Romans 3:1-31

The New Way of Acceptance with God

In Romans 1:2 St. Paul has shown that both Gentile and Jew have sinned wilfully, and are under God's condemnation. He now digresses to Jewish objections against the gospel, which he had, no doubt, heard urged in synagogues (Romans 3:1). Returning to the main subject, he clinches his indictment of the Jew out of the Scriptures, and concludes that all the world is 'under the judgment of God' (Romans 3:9).

Having thus shown that man is sinful and lost, he now proceeds to set forth the gospel. God has provided a way by which acceptance, springing from God's love, and secured by the redemptive work of Christ, is granted to all who have faith in Christ (Romans 3:21). Thus acceptance depends upon faith, not upon human merit (Romans 3:27), and is open to all (Romans 3:29). At the same time, faith leads to true obedience (Romans 3:31).

1-8. Jewish objections answered.

Paraphrase. '(1) You may say: If those only are God's people who are so inwardly and spiritually, what advantage is it to be a Jew? (2) I reply: Much; to begin with, God's Word with its precious promises was entrusted to them. (3) And since that is so, will God break His word because some have shown their want of faith by rejecting Christ? (4) Impossible! Whoever be false, God will be found true, His promises will be justified and His conduct vindicated. (5) You may say: If this be so, our sin in rejecting Christ has made God's faithfulness to His promises clear, and it is unjust of Him (humanly speaking) to punish us. (6) I reply: Horrible! On your grounds no sin would be punished. (7) If you plead: This is an exceptional case. My sin has glorified God by showing how He keeps His word: (8) why should I not be accepted by Him equally with the Christians, who say, as I say, let us do evil that good may come? I can only reply: Such a principle is to be condemned, and to impute it to us is slanderous.'