Romans 3:21

νυνὶ δὲ : but now. All time is divided for Paul into “now” and “then”. Cf. Ephesians 2:12 f., τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ … νυνὶ δέ; 2 Corinthians 5:16, ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν : the reception of the Gospel means the coming of a new world. χωρὶς νόμου : legal obedience contributes nothing to evangelic righteousness. It is plain that in this expression νόμος does not signify the O.T. revelation or religion as such, but that religion, or any other, conceived as embodied in statutes. It is statutory obedience which (as Paul has learned by experience) cannot justify. Hence νόμος has not exactly the same sense here as in the next clause, ὑπὸ τοῦ νὸμον κ. τῶν προφητῶν, where the whole expression is equal to the O.T., and the meaning is that the Gospel is not alien to the religion of Israel, but really finds attestation there. This is worth remarking, because there is a similar variation in the meaning of δικαιοσύνη between Romans 3:21; Romans 3:25, and in that of ἡ δόξα τοῦ θεοῦ between Romans 3:23 and Romans 5:2. To deny that words which mean so much, and are applied so variously, can convey different shades of meaning, even within the narrow limits of a few verses, is to deny that language shares in the life and subtlety of the mind. πεφανέρωται : once for all the righteousness of God has been revealed in the Gospel. Cf. Romans 16:26, Colossians 1:26, 2 Timothy 1:10; 1 Peter 1:20; Hebrews 9:8; Hebrews 9:26.