed to himself,” but not necessarily silently, or (2) “prayed about himself,” with the connotation that he prayed out loud, for all to hear. Since his prayer is really a review of his moral résumé, directed both at advertising his own righteousness and exposing the perversion of the tax collector, whom he actually mentions in his prayer, the latter option seems preferable. If this is the case, then the Pharisee’s mention of God is really nothing more than a formality.

[18:11]  ¹⁵ sn The Pharisee’s prayer started out as a thanksgiving psalm to God, but the praise ended up not being about God.

[18:11]  ¹⁶ tn Here the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is used as a generic and can refer to both men and women (NASB, NRSV, “people”; NLT, “everyone else”; NAB, “the rest of humanity”).

[18:11]  ¹⁷ tn Or “swindlers” (BDAG 134 s.v. ἅρπαξ 2); see also Isa 10:2; Josephus, J. W. 6.3.4 [6.203].

[18:11]  ¹⁸ sn A general category for “sinners” (1 Cor 6:9; Lev 19:3).

[18:11]  ¹⁹ sn Note what the Pharisee assumes about the righteousness of this tax collector by grouping him with extortionists, unrighteous people, and adulterers.

[18:12]  ²⁰ sn The law only required fasting on the Day of Atonement. Such voluntary fasting as this practiced twice a week by the Pharisee normally took place on Monday and Thursday.

[18:12]  ²¹ tn Or “I tithe.”

[18:13]  ²² tn Grk “standing”; the Greek participle has been translated as a finite verb.

[18:13]  ²³ tn Grk “even lift up his eyes” (an idiom).

[18:13]  ²⁴ tn The prayer is a humble call for forgiveness. The term for mercy (ἱλάσκομαι, Jilaskomai) is associated with the concept of a request for atonement (BDAG 473-74 s.v. 1; Ps 51:1, 3; 25:11; 34:6, 18).

[18:13]  ²⁵ tn Grk “the sinner.” The tax collector views himself not just as any sinner but as the worst of all sinners. See ExSyn 222-23.

[4:15]  ²⁶ tn Or “violation.”

[7:10]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “So” to indicate the result of the statement in the previous verse. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.

[7:10]  ²⁸ tn Grk “and there was found in/for me the commandment which was for life – this was for death.”

[7:11]  ²⁹ tn Or “and through it killed me.”