Romans 3
Having given the Jews a bit of a ‘reality-check’ in regard to their sense of superiority and pride in their birth-state as God’s favoured people, Paul now ‘balances the ledger’, by reaffirming their true place in Christ. Paul often looks at both sides of a doctrinal argument, showing the two sides where each of their thinking is wrong, before reaffirming them and stating the truth that was invariably being twisted in the first place. Keep in mind, again, that his opening statement in chapter 3 is actually the concluding statement to his argument in chapter 2, so you might want to read chapter 2 quickly before going on to this week’s study. Let’s see what Paul has to say…
Romans 3
1 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2 Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. 3 What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.”
Remember that Paul has just finished criticising the Jews for claiming an exclusive covenant with God, when they were not even able to keep the terms of this covenant. Now, he shows that, despite their lack of faithfulness to God, His faithfulness in keeping His covenant with His people means that the covenant still remains. Think about this for a moment. Despite the fact that they had not kept the covenant, Paul says that God has kept the covenant in full. This is through what Jesus did on the cross. His sacrifice covered every failure on the part of the Jews, and they can then hold on to the promises God made to them throughout history.
Understand, then, that Paul was not nullifying the covenant between God and the Jews in chapter 2, he was merely pointing out that they had not kept their covenant with God, so they had no right to claim “special privilege” over the Gentiles. Now, however, he declares that the Jews still have this “special privileged” status, but that it is entirely through the grace of God, not their own doing. This way, the Jews can still have a special hope, as God continues to honour his covenants with Abraham, Moses and then David, yet they will never again use this to try and demean and criticise those who are not Jews, for their covenant is a covenant of grace. This then puts us all in the same situation of being saved by grace; not by birthright.
As Christians, we are quick to “write off” the Jews for their failure to live up to the expectations of the “Old Law”, yet we must remember that they are covered by the blood of Jesus just the same as we are. Therefore, rather than being cast aside to make way for God’s New Chosen People – the Church, the Jews still hold a special place in God’s heart, and they are still His chosen people. This will NEVER change, and we need to realise this, and rejoice with them.
At the same time, however, the Jews must realise that this covenant is now not a reason for “chest-beating” and pride in their lofty position, for without the grace of God they would have forfeited everything through their disobedience. So we all rejoice together at the grace of God – whether Jew or Gentile.
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.) 6 Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world?
Again, Paul jumps across to the other side of the argument and voices it. Some people might say, “If our unrighteousness enables God to show His Righteousness, why are we condemned for it?” Notice that he is still dealing with the issue of pride. For someone to voice this argument, they are still trying to justify themselves, and not accept the truth that they are NOT and will NEVER BE righteous. For us to accept God’s grace, we must accept that we need it. So Paul is actually providing a wonderful promise, but insisting that it be accepted on God’s terms, not our own.
7 Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” 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.
Paul shows his contempt for this argument. The argument he refers to is completely self-serving, as people try to justify the things they do not want to give up in their lives. Not only did they continue to sin, but they even used “Christian” terms to justify this sin. As Paul declares, in disgust, “Anyone who believes this deserves to be condemned!”
We must be very careful that we do not take God’s grace for granted. If we are saved by grace, then we should make every attempt to live lives worthy of the grace God has shown to us. If we continue in our sin, blindly stumbling toward condemnation, and even try to justify what we do, then we are in a very shaky place. Let us show the fruit of our salvation through the very lives that we lead. This is effectively what Paul is saying here too.
9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.
Just as the Gentiles start to utter, “I told you so!”, Paul ensures they too are aware of their own shortcomings. I don’t know why it is, but we are so quick to judge others. Even when we stand condemned ourselves, we jump up and decry all perceived failures by another. The above message from Paul is not merely aimed at Jews, but all believers.
The reason Paul continues his argument for such a long time is that he needs to be sure the people realise what he is saying. Until the people fully understand that they are not righteous, and never will be, he cannot move forward with the wonderful promises he wants to share with them. As I have already stated, until we realise that we need the grace of God, we are not ready to hear about it. We often wonder why people scoff at our attempts to share Jesus with them. Unless they realise the futility of their own direction, they will never turn around to follow God’s direction.
10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.”[4] “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” 14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery mark their ways, 17 and the way of peace they do not know.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Paul often uses passages from “The Scriptures” (known today as the Old Testament) to back up a point he may be making. Remember that, at the time of the New Testament writings, the Old Testament was the only “Scripture” known and accepted. The “New Testament” was not canonised as Scripture for over one hundred years (and even then it was an ongoing process – even today, there are myriad arguments about how, when and where the New Testament was canonised, and which one is the ‘true” version…). Additionally, there were differences of opinion within the church as to the relevance and precedence of the Scriptures at all.
Some thought Jesus had surpassed the Old Laws (and many Gentiles did not even accept such Jewish Laws as applying to them), while others considered that obedience of The Law was still required. For the sake of the Jews, who still believed and adhered to the Old Testament, Paul shows that it too agrees with what he is saying. As a side exercise, why not get your bible now, and look up the references that Paul quotes in v10-18, and read them in context. The eight verses are not one quote, but several. It is good for us to see how the Old Testament and the New Testament align on the issues of righteousness.
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
Getting to the crux of his line of reasoning, Paul shows that it is impossible to be justified through The Law, as all have broken it at some stage. Refer again to v10-18 to see that even the Scriptures attest to this truth.
In this case, what is the purpose of The Law?
It is here that we see the truth that Paul has been leading up to for three chapters. We see the first glimpse of how the Law and Grace can coexist!
What am I talking about?
Simply this – The Law was NOT made to be obeyed, but to make us aware that we could not obey it!
Go back and read that statement again so you don’t miss the importance of it.
If you think I am going loony, read what Paul says. Through the Law, we become conscious of sin. If there was no standard by which right and wrong could be measured, then God could not declare a person unrighteous. It was necessary for God to set a standard of perfection required to be called righteous, so that when His incredible grace was revealed through Jesus Christ, all people would know that they needed saving from the state of unrighteousness they had been made aware of through the Law. When we understand this as the true purpose of the Law, then we can see that God is truly a God of grace and justice. He didn’t lower His standard of perfection to enable us to reach Him, but He provided the way for us to be considered righteous through the works of Jesus. (But now I am getting ahead of myself…)
21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Paul declares that the very Scriptures point to Jesus as Saviour of us all. It makes no difference whether we are Jew or Gentile, for we have all fallen short of the glory of God, revealed in the Scriptures, but we are all justified freely through God’s grace. This is the Good News of salvation. If we have all fallen short of perfection, and are all justified through God’s grace, then no one has the right to boast. Instead, we all stand in awe of the wonderful love our God has bestowed upon us.
25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished– 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Now we see, from the Jewish perspective, how Jesus could achieve this salvation for us all. Just as God commanded the people to sacrifice animals to atone for their sin, Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for us all. Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, who had not come under the bondage of sin, took the place of us all so that the requirements of the Law would still be fulfilled. Through this, God’s grace and justice are both shown. For if God has lowered the standard of righteousness, then he would not be Righteous. By the actions of Adam, we were all placed under the authority of Satan. Until the requirement of death followed, sin would have gone unpunished. Instead, God meted out the punishment in full – he just meted it out on Himself, in the form of Jesus. Once we become aware of this incredible fact, our lives can never be the same again, for our understanding of God can never again be the same. When we see God in all His glory for the first time, we cannot but be changed forever. This is the beginning of sanctification, as we are restored to our state of communion with God.
27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. 29 Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.
Here, we see the culmination of Paul’s declaration. Showing the people that all are saved by grace, he spells it out for them. No one can boast in our position – we can only boast of the grace of God. This grace does not exclude Gentiles, in is all-inclusive. Nor does this grace nullify the Law. Instead, the Law if upheld by God’s grace, meaning the Jews retain their status as God’s chosen people through His grace. Gentiles too are included in this wonderful grace, as nothing can limit the grace of God.
Contemplate this wonderful truth this week, and then give glory to God, the author and perfector of our faith.
God bless you all.
Dave
