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Back to the Bible. Let it be our plea. God's Word alone, our authority, every word, every step in the name of Christ. Back to the Bible for the way of life.
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Welcome to this period of Bible study. We are delighted to have a few minutes today to consider with you from God's Word. And we hope that our efforts are clear and faithful. And if in any way you find us not to be understandable or you find us not to be truthful, we would hope that you would reach out to us and let us know about that. Because we want to be clear and we want to be true in what we say. Because we want God to be well served and we want him to be well pleased. You can reach out to us@backtothebiblepodcast.com in this lesson we want to continue in our study of the Book of Romans, and in just a moment we'll be picking up in Chapter three. What I want to do is I want to consider where we've come in the Book of Romans. In Romans 1:1:15, Paul gives thanks for the Romans and expresses his desire to come and see them, and talks about his eagerness to preach the Gospel to them. He summarizes the Gospel in the first few verses of the chapter, talking about Jesus kingship, that he is the descendant of David, that he's the Son of God in power. And then he says that he, his work, the gift that he had been given and the apostleship that he had been given had been intended to bring about the obedience of faith among the Gentiles. Because of that work, Paul was eager to come to Rome, where he could preach to the Romans and where he could take the Gospel to that city. In verses 16 and 17, he tells us why he wanted to take the Gospel to the city of Rome. He said, because he was not ashamed of the Gospel, because it was God's power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek for therein that is within the Gospel. God's righteousness is revealed from faith. For faith as it is written, the just will live by faith. That serves as a great summary for the the Letter to the Romans, especially the first eight chapters, where Paul is going to show us what it means that God is righteous, that he has kept his promises, that he has been faithful, and that he has made that available the Gospel in order to save people presently from their sin and in the future in bringing them to him, that he has raised them from sin, sin and death now with a hope of eternal resurrection in the future and he does so by displaying that in the faith of Jesus Christ, the faithfulness of Jesus, so that we can give our faithfulness to him. Because that is how God's plan has always worked. The faithful have been those who were going to live because the righteous live by their faithfulness or their fidelity. He says that he's eager to preach the Gospel not only because God's righteousness leading to salvation is revealed in the Gospel, but because God's wrath is revealed, that God's wrath is being revealed against ungodliness and unrighteousness. And he describes the pagan world and the depths of the depravity to which they have gone in order to show that they were in desperate need of the good news of the Gospel. But then he comes in chapter two and begins a conversation with what I call his conversation partner. If you read some commentaries on it, they might call it his interlocutor. This is a person that Paul is writing into the text. That is a conversation that Paul is engaging in. That's important because this is Paul's teaching method through the Book of Romans. He will raise questions, put them in the mouth of his conversation partner. So the conversation partner will raise those questions, and Paul will address those questions. In chapter three, we will see those questions and answers almost become a conversation. And Paul is doing this in order to equip the Roman Christians to be prepared against the challenging doctrines that have either come into Rome or are about to come into Rome. Particularly what we saw in Romans 2 is that this conversation partner is someone who looks at that Gentile world of sin in judgment, but is not doing so much better himself. However, this person has taken on things like circumcision and the law of Moses, thinking that that would justify them, make them right in God's sight, when in reality they have missed the point. One, it doesn't seem like this has touched them to the heart. It doesn't seem like they're being transformed from the inside out. And second, because this person is a Gentile, their circumcision actually missed God's promises. That is, as we'll see, particularly in chapter four, that God's promises were that all nations would be blessed through the family of Abraham. And this idea that a Gentile had to be circumcised in order to be right with God, missed that that promise was available to all Gentiles. Then Paul goes as far to say that circumcision was never the main thing. External, physical, fleshly circumcision was never the be all end all of what made someone in right standing with God. Rather it was circumcision of the heart, inward circumcision. And if that was true for an Israelite, if that was true for a biological descendant of Abraham, how much more true was that of a Gentile? They could not just submit to the law or to some narrower circumcised version of the law. Rather they had to be chained from within. And and particularly, as we'll see through the book of Romans, they had to give their faithfulness to Jesus. So we come to chapter three. And in chapter two, Paul seemed to be a little bit tough on circumcision, maybe even a little bit tough on the law. Was there not any benefit to the law? Was there not any value to circumcision? Is Paul saying those things were bad? Well, let's see what he has to say. Coming to Romans 3, beginning at verse 1, then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Paul says, great in every respect, first of all that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. What then if some did not believe? Does their unbelief abolish the faithfulness of God? May it never be. Rather, let God be true and every man a liar, as it is written that you may be justified in your words and overcome when you are judged. But if our righteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is the God who inflicts wrath unrighteous? I am speaking in human terms, may it never be. For otherwise how will God judge the world? But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 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. Alright, let's break down this conversation that's happening here. It might be helpful to follow along in the text and notice where I think we see, we see a question being raised and where we see Paul's answer. I believe that verse one is a question from the conversation partner. Of course Paul is writing that he is putting this question in the conversation partner's mouth. But if Paul said that the law and circumcision wasn't of any value, then can't you see why somebody, including this proselyte conversation partner, would say, well then what advantage was it to being a Jew? Why would they do circumcision in the first place? Was there any value? Paul says that they had the covenant, they had the promises they had the oracles of God. There was great value in Jewishness. There was great value in circumcision being a part of that people, they were entrusted, Paul says, with the oracles of God. The Torah, the law, was a blessing that was intended to bring more blessing. Rodriguez, a commentator on this, says, Torah contain good news for Gentiles and. But it was never given to Gentiles, but it was still good news. Now the Gentile interjects again, well, just because some were unfaithful, does that mean God is going to be unfaithful? That's verse three. That is, is God going to reject Israel and not keep his promises to them just because Israel wasn't faithful? Paul says, of course not. Verse 4, May it never be. God will always be faithful to His Word, even when his people are unfaithful. So they're saying, so God's not going to be faithful to His Word. He's not going to keep his promises to Israel. He's always going to keep his promises, even when his people are not faithful. He cites Psalm 56 to bolster his point, referencing the Lord that God would always, always be justified in his words and he would always overcome when he was being judged. Now the conversation partner asks in verse 5, well, how can God pour out his wrath on people who give Him a chance to demonstrate his faithfulness? Is God righteous when he inflicts wrath? Because maybe it's the fact that God is saving us in our unrighteousness that demonstrates his righteousness. So maybe we should just be unrighteous. Paul says at the end of verse five, I'm speaking in human terms. This is nonsense. This is foolishness. Paul says, Verse 6, May it never be. For otherwise how would God judge the world? God must bring judgment. They should have been faithful. Now God is still being faithful. The righteousness of God is still being displayed. But God's righteousness is being displayed in him being faithful in providing a way to be saved from his judgment, from the judgment that he is bringing. And I think we should think of Romans 1, 16, 17, that the righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel because it is what provides the power for salvation. What Israel should have done is Israel should have emulated God's faithfulness, not tested it. It was almost as if they were pushing him to the edge and saying, are you really going to be faithful to your promises? Are you really going to keep your word? Well, what if we're not faithful? Does that make you unfaithful? And Paul is saying, that is not the way it works. God is always faithful to His Word, and He will judge in faithfulness to His Word. Well, then we come to verse seven. And I think that understanding who the conversation partner is is especially helpful in verse seven, where he says, if through my lie the truth of God abounded to his glory, why am I also being judged as a sinner? I think when he talks about my lie or my falsehood, I think he's talking about the circumcision that Paul calls out at the end of chapter two. Here is a Gentile conversation partner saying, well, if me being circumcised would demonstrate that God is actually very patient and forgiving even when I do something like that, then why would you condemn me? Why would you judge me as a sinner? If my falsehood shows that God can be patient, which makes him look even better, why can't it be considered faithful obedience? Paul says, are you saying that you should do wrong things so that good things should happen? He says, their condemnation is just. Those who say such are rightly condemned. So you have this exchange here where maybe this is someone trying to poke holes in Paul's argument. And he basically says that God is faithful even when his people are not, that God will judge the world in righteousness, and that those who disobey God and those who miss the faithfulness he has demonstrated to his promises deserve the condemnation they're going to receive. Now let's go and read verses three, chapter three, verse nine, all the way through verse 18. Now, this is going to be a catalog of Old Testament quotations, and we'll need to notice those as we go through chapter three, beginning at verse nine. What then? Are we better? Not at all. For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. As it is written, there is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks God. All have turned aside. Together they have become worthless. There is none who does good, There is not even one. Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they keep deceiving. The poison of asps is under their lips. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. So Paul has just talked about all the privileges that the Jews have had. And the conversation partner asks a question in verse nine. What then, are we better? The LSB says, that's really interesting because depending on the translation you're using, and the footnotes that you have in your text, that question there, are we better? Can also be translated, are they worse? Now, I don't know all of the details about exactly how that should be translated. I have read several things about that. But I think that the idea here is, regardless one way or the other, the idea that whether a person is a Jew or a Gentile, are they better off or are they worse given their circumstances? I think the idea here is that Paul is saying no one is better or worse off because both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. So is this the Gentile proselyte saying, are we better off? Well, no. Look at chapter one. The Gentiles are in bad shape too. Is he saying, are they better off? Well, I don't know if that's what he's asking. I think he's asking, are the Jews in a better condition? As this person is identifying as a proselyte, are Jews in a better condition or a worse condition? And than someone else, Paul is saying, absolutely not. Sin is a problem for all. We have already charged that Jews and Greeks are all under sin. Now, there should have been an advantage to the Jew. They should have been better off, right? But that was not the case. And then Paul is going to bring this catalog of Old Testament passages and apply them to Israel and show that Greek and Jew were guilty of sin. One writer said that God has made sin into the great equalizer of the nations. Now consider how they arrived there. We see the Gentile situation in Romans chapter one. But the Jews arrived in the same situation having received God's revelation, having heard God's promises, having received God's blessing, and they still ended up separated from God by sin. Paul says, we've already brought this case that all are under sin. And so now he brings evidence to his case. So he's going to cite several different passages. And I'll put these up so you can see them if you're watching on video. But In Romans chapter 3, verses 10 through 12, he's citing from Psalm 14 or Psalm 53. They're almost identical in the Book of Psalms. And then in Romans 13, part A, he cites from Psalm 59. And then in Romans 3:13b, he's citing from Psalm 140, verse 3. In Romans 3:14, he's citing from Psalm 10:7. And then in Romans 3, 15, 17, he's citing from Isaiah 59, 7, 21. Now, I think we should look at some of those passages in their context, just so we understand what Paul is and is not saying in Those passages. Let me also mention that Romans 3:18 comes from Psalm 36. 1. Now, what I want to do is flipping over to Psalm 14. Perhaps you have heard this psalm referenced before, because verse one says, the wicked fool says in his heart there is no God. They act corruptly. They commit abominable deeds. There is no one who does good. Yahweh looks down from heaven to see if there is anyone who has insight, anyone who seeks God. They have all turned aside, all together. They have become worthless. There is no one who does good. Not even one. Now, what happens sometimes is that people say. People look at this passage and they say, look, people are inevitably and inherently depraved. There is no one who was doing anything righteous. It was impossible to be righteous. But what's really interesting is just a couple of verses later, in verse five, it says, there they are in great dread, for God is with the righteous generation. Well, who are these righteous that are being referred to there? Over in Psalm 5 and verse 9, he says, There is nothing reliable in their mouth. Their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave. They flatter with the tongue. Hold them guilty, O God, by their own devices let them fall. But here's the interesting thing. As David writes Psalm 14 and as he writes Psalm 5, he is not saying that there is literally not a single soul that's righteous. He is saying they are unrighteous, they are wicked. Look at verse 7 of Psalm 5, just right before that quote. He says, but as for me, in the abundance of your loving kindness, and I will enter your interior house, at your holy temple, I will worship in fear of you. I thought there was no one who feared God. I thought nobody was seeking the Lord. Verse 11 of Psalm 5. Let all who take refuge in you be glad. Let them ever sing for joy, and may you shelter them, that those who love your name may exult in you. Verse 12. For it is you who blesses the righteous one, O Yahweh, you surround him with favor as with a large shield. Do you hear that? In these very passages that Paul is quoting, there are people who we would consider righteous. There are people who the Lord considered righteous. So what's happening here? The idea here is not that it was impossible to be righteous. In fact, there is a righteous person in all of those contexts. But on the whole, Jew and Gentile, neither is righteous is the point. Paul is taking these passages from the Jewish scriptures, from the Hebrew Bible, and he is saying, you are not righteous despite the fact you have been given God's law. In Isaiah, chapter 59, verses 7 through 21. The interesting thing here is that as Isaiah writes this, he uses the phrase we a lot. He uses they, but he also says, this is verse 10. We we grope along the wall like blind men. We grope like those who have no eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight. Among those who are vigorous, we are like dead men. He's talking about their sinful situations. Verse 12. For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins answer against us. For our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities. The point here Paul is making is not that it was impossible to be righteous under the law. It was possible God had given them the law with the intention of them being righteous. He had said, it's within Your reach. Deuteronomy 30 it's for your good. Deuteronomy 6 It's for your atonement and your forgiveness. The book of Leviticus would tell us. But they were not righteous. Israel's failure and the judgment that came upon them was a testament to their sin. Now this Gentile that we're having this conversation with in the book of Romans may have been going to a lot of effort to identify as a Jew, but Israel failed, as demonstrated by their curse and their exile and their death. And Paul is showing him that just because someone was a Jew did not make them in right standing. And certainly not just because one claim to be a Jew, not just because one took on the name Jew. Would he be in right standing? Now, I want you to please note that this does not indicate that nobody could be righteous under the law. For a perfect example of this, I think we think about Zacharias and Elizabeth in Luke chapter one. They were both righteous before God. Yes, all individually have sinned, but we must see that with the law's provision there were those who were righteous. Now let me also note that in all of those passages the writer is crying out for God's righteousness and justice against the wicked, and his righteousness and mercy and faithfulness for the godly. And the implication is it has now come, it has now appeared the cry of. Of the righteous from the book of Psalms and from Isaiah for judgment to come on the wicked. What would Paul say? The wrath of God is being revealed, and the cry for salvation and help and rescue. What would Paul say in the Gospel? The righteousness of God is revealed and the just shall live by their faithfulness. Now let's look at verses 19 and 20 as we draw this lesson to A close. He says, now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are in the law, so that every mouth may be shut and all the world may become accountable to God. Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin. Now here's the heavy conclusion. Jews, no less than Gentiles, stand guilty under sin. Now this Gentile has subjected himself to it, which had not helped the Jews and wasn't meant for the Gentiles. It was foolish for him to subject himself to it. And as a result, everyone had to stand in silence before the accusation of the law. They had no room to talk. That even included those who had the great privileges that we read about at the beginning of the chapter. The law had not provided a way for a Gentile to be brought into a right relationship with God. It only brings more knowledge of sin. Now what does he mean here by works of the law, no flesh being justified? Remember, he does not mean that no one could be righteous under the law. They could be. We read about Zacharias and Elizabeth, and I think we could point to other examples. And he does not mean by this that just because someone was under the law that they had to be perfectly obedient. That wasn't the case. We know that nobody has been perfectly obedient. And yet somehow they were still considered righteous under the law. So what is he saying? He is saying that the law was always pointing to Christ and that all the provisions of the law, the animal sacrifices, the Levitical priesthood, the tabernacle, all of that was pointing to Christ, and that all the forgiveness that occurred under the law was in view of Jesus. That if Jesus had not been crucified, had not been raised from the dead, that that would have been insufficient for the price of man's sin. And now Jesus has come. He has been revealed. God's righteousness has been revealed in. In the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. So if someone wants to go back and subject themselves to the law, the circumcision, the law of Moses in other areas, the Sabbath or the eating of meats, if they want to identify as a Jewish person, if they want to submit themselves to the law in order to be right with God, they've missed the goal that the law was always pointing to. And all they are left with is the knowledge of the sin that the law brings. Oh, the law brings good knowledge of sin. It puts a spotlight on people's sin, but it also provided righteousness. But now that Christ is in view, now that Christ has been revealed, to go back under the law is to simply be left with just the curse. But now you'll have to wait for next time. Until then, we bid you a pleasant good day.
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Back to the Bible. Let it be our plea. God's word alone, our authority. Every word, every step, in the name of Christ. Back to the Bible for the way of life.