DO THE JEWS HAVE ANY ADVANTAGE? Paul's conclusions in _chapter 2_ are contrary to what the Jews believed. We can imagine them asking: "If our advantages will be no help at Judgment, and Gentiles can also be accepted, what good is all this?... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE FIRST PLACE. The advantage of the Jew is explained in Romans 9:4-5 and notes. Paul here mentions first: the message of God which is the Old Testament. Next to Christ and the New Testament, the Old Testament was God's greatest gift to mankind. It pointed forward to the Messiah, and gave a desc... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT IF SOME? "Would not the unfaithfulness of some Jews _invalidate_ God's promise?" The Jewish argument runs: "If some of the _chosen people_ are lost through their unfaithfulness, doesn't this mean that God has not been faithful himself, since he promised to be a God to Abraham's descendants fore... [ Continue Reading ]
CERTAINLY NOT! [_God forbid_ is not in the Greek.] God's promise was conditional (_see_ Deuteronomy 28:1-14), and required faith and obedience. "God is true to his promise even though every Jew were unfaithful and proved to be a liar by breaking the promise." The quotation is from Psalms 51:4 in the... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHAT IF OUR DOING WRONG? Israel is under judgment for rejecting Christ. The Jewish argument is: "If our sin in crucifying Christ blessed the whole world, and if our unbelief makes the faithfulness of God _stand out;_ how can God punish us for this _good work_?_"_ See also Romans 6:1-2. (I SPEAK... [ Continue Reading ]
BY NO MEANS! God could not judge at all if he were unjust. Because he does judge, he cannot be unjust, even when he judges men whose sin may have helped fulfill the Plan.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHAT IF MY UNTRUTH? It is plain that a charge of untruth was often made against Paul (_compare_ Galatians 1:20; Romans 9:1). No unbelieving Jew questioned the fact that Paul would come into judgment, in spite of the fact that _his_ "faithlessness in becoming a Christian" had made the faithfulnes... [ Continue Reading ]
WHY NOT SAY, THEN? If judgment could be escaped by sinning to the glory of God, then we ought to do evil to produce good. The unbelieving Jews were telling people that Paul taught such a thing. THEY WILL BE CONDEMNED. God's judgment on those who pervert the truth in such ways as this, is just! God d... [ Continue Reading ]
IN ANY BETTER CONDITION? The Jew was surprised to see his advantages disappear. "Surely we Jews are in better condition, than the Gentiles because of our _devoutness!"_ NOT AT ALL! Paul makes this strong, because he has shown that both Jews and Gentiles are all under the _power_ of sin. Not just sim... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THE SCRIPTURES SAY. Paul shows them from the Old Testament that no one is righteous before God (_by themselves)._ He quotes language from Psalms 14:1-3; Psalms 53:1-3; Psalms 5:9; Psalms 140:3_; etc.,_ all from the Septuagint. THERE IS NO ONE WHO IS RIGHTEOUS. If "righteous" means _completely fre... [ Continue Reading ]
These verses are a general statement of the condition of mankind. Wherever man goes, he leaves a trail of destruction and misery behind him. Human wickedness continually inflicts injury on others. Even when they are clearly shown the "path of Peace," they make themselves _blind_ to it. NOR HAVE THEY... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW WE KNOW. The things which Paul has just quoted are part of the Law, and apply to Jews. TO STOP ALL HUMAN EXCUSES. Every excuse of the Jew has been demolished by the Law. AND BRING THE WHOLE WORLD. Jews believed the Gentiles were already under God's judgment. Now they find that they themselves ar... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE. Since Paul is speaking to Jews, he speaks of _the Law,_ but this also can apply to law in general. In the present state of human nature, perfect obedience to law is impossible. WHAT THE LAW DOES. The Law is a standard of measurement which makes man aware that he is a sinner, but does not of... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT NOW GOD'S WAY. The Law and God's promise were two different things. See what Paul says in Galatians 3:17-18. The Law and the prophets told that God would provide a righteousness that did not originate in law. See Hebrews 8:7-13 and notes.... [ Continue Reading ]
THROUGH THEIR FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST. Faith in Christ is the condition. In this sense it is faith alone which saves, but the faith which saves cannot be alone. See note on James 2:19. Faith is not a condition of _merit,_ but of mercy. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE AT ALL. Both Jew and Gentile stand condemne... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL MEN HAVE SINNED. _Beza_ points out the symbolism in the Greek is of one whose strength fails him, and who falls behind in a race. The Jew was as far away from God's saving presence as was the Gentile.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT BY THE FREE GIFT. God acted in history through Jesus Christ to set men free from their sin. This is a free gift, because we did nothing to earn it! God had it all done before we found out about it! Compare 1 Corinthians 2:7-10.... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD OFFERED HIM. Blood is often the symbol of death, and it is by the death of Christ the totality of his sacrifice that he is the _means_ [propitiation = means] by which sins are forgiven. Christ died so that we could live (_see_ 2 Corinthians 5:14-21; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Corinthians 15:3; Galatians 2:... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT NOW. In the past God overlooked men's sins and did not punish them immediately. But now, since the Cross and until time ends, God deals with men's sins. God's righteousness is demonstrated in the Cross, and we see that sin and salvation are not "make-believe!" At the same time, God accepts as ri... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT, THEN, CAN WE BOAST ABOUT? Every law which requires HUMAN MERIT as a condition of salvation permits boasting and pride. The salvation which comes as a free gift through the merit of Christ's sacrifice, _which we seize through faith,_ gives us nothing to boast about.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WE CONCLUDE. He has proved that we are put right with God [justified] only through faith (which includes the obedience of faith). A clear line is drawn between faith and the works of the Law, as these represent two distinctly different religious systems, and this shows us that faith (and the obe... [ Continue Reading ]
OR IS GOD ONLY? The only way to escape the conclusion of Romans 3:28 would be to say that God is a God of the Jews only. Both Jew and Gentile can only be justified by faith in Jesus Christ.... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD IS ONE. Paul points _to_ Zechariah 14:8-9 to prove that in the _new age_ of Good News, God will gather all peoples together, and all will be put right with him through the _one rule_ of faith (which includes the obedience of faith).... [ Continue Reading ]
DOES THIS MEAN? The Law = the whole Jewish religion. Does salvation by faith make the Law useless? The answer is no, not at all! The Law is upheld for the first time (Romans 8:4_ and note)._ See what Jesus said in Matthew 5:17, and compare the note there. To be _put right with God_ is to be pronounc... [ Continue Reading ]