Romans 3:6 (ASV)

Passage

God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?

Nearby Context

Romans 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment.

Romans 3:5 But if our righteousness commendeth the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who visiteth with wrath? (I speak after the manner of men.)

Romans 3:6 God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?

Romans 3:7 But if the truth of God through my lie abounded unto his glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?

Romans 3:8 and why not (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), Let us do evil, that good may come? whose condemnation is just.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "world", "forbid", "shall", and "judge". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "world" and "forbid", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "But if our righteousness commendeth the righteousness..." into verse 7's "But if the truth of God through...", so "world" and "forbid" belong inside that flow. In Romans context, the local focus is righteousness by faith, union with Christ, life in the Spirit, and God's covenant faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "world" and "forbid" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.