In chapter one Paul condemns the
Gentiles.
In chapter two Paul equally condemns
the Jews. Paul ends the chapter by
saying that
God
is more pleased with an obedient Gentile than an unbelieving Jew.
The conclusion at the end of chapter
two would be that there is really no advantage to
being
a Jew and that God’s promises and plans for
Thus, the reason for chapter
three. Although both Gentile and Jew are
guilty before God
the
Jew still possesses an advantageous distinction from the Gentiles.
Though judgment and salvation are on
equal plains between Jews and Gentiles there still
remains
a privileged position for God’s covenant
people.
There is and will always be a distinction
between the Jew and the Gentile.
Paul explains this in chapter three.
Paul continues his dialog with his
imaginary debater.
It is possible that this debate is a window into many debates between Paul the
apostle and Saul the Pharisee.
Paul asks four questions in verses
1-8:
a)
What advantage, then, is there in
being a Jew? (3:1) What advantage, then is there in circumcision? (3:1)
b)
What if some did not have faith?
(3:2) Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? (3:3)
c)
If our unrighteousness brings out
God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? (3:5)
That
God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (3:5) If that were so, how could God
judge the world? (3:6)
d)
If my falsehood enhances God’s
truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?
(3:7)
Why
not say – ‘Let us do evil that good may result’? (3:8)
These questions could be paraphrased
as:
a) If
Jews and Gentiles are both guilty before God, what advantage is there in being
a Jew?
b)Will God forsake
his promise to bless the nation of
c) Since
the Jewish sin and failure to be holy help create a contrast to God’s
faithfulness and holiness are they not
really
helping demonstrate God’s glory? (This point is based on Psalm 51 where David
confesses his sin but calls on
God’s
unfailing love. Verse 4 of Psalm 51 is
quoted by Paul in 3:4.
d) If my lying glorifies God by
showing Him to be the only perfectly truthful
person, why does God punish me for lying? Does not the end justify the
means?
Paul raises these questions to help
clarify what he is teaching.
3:1 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what
value is there in circumcision?
Old Testament Verses that indicate
·
“You shall be to me a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation.” (Ex.19:6)
·
“Behold, to the Lord your God belong
heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it.
Yet
on your fathers did the Lord set His affection to love them, and He chose their
descendants after them,
even
you above all peoples.” (Dt.10:14-15)
·
“You are a holy people to the Lord
your God; and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his
own
possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth (Dt. 14:2)
·
“The Lord has chosen Jacob for
Himself,
·
“The people whom I formed for
Myself, will declare My praise.” (Isaiah 43:21)
Being Jewish did not bring them
salvation but it brought them many advantages and opportunities that the
Gentiles did not have.
Romans 9:3-5 says: “Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the
divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of
the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is
traced the human ancestry of Christ.”
But with privilege comes
responsibility as is seen in Amos 3:2:
“You only
have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for
all your sins.”
In the parable of Matthew 22:1-9,
It was a privileged invitation, but
receiving an invitation is not good enough.
Upon
3:2 Much in every way! First of all, they have
been entrusted with the very words of God.
The “first of all” seems to indicate
a listing. This listing never develops until
9:4-5
Paul gives the most important
advantage here and later refers to the others.
Advantage of
Having the Word (Revelation From God)
“words” is logia and is usually
translated “oracles”. It is a reference
to divine utterances.
In the Septuagint this word refers
to:
1)announcements by
God to reveal his purpose and tell of what he intends to do
2)pronouncements of
the duty placed on man in regard to God having revealed his purpose
“Entrusted” means more than having
received the oracles.
It conveys the idea of:
a) protecting
what God entrusted them with
b)advance
(propagate) what God had entrusted them with
c) obey
and take to heart what God had entrusted them with
Once again the Jews considered
themselves privileged but did not respond to their privileged position nor did
they
fulfill their responsibility that was the reason the received the words of God.
In fact 2 Chron. 34:14-33 details a
time when the Jews lost the very words of God.
Jesus rebuked a group of Jewish
religious leaders by saying, “You are in error
because you do not know the
Scriptures or the power of God.”
(Matthew 22:29)
The Jews (like the church of today and through out the church age)
had the word of God but:
·
they neglected it
·
lost it
·
raised their traditions above it
·
thought they could get along with
out it
·
Claimed the name of God and their
assumed privileges but did not consider their obligation to
God’s
standards in the Word or their responsibilities revealed in the Word
The Second Question:
3:3 What if some did not have faith? Will their
lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness?
Paul’s next question anticipated
that some readers would assume that based on
that
God would no longer be obligated to keep his promises to
The promises where made but where
always accompanied with warnings of judgment and punishment for disobedience.
The promises where made to the
nation as a whole, but not to individual Jews.
In other words, the nation would endure,
but individuals could be separated from their
national inheritance.
This is seen in Ezekiel 20:34-38, “I will bring you from the nations and
gather you from the countries where you
have been scattered . . .I will purge you of
those who revolt and revel against me.
Although I will bring
them out of the land where they are living,
yet they will not enter the
Their lack of faith was manifest in
their lack of obedience.
But,
To teach that Israel is no longer
going to be used by God and that instead the church has taken over Israel’s
place and
receives
Romans 11:1, “Did God reject his
people? By no means!
Romans 11:11, “Did they stumble so
as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!
Romans 11:25, “I do not want you to
be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited:
will
be saved, as it is written:
“The
deliverer will come from
take
away their sins.”
a)
The deliverer (Messiah) still has to
come from
b)
The deliverer (Messiah) still has to
turn godlessness away from Jacob
c)
This is part of the covenant God
made with
So Zechariah 12:10 is yet to occur:
“I
will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of
They
will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns
for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him
as
one grieves for a firstborn son.”
The day mentioned in Romans 11:25 and
Zechariah 12:10 has not yet happened.
Paul’s point here is that God is
faithful to keep his promise to the nation of
So the conclusion then is that the
church cannot replace
The people’s lack of faith would prevent
them from receiving and seeing God’s salvation.
But, the people’s lack of faith
could not prevent God from keeping his promise to
The individual Jew may be lost, but
the nation will be saved.
Who makes up the nation? The believing Jews!
“For
not all who are descended from
.
. .In other word, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it
is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.”
Thus Paul could write in Romans
11:26,
“And
so all
3:4 Not at all! Let
God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written:
and prevail when you
judge."
KJV- “God forbid”
Phillips- “Of course not!”
NASB- “May it never be!”
Paul uses this same phrase in:
Romans 3:6, 31; 6:2, 15; 7:7, 13; 9:14; 11:1, 11
God promised to take the Israelites
from
But, the whole nation of
Did God then not fulfill his
promise? No, he just waited 40 years and
after killing the unbelievers he fulfilled his promise to a new generation.
This positive faithfulness is the
theme of verse 3.
Verse 4 is God’s negative
faithfulness.
True To His
Promise of Punishment
“Let God be true” means that God is
reliable or trustworthy. You can count
on God staying true to his word.
God
will fulfill his promises be they blessings or judgments.
Nehemiah 9:32-33 the Levites (9:5)
recognize God’s truthfulness in judging
“Now therefore, O our God, the great, mighty
and awesome God, who keeps his
covenant of
love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes – the
hardship that
has come upon us, upon our kings and leaders, upon our priests and
prophets, upon
our fathers and all your people, from the days of the kings of
acted
faithfully, while we did wrong.. . . they did not pay attention to your
commands or
the warnings you gave them.”
“Every man a liar” may refer to the
Gentiles, the Jews (as covenant breakers toward
God’s
oracles) or to the general nature of the whole human race.
The point of the statement is
probably to go to the extreme, such as, even if every man where to lie, God
would still be true to his word.
POINT: God’s character (faithfulness, truth, etc.)
is not a response to man.
Paul Uses David’s
Psalm 51 to Prove Negative Faithfulness
Paul then quotes from Psalm 51 where
David is confessing his sin with Bathsheba.
The verse is Psalm 51:4:
“Against you, you only, have I sinned and
done what is evil in your sight, so that
you are proved
right when you speak and justified when you judge.”
Paul is using this verse to express
the negative side of God’s faithfulness.
In verse 3 God is faithful to
fulfill his promise to
In verse 4 God is faithful to punish
The Third Question:
3:5
But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly,
what shall we say?
That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on
us? (I am using a human argument.)
The 3rd and
4th questions both deal with how man’s sin helps bring out the glory
of God:
·
3rd question – Man’s sin is the dark background
that provides the best contrast to God’s bright righteousness.
It is easier to appreciate the righteousness
of God when man sins.
·
4th question – God’s promises also include the
promise of judgment for sin. When man
sins and God punishes
him God again
demonstrates himself as truthful.
Example: Jeremiah said
Here Paul first draws
a false conclusion:
“Our unrighteousness brings out
God’s righteousness more clearly.”
Then he makes a
sarcastic application of this false doctrine:
“God then is unjust in bringing his
wrath on us.”
But, fearing some of
his readers may just be waking up or tuning in to the public reading of his
letter he quickly adds that he is
“using a human
argument” and does not really believe what he just said in sarcasm.
God cannot overlook
God would then be
showing partiality and would disqualify himself from judging mankind.
3:6 Certainly not! If that were so, how could God
judge the world?
The Fourth
Question:
3:7 Someone might argue, "If my falsehood
enhances God's truthfulness and so increases his glory,
why am I still condemned as a sinner?"
“Enhances” means to increase, to be in abundance.
This is saying that sin gives God a chance to prove he is
truthful when he brings judgment.
3:8 Why not say—as we are being slanderously
reported as saying and as some claim that we say—
"Let us do evil that good may result"? Their
condemnation is deserved.
If anyone is saying that our sinning helps glorify God they
deserve to be condemned.
Charge against Paul and the Gospel of Grace
People had accused Paul and his message with the same
accusation that they charge the gospel message today with:
The same thing is going to be brought up in Romans
5:20-6:1-2:
Correct
Thinking Today
1.
The
Jews are a privileged people (vv. 1-2).
APPLICATION: Some
people assume that because God has
blessed them He will not condemn them.
2.
God
will remain faithful to the Jews despite their unfaithfulness to Him (vv. 3-4).
APPLICATION: Some
believe the character of God prohibits Him from condemning them.
3.
God
will be merciful since the Jews' failings have magnified God's righteousness.
APPLICATION: Some
think that even though they have sinned God will be merciful and not condemn
them.
4.
God
will overlook the Jews' sins since they contribute to the glory of God.
APPLICATION: Some
feel that since everything we do glorifies God in some way God would
be unjust to condemn them. (Dr.
Constable’s Notes on Romans – p.32)
Many people do
not like to hear judgment and condemnation brought out of the scriptures. But, if a person is going to listen to
Bible teaching
the condemnation of sin and the judgment of the sinner is part of the message
God has revealed to man
(both in nature
and in scripture). To fail to teach and
preach temporal and eternal judgment of sin is to fail as a teacher of the Word
of God.