Romans 3:6 (KJV)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

Romans 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

Romans 3:5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)

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

Romans 3:7 For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?

Romans 3:8 And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation 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 unrighteousness commend the righteousness..." into verse 7's "For if the truth of God hath...", 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.