Romans 3
Jews and Gentiles Alike Are in Need of Forgiveness and Salvation by Faith
Paul addressed those people who considered themselves exceptions to humankind’s general sinfulness in this section of the epistle. Obviously many people could say in his day, and still more say in ours, that they are not as bad as the people Paul described in chapter 1.
In chapter 2, Paul showed that God’s judgment of all people rests on character rather than ceremony. He put the Jew on the same level as the Gentile regarding their standing before God. Still God Himself made a distinction between Jews and Gentiles. In Romans 3:1-8, Paul dealt with that distinction. He did this so there would be no question in the minds of his Jewish audience that they were guilty before God and needed to trust in Jesus Christ. The passage affirms the continuing faithfulness of God to His covenant people but clarifies that His faithfulness in no way precludes His judging sinful Jews. - Thomas Constable
Paul has still his statement in view, that the Gospel is the only power of God for salvation, and nothing to be ashamed of. If Judaism can save men, the Gospel is an impertinence; hence the radical failure of the Jew must be shown. - Stifler
Jewish Questions
Vs. 1 - So what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?
Question 1: If God’s chosen people will be judged in the same way as the Gentiles, what was the purpose for God choosing them at all?
Answer: It was of great benefit to the entire world that God revealed Himself through Israel.
There are many advantages to being a circumcised Jew. Paul only gave the most important one here (Romans 3:2), but later he referred to others (Romans 9:4-5). The phrase "oracles of God" refers to special revelation. The word "oracles" (Gr. logia) stresses the fact that the Old Testament, and the Mosaic Law in particular, was the very utterance of God preserved and handed down by earlier generations. - Thomas Constable
Vs. 3 - What then? If some were unfaithful, will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness?
Question 2: Because some in Israel failed to trust God, will God forsake them completely?
Answer: Even though men are unfaithful, God will always keep His promises. Paul cited David’s prayer of repentance (Psalm 51:4) to further prove his point.
Vs. 5 - But if our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, what are we to say?
Question 3: If Israel’s rebellion led to Gentile salvation, and that was all part of God’s plan, how can God still be mad at the Jews? Didn’t they just play their part? - JD Greear
Answer: That the sinfulness of men brings even more glory to God does not justify the sinfulness of men.
God will not show favoritism to the Jews even though by their unfaithfulness they glorify the faithfulness of God. If He did so, He would be partial and not qualified to sit in judgment on humankind. - Thomas Constable
God will judge each person for their own unbelief and rebellion. How God’s sovereignty works through human choices to accomplish God’s purposes is indeed a mystery, but God still holds us each accountable for our own choices. - JD Greear
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. - William Barclay
Vs. 9 - What then? Are we any better off?
Question 4: In summary, will Jews avoid judgment for sin because of the special revelation they received?
Answer: Absolutely not! All men are guilty before God because of their heart condition.
Self-righteous people still raise these objections. (Thomas Constable)
Some people assume that because God has blessed them, He will not condemn them.
Some believe the character of God prohibits Him from condemning them.
Some think that even though they have sinned, God will be merciful and not condemn them.
Some feel that, since everything we do glorifies God in some way, God would be unjust to condemn them.
The Purpose of the Law
Depravity
Vs. 9-10 - For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin, as it is written:
After Paul answered the potential objections to his argument that every man is guilty before God regardless of his race or religion, he quoted the prophet Isaiah and from various psalms to prove his point.
This passage is one of the most forceful in Scripture that deals with the total depravity of man. Total depravity does not mean that every person is as bad as he or she could be. It means that sin has affected every part of his or her being and consequently there is nothing anyone can do to commend himself or herself to a holy God. - Thomas Constable
Sin is not so much an action as it is a condition. Many people only think of sin as bad actions that we do: stealing; lying. etc. But Paul’s analysis is that the reason we do bad actions is because of our corrupt conditions. - JD Greear
Knowledge of Sin
Vs. 20 - For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.
Paul reminded the Roman Christians here that the Mosaic law was not given to Israel as a way for God’s people to attain righteousness before God but rather the opposite. It was given to reveal their need for a righteousness only He could offer.
The purpose of the law, Paul said, was not to correct sin, but reveal sin. It was supposed to function like a mirror that reveals to us how sinful we are. By looking into it, we see what the shape of what our heart should be and what it isn’t. - JD Greear
The whole human race is guilty, and the law can do nothing but show that guilt. There is no possibility that a person can be put right in God’s sight by keeping its commandments. - Don Fleming
Righteousness by Grace through Faith
Because of humanity’s sinful condition and inability to completely obey God’s law, the only way man’s relationship with God could be restored would be if God Himself, motivated by grace and compassion, intervened to right the wrong. This is the good news Paul has been laying a foundation to reveal. This is the gospel of which he is not ashamed.
The first main division of the epistle forms a powerful negative argument for the second, and was evidently so intended. Since man is a sinner with no help in himself and none in the law, what is left to him but to look to the mercy of God? - Stifler
Vs. 22-25 - The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God presented him as the mercy seat [propitiation] by his blood
Paul develops his teaching about salvation around three themes.
Justification solves the problem of man’s guilt before a righteous Judge.
Redemption solves the problem of man’s slavery to sin, the world, and the devil.
Propitiation solves the problem of offending our Creator. - David Guzik
Don Fleming describes each of Paul’s analogies:
Justification - Concerning the relationship between sinners and God, justification means that God declares repentant sinners righteous before him. He makes them right with himself.
Redemption - In Bible times a slave could be set free from the bondage of slavery by the payment of a price, often called the ransom price. The slave was ‘bought back’, or redeemed, and the whole affair was known as the redemption of the slave (Leviticus 25:47-48). Sinners are in bondage to sin and under sentence of death, but Jesus gave his life as a ransom to pay the price of sin and release sinners from its power. Again redemption is entirely the work of God. He buys sinners back, and the redemption price is the blood of Christ.
Propitiation - Propitiation means that God’s holy wrath against sin has been satisfied by the sacrificial death of Christ, and therefore God can show mercy on believing sinners. Once the cause of hostility (sin) has been removed, sinners can be reconciled, or brought back, to God. This is entirely the work of God. He replaces hostility with peace, and changes enemies into friends.
Summary
Righteousness through Faith for All Men
Vs. 28 - For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
For reasons that belong to Him alone, God chose to reveal Himself, His law, and His redemptive plan through a specific people group. But Paul reminded the Romans that God has chosen to engage with all men, including Israel, on the basis of trust in His promises.
The law cannot make people right with God, but God himself can. Because of Christ’s death, God can now declare sinners righteous and still himself be righteous in doing so. He gives sinners a righteousness that makes them acceptable to him. It is not their own righteousness, but comes from God through Christ and is received by faith. - Don Fleming
Purpose of the Mosaic Law
Vs. 31 - Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
We can see how someone might ask, “If the law doesn’t make us righteous, what good is it? Paul, you have just made the law void. You are going against the law of God.” Certainly not! Of course, Paul does not make void the law. As the Apostle will demonstrate in Romans 4, the law anticipated the coming gospel of justification by faith, apart from the deeds of the law. Therefore, the gospel establishes the law, fulfilling its own predictions. - David Guzik
Literally every page of your Hebrew Bible foretells this coming Savior. The law was given to us both to show us our need for Him and to give us a preview of him. - JD Greear
