Rom 3:1-8 | Family | STEP | In the first part of this chapter the apostle meets various objections which might naturally arise in the mind of an unbelieving Jew to the doctrine which he has established in the preceding chapter, that the outward relation of the Jews to Abraham and their outward privileges cannot save them, but that God will deal with them, as with the Gentiles, according to their works. Verses . He then returns to his great theme, that since Jews and Gentiles are alike under sin, they need alike righteousness of God which is of faith, not of works. What advantage ; has the Jew above the Gentile, if both are sinners under condemnation, and neither can be justified or accepted of God on account of his works?

Romans 3:1-8

In the first part of this chapter the apostle meets various objections which might naturally arise in the mind of an unbelieving Jew to the doctrine which he has established in the preceding chapter, that the outward relation of the Jews to Abraham and their outward privileges cannot save them, but that God will deal with them, as with the Gentiles, according to their works. Verses Ro 3:1-8. He then returns to his great theme, that since Jews and Gentiles are alike under sin, they need alike righteousness of God which is of faith, not of works.

What advantage; has the Jew above the Gentile, if both are sinners under condemnation, and neither can be justified or accepted of God on account of his works? Oracles of God; the Scriptures, revealing salvation through a Saviour to come. As the Scriptures are the voice of God, making known his will and the way in which men can be accepted of him, those who possess them have blessings much greater than those who do not. Hence they should be given to all, and all should be taught to read and obey them. What if some did not believe? had not faith in God, and as a consequence of their unbelief were unfaithful to God; for both these ideas are included in the original word.

Shall their unbelief; their unbelief and unfaithfulness to God's covenant with them, but which, as the apostle has taught, they lost its benefits and brought upon themselves the wrath of God, "who will render to every man according to his deeds." Chap Ro 2:6.

Make the faith of God without effect? annul God's faithfulness in fulfilling the terms of his covenant with Abraham and his seed? The unbelieving Jews thought that God's covenant with their fathers bound him to bestow upon them eternal life, irrespective of their own conduct, and that a failure to do this would be a violation of the divine faith. The apostle, having shown that circumcision and the other privileges of the covenant can profit only those who are faithful to its conditions, and that the unfaithful Jew will be condemned along with the Gentiles, rejects with horror the idea that this is an annulling of the divine faithfulness. Let God be true; God is true, and all that deny it are false. This should always be admitted.

As it is written; Ps 51:4.

Justified--overcome; seen to be just and right when complained of, and in all that he does. The apostle, as often elsewhere, follows the rendering of the Seventy. If our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God; if our sins are made the occasion of showing the truth and justice of God, and are thus overruled for the display of his glory, is it not wrong for him to punish us?

I speak as a man; as a short-sighted erring man might speak. God forbid; certainly not: if it were, God would not be just or right in punishing any one; for the sins of all are in some way overruled for the display of divine perfection, and the advancement of divine glory. This, however, does not alter the evil nature and tendency of sin, nor lessen the guilt of him who commits it. The fact that God takes occasion with regard to the sins of men, to display his perfections, does not alter the evil nature of sin, or lessen the guilt or danger of those who commit it. Through my lie; if when I am false, God shows his truth in punishing me as he has declared, and thus glorifies himself, why am I to blame? Because you were false; you felt wrong, and did wrong. When a man commits murder and is hung, the government is made a greater terror to evil-doers, and every man's life is rendered more safe; why is the murderer then to blame? Because he committed murder. He meant it unto evil, and it was evil. Though God, through his ordinance of civil government, punishes him and thus promotes the good of the community, that does not alter the nature of his crime, or the propriety of punishing him; the government had told him before that they would do it. Truth, therefore, as well as justice and the public good, required his execution. And not rather; and why should we not rather say, if we carry out the false principle of the objector,

Let us do evil, that good may come? as evil is overruled for good, why not commit it to accomplish that good? as some say is right, and affirm is taught in the Scriptures. Because it is wicked, and renders all who do it deserving of damnation. It is not the evil that does the good; but it is the counteracting and overruling of evil, and the treating of the evil-doer as he deserves, that does the good. Those who do evil for the purpose of accomplishing what they call good, or break the law of God professedly to honor him, will be justly condemned and awfully punished.