Addressing the Scoffers

HBI - all are under the dominion of sin, all excuses are silenced God is faithful when we are not.

God is faithful, no one else is.

Gospel - The bad news is that none are righteouss, the good news is it shows us that we need justification in Jesus.

Intro

Lew Wallace was a Union general, lawyer, and later territorial governor. By his own admission, he had no real convictions about God or Christ. He neither believed nor disbelieved. The Christian faith that shaped his country simply did not matter much to him. He was indifferent.

In 1876, while riding a train, he had a long conversation with the well-known agnostic Robert Ingersoll. , aggressively mocked and scoffed at the concepts of God, the Bible, and religious doctrines, but his relationship with religious was much more complex. Known in the late 19th century as "The Great Agnostic," Ingersoll was a master orator who used sharp wit, satire, and humor to dismantle religious beliefs. Ingersoll’s arguments exposed how little Wallace actually knew about the Christian claims. Wallace later wrote that he walked away ashamed of his own ignorance. He felt the force of the questions and realized he had never seriously examined the matter.

He resolved to study it thoroughly—so that he could form real convictions one way or the other. He returned to a short story he had begun about the Magi and expanded it into a full novel set in the time of Christ. The result was Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

As Wallace researched, wrote, and lived with the historical figure of Jesus, something changed. By the time he finished the book he could say he had come to “a conviction amounting to absolute belief in God and the divinity of Christ.”

He did not set out to disprove Christianity. He set out because a scoffer’s questions had exposed his own lack of knowledge. In the process of facing those questions honestly, his indifference was replaced by faith.

Paul is dealing with people who raise objections and scoff. Wallace was not a loud mocker, but he was living as if the truth about God did not matter. The questions of a scoffer forced him to stop, examine the evidence, and face the reality of Christ. Like the mouths Paul says are “stopped” in Romans 3:19, Wallace’s casual unbelief could not stand once he seriously engaged the truth. What began as indifference ended in conviction—and a story that has pointed many others to Jesus.

we are left with no leg to stand on, we can scoff, we can mock, we can question but before we move on to the good news we learn through Paul that we are left without excuse, none at all. we can question all we want but the end is the same, the bible hasnt changed. No not one.

3:1-8 - answering the scoffers

After showing Gentile guilt (Rom 1) and Jewish guilt despite having the Law (Rom 2), Paul anticipates objections (“scoffings”) that still surface today—from skeptics, atheists, or even some religious people. He answers them with clear thinking (good philosophy under God’s wisdom) and Scripture. The passage drives home universal human guilt so that every mouth is stopped and the world is accountable to God. The Law reveals sin; it does not justify.

He asks questions he believes his audience will be asking And then he answers them one at a time In the process, he refutes the lie. Think of this like the final verdict in the case.

The first question we have is if all this is the case then what advantage does the Jew even have?

Romans 3:1 CSB

So what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

responding to sarcastic objections/scoffing arguments against the gospel what advantage does the jew have? They had great advantage in carrying the very words of God. what advantage does it have to be a jew if there is apperantly no extra perks in it, no value in the sign given to them by God, extra judgement for being the first to have the law of God. I mean what is the point?

Romans 3:2 CSB

Considerable in every way. First, they were entrusted with the very words of God.

much in every way we are told. the first objection is wondering why bother, what is the point if there is no value. They where entrusted with the very word of God. Imagine the blessing of carrying the word of God. The OT law was not a curse, but a blessing given to them by God. It brought htem protection and blessing, though it showed their sin and their need for something more.

Take for example the Bubonic plague that swept through europe. People came after the Jewish people sometimes as the cause of it because they where not affected as much as others. But people now say it was because the moral and cleansing laws they followed that where given to them by God. Jewish religious law emphasized washing, cleanliness, and certain forms of separation and quarantine.

There is great joy and benifit in being the original people of God. But even as followers of Jesus I am sure we can relate. What bemnifit is there in being an elder or leader in the church when a false step means harsher judgement? what is the point sometimes? Much in every way.

The next objection faced is that If God’s people failed does that mean God failed? or another way of seeing it is if God is faithful → therefore my unfaithfulness shouldn't matter.

Romans 3:3 CSB

What then? If some were unfaithful, will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness?

This is a one I hear even these days, because of the unfaithfulness of some how can you say god is faithful? We struggle, the church fails in doing what it is called to do sometimes, so does that mean god is no longer faithful?

God’s faithfulness is not determined by our inability to continue to follow Him or not. What people believe or reject does not determine the character and faithfulness of god.

Romans 3:4 CSB

Absolutely not! Let God be true, even though everyone is a liar, as it is written: That you may be justified in your words and triumph when you judge.

Paul here quotes from Psalm 51:4 “Against you—you alone—I have sinned and done this evil in your sight. So you are right when you pass sentence; you are blameless when you judge.”

It is saying that God is justified in what he does and even if every human opposed God He would still remain true and faithful. So to think it does not matter what you believe or what you do is nullifyied by that God is always faithful and is right when he passes judgement because of it.

The third one is a tough one to deal with

Romans 3:5 CSB

But if our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, what are we to say? I am using a human argument: Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath?

we ask the question If God is showing his righteousness when we sin, then why does he inflict wrath? But we must remember that this is a human way of thinking. The point is that all of us are under sin. But we still wonder if god is just in inflicting his wrath on sin when it shows how righteouss God is.

This is the usual logic from the scoffer, saying that I am actually helping God then when I sin so why then is it such a bad thing?

Romans 3:6 CSB

Absolutely not! Otherwise, how will God judge the world?

Romans 3:7 CSB

But if by my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?

Romans 3:8 CSB

And why not say, just as some people slanderously claim we say, “Let us do what is evil so that good may come”? Their condemnation is deserved!

It is all just a way for us to avoid admitting personal guilt for al that we have done. I was dwelling on this idea of our unrighteoussness being used to show the righteoussness and glory of God and it got me thinking. We see God as saviour and protector from the storms that assail us, but then these verses here bring with it the idea that the storms that assail us can show the righteoussness and glory of Godeven if we fail to live according to the standards of God.

It would only make sense then to say that God is Lord of all things if our unrighteoussness can be used to glorify God. We are still to blame for our sin. God is the protector from the storm, but also the one who is Lord over it. Isaiah 45:7 speaks of this. All to say that though there is secondary agents like satan and sinful people who do evil they act freely and bear full moral responsibility and God remains Lord over all and sovereign over the outcome. This is how Our unrighteoussness can show the righteoussness of God.

Do you ever scoff at God and what He has done? What it comes down to from what we see here is

We can trust the God who saves because we fail

The verdict is in to answer all of the scoffers out there. we may question what God does but in the end Paul answers them all, you are without excuse. But that does not make useless what God has done for us. He is still in control even when we fail and we must turn to Him, because as we will learn next we are lost, though not without hope.

3:9-18 - Paul presents the evidence

We have scoffers who mock the Lord God with blame shifting and arguments that we see do not stand up, they are illogical and dont make sense. God’s character is true, faithful and just what we then need to focus on is that we are accountable for our actions and what we have done. We all tend toward self-justifying mental gymnastics. The passage forces serious humility—no one is righteous by their own efforts or heritage.

The evidence has been presented, we are all guilty. Paul uses the Psalms and proverbs here to show that we have all sinned. we are all guilty.

Romans 3:9–18 CSB

What then? Are we any better off? Not at all! For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin, as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers’ venom is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Paul strings together Old Testament quotations (primarily from Psalms and Isaiah) as a chain of evidence:

None is righteous, no, not one.

No one understands; no one seeks for God.

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.

Throat is an open grave; tongues deceive; venom of asps under lips; mouth full of curses and bitterness.

Feet swift to shed blood; paths of ruin and misery; way of peace not known.

No fear of God before their eyes.

This is comprehensive

whether through mind, speech, actions or motives we are all under sin

This speaks of the universal depravity of man, we are going to learn next week that though all are under sin we are not without hope. It is hard to hear all of this but there are none righteouss, no not one. we stand guiolty before God, we are without excuse. But do you try and make excuses or even scoff at God because of the sin you have gotten yourself into? instead turn to the Lord. Their is evil around us, people that would try and turn us away from god but instead of turning away we can understand that we are all guilty and grow closer to God.

3:19-20 - The Verdict

The verdict is in

Romans 3:19–20 CSB

Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment. For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.

The great conclusion - we are all not just committing sins but we are under sin.

There is a greek myth about the titan atlas. The titans ruled the world before the gods did in greek mythology. The gods battled them and won and atlas’s punishment was holding the sky up on his shoulders so it wouldnt crash down and join the earth like it longed to. Someone had to hold up the sky, he couldnt get out unless someone took the burden from him and no one was willing to do that.

We are held under the same burden looking into the mirror of the law that reflects how lost we really are.

No one reasons themselves into believing in the Gospel

By human reason, the Gospel is nonsense

The ability to understand God lies outside our grasp, and that spiritual blindness is a consequence of our spiritual birth defect

It takes a living spirit to understand spiritual truth from God, but we’re born with a dead spirit

If this all points to the righteoussness of God then what we need in the end

We need the righteoussness of Jesus that enables us to be free from unrighteoussness

Our sin shows the righteoussness of god in that he is just in the consequences of it. But that should give us some hope. we do not have to stay that way. The truth has been made known to us. We have seen the fallacies of any argument we might make against it. We are all unrighteouss and we need more.

aul’s approach: Answer the specific objection clearly, expose the illogic, affirm God’s character (true, faithful, just), and keep the focus on human accountability. Do not let the scoffer redefine the terms or shift guilt onto God.

Humility lesson: We all tend toward self-justifying mental gymnastics. The passage forces serious humility—no one is righteous by their own efforts or heritage.

This section is still the “bad news.” It prepares the heart for the good news of justification by grace through faith in Christ alone (the next section of Romans).

Gospel - The bad news is that none are righteouss, the good news is it shows us that we need justification in Jesus.