Romans 3:1-8, All are Guilty, But God is Good

Here we begin to see Paul further his prior argument, before he was writing about how being a Jew is of no advantage before God (rather a great disadvantage because they fumbled it so hard, and by being exposed to truth, and to so often reject it outright, their judgement will be harsher) but it is still a good thing, they had something no one else had, a covenant relationship with God! They had the chance to enjoy something so beautiful and partake in His glory, but sadly, as we have read and will continue to read, arrogance got in the way. Complacency and a lack of understanding of their privilege before God. (Quick analogy, I, Jazi, being a Mexican have no real advantage, but it is still good thing because I was raised in a culture of hard work and really really good food and the chance to learn a second language to near perfection and that is something I can share with others).

Paul’s purpose is not to demonize the Jews and/or push them away from Christianity, but rather he is making sure they understand that they are not immune to the coming judgement, they too will answer for their what they have done and they too must go to Christ for salvation.

They had something amazing, the Oracles of God, His Word spoken to some so that they may share with all. They had His Divine utterances! (Just like we do) They have been exposed to the goodness of God and were carriers/guardians of that which they have been entrusted with.

Application:

We too must be aware of our own privilege. We need to understand that what we have is no joke. It is of the utmost importance, we are children of God, and with that comes the privilege of being co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), we will be saved and will be going to heaven (John 3:16, John 14:2-3), we will have the opportunity to grow and understand to a greater depth that which God has spoken (Isaiah 11:2, in the context it is obviously referring to Christ Himself, but we must understand the same Spirit that rests on Christ, rests within us, John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7) and logically after the last point, we have the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22). There is so much more (like being able to partake in His plan [Jeremiah 29:11], having the Word within us [Psalm 119:11], being in His protection [1 Peter 1:5], etc.) but we have to understand, that it is all from God, and that we ourselves have no true advantage just like the Jew does not, but rather we are both in constant need of Christ, and on that final day, when the Lord judges us, He will judge us righteously, and the only reason we will not go to hell, is because of He who intercedes on our behalf for having put our faith in Him. The only difference between us and lost person, is that we understood we were lost, and needed a savior.

We are responsible to reach out to the lost, Matthew 28:16-20, Romans 10:14–15 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”” The preacher here is not the pastor (although it can be the pastor) but rather it is anyone who has the gospel within them! For the definition of preacher here is this, ‘to be a herald’, and to be a herald means, ‘One who announces or proclaims a message’. And we are not done there, for we are then responsible to teach and admonish them with the Word of God, Matthew 28:16-20, 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Or else we too may fall victim to what Hebrews 5:11-14 and what God proclaimed in Hosea 4:6 and sadly what happened to the Jews, Romans 10:1–4 “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (Chapter 3)

3 What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?

4 May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written,

“THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS,

AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED.”

5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.)

6 May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world?

7 But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?

8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just.

In these next couple of verses we see what sometimes accompanies the rebellious, excuses. And we must understand that even though His chosen people did fail, it was not because of Him, for God had given plenty of opportunities and blessing to never do such things that they did, but even then, they turned from God often, as we see the Israelites do in the desert, wanting to go back to Egypt and turn to false idols. There were many with whom Paul contended, there were many who spread either a false gospel or attacked the gospel with the wisdom and knowledge of the world, something many Jews did. “Paul uses the socratic method (the Diatribe) of asking and answering questions to lead his imaginary partner to correct answers to real questions that follow from 2:17–29” (Toews, John E. Romans. Herald Press, 2004, pp. 88–89.)

God is good, always, and He has remained faithful even though all have been unfaithful to Him, the fact that the Earth is still here and we are still alive and well can 100% be attributed to that fact.

He has been proven right every single time as well, but even then to this day humanity accuses Him of being evil if His Justice does not match our own, but His Son Jesus, The Word Made Flesh, proved 2,000 years ago that HE meant business and that He was 100% justified and has prevailed.

Sadly, what often immediately follows sin, is the excusing of sin, instead of taking the blame and understanding we did something wrong, we jump right to the, “Nuh-uh” or “I did so because of so and so”, as the first ever humans did, Genesis 3:9-13.

The Jews, rather than admit they were wrong and turn to Christ, double down on the rejection of Christ and His Gospel, and still seek to rely on their own works and try and twist God’s Word to fit what they think is right.

For to say what has been said in Romans 3:5-8 is such a terrible thing, Paul even had to add that he was speaking in human terms in v.5 because such a thought is blasphemous thing to say (Paul was not blasphemous, but he wrote the blasphemy of those who did say such a thing, because their intent was to get away from Righteous Judgement by accusing God of unjustly judging them).

Many seek the easy way out, and always convince themselves that they are not wrong, but rather God is wrong. And do so in ways that have read in these verses.

Pride leads to such statements and questions, rather than understanding this world is full of sin and we just keep on adding to that, we seek to shift the blame.

And it is so easy to blame God rather than take responsibility, as Adam showed us. And one reason is because we think of Him as an easy target since He does not respond immediately to the sin of the world, and therefore many say what they say, He does not care, He is not all powerful nor all good, he allows things to happen which makes Him complicit, He is a child abuser because of what He did to Christ, He created things to sin with so He is bad, etc., so much foolishness, we can’t just admit, “I(we) sin, therefore I(we) am(are) to blame”.

Many don’t understand that God not yet judging the world is a mercy, for many would die without getting the opportunity to repent and accept Jesus.

But all that do judge God and His Gospel in such a terrible way, will receive Just condemnation like the rest of us, their ‘intellect’ and rejection are not a shield.

Application:

The application is simple, we cannot excuse ourselves out of this, we have a choice, follow Christ or not. And if you decide to follow Christ, well here is what it looks like, Luke 9:23 “And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”, Matthew 22:36–40 ““Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”” and Mark 12:28–34 “One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ “The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that He is One, and there is no one else besides Him; and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as himself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.”.

Romans 13:10 “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”, it is this simple, if we are actually followers of Christ, then we, John 14:15 ““If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”, 1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.”, Matthew 11:30 ““For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.””.

It is so easy, yet so difficult. We trust ourselves to Him, not think ourselves better than Him. Romans 6:15-23, 7:7; Galatians 3. God is so good, all of History points to Christ, and how everything done, whether evil or good, will all work according to the Will of God (He does no evil, but He can use it for Good), Galatians 3; Genesis 50:20.

God is Just (Psalm 51:4), He is Good (Psalm 34:8), we will be okay in His hands (John 10:28-29), He is Faithful through it all (2 Timothy 2:13).

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Follow Him, hitch your entire life to Him, it is more than worth it.

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