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Romans 3:17 meaning

The peace that comes from following God’s way is not known by those who pursue sin.

Paul continues with his quote of Isaiah 59:7. The path of destruction and misery is contrasted with the path of peace. When we follow God’s ways, trust in Him, and live our lives with the assurance of faith that God is good and whatever comes into our lives He will use for good, there is little left to worry about other than our own faithfulness. This leads to peace. This leads to comfort.

The other alternative is the path of destruction and misery (verse 16). This is setting the stage for one of the main points Paul will make in refuting the slander of the competing Jewish “authorities” against Paul’s gospel message. Paul claims God’s grace alone is what makes us righteous, not the law (verse 21) or any “good deeds” we might point to (Romans 2:17-28). Paul claims our good deeds, our “law keeping” cannot add to God’s grace.

The competing Jewish “authorities” claim law keeping is a necessary part of being justified before God. They slander Paul’s message and claim Paul advocates law breaking. But Paul does no such thing. Paul advocates reality. The reality is that sin leads to destruction and misery (verse 16) while walking in faith leads to peace. And the reality is that we do not have the ability to walk in faith apart from the grace of God.

Biblical Text

¹⁷And the path of peace they have not known.”

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Additional Resources

Book Theme

The Apostle Paul writes to the world-renowned believers in Rome, the center of the world at that time, in order to answer a slanderous charge made to them against Paul and his message. Paul’s detractors claim his emphasis on faith overturns the law. Paul says that ” just living by the law” does not achieve personal justice before God, while “just living by faith” does. Paul then demonstrates what a just life looks like: harmonious living with Jesus as the leader. Paul also makes clear the choice a believer has: to walk in faith and the power of the resurrection and experience resurrection life, or walk in sin and unnecessarily experience the negative consequences.

Chapter Context

Paul specifies the slander charge raised against him by competing Jewish “authorities” who claim Paul is teaching that believers ought to sin. These “authorities” claim that Paul teaches we ought to do evil because then we are doing good: “Do evil that good may come.”

These authorities claim Paul teaches that we do God a favor by showing how full of grace God is.

Paul dismisses their charge as a statement that is worthy of condemnation, but goes on to emphasize that he is no better than they are because no person other than Jesus can be good enough to satisfy the requirements of God’s law.

The reality is that we are all sinners, and each of us needs the grace of God. In this chapter, Paul sets up a defense of his position that righteous living comes through living by faith.

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