ROMANS 3:1-9

1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?

2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.

3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?

4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)

6 God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?

7 For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?

8 And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.

9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;

(Vs 1.) As we saw in chapter 2, not even the Jew’s religion can save a person from God’s judgment, so what advantage was there in being a Jew?

(Vs 2.) There used to be a big advantage! Only Israel had been given God’s word (oracles) up until the time of Paul, so they were the only ones with advance warning of God’s judgment. See Ps 147:19,20. Is this true now?? What happened to change this? Acts 26:15-18; 28:28 and Eph 3:1-6 with 2:11-16.

(Vs. 3) Just because most people do not believe or do God’s word does not make it ineffective. Every "jot and tittle" of His word will be fulfilled regardless of what men believe. Mat 5:18; Is 55:10,11

"The faith of God" in verse 3, is His faithfulness to keep His word. God cannot lie, Titus 1:2. This "faith of Christ" is what we depend on to save us, and keep us saved, as we will see later in this chapter.

(Vs 4.a) If every man disagrees with God’s word, who is the liar? John 8:43-47 explains why men don’t believe God. But God is always right, regardless of who agrees with Him. If we want to know truth, we must adjust our thinking to fit God’s word, instead of using His word to prove our preconceived ideas of morals, science or religion. Let’s believe God on all issues, even if nobody else does.

(Vs 4.b) This quote is from Ps 51:1-4 where David confesses his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. David says God is "clear" to judge him. He admits his guilt and puts up no defense. But this is not the usual response of people. See how Ps 51:4 differs from Rom 3:4. In Rom 3:4, God anticipates that men will argue His judgment with their excuses. But God’s truth always overcomes when men judge His judgments. An interesting example of how God overcomes the men who judge Him is in Mat 22:15-46. See how three times Jesus puts to silence those who try to discredit Him.

(Vs 5.) Here is one of men’s arguments about God’s judgment. My sin shows up God’s righteousness, so He should be grateful, not punish me for it.

(Vs 6.) Paul says, That’s ridiculous! God could never judge the world like that.

(Vs 7 & 8.) Human reasoning likes to think that the end justifies the means, that sin is excusable if God can use it for good. This thinking is justly damned, which means it is condemned as wrong.

In the brackets of vs 8, Paul was accused of saying that it was okay to do evil. If we teach his gospel of salvation by faith alone, without good works, (Rom 3:28; 4:5), can we expect this too?

(Vs 9.) The "we" in this verse is the Jews. In time past, the Jews used to be much better off than the Gentiles. See Eph 2:11,12 and Rom 9:4,5. But here in verse 9, Paul concludes that now, Jews and Gentiles are equally under sin, Rom 11:32, "for there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek", Rom 10:12.

There is an interesting comparison between David in Ps 32:1-5 who acknowledged his guilt, and the people making excuses for themselves here in Romans 3. Who was forgiven and blessed? Who is concluded under sin?

Acknowledging our guilt before God is where everything starts. We don’t seek forgiveness and mercy until we realize we are guilty and in danger of paying for our sin. So God goes to great lengths here in Romans 1-3 to let men see their guilt. It is a critical issue that is seldom comfortable to share with people, but it is of first importance in getting saved from God’s wrath.

M. Dent

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