Rom 3:1-8 | TNotes | STEP | 3:1 what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Paul moves his argument along by raising questions. After preaching the Good News for over twenty years, he knew what questions people would ask when they heard a particular teaching. His emphasis on the equality of Jews and Gentiles before God (ch 2 ) inevitably led people to ask whether he was eliminating all Jewish privileges. The question-and-answer style follows the pattern of the diatribe (see study note on 2:1-5).

3:1 ^a what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Paul moves his argument along by raising questions. After preaching the Good News for over twenty years, he knew what questions people would ask when they heard a particular teaching. His emphasis on the equality of Jews and Gentiles before God (ch 2 ^b) inevitably led people to ask whether he was eliminating all Jewish privileges. The question-and-answer style follows the pattern of the diatribe (see study note on 2:1-5).
3:2 ^c The advantage that Jews possessed was in having received God’s word.

• First of all: Paul never adds a second or a third point to the list he begins here. He might have forgotten to continue the list, or first of all might mean “most importantly.” However, 9:4-5 ^d provides a good indication of what a list of Jewish privileges would have included.

• By using the word revelation (Greek logia, “oracles, messages”), Paul highlights God’s personal communication with his people (see Deut 33:9 ^e; Ps 105:19 ^f) through which he gives them special privileges and responsibilities.
3:4 ^g Of course not! The Greek mē genoito is an emphatic negation, popular in the diatribe style that Paul uses here and in several other passages in Romans (see 3:6 ^h, 31 ⁱ; 6:2 ^j, 15 ^k; 7:7 ^l, 13 ^m; 9:14 ⁿ; 11:1 ^o, 11 ^p).

• As the Scriptures say: Paul quotes Ps 51:4 ^q, where David confessed his sin in having an adulterous relationship with Bathsheba (see 2 Sam 11:1-27 ^r). God punished David, and David admitted that God was proved right and would win his case in court—his punishment was entirely just. God is faithful to what he has said in the past—his entire revelation—and his words warn of punishment for sin even as they promise reward for obedience.
Summary for Rom 3:5-7: 3:5-7 ^s how would he be qualified to judge the world? Abraham asked a similar question: “Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” (Gen 18:25 ^t). God punishes all sin, and he retains absolute righteousness as he does so. Even when God makes use of human sin for his own ends, that sin still deserves to be, and will be, punished (see Rom 9:10-24 ^u).
3:8 ^v some people even slander us: Paul is referring to misrepresentations about his teaching on justification by faith. If a person is made right with God by faith alone, through God’s grace and apart from works, it could seem as if the Good News allows believers to sin because their sin is forgiven when confessed (see 6:1 ^w). One of Paul’s purposes is to help the Roman Christians understand that such misunderstandings are without basis.