3:9a
and: This is a further purpose for which Paul considered everything as if it were rubbish.
be found in Him: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as be found was used idiomatically to refer to someone being in a certain place or situation. The meaning is “be in fact in him,” “prove to be in him” or “turn out to be in him.” It did not refer to someone else finding Paul in some way.
Some translation ideas for this part of the verse are:
so that I might belong to him
-or-
so that I might live in unity with him
-or-
so that I might be joined together with him
3:9b
not having my own righteousness: Paul had learned that nothing he could do as a good Jew could make him truly righteous as far as God was concerned, even if he appeared “righteous” to other people. So he no longer wanted this kind of false righteousness.
righteousness: In the context of 3:9b, this refers to Paul’s attempt to earn a right relationship to God by behaving in a morally upright manner. Before he became a Christian, Paul had thought that his own efforts would make him acceptable to God. See “righteousness”, under “just”, sense C4 in Key Biblical Terms.
from the law: Paul was referring to the time in the past when he tried to be right with God by keeping the Jewish laws. Notice in 3:6b he used a similar phrase “righteousness in the law” (that is, “what is right in terms of the law”). In that verse Paul claimed that he was faultless in that kind of righteousness. But here in 3:9b he stated that he had rejected that righteousness. Then in 3:9c–d he contrasted it with the righteousness that a person receives by trusting in Christ.
Some translation ideas for “my own righteousness from the law” are:
my own righteousness that comes from ⌊obeying⌋ the law
-or-
for ⌊God to consider⌋ me righteous because ⌊I did⌋ what the law says
3:9c
that which is through faith in Christ: This refers to that true righteousness, which a person receives by trusting in Christ. Paul explained this further in 3:9d.
3:9d
the righteousness from God on the basis of faith: Here Paul made it clear what kind of righteousness he had been talking about in 3:9c. It is the righteousness that God gives to those who trust in Christ. A person is not righteous because of how he behaves or because people consider him good or right. He is truly righteous when God declares him so because he trusts in Christ.
on the basis of faith: You could translate this as “for those who believe.” It refers to those who trust Christ to save them. Notice that this is very similar to 3:9c.
General Comment on 3:9c–d
As 3:9c and 3:9d overlap in meaning, in some languages it may be better to combine them. For example:
God gives me a right relationship with him that is for those who believe in Christ.
-or-
God declares me righteous because I trust in Christ.
© 2002 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.