Friday DIVE – December 13, 2024 – Romans 3

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Romans 3:1-28  NKJV

God’s Judgment Defended

What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? 2 Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the [a]oracles of God. 3 For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? 4 Certainly not! Indeed, let God be [b]true but every man a liar. As it is written:

“That You may be justified in Your words,
And may overcome when You are judged.”

5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) 6 Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world?

7 For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their [c]condemnation is just.

All Have Sinned

9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.

10 As it is written:

“There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
13 “Their throat is an open [d]tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17 And the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become [e]guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

God’s Righteousness Through Faith

21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all [f]and on all who believe. For there is no difference;  23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  24 being justified [g]freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a [h]propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Boasting Excluded

27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is [i]justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. 29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.   

 

 

Romans 3:1-31  NRSVUE   Romans 3:1-31  NET   

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?  2 Much, in every way.  For in the first place, the Jews[a]  were entrusted with the oracles of God.  3 What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?  4 By no means!  Although every human is a liar, let God be proved true, as it is written,

“So that you may be justified in your words  and you will prevail[b] when you go to trial.” 

Therefore what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the value of circumcision?  2 Actually, there are many advantages.[a] First of all,[b] the Jews[c] were entrusted with the oracles of God.[d] 3 What then? If some were unfaithful, their unfaithfulness will not nullify God’s faithfulness, will it?  4 Absolutely not!  Let God be proven true, and every human being[e] shown up as a liar,[f] just as it is written:  

“so that you will be justified[g]  in your words and will prevail when you are judged.”[h]  
5 But if our injustice serves to confirm the justice of God, what should we say?  That God is unjust to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) 

6 By no means! For then how could God judge the world?  7 But if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being judged as a sinner?  8 And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), “Let us do evil so that good may come”?  Their judgment is deserved!  

 5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates[i]  the righteousness of God, what shall we say?  The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? (I am speaking in human terms.)[j]

 6 Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world?  7 For if by my lie the truth of God enhances[k] his glory, why am I still actually being judged as a sinner?  8 And why not say, “Let us do evil so that good may come of it”? — as some who slander us allege that we say.[l] (Their[m] condemnation is deserved!)   
9 What then?  Are we any better off?[c]  No, not at all, for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, 10 as it is written:  

“There is no one who is righteous, not even one;  11 there is no one who has understanding; there is no one who seeks God.  12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;  there is no one who shows kindness; there is not even one.”   

 9 What then?  Are we better off?  Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, 10 just as it is written:  

“There is no one righteous, not even one, 11 there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God.  12 All have turned away, together they have become worthless;  there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.”[n]   

13 “Their throats are opened graves; they use their tongues to deceive.”   “The venom of vipers is under their lips.”  

14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”  

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery are in their paths, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.”  

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”  

13 “Their throats are open graves,[o]  they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their lips.”[p] 

14 “Their mouths are[q] full of cursing and bitterness.”[r] 

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood, 16 ruin and misery are in their paths, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.”[s]

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[t]  
19 Now we know that, whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.  20 For no human will be justified before him by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.   19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under[u] the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.  20 For no one is declared righteous before him[v] by the works of the law,[w] for through the law comes[x] the knowledge of sin.   
21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets, 22 the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ[d] for all who believe.[e]  For there is no distinction, 23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement[f] by his blood, effective through faith.  He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed;  21 But now[y] apart from the law the righteousness of God (although it is attested by the law and the prophets)[z] has been disclosed — 22 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ[aa] for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24 But they are justified[ab] freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God publicly displayed[ac] him[ad] at his death[ae] as the mercy seat[af] accessible through faith.[ag]  This was to demonstrate[ah] his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed.[ai]  
26 it was to demonstrate at the present time his own righteousness, so that he is righteous and he justifies the one who has the faith of Jesus.[g] 26 This was[aj] also to demonstrate[ak] his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just[al] and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness.[am]
27 Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. Through what kind of law? That of works? No, rather through the law of faith. 28 For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.   27 Where, then, is boasting?[an] It is excluded! By what principle?[ao] Of works? No, but by the principle of faith! 28 For we consider that a person[ap] is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law.[aq]   
29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of gentiles also? Yes, of gentiles also, 30 since God is one, and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law through this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. 29 Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles too? Yes, of the Gentiles too! 30 Since God is one,[ar] he will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then nullify[as] the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead[at] we uphold the law.

 

Footnotes

  1. Romans 3:2 tn Grk “much in every way.”
  2. Romans 3:2 tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A D2 33 M) have γάρ (gar) after μέν (men), though some significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses lack the conjunction (B D* G Ψ 81 365 1506 2464* latt). A few mss have γάρ, but not μέν (6 1739 1881). γάρ was frequently added by scribes as a clarifying conjunction, making it suspect here. NA28 has the γάρ in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.tn Grk “first indeed that.”
  3. Romans 3:2 tn Grk “they were.”
  4. Romans 3:2 tn The referent of λόγια (logia, “oracles”) has been variously understood: (1) BDAG 598 s.v. λόγιον takes the term to refer here to “God’s promises to the Jews”; (2) some have taken this to refer more narrowly to the national promises of messianic salvation given to Israel (so S. L. Johnson, Jr., “Studies in Romans: Part VII: The Jews and the Oracles of God,” BSac 130 [1973]: 245); (3) perhaps the most widespread interpretation sees the term as referring to the entire OT generally.
  5. Romans 3:4 tn Grk “every man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) is used in a generic sense here to stress humanity rather than masculinity.
  6. Romans 3:4 tn Grk “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” The words “proven” and “shown up” are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning.
  7. Romans 3:4 tn Grk “might be justified,” a subjunctive verb, but in this type of clause it carries the same sense as the future indicative verb in the latter part. “Will” is more idiomatic in contemporary English.
  8. Romans 3:4 tn Or “prevail when you judge.” A quotation from Ps 51:4.
  9. Romans 3:5 tn Or “shows clearly.”
  10. Romans 3:5 sn The same expression occurs in Gal 3:15, and similar phrases in Rom 6:19 and 1 Cor 9:8.
  11. Romans 3:7 tn Grk “abounded unto.”
  12. Romans 3:8 tn Grk “(as we are slandered and some affirm that we say…).”
  13. Romans 3:8 tn Grk “whose.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, this relative clause was rendered as a new sentence in the translation.
  14. Romans 3:12 sn Verses 10-12 are a quotation from Ps 14:1-3.
  15. Romans 3:13 tn Grk “their throat is an opened grave.”
  16. Romans 3:13 sn A quotation from Pss 5:9; 140:3.
  17. Romans 3:14 tn Grk “whose mouth is.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
  18. Romans 3:14 sn A quotation from Ps 10:7.
  19. Romans 3:17 sn Rom 3:15-17 is a quotation from Isa 59:7-8.
  20. Romans 3:18 sn A quotation from Ps 36:1.
  21. Romans 3:19 tn Grk “in,” “in connection with.”
  22. Romans 3:20 sn An allusion to Ps 143:2.
  23. Romans 3:20 tn Grk “because by the works of the law no flesh is justified before him.” Some recent scholars have understood the phrase ἒργα νόμου (erga nomou, “works of the law”) to refer not to obedience to the Mosaic law generally, but specifically to portions of the law that pertain to things like circumcision and dietary laws which set the Jewish people apart from the other nations (e.g., J. D. G. Dunn, Romans [WBC], 1:155). Other interpreters, like C. E. B. Cranfield (“‘The Works of the Law’ in the Epistle to the Romans,” JSNT 43 [1991]: 89-101) reject this narrow interpretation for a number of reasons, among which the most important are: (1) The second half of v. 20, “for through the law comes the knowledge of sin,” is hard to explain if the phrase “works of the law” is understood in a restricted sense; (2) the plural phrase “works of the law” would have to be understood in a different sense from the singular phrase “the work of the law” in 2:15; (3) similar phrases involving the law in Romans (2:13, 14; 2:25, 26, 27; 7:25; 8:4; and 13:8) which are naturally related to the phrase “works of the law” cannot be taken to refer to circumcision (in fact, in 2:25 circumcision is explicitly contrasted with keeping the law). Those interpreters who reject the “narrow” interpretation of “works of the law” understand the phrase to refer to obedience to the Mosaic law in general.
  24. Romans 3:20 tn Grk “is.”
  25. Romans 3:21 tn Νυνὶ δέ (Nuni de, “But now”) could be understood as either (1) logical or (2) temporal in force, but most recent interpreters take it as temporal, referring to a new phase in salvation history.
  26. Romans 3:21 tn Or “which is attested by the law and the prophets.”
  27. Romans 3:22 tn Or “faith in Christ.” A decision is difficult here. Though traditionally translated “faith in Jesus Christ,” an increasing number of NT scholars are arguing that πίστις Χριστοῦ (pistis Christou) and similar phrases in Paul (here and in v. 26; Gal 2:16, 20; 3:22; Eph 3:12; Phil 3:9) involve a subjective genitive and mean “Christ’s faith” or “Christ’s faithfulness” (cf., e.g., G. Howard, “The ‘Faith of Christ’,” ExpTim 85 [1974]: 212-15; R. B. Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ [SBLDS]; Morna D. Hooker, “Πίστις Χριστοῦ,” NTS 35 [1989]: 321-42). Noteworthy among the arguments for the subjective genitive view is that when πίστις takes a personal genitive it is almost never an objective genitive (cf. Matt 9:2, 22, 29; Mark 2:5; 5:34; 10:52; Luke 5:20; 7:50; 8:25, 48; 17:19; 18:42; 22:32; Rom 1:8; 12; 3:3; 4:5, 12, 16; 1 Cor 2:5; 15:14, 17; 2 Cor 10:15; Phil 2:17; Col 1:4; 2:5; 1 Thess 1:8; 3:2, 5, 10; 2 Thess 1:3; Titus 1:1; Phlm 6; 1 Pet 1:9, 21; 2 Pet 1:5). On the other hand, the objective genitive view has its adherents: A. Hultgren, “The Pistis Christou Formulations in Paul,” NovT 22 (1980): 248-63; J. D. G. Dunn, “Once More, ΠΙΣΤΙΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ,” SBL Seminar Papers, 1991, 730-44. Most commentaries on Romans and Galatians usually side with the objective view.sn ExSyn 116, which notes that the grammar is not decisive, nevertheless suggests that “the faith/faithfulness of Christ is not a denial of faith in Christ as a Pauline concept (for the idea is expressed in many of the same contexts, only with the verb πιστεύω rather than the noun), but implies that the object of faith is a worthy object, for he himself is faithful.” Though Paul elsewhere teaches justification by faith, this presupposes that the object of our faith is reliable and worthy of such faith.
  28. Romans 3:24 tn Or “declared righteous.” Grk “being justified,” as a continuation of the preceding clause. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
  29. Romans 3:25 tn Or “purposed, intended.”
  30. Romans 3:25 tn Grk “whom God publicly displayed.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
  31. Romans 3:25 tn Grk “in his blood.” The prepositional phrase ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ αἵματι (en tō autou haimati) is difficult to interpret. It is traditionally understood to refer to the atoning sacrifice Jesus made when he shed his blood on the cross, and as a modifier of ἱλαστήριον (hilastērion). This interpretation fits if ἱλαστήριον is taken to refer to a sacrifice. But if ἱλαστήριον is taken to refer to the place where atonement is made as this translation has done (see note on the phrase “mercy seat”), this interpretation of ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ αἵματι creates a violent mixed metaphor. Within a few words Paul would switch from referring to Jesus as the place where atonement was made to referring to Jesus as the atoning sacrifice itself. A viable option which resolves this problem is to see ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ αἵματι as modifying the verb προέθετο (proetheto). If it modifies the verb, it would explain the time or place in which God publicly displayed Jesus as the mercy seat; the reference to blood would be a metaphorical way of speaking of Jesus’ death. This is supported by the placement of ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ αἵματι in the Greek text (it follows the noun, separated from it by another prepositional phrase) and by stylistic parallels with Rom 1:4. This is the interpretation the translation has followed, although it is recognized that many interpreters favor different options and translations. The prepositional phrase has been moved forward in the sentence to emphasize its connection with the verb, and the referent of the metaphorical language has been specified in the translation. For a detailed discussion of this interpretation, see D. P. Bailey, “Jesus As the Mercy Seat: The Semantics and Theology of Paul’s Use of Hilasterion in Romans 3:25” (Ph.D. diss., University of Cambridge, 1999).
  32. Romans 3:25 tn The word ἱλαστήριον (hilastērion) may carry the general sense “place of satisfaction,” referring to the place where God’s wrath toward sin is satisfied. More likely, though, it refers specifically to the “mercy seat,” i.e., the covering of the ark where the blood was sprinkled in the OT ritual on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). This term is used only one other time in the NT: Heb 9:5, where it is rendered “mercy seat.” There it describes the altar in the most holy place (holy of holies). Thus Paul is saying that God displayed Jesus as the “mercy seat,” the place where propitiation was accomplished. See N. S. L. Fryer, “The Meaning and Translation of Hilasterion in Romans 3:25, ” EvQ 59 (1987): 99-116, who concludes the term is a neuter accusative substantive best translated “mercy seat” or “propitiatory covering,” and D. P. Bailey, “Jesus As the Mercy Seat: The Semantics and Theology of Paul’s Use of Hilasterion in Romans 3:25” (Ph.D. diss., University of Cambridge, 1999), who argues that this is a direct reference to the mercy seat which covered the ark of the covenant.
  33. Romans 3:25 tn The prepositional phrase διὰ πίστεως (dia pisteōs) here modifies the noun ἱλαστήριον (hilastērion). As such it forms a complete noun phrase and could be written as “mercy-seat-accessible-through-faith” to emphasize the singular idea. See Rom 1:4 for a similar construction. The word “accessible” is not in the Greek text but has been supplied to clarify the idea expressed by the prepositional phrase (cf. NRSV “effective through faith”).
  34. Romans 3:25 tn Grk “for a demonstration,” giving the purpose of God’s action in v. 25a. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
  35. Romans 3:25 tn Grk “because of the passing over of sins previously committed in the forbearance of God.”
  36. Romans 3:26 tn The words “This was” have been repeated from the previous verse to clarify that this is a continuation of that thought. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
  37. Romans 3:26 tn Grk “toward a demonstration,” repeating and expanding the purpose of God’s action in v. 25a.
  38. Romans 3:26 tn Or “righteous.”
  39. Romans 3:26 tn Or “of the one who has faith in Jesus.” See note on “faithfulness of Jesus Christ” in v. 22 for the rationale behind the translation “Jesus’ faithfulness.”
  40. Romans 3:27 tn Although a number of interpreters understand the “boasting” here to refer to Jewish boasting, others (e.g. C. E. B. Cranfield, “‘The Works of the Law’ in the Epistle to the Romans,” JSNT 43 [1991]: 96) take the phrase to refer to all human boasting before God.
  41. Romans 3:27 tn Grk “By what sort of law?”
  42. Romans 3:28 tn Here ἄνθρωπον (anthrōpon) is used in an indefinite and general sense (BDAG 81 s.v. ἄνθρωπος 4.a.γ).
  43. Romans 3:28 tn See the note on the phrase “works of the law” in Rom 3:20.
  44. Romans 3:30 tn Grk “but if indeed God is one.”
  45. Romans 3:31 tn Grk “render inoperative.”
  46. Romans 3:31 tn Grk “but” (Greek ἀλλά, alla).

 

From Barclay’s commentary on Romans 3 …

 

GOD’S FIDELITY AND MAN’S INFIDELITY  

Rom. 3:1-8

What, then, is the something plus which belongs to a Jew? Or what special advantage belongs to those who have been circumcised? Much in every way. In the first place, there is this advantage–that the Jews have been entrusted with the oracles of God. Yes, you say, but what if some of them were unfaithful to them? Surely you are not going to argue that their infidelity invalidates the fidelity of God? God forbid! Let God be shown to be true, though every man be shown to be a liar, as it stands written: “In order that you may be seen to be in the right in your arguments, and that you may win your case when you enter into judgment.” But, you say, if our unrighteousness merely provides proof of God’s righteousness, what are we to say? Surely you are not going to try to argue that God is unrighteous to unleash the Wrath upon you? (I am using human arguments:) God forbid! For, if that were so, how shall God judge the world? But, you say, if the fact that I am false merely provides a further opportunity to demonstrate the fact that God is true, to his greater glory, why should I still be condemned as a sinner? Are you going to argue–just as some slanderously allege that we suggest–that we should do evil that good may come of it? Anyone can see that statements like that merit nothing but condemnation.   

Here Paul is arguing in the closest and the most difficult way. It will make it easier to understand if we remember that he is carrying on an argument with an imaginary objector. The argument stated in full would run something like this.

The objector: The result of all that you have been saying is that there is no difference between Gentile and Jew and that they are in exactly the same position. Do you really mean that?

Paul: By no means.  

The objector: What, then, is the difference?  

Paul: For one thing, the Jew possesses what the Gentile never so directly possessed — the commandments of God.  

The objector: Granted!  But what if some of the Jews disobeyed these commandments and were unfaithful to God and came under his condemnation?  You have just said that God gave the Jews a special position and a special promise. Now you go on to say that at least some of them are under the condemnation of God.  Does that mean that God has broken his promise and shown himself to be unjust and unreliable?

Paul: Far from it! What it does show is that there is no favouritism with God and that he punishes sin wherever he sees it. The very fact that he condemns the unfaithful Jews is the best possible proof of his absolute justice.  He might have been expected to overlook the sins of this special people of his but he does not.  

The objector:  Very well then!  All you have done is to succeed in showing that my disobedience has given God an opportunity to demonstrate his righteousness.  My infidelity has given God a marvellous opportunity to demonstrate his fidelity.  My sin is, therefore, an excellent thing!  It has given God a chance to show how good he is! I may have done evil, but good has come of it! You can’t surely condemn a man for giving God a chance to show his justice!

Paul:  An argument like that is beneath contempt!  You have only to state it to see how intolerable it is!

When we disentangle this passage in this way, we see that there are in it certain basic thoughts of Paul in regard to the Jews.  

(i) To the end of the day he believed the Jews to be in a special position in regard to God.  That, in fact, is what they believed themselves. The difference was that Paul believed that their special position was one of special responsibility; the Jew believed it to be one of special privilege.  What did Paul say that the Jew had been specially entrusted with?  The oracles of God.  What does he mean by that? The word he uses is logia, the regular word in the Greek Old Testament for a special statement or pronouncement of God.  Here it means The Ten Commandments.  God entrusted the Jews with commandments, not privileges. He said to them, “You are a special people; therefore you must live a special life.”  He did not say, “You are a special people; therefore you can do what you like.” He did say, “You are a special people; therefore you must do what I like.”  When Lord Dunsany came in safety through the 1914-18 war he tells us that he said to himself, “In some strange way I am still alive. I wonder what God means me to do with a life so specially spared?”  That thought never struck the Jews.  They never could grasp the fact that God’s special choice was for special duty.  

(ii) All through his writings there are three basic facts in Paul’s mind about the Jews. They occur in embryo here; and they are in fact the three thoughts that it takes this whole letter to work out. We must note that he does not place all the Jews under the one condemnation. He puts it in this way: “What if some of them were unfaithful?”

(a) He was quite sure that God was justified in condemning the Jews. They had their special place and their special promises; and that very fact made their condemnation all the greater. Responsibility is always the obverse of privilege. The more opportunity a man has to do right, the greater his condemnation if he does wrong.

(b) But not all of them were unfaithful. Paul never forgot the faithful remnant; and he was quite sure that that faithful remnant–however small it was in numbers–was the true Jewish race. The others had lost their privileges and were under condemnation. They were no longer Jews at all. The remnant was the real nation.

(c) Paul was always sure that God’s rejection of Israel was not final. Because of this rejection, a door was opened to the Gentiles; and, in the end, the Gentiles would bring the Jews back within the fold, and Gentile and Jew would be one in Christ.  The tragedy of the Jew was that the great task of world evangelization that he might have had, and was designed to have, was refused by him.  It was therefore given to the Gentiles, and God’s plan was, as it were, reversed, and it was not, as it should have been, the Jew who evangelized the Gentile, but the Gentile who evangelized the Jew — a process which is still going on. 

Further, this passage contains two great universal human truths.  

(i) The root of all sin is disobedience.  The root of the Jew’s sin was disobedience to the known law of God.  As Milton wrote, it was “man’s first disobedience” which was responsible for paradise lost.  When pride sets up the will of man against the will of God, there is sin. If there were no disobedience, there would be no sin.  

(ii) Once a man has sinned, he displays an amazing ingenuity in justifying his sin.  Here we come across an argument that reappears again and again in religious thought, the argument that sin gives God a chance to show at once his justice and his mercy and is therefore a good thing. It is a twisted argument.  One might as well argue — it would, in fact, be the same argument — that it is a good thing to break a person’s heart, because it gives him a chance to show how much he loves you.  When a man sins, the need is not for ingenuity to justify his sin, but for humility to confess it in penitence and in shame.  

 

THE CHRISTLESS WORLD  

Rom. 3:9-18

What then? Are we Jews out ahead? By no means. For we have already charged all Jews and Greeks with being under the power of sin, as it stands written: “There is none righteous, no not one. There is no man of understanding. There is none who seeks the Lord. All have swerved out of the way, and all together have gone bad. There is none whose acts are good, not one single one. Their throat is an open tomb. They practise fraud with their tongues. The poison of asps is under their lips. Their mouths are laden with curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and wretchedness are in their ways, and they have not known the way of peace. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”    

In the last passage Paul had insisted that, in spite of everything, the Jew had a special position in the economy of God. Not unnaturally the Jewish objector then asks if that means that the Jews are out ahead of other peoples.  Paul’s answer is that Jew and Gentile alike, so long as they are without Christ, are under the dominion of sin. The Greek phrase that he uses for under sin is very suggestive, hupo hamartian.  In this sense hupo means in the power of, under the authority of. In Matt.8:9 the centurion says: “I have soldiers hupo emauton, under me.” That is, I have soldiers under my command.  A schoolboy is hupo paidagogon, under the direction of the slave who is in control of him.  A slave is hupo zugon, under the yoke of his master.  In the Christless state a man is under the control of sin, and helpless to escape from it.

There is one other interesting word in this passage. It is the word in Rom. 3:12 which we have translated. “They have gone bad.” The word is achreioo, which literally means to render useless. One of its uses is of milk that has gone sour.  Human nature without Christ is a soured and useless thing.  

We see Paul doing here what Jewish Rabbis customarily did. In Rom. 3:10-18 he has strung together a collection of Old Testament texts. He is not quoting accurately, because he is quoting from memory, but he includes quotations from Ps. 14:1-3; Ps. 5:9; Ps. 140:3; Ps. 10:7; Isa. 59:7-8; Ps. 36:1.  It was a very common method of Rabbinic preaching to string texts together like this. It was called charaz (see charuwz), which literally means stringing pearls.  

It is a terrible description of human nature in its Christless state.  Vaughan has pointed out that these Old Testament quotations describe three things.

(i) A character whose characteristics are ignorance, indifference, crookedness and unprofitableness.

(ii) A tongue whose notes are destructive, deceitful, malignant.

(iii) A conduct whose marks are oppression, injuriousness, implacability.

These things are the result of disregard of God.

No one saw so clearly the evil of human nature as Paul did; but it must always be noted that the evil of human nature was to him, not a call to hopelessness, but a challenge to hope.  When we say that Paul believed in original sin and the depravity of human nature, we must never take that to mean that he despaired of human nature or looked on it with cynical contempt.  Once, when William Jay of Bath was an old man, he said: “My memory is failing, but there are two things that I never forget — that I am a great sinner and that Jesus Christ is a great Saviour.”  

Paul never underrated the sin of man and he never underrated the redeeming power of Jesus Christ.  Once, when he was a young man, William Roby, the great Lancashire Independent, was preaching at Malvern. His lack of success drove him to despair, and he wished to leave the work.  Then came a seasonable reproof from a certain Mr Moody, who asked him, “Are they, then, too bad to be saved?”  The challenge sent William Roby back to his work.  Paul believed men without Christ to be bad, but he never believed them too bad to be saved.  He was confident that what Christ had done for him Christ could do for any man.  

 

THE ONLY WAY TO BE RIGHT WITH GOD   

Rom. 3:19-26   

We know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are within the law, and the function of the law is that every mouth should be silenced and that the whole world should be known to be liable to the judgment of God, because no one will ever get into a right relationship with God by doing the works which the law lays down. What does come through the law is a full awareness of sin. But now a way to a right relationship to God lies open before us quite apart from the law, and it is a way attested by the law and the prophets. For a right relationship to God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God, but they are put into a right relationship with God, freely, by his grace, through the deliverance which is wrought by Jesus Christ. God put him forward as one who can win for us forgiveness of our sins through faith in his blood. He did so in order to demonstrate his righteousness because, in the forbearance of God, there had been a passing over of the sins which happened in previous times; and he did so to demonstrate his righteousness in this present age, so that he himself should be just and that he should accept as just the man who believes in Jesus.   

Here again is a passage which is not easy to understand, but which is full of riches when its true meaning is grasped.  Let us see if we can penetrate to the basic truth behind it.  

The supreme problem of life is, How can a man get into a right relationship with God?  How can he feel at peace with God?  How can he escape the feeling of estrangement and fear in the presence of God? 

  • The religion of Judaism answered: “A man can attain to a right relationship with God by keeping meticulously all that the law lays down.” 
  • But to say that is simply to say that there is no possibility of any man ever attaining to a right relationship with God, for no man ever can keep every commandment of the law.

“Not the labours of my hands Can fulfil thy law’s demands.”

What then is the use of the law?  It is that it makes a man aware of sin.  It is only when a man knows the law and tries to satisfy it that he realizes he can never satisfy it.  The law is designed to show a man his own weakness and his own sinfulness. 

Is a man then shut out from God?  Far from it, because the way to God is not the way of law, but the way of grace; not the way of works, but the way of faith.  

To show what he means Paul uses three metaphors.

(i) He uses a metaphor from the law courts which we call justification. This metaphor thinks of man on trial before God. The Greek word which is translated to justify is diakioun.  All Greek verbs which end in “-oun” mean, not to make someone something, but to treat, to reckon, to account him as something.  If an innocent man appears before a judge then to treat him as innocent is to acquit him.  But the point about a man‘s relationship to God is that he is utterly guilty, and yet God, in his amazing mercy, treats him, reckons him, accounts him as if he were innocent.  That is what justification means.  

When Paul says that “God justifies the ungodly,” he means that God treats the ungodly as if he had been a good man.  That is what shocked the Jews to the core of their being. To them to treat the bad man as if he was good was the sign of a wicked judge. “He who justifies the wicked is an abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 17:15).  “I will not acquit the wicked” (Exo. 23:7).  But Paul says that is precisely what God does.  

How can I know that God is like that?  I know because Jesus said so. He came to tell us that God loves us, bad as we are. He came to tell us that, although we are sinners, we are still dear to God.  When we discover that and believe it, it changes our whole relationship to God.  We are conscious of our sin, but we are no longer in terror and no longer estranged.  Penitent and brokenhearted we come to God, like a sorry child coming to his mother, and we know that the God we come to is love.  

That is what justification by faith in Jesus Christ means.  It means that we are in a right relationship with God because we believe with all our hearts that what Jesus told us about God is true.  We are no longer terrorized strangers from an angry God.  We are children, erring children, trusting in their Father’s love for forgiveness.  And we could never have found that right relationship with God, if Jesus had not come to live and to die to tell us how wonderfully he loves us.

(ii) Paul uses a metaphor from sacrifice.  He says of Jesus that God put him forward as one who can win forgiveness for our sins.

The Greek word that Paul uses to describe Jesus is hilasterion.  This comes from a verb which means to propitiate.  It is a verb which has to do with sacrifice.  Under the old system, when a man broke the law, he brought to God a sacrifice.  His aim was that the sacrifice should turn aside the punishment that should fall upon him.  To put it in another way — a man sinned; that sin put him at once in a wrong relationship with God; to get back into the right relationship he offered his sacrifice.  

But it was human experience that an animal sacrifice failed entirely to do that. “Thou hast no delight in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt offering, thou wouldst not be pleased” (Ps. 51:16).  “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high?  Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?  Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?  Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” (Mic. 6:6-7.)  Instinctively men felt that, once they had sinned, the paraphernalia of earthly sacrifice could not put matters right.  

So Paul says, “Jesus Christ, by his life of obedience and his death of love, made the one sacrifice to God which really and truly atones for sin.”  He insists that what happened on the Cross opens the door back to a right relationship with God, a door which every other sacrifice is powerless to open.   

(iii) Paul uses a metaphor from slavery.  He speaks of the deliverance wrought through Jesus Christ. The word is apolutrosis.  It means a ransoming, a redeeming, a liberating.  It means that man was in the power of sin, and that Jesus Christ alone could free him from it.  

Finally, Paul says of God that he did all this because he is just, and accepts as just all who believe in Jesus.  Paul never said a more startling thing than this.  Bengel called it “the supreme paradox of the gospel.”  Think what it means.  It means that God is just and accepts the sinner as a just man.  The natural thing to say would be, “God is just, and, therefore, condemns the sinner as a criminal.”  But here we have the great paradox — God is just, and somehow, in that incredible, miraculous grace that Jesus came to bring to men, he accepts the sinner, not as a criminal, but as a son whom he still loves.  

What is the essence of all this?  Where is the difference between it and the old way of the law? The basic difference is this —

  • the way of obedience to the law is concerned with what a man can do for himself; 
  • the way of grace is concerned with what God can do, and has done, for him.

Paul is insisting that nothing we can ever do can win for us the forgiveness of God; only what God has done for us can win that; therefore the way to a right relationship with God lies, not in a frenzied, desperate, doomed attempt to win acquittal by our performance; it lies in the humble, penitent acceptance of the love and the grace which God offers us in Jesus Christ.  

 

THE END OF THE WAY OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT   

Rom. 3:27-31   

Where, then, is there any ground for boasting? It is completely shut out. Through what kind of law? Through the law of works? No, but through the law of faith. So, then, we reckon that a man enters into a right relationship with God by faith quite apart from works of the law. Or, is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles? Yes, he is the God of the Gentiles too. If, indeed, God is one, he is the God who will bring those who are of the circumcision into a right relationship with himself by faith, and those who never knew the circumcision through faith. Do we then through faith completely cancel out all law? God forbid! Rather, we confirm the law.    

Paul deals with three points here.

(i) If the way to God is the way of faith and of acceptance, then all boasting in human achievement is gone.  There was a certain kind of Judaism which kept a kind of profit and loss account with God.  In the end a man often came to a frame of mind in which he rather held that God was in his debt. Paul’s position was that every man is a sinner and God’s debtor, that no man could ever put himself back into a right relationship with God through his own efforts and that grounds for self-satisfaction and boasting in one’s own achievement no longer exist.

(ii) But, a Jew might answer, that might be well enough for a Gentile who never knew the law, but what about Jews who do know it?  Paul’s answer was to turn them to the sentence which is the basis of the Jewish creed, the sentence with which every synagogue service always began and still begins. “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one God” (Deut.6:4).  There is not one God for the Gentiles and another for the Jews.  God is one.  The way to him is the same for Gentile and Jew.  It is not the way of human achievement; it is the way of trusting and accepting faith.  

(iii) But, says the Jew, does this mean an end of all law?  We might have expected Paul to say, “Yes.”  In point of fact he says, “No.”  He says that, in fact, it strengthens the law.  He means this.  Up to this time the Jew had tried to be a good man and keep the commandments because he was afraid of God, and was terrified of the punishment that breaches of the law would bring.  That day has for ever gone.  But what has taken its place is the love of God.  Now a man must try to be good and keep God’s law, not because he fears God’s punishment, but because he feels that he must strive to deserve that amazing love.  He strives for goodness, not because he is afraid of God, but because he loves him.  He knows now that sin is not so much breaking God’s law as it is breaking God’s heart, and, therefore, it is doubly terrible.  

Take a human analogy.  Many a man is tempted to do a wrong thing, and does not do it.  It is not so much that he fears the law.  He would not greatly care if he were fined, or even imprisoned.  What keeps him right is the simple fact that he could not meet the sorrow that would be seen in the eyes of the one who loves him  if he made shipwreck of his life.  It is not the law of fear but the law of love which keeps him right.  It must be that way with us and God.  We are rid forever of the terror of God, but that is no reason for doing as we like.  We can never again do as we like for we are now for ever constrained to goodness by the law of love; and that law is far stronger than ever the law of fear can be. 

 

 

 

 

 

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