Romans 3.3-Jewish Unfaithfulness Does Not Render Inoperative God's Faithfulness
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday September 30, 2007
Romans: Romans 3:3-Jewish Unfaithfulness Does Not Render Inoperative God’s Faithfulness
Lesson # 74
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 3:1.
On Thursday we began a study of Romans chapter three.
As we have noted in the past, Romans 1:18-3:20 constitutes the second major section of the book of Romans and deals with the universal need of the righteousness of God.
This passage is divided into three major parts: (1) The unrighteousness of the Gentiles (1:18-32). (2) The unrighteousness of the Jews (2:1-3:8). (3) The universal unrighteousness of men (3:9-20).
So this morning we will be continuing our study of this second section, which deals with the unrighteousness of the Jews.
On Thursday evening, we studied Romans 3:1, and in this verse, the apostle Paul asks two direct questions of his audience.
The first direct question pertains to Paul’s teaching in Romans 2:17-24 regarding the Jew’s false security in his racial heritage and anticipates the objection of the Judaizers.
It asks the question: “If the Jews are just as worthy of eternal condemnation as the Gentiles since their racial heritage cannot save them, then what advantage is there to being a Jew?”
Romans 3:1, “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?”
The second direct question pertains to Paul’s teaching in Romans 2:25-29 regarding the Jew’s false security in circumcision and anticipates another objection of the Judaizers who were champions of circumcision (Acts 15; Philippians 3:2).
It asks the question: “If the Jews are just as worthy of eternal condemnation as the Gentiles since circumcision cannot save them, then what advantage is there to being circumcised?”
In Romans 3:2, Paul answers his own question in order to anticipate the objections of the Judaizers by writing that the primary advantage of being a Jew was that God had entrusted the Old Testament Scriptures to the care of the Jews.
Romans 3:2, “Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.”
Corrected translation of Romans 3:1-2:
Romans 3:1-2, “Therefore, what is the advantage of being a Jew? Or, what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect! Indeed, the primary one that they were entrusted with the declarations by God.”
This morning we will study Romans 3:3 in which Paul poses another question to his readership and answers this question as well, teaching that Jewish unfaithfulness does not render inoperative God’s faithfulness.
Romans 3:3, “What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?”
Corrected translation of Romans 3:3:
Romans 3:3, “So then, what if-and let us assume for the sake of argument some did not believe, then will their unbelief render inoperative God’s faithfulness? No!”
The Greek text of Romans 3:3 does not pose two questions but rather one as is rendered by the New American Standard.
Those who would have Paul posing two questions here rather than one are failing to see that the conjunction gar gives an inference from Paul’s statement in Romans 3:2 that the primary advantage to being a Jew is that he has been entrusted with the Old Testament canon of Scripture.
“Then” is the “inferential” use of the post-positive conjunction gar (gavr), which denotes an inference based upon Paul’s previous statement in Romans 3:2 that the primary advantage of being a Jew was that he was entrusted with the Old Testament canon of Scripture.
Paul is saying that “if the Jews were entrusted with the Old Testament canon and some of them did not believe in the promises that are contained in it such as to believe in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation, then am I inferring that God is unfaithful to His promises?”
Or in other words, he is saying “if some Jews did not trust in the promises contained in the Old Testament canon that they were entrusted with, then am I inferring that God is unfaithful to His promises?”
So Paul is anticipating an objection that would be raised and which he probably dealt with in his many confrontations with the Jews.
Paul is saying that “just because some Jews rejected the Messiah does not mean I am implying that God is unfaithful?”
Romans 3:3, “What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?”
“If” is the conditional particle ei (ei)) (i), which introduces a protasis of a first class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument.
In Romans 3:3, the basic relation that the protasis has to the apodasis is “evidence-inference.”
The evidence is the unbelief of some Jews and Paul is inferring from this evidence.
The inference is that God is unfaithful to His promises because of the unbelief of some Jews.
Paul is making an induction about the implications that this piece of evidence suggests in order to refute his opponents, the Judaizers who claimed He taught that God had permanently rejected the nation of Israel for their rejection of Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah and thus implying that God was unfaithful to His promises.
The reason why God has not permanently rejected the nation of Israel was that He is faithful to His promises that she would reign over the Gentile nations with her Messiah ruling bodily in Jerusalem once the Times of the Gentiles have concluded (See Daniel 2; 7; Luke 21:21-24).
“Some” is the indefinite pronoun tis (ti$) (tis), which refers to those individuals who are biological descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and thus members of the nation of Israel who have rejected Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah.
“Did not believe” is the verb apisteo (a)pistevw) (ap-is-the-o), which is interpreted by some expositors as meaning “to refuse to believe” while others render the word “to be unfaithful.”
The former is used with reference to rejecting Jesus of Nazareth as the Jewish Messiah whereas the latter is used with reference to the unfaithfulness of some Jews to the obligations of their covenant relationship.
Now, the Jew, like his forefathers after the flesh, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, had to exercise faith in the coming Messiah in order to enter into a covenant relationship with God (Genesis 15:6).
Therefore, the Jew cannot be unfaithful in his covenant relationship with God if he doesn’t have one because of his unbelief in the coming Messiah.
Therefore, in Romans 3:3, the verb apisteo refers to the unbelief of the Jews, which was manifested in their rejection of Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah and which unbelief is of course tied to disbelief in the resurrection.
In Romans 9:31-33 and 10:1-4, Paul speaks of the reason why the nation of Israel rejected Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah.
Romans 9:31-33, “but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, ‘BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.’”
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.”
Romans 3:3, “What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?”
“Their” is the personal pronoun autos (au)tov$), which refers to those biological descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and thus are members of the nation of Israel who rejected Jesus of Nazareth as their Savior.
“Unbelief” is the noun apistia (a)pistiva) (ap-is-tee-ah), which is composed of the alpha privative meaning “without” and the noun pistis, “faith,” thus the word literally means, “without faith.”
“Will not nullify” is the verb katargeo (katargevw) (kat-arg-eh-o), which means, “to be render inoperative, inactive, ineffective, deprived of its power” whose meaning is negated by the negative particle me (mhv) (may), “not.”
The word does “not” mean, “to cancel,” or “to nullify” since the word is used in direct relation to a function of one of God’s attributes, which Paul identifies for us as His “faithfulness.”
The word carries the idea of God’s faithfulness being rendered inoperative.
Paul is saying with this word that the unbelief of some Jews does not render inoperative the faithfulness of God or in other words, it does not keep Him from being faithful to His covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to bless the nation that would descend from them.
“The faithfulness” is the noun pistis (pivsti$) (pis-tis), which refers to God’s attribute of faithfulness denoting the state of God being someone in whom complete confidence can be placed.
In Romans 3:3, the noun pistis denotes the faithfulness of God in relation to His covenant promises to Israel and the patriarchs since in context Paul is refuting any idea that Jewish unbelief could render inoperative God’s faithfulness to His promises to the nation of Israel and the patriarchs.
“Of God” is the noun theos (qeov$), which refers to the second member of the Trinity, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ who manifested and represented the Trinity before men and was the member of the Trinity who made the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the nation of Israel.
Faithfulness is one of the relative attributes of God meaning that it is related to God’s relationship to men.
Deuteronomy 32:4, “The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He.”
Psalm 33:4, “For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.”
1 Corinthians 1:9, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
2 Timothy 2:13, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”
Faithfulness characterizes God’s loyalty to His covenant people Israel.
The unbelief of some Jews in rejecting Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah does not render inoperative God’s faithfulness to His covenant people Israel.
Paul continues this thought further in Romans 9.
In Romans 9:6-8, Paul teaches that a Jew becomes a part of the covenant people Israel through faith in Jesus Christ and those who reject the Messiah do not enter into a covenant arrangement with God.
Thus, Paul says that not all Israel is Israel since the biological descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob do not constitute the nation of Israel in God’s eyes but only those who are the spiritual descendants of the patriarchs through faith in Jesus Christ.
Therefore, the failure of some individual Jews does not render inoperative God’s faithfulness to the nation of Israel and does not ruin His plan for the nation since only those who accept Jesus of Nazareth as their Savior are considered by God as members of His covenant people, Israel.
The rhetorical question in Romans 3:3 calls attention to the unconditional covenants that the Lord made with the patriarchs and the nation of Israel since God’s faithfulness is connected to His covenant promises.
The four unconditional covenants to Israel: (1) Abrahamic (Israel) (Gen. 12:1-3; 13:16; 22:15-18; 26:4; 28:14; 35:11; Ex. 6:2-8) (2) Palestinian (Israel) (Gen. 13:15; 15:18-21; 26:3-5; 28:13-15; 35:12; Ex. 6:4, 8; Num. 34:1-12; Deut. 30:1-9; Josh. 1:2-4; Jer. 32:36-44; Ezek. 11:16-21; 36:21-38) (3) Davidic (Israel) (2 Sam. 7:8-17; Psa. 89:20-37) (4) New Covenant (Israel) (Jer. 31:31-34; cf. Heb. 8:8-12; 10:15-17).