God's Glory and Our Sin

Introduction

Heroes are not born, they are made. In almost any good story, the hero’s actions in the face of adversity and challenge display a heroic nature. Good triumphs over evil, but the evil must be there in the first place. What is pure and worthy is seen as such only when the value of lesser things is compared with it. So the glory of God shines brightly in contrast the evils of humanity. People say that a good and righteous God could not allow such evil in the world. We reply that only the evil and crooked nature of this world can provide the backdrop for how glorious God’s righteousness is. In the midst of faithless Jews and ignorant Gentiles, the glorious light of the redeeming Gospel of Christ leads the author of Hebrews to call Jesus “the radiance of the Glory of God.” and the saints in Rev 5:9 to say

Revelation 5:9 (ESV)

“Worthy are you to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation,

Although the world is evil and cruel, God’s glory shines all the brighter on contrast. Amidst all the faithless sin of human beings, the faithfulness of God stands as a light to all who have the eyes to see it.

The Inherent Advantage of the Jew

On first reading the whole of this chapter, it may first appear to us that Verse 1 contradicts verse 9. In verse 1 we are told that Jews have advantage in “every way.” Whereas in verse 9 we are told that the Jew is no better off than the Gentile.

There is a difference between having an advantage and being better off. Someone born to wealthy parents have a monetary advantage in life, but they still may end up as a homeless man. He has advantage, but was not better off.

The problem we have already looked at with the Jews is not that they had the law and circumcision. Both of these things, Paul tells us, give the Jew an advantage.

Why? Because they are the only ones who have a godly legacy of special revelation. God appeared to and made a covenant with Abraham. He gave Israel his instructions. He gave them the prophets which told of the coming Christ. In short, they had everything they needed to see that Jesus was the Messiah and to follow him in faith. They had much more grace than any other people, they had instruction, they had a heritage with YHWH, they had much more than anyone else could have had to know God and experience his love. This gives them a majour advantage when it comes to knowing God. Whereas Gentiles had only creation and the law of their hearts, the Jews have the law, which showed them plainly how they could know God, and the covenant of circumcision, which gave them the promises as well as the warnings of the law. Most of all, Jesus incarnated as a circumcised Jew under the law who ministered primarily to the Jewish people, fulfilling the law and the prophets and showing through the Scriptures that he is the Messiah. In this sense, they are privileged.

Romans 9:4–5 ESV

They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

But as for the question, are the Jews better off? We will look at this more next week, but the short answer is “no”. Rather than taking advantage of their advantage, they prove themselves to be sinners just as much as those who are not under the law. This is what Paul has been getting at in chapter 2. Although the Jew has advantages because of these things, their unwillingness and spiritual inability to do anything with it proves them to be totally depraved. Again, Paul is not singling out Jews here for no reason, nor is he saying that they are more depraved than Gentiles, but that they are sinners just as much as the Gentiles are despite their advantages.

So as we get into our text, this is the point we see Paul making. Romans 2:25

Romans 2:25 (ESV)

For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.

So this explains the first two verses of our text. The Jews have advantage, namely because they were entrusted with the “oracles” or instructions and revelations, of God. Notice it says “entrusted.” This word means that they were given the Scriptures with the understanding that they would be faithful and committed to them. God gave them these oracles with the implication that they would be trustworthy in keeping them and take the necessary care for it. This also implies that the law was not only for them, but for the nations as well (Gen 12:3) and they were simply the servants entrusted with the way to know God. God’s Word was not given to them to do with as they pleased, it was entrusted to them to responsibly use the way God intended.

Human Unfaithfulness and God’s Faithfulness

The problem is that they did not do this, and hence we have a problem. What happens when the faithful Word of God is entrusted to a holy people and that people, rather than becoming more faithful and holy, either reject it or abuse it? Will their lack of faith nullify the faithfulness of God? Will God judge the people he entrusted his word to and thus seem to be breaking his own promises?

Paul’s clear answer is “no”. The Jews reading this may still be caught up with the idea that God is condemning them. How can God condemn them along with the Gentiles when they are his covenant people? Doesn’t this make God unjust? Paul’s answer is “Let God be true though every one were a liar.” Meaning, although Jews have broken the law and thus broken the Covenant, God remains faithful to the covenant. In fact, his judgement is an expression of how he will show this faithfulness since condemning unbelief is exactly what God promised when the covenant was made.

Deuteronomy 30:17–18 ESV

But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.

God’s faithfulness to the covenant remains, and it is expressed in judgement for unbelief and disobedience just as it is expressed in mercy and blessing for faith and walking with the Lord. What the Jews failed to recognize is that God is just as faithful in judging them for their sin as he is in blessing them for their obedience. God’s faithfulness to us was displayed most clearly at the cross, a cross of judgement, not of blessing. God is so faithful to his covenant that he lets no sin go unpunished, but put the weight of it on Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of all who believe. And so God is glorified as faithful in his judgement.

Paul then quotes a verse from the famous Psalm of repentance for David’s sin with Bathsheba,

Psalm 51:4 ESV

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

The context of this Psalm helps us to understand Paul’s point and the problem he is addressing. David is repenting of the sins of adultery and murder, both sins against the Ten Commandments; the core of the covenant God had with his people Israel. He says that the sin was against God alone and then makes the interesting point that the purpose of all this is that God may be justified in his judgement of David. In other words, David and Paul both see a purpose in God’s eternal plan for their sin: to righteously condemn them. This does not mean that God was just looking for a way to condemn David, whom he loved enough to establish his throne forever, but rather that when God does judge sinners, and all are sinners, he may be glorified in judging the sin.

What a massive revelation for us to unpack. How can God be glorified in our sin? Isn’t sin the opposite of what glorifies God? Aren’t we to obey God for the purpose of giving him glory? Yes indeed, but God in his great providence. He used the sins of Joseph’s brothers to bring him glory. He used the sinful nation of Assyria to righteously judge his people, and he uses all sin to glorify himself in his judgement of sinners.

This inevitably brings both theological concerns and practical challenges. Let us go through the two charges that Paul expects from a Jewish opponent who may have a problem with what he is saying.

Charge 1: Is God Unrighteous

The first charge that the Jewish readers may have against Paul’s argument is that a God who is glorified in people’s sin is an unrighteous God. How can God be righteous and an enemy of all that is sinful, how can his holy character stand up, if he is glorified by sin?

Answer: No, Because God is Judge

Paul’s answer is that God is glorified, not by the sin itself, but by his own faithfulness and judgement in response to sin.

Imagine a glorious warrior who fights evil and protects the innocent. Would we say that they are glorified by the evil they fight? No, they are glorified in overcoming that evil, in winning great victories for justice and saving those who are victimized. But the glory is only there because the evil that they fight was there.

In the same way, God is glorified, not by sin itself, but by his providence which overcomes sin, his faithfulness which continues despite sin, and his judgement which does away with sin. Sin gives God the opportunity to display his character like a villain gives the main character of a story the opportunity to show heroic actions. God is just, but how would we know he’s just if he were not judging sin? God is faithful, but faithfulness only matters when one would expect you to be unfaithful. God’s glory is when his character is put on display, and his character is displayed when we sin.

Charge 2: Should We Do Evil for God’s Glory?

The second charge is, well if God is glorified in my sin, then I should just keep sinning, right? After all, it brings God glory.

Answer 2: God does not Justify Sin

Paul doesn’t directly answer this question in our text, but he will as his argument goes forward. He brings up this charge now to express how insincere it is and to make it clear that he, and all the Apostles, do not believe this. It is very common for people to hear the Gospel and respond with statements like this. They may assume that since we are saved by grace through faith alone, that Christianity teaches that sin can just be ignored and continue to be practiced, but this is not true at all. This will become clear as Paul continues his argument about the nature of salvation. The short answer is this:

The End of God’s glory through sin is in both judging the ungodly for their sin and justifying the believing sinner and conforming them to Christ; sin as an end does not glorify God.

Since this is the case, we cannot justify sin because God does not justify it. He condemned sin on the cross in the death of his dear Son. God hates sin, and those who do not repent of it are his enemies.

Psalm 11:5 ESV

The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

God has no love for those who continue in sin. He hates them, he mocks them, he devours them, he condemns them. God is glorified in punishing the wicked and justifying those who put their faith in Christ.

Another reason Paul does not answer this question directly is because it is a foolish challenge to throw at Paul. It would be lethally wrong to assume that because God’s faithfulness remains in spite of our sin that we can fearlessly continue in it. God is faithful, which is exactly why he will judge sin and the sinner and condemn them. It is a gross misunderstanding of Paul’s position, because God is glorified in justifying sinners and making them righteous. His faithful work is that his people do not continue in sin, they walk in the Spirit.

Romans 8:6 ESV

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

The faithful work that justification brings sets the mind on the Spirit, and such a mind is in obedience to God. To continue in sin will glorify God, but only in showing his just wrath in destroying the wicked. This is why Paul ends our text pointing at his wicked accusers, those who slander his Gospel as a license to sin that their condemnation is just. The very people who slander him, whether from a perspective of hostility towards his preaching, or a gross twisting of it for their own sinful desires, will themselves show God’s glory in their condemnation.

Conclusion

Despite the wretched ignorant wickedness of the Gentiles and the hypocritical, proud wickedness of the Jews, God alone remains faithful. He shows this in condemning those who have the law, destroying those who sin against nature, and justifying those who approach him in faith. We can truly appreciate how Paul will revel in God’s glory through his plan,

Romans 11:33–36 ESV

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

for no one may take God’s glory. No one can.

So let us end with an application for our lives from this highly theological and beautifully crafted argument that Paul is making for the Justification of sinners by faith alone in Jesus Christ.

Recognize the privilege you have of having the Word of God, but the inability you have to be better off because of it. Having the Scripture and knowing theology is of great value and should be viewed as such, just as being a Jew and having the law was a privilege “much in every way” to the Jewish readers. But you are unfaithful to this knowledge. You have taken the privilege of God’s Word and cast it aside for unfaithfulness. The more you have of this good thing, the more guilty you are of sinning against God since you have such a privilege. Every student of the Word should fear the awesome responsibility of having it and not abiding in Christ. All of us who have the Scriptures know that it condemns us in our sin.

Recognize that your unfaithfulness does not at all nullify God’s faithfulness to his covenant.

2 Timothy 2:13 ESV

if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

God remains faithful to his covenant promises for his own glory, both promises of judgement and promises of mercy to those who trust in him.

Habakkuk 2:4 ESV

“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.

God’s faithful promise to those who trust him manifests in the mercy he showed through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We can walk in this, not by our own faithfulness, but by his faithfulness to both his justice and mercy. He justly punished your sin on the cross and he justly provides mercy for those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Behold the glory of God’s faithfulness. Christianity is not about looking at ourselves but looking to him. Fill your mind and heart with the faithfulness of God. Believe it. See it play out as we continue our way through the book of Romans, and witness it in your own life by looking more closely at Christ. He works his own faithfulness in us, he upholds us and transforms us, his faithfulness is our faithfulness. Do not look to yourself for the faith to follow Christ, look at the faithfulness of God and let it draw you in. All glory be to our faithful God.