Romans Series: Chapter 3
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Peace to Live By Romans Series: Chapter 3 - Daniel Litton
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[Transcript may not match broadcasted sermon word for word, and contains extra material that was cut from the broadcast due to time constraints]
Today we come to Romans chapter 3. And being chapter 3, the Apostle Paul is going to accomplish four things for us today. First, he is going to discuss whether or not the Jewish person has any advantage over the non-Jewish person, the Gentile. Second, he will ask the question of whether or not sinning is in fact good—because it brings glory to God. Third, Paul will show that in actuality all people, no matter who they are, are under sin. And forth, he is going to tell us how we can correct our sin problem, in a way that couldn’t be corrected by the Jewish law system of the Old Testament. So, we have quite a bit to discuss here, and a lot to be reminded of and encouraged by.
So, turn in your Bibles, or tap in your Bible apps to Romans chapter 3. We are going to start in verse 1: “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” (Romans 3:1-4, ESV)
This is a big question that Paul poses to start this chapter. It’s a big question. And it’s a question that some folks have failed to understand in their study of Scripture, particularly New Testament Scripture. The idea that the church—those who come to faith in Jesus Christ—somehow replace God’s calling on Israel, and that Israel is not God’s chosen people anymore—that idea has no place in a correct understanding of the Bible. Indeed, this is a Jewish book. Even the New Testament is Jewish themed in many ways. To try to remove the Jewishness from the Bible and to understand it outside of that context just doesn’t make good sense. One could not understand, for instance, George Washington or Thomas Jefferson without understanding America. And it’s the same way with the Bible and Judaism. In other words, all of this being said, the correct answer to Paul's question is that, “Yes, the Jew does have an advantage.”
Around Christmastime last year I took one of those Ancestry DNA tests. Of course, like anyone, I had some preconceived notions of what to expect from the results. My grandmother, for instance, had told us on her deathbed that her grandmother was a full-blooded Native American. So, naturally, I presumed that I had some Native American in my blood. Most of the things, however, I had believed about my ancestry proved to be incorrect in light of the test. That’s interesting, isn’t it? It’s amazing how we can often believe things about ourselves, or our families, or whatever, and those things aren’t true at all. We can spend our whole lives believing things that aren’t true, and that can affect our lives greatly, and not in a good way. Anyhow, upon looking at my results that I got several weeks later after taking the test, there were a couple particular things that stuck out to me. The first one was I had no relation to any Native Americans. So, that which I had believed for years, that even of which my father believed, turned out to not be true. And the second thing which stuck out was really one thing that I had wondered about for a long time. I saw that I do have some Jewish blood in me. It wasn’t a great deal of my makeup, not by any means, but it is there nonetheless.
For me, this was a life-changing thing, since I am familiar with the Scriptures and know how significant this is. First, I tried to determine what God thinks of this. I mean, since I’m not a hundred percent Jewish, does God see me as a Jewish person? I looked through the Scriptures trying to find my answer. After studying it, I concluded that, “Yes, God does consider anyone Jewish who has Jewish blood in them, no matter what the percentage.” I came to that conclusion after reading several passages, which became sort of a roadway through the Book of Acts. In Acts 1:8, Jesus said, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (ESV). So, Jesus differentiated the parts of the world with those who have Jewish blood, obviously Jerusalem, and then those areas of Judea and Samaria. And then he said the rest of the world after that, who are the Gentiles. If that isn’t enough for you, let’s look at Acts 9:31: “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up” (ESV). Then, consider Acts 10:45: “And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles” (ESV). Notice how the Gentiles were preached the Gospel only after the Jews heard it first, those of Jerusalem, Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. And those outside of these areas are referred to as Gentiles. This was not only because that’s what the Lord commanded them to in Acts 1:8, but also because the Jews are the rightful heirs in God’s eyes. They are first.
I didn’t tell anyone about my Jewish ancestry for months. Pastor Jim Custer was the first person outside of my blood-family whom I told. And it seemed only right for him to learn first, since it was through him that God brought me to salvation and the fact that he is like my Forefather in the faith. He’s my George Washington. I see no difference between the two. When I see Jim Custer, it’s like a great student of American History seeing George Washington in the flesh. And I too am a student of American History.
Anyway, back in the text, even though the Jews had been given all the knowledge and truth which comes from God, since God bestowed it upon them, they still did not follow him. Here again, like earlier in Romans, we run into the issue of ‘free’ will, how a person's will operates in conjunction with God’s will. We know that the Jews were faithless, as Paul says here, but does that make God unfaithful? Wasn’t it God’s responsibility to keep them faithful, one might ask? For sure, when it comes to the faithlessness of any human deciding not to believe in him, God does have a part. He brings his witnesses to people who share the Gospel, who share his truth. It’s also true that a person has to make the choice to believe in and follow God. Even if a great deal of truth is presented to a person, that person can continually reject the truth and harden their heart. But this rejection and hardening of the heart does not make God unfaithful. Actually, it does the reverse, it shows the faithfulness and truth of God.
Verse 5: “But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.” (Romans 3:5-8, ESV)
So, Paul brings up the obvious question. And that is if by our doing unrighteous things that shows God’s righteousness, then how can he judge us? How can he hold us accountable for sin? Paul will come back to this question later in Romans which is why I think he really doesn’t give a direct answer here. I think he poses this idea of a question early on as if to get the readers, or hearers, to start thinking about what he is saying. And part of the answer to this question is that we are not really in a place to judge God, as Paul will go on to talk about here in this chapter. God is so much above us that we really don’t understand how things work. We could try to argue that because God is aware of sin or could stop sin, that he is then guilty for allowing it. But that kind of argument is immature. It doesn’t really understand and comprehend God, or the way things work for that matter. Not only that, but also we have Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (ESV). Again, this doesn’t mean we should sin on purpose, but God can work good out of our sin.
The Apostle Paul made it clear, though, that he and his companions did not say that people should go about sinning. He said for anyone who says he's saying that, that that is slander against him—it’s not true. And he pronounces a curse upon them in saying “Their condemnation is just.” Even Paul, as great as he was, had people speak errousnessly of what he had preached and what he had written undoubtedly. So, be at ease and be encouraged, you out there who are fellow preachers. Know that people may change what you say, or twist it to make it look like you said something you really didn’t say. And God will bring judgment upon those people. Remember, though, for Jesus even told us, “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:12, KJV). Now, faithful and true brothers should never do this to their fellow brother; they should never play politics with their fellow brother. There is no place for politics in the body of Christ, that is, negative politics for the wrong reasons. Sometimes I don’t think enough measures are taken in order to prohibit or prevent bad politics in church. I have some ideas on how to do that, but we don’t have time to get into them now.
Continuing on. Verse 9: “What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “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.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”” (Romans 3:9-18, ESV)
Even though the Jews had been given God’s commandants, as far as their own righteousness goes, this has not given them any advantage in being righteous before God. We know that the Law cannot make a person become righteous. And why’s that? Well, of course, it’s because of the sin nature that is in every person. Paul says whether we are of Jewish descent or Gentile descent, it doesn’t matter, in this regard, because we are all “worthless; no one does good, not even one.” I think it’s interesting how Paul spends the next three Scripture references (for Paul does quote a lot of Scripture here), he uses the next three references to focus on the tongue. Yes, he focuses on our mouths, and the things we say with our months. He says, ““Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”” That’s some pretty dramatic terminology.
So, why does Paul focus on our tongues when describing the evilness of people? What is it about our tongues that make them uniquely evil? It is with our tongues that we communicate. Or, as Jesus put it is out of the abundance of our hearts that our mouths speak things. Our mouths show what is in our hearts. The tongue is the doorway to see what is really inside of us. God only uses his mouth for good purposes. Even if he is pronouncing a judgment or a curse, it’s based and has its home in righteousness. We, as humans, are supposed to like God. But we often have used our tongues for evil purposes. But there is hope. Jesus said, “The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil” (Matthew 12:35, ESV). Without a person saying something, we could not know what that person really thinks—whether his allegiance is to God or whether it lies somewhere with Satan.
What do people do with their tongues? Paul emphasizes four things here primarily. He says we use our tongues to deceive, spew venom, curse others, and not forgive our fellow person. So, people are liars. They, like Satan originally did in the Garden of Eden, work to deceive their fellow person. The spew violent things toward others. They say things that poison others, that paralyze them. They pronounce unjust curses on others. Not that pronouncing a curse is always bad (more on this some other time). And perhaps most evil and debilitating for themselves, they refuse to forgive their fellow person when they themselves do the very same things. God offers forgiveness to all, and Christians have received God’s forgiveness through Christ, and yet unforgiveness is still present. Not that forgiveness is always easy. It isn’t always easy. In certain situations for people, it can be very hard. But it’s a decision people have to make even when their emotions don’t agree.
Next, Paul says, ““Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.”” What does rage and unforgiveness lead to? Well it leads to murder. Even if a person doesn’t physically murder another, a person can mentally murder another. He or she can keep the offense in view toward that person whenever they see or think about the person. They can refuse to let the offense go. And where does bitterness, which results from unforgiveness, where does that lead to? Bitterness leads to ruin and misery. Life is more than any one offense that has occurred against you. Are you willing to give up your life because someone has done something against you? Isn’t it right to move on and set out enjoying the life that God has given you? People will let their lives be ruined for years because their spouse left them for another person. They are now divorced and by themselves. Perhaps with kids, perhaps not. But they hold a grudge and sacrifice their life saturated in anger and bitterness. It’s only natural to feel those emotions initially, but then it’s time to move on. Don’t give up your life when you could have a new life, one that leads you in a good, new direction. God will certainly help you. You cannot know peace, the way of peace, when you are seeking to hurt others, or are ruined, or are miserable.
The peace of God—the peace that God provides—the way of peace—what is this that Paul is talking about? Notice how Paul contrast the way of sinful persons with the way of peace. On God’s side, then, there is peace. Doing things God’s way gives you peace. And peace is so important. I heard a minister say one time, “If you are without peace, you are without power.” That hits at the heart of this. You cannot have a powerful life, you cannot be confident and move in a positive direction without peace. You have to have peace. Lack of peace prohibits power. No peace, no confidence. No peace, no feeling good about yourself. No peace, no moving forward in a good way. I think a big part of having peace is being familiar with God’s mercy and grace. We need God’s mercy to forgive us of our sins and move on when we do incorrect things, and we need God’s grace to enable us to do what we cannot do ourselves. We need both. We cannot and should not try to move ahead in our lives under our own power. Thankfully, though, God will help us when we seek for him and wait for him to do so. We got to have faith.
The human who is ultimately depraved is he who has “no fear of God before [his] eyes.” We see this in people who are most rebellious. I’m sure many of you are familiar with the old movie from the 1950s, ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ which starred James Dean. There is something about the movie that has an evil, rebellious aroma about it. Even for today, and it’s been some time now, it has an evil feel. And there have been questions over the years as to whether that movie was cursed, after what happened with the three main actors. And undoubtedly it was. A few may remember, Mr. Dean was killed in his Porsche Spyder on a backcountry California road at the age of 24. That was 63 years ago, actually to this very day. James Dean’s character, while he is often seen as cool (the person every guy wanted to be like), is not someone that we really want to be like. Sure, his look might have been cool, but his actions are not something we want to follow. And it was really the movie ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ that captured the rebellious spirit that was moving across America in the 1950s with young people. It would be these same people who would be heavily involved in things like Woodstock some ten years later. And Satan started all the way back here to get what we have today.
Moving on. Verse 19: “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:19-20, ESV)
Thus, Jewish people are without excuse. They were the ones who received God’s law, so they should know better. Paul says, “so that every mouth may be stopped” and this appears to refer to anything a Jewish person might say in order to try to justify themselves. No, every Jewish person, because the law from Moses was readily available to them, had the opportunity to follow it. They were responsible to do what was right in God’s eyes. And even the Gentile person, though he or she didn’t have God’s law written down in a physical form, had God’s law written on their heart, as Paul told us earlier. So, they too, the Gentiles, knew what was right and wrong. They too then are responsible. In the final analysis, whoever we consider, anyone in the world, you and me, all of us are “held accountable to God.”
But, even with God’s Law, whether we are considering the written form given to the Jews, or whether was are considering the heart implanted form that the Gentiles have, in either case, no one is able to keep God’s Law with his own will alone. It’s just not possible. All these laws do is show us where we sin. They make sin known and clear to us. We see our sin, our unrighteousness, by knowing what is right, by knowing what God requires from us. Our sin natures prohibit us from actually carrying out the law in perfect obedience. We just can’t do it no matter how hard we try. Because Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, and we all have inherited that seed of sin from Adam, and then through Noah and his family, there is no hope for us by ourselves. Actually, though, there is hope, which is outside of ourselves, and that comes through Jesus Christ.
Now we come to one of the most important passages of Scripture in the whole entire Bible. Verse 21: “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-26, ESV)
We understand that “the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.” We can be righteous before God without following the Jewish Law, without keeping every part of it. And this is possible through faith in Jesus Christ. Those who believe in him, in his sacrifice of himself on the cross, and his rising from death, can become righteous before God. This is huge. It means nothing is required of a person to gain God’s approval on a daily basis. All one has to do, to gain God’s approval, is believe in Jesus, and that is a one-time decision. That’s a one-time, life-changing choice with consequences. It was tremendously gracious of God to help us in this way, to make us his own people. Without this offer of salvation, none of us, again, can reach God’s standard, which he required from us in the Law. There was only one man who was able to accomplish that, and that was Jesus. That’s why he could die on the cross for our sins.
The salvation from our sins that we receive from God is by faith, and it is a gift. A gift is not something you earn. You do not work for a gift. If you have to work for it, then it is rightfully yours. You have a right to it. But if you do not work for it, it is not rightfully yours. It is not within your right to have it. In giving us a gift then, for all of us who will receive it, God gives us redemption from our sins, gives us new inner-selves instantaneously, and will give us new physical bodies in the future. Paul uses the word “propitiation.” What does propitiation mean? God gave Christ as a propitiation: he met God’s legal requirement for a payment for sin. Even though he had never sinned in his life, he took the sin of all persons: past, present, and future upon himself. He died for our sins so that we would have an acceptable payment before God. Pretty humbling to think that someone had to die due to our disobedience, due to my disobedience. That’s the way it had to be if you and I were ever to be made right with God. It was either that or eternal, constant torment in Hell. And that’s where many will end up.
We have to receive this gift from God by faith. By faith. We have to accept what Jesus has done for us and count on that for our approval with God. Again, very humbling. It’s very humbling because in my sin nature I want to be responsible for making myself right with God. I want to think it is by something I have done that I have earned God’s approval. To think someone had to die for me, and I have to trust in what that Person did to be made right with God, that means I’m dependent on him. I have no way to solve the problem myself. Everyone who comes to Jesus must have a realization of their sin. Take away sin and you have no Gospel. No sins committed means no need for a sacrifice for sin. Take away sin and you take away the cross. We cannot do it ourselves, folks. For the Jews, God put dealing with the sins of the people from the Old Testament times on hold until they could be dealt with in the future. God is righteous because he was faithful to provide his people a way out, a way out of their sin.
All of this leads Paul to conclude: “Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” (Romans 3:27-31, ESV)
Our obedience to God by faith, by faith in Jesus Christ, actually shows that we uphold the old Jewish Law. Our faith doesn’t remove it. It doesn’t replace it. It shows that the Law is good, and that the Law can be fulfilled by our faith. Remember what Jesus said: ““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17, ESV). Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law. He didn’t replace it. We can fulfill the righteous decrees of the Law now in Jesus. The church does not replace God’s chosen people, but rather it is so that all people can live in the righteousness of the spirit of the Law. The Law showed people that they could not do it themselves, and by Jesus we can be pleasing to God. Anyone can be approved by God, no exceptions. The Jewish person does this by building upon their already present faith, and the Gentile person through gaining a new faith which they didn't previously have.
If you would like to come into personal relationship with God today, to be approved by God, to live the way you are really meant to live, whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, the only way to do that is by trusting in, having faith in, Christ’s sacrifice on your behalf, on the cross, and his rising from death to life, so that we can have life.
-Daniel Litton
Today we come to Romans chapter 3. And being chapter 3, the Apostle Paul is going to accomplish four things for us today. First, he is going to discuss whether or not the Jewish person has any advantage over the non-Jewish person, the Gentile. Second, he will ask the question of whether or not sinning is in fact good—because it brings glory to God. Third, Paul will show that in actuality all people, no matter who they are, are under sin. And forth, he is going to tell us how we can correct our sin problem, in a way that couldn’t be corrected by the Jewish law system of the Old Testament. So, we have quite a bit to discuss here, and a lot to be reminded of and encouraged by.
So, turn in your Bibles, or tap in your Bible apps to Romans chapter 3. We are going to start in verse 1: “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” (Romans 3:1-4, ESV)
This is a big question that Paul poses to start this chapter. It’s a big question. And it’s a question that some folks have failed to understand in their study of Scripture, particularly New Testament Scripture. The idea that the church—those who come to faith in Jesus Christ—somehow replace God’s calling on Israel, and that Israel is not God’s chosen people anymore—that idea has no place in a correct understanding of the Bible. Indeed, this is a Jewish book. Even the New Testament is Jewish themed in many ways. To try to remove the Jewishness from the Bible and to understand it outside of that context just doesn’t make good sense. One could not understand, for instance, George Washington or Thomas Jefferson without understanding America. And it’s the same way with the Bible and Judaism. In other words, all of this being said, the correct answer to Paul's question is that, “Yes, the Jew does have an advantage.”
Around Christmastime last year I took one of those Ancestry DNA tests. Of course, like anyone, I had some preconceived notions of what to expect from the results. My grandmother, for instance, had told us on her deathbed that her grandmother was a full-blooded Native American. So, naturally, I presumed that I had some Native American in my blood. Most of the things, however, I had believed about my ancestry proved to be incorrect in light of the test. That’s interesting, isn’t it? It’s amazing how we can often believe things about ourselves, or our families, or whatever, and those things aren’t true at all. We can spend our whole lives believing things that aren’t true, and that can affect our lives greatly, and not in a good way. Anyhow, upon looking at my results that I got several weeks later after taking the test, there were a couple particular things that stuck out to me. The first one was I had no relation to any Native Americans. So, that which I had believed for years, that even of which my father believed, turned out to not be true. And the second thing which stuck out was really one thing that I had wondered about for a long time. I saw that I do have some Jewish blood in me. It wasn’t a great deal of my makeup, not by any means, but it is there nonetheless.
For me, this was a life-changing thing, since I am familiar with the Scriptures and know how significant this is. First, I tried to determine what God thinks of this. I mean, since I’m not a hundred percent Jewish, does God see me as a Jewish person? I looked through the Scriptures trying to find my answer. After studying it, I concluded that, “Yes, God does consider anyone Jewish who has Jewish blood in them, no matter what the percentage.” I came to that conclusion after reading several passages, which became sort of a roadway through the Book of Acts. In Acts 1:8, Jesus said, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (ESV). So, Jesus differentiated the parts of the world with those who have Jewish blood, obviously Jerusalem, and then those areas of Judea and Samaria. And then he said the rest of the world after that, who are the Gentiles. If that isn’t enough for you, let’s look at Acts 9:31: “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up” (ESV). Then, consider Acts 10:45: “And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles” (ESV). Notice how the Gentiles were preached the Gospel only after the Jews heard it first, those of Jerusalem, Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. And those outside of these areas are referred to as Gentiles. This was not only because that’s what the Lord commanded them to in Acts 1:8, but also because the Jews are the rightful heirs in God’s eyes. They are first.
I didn’t tell anyone about my Jewish ancestry for months. Pastor Jim Custer was the first person outside of my blood-family whom I told. And it seemed only right for him to learn first, since it was through him that God brought me to salvation and the fact that he is like my Forefather in the faith. He’s my George Washington. I see no difference between the two. When I see Jim Custer, it’s like a great student of American History seeing George Washington in the flesh. And I too am a student of American History.
Anyway, back in the text, even though the Jews had been given all the knowledge and truth which comes from God, since God bestowed it upon them, they still did not follow him. Here again, like earlier in Romans, we run into the issue of ‘free’ will, how a person's will operates in conjunction with God’s will. We know that the Jews were faithless, as Paul says here, but does that make God unfaithful? Wasn’t it God’s responsibility to keep them faithful, one might ask? For sure, when it comes to the faithlessness of any human deciding not to believe in him, God does have a part. He brings his witnesses to people who share the Gospel, who share his truth. It’s also true that a person has to make the choice to believe in and follow God. Even if a great deal of truth is presented to a person, that person can continually reject the truth and harden their heart. But this rejection and hardening of the heart does not make God unfaithful. Actually, it does the reverse, it shows the faithfulness and truth of God.
Verse 5: “But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.” (Romans 3:5-8, ESV)
So, Paul brings up the obvious question. And that is if by our doing unrighteous things that shows God’s righteousness, then how can he judge us? How can he hold us accountable for sin? Paul will come back to this question later in Romans which is why I think he really doesn’t give a direct answer here. I think he poses this idea of a question early on as if to get the readers, or hearers, to start thinking about what he is saying. And part of the answer to this question is that we are not really in a place to judge God, as Paul will go on to talk about here in this chapter. God is so much above us that we really don’t understand how things work. We could try to argue that because God is aware of sin or could stop sin, that he is then guilty for allowing it. But that kind of argument is immature. It doesn’t really understand and comprehend God, or the way things work for that matter. Not only that, but also we have Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (ESV). Again, this doesn’t mean we should sin on purpose, but God can work good out of our sin.
The Apostle Paul made it clear, though, that he and his companions did not say that people should go about sinning. He said for anyone who says he's saying that, that that is slander against him—it’s not true. And he pronounces a curse upon them in saying “Their condemnation is just.” Even Paul, as great as he was, had people speak errousnessly of what he had preached and what he had written undoubtedly. So, be at ease and be encouraged, you out there who are fellow preachers. Know that people may change what you say, or twist it to make it look like you said something you really didn’t say. And God will bring judgment upon those people. Remember, though, for Jesus even told us, “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:12, KJV). Now, faithful and true brothers should never do this to their fellow brother; they should never play politics with their fellow brother. There is no place for politics in the body of Christ, that is, negative politics for the wrong reasons. Sometimes I don’t think enough measures are taken in order to prohibit or prevent bad politics in church. I have some ideas on how to do that, but we don’t have time to get into them now.
Continuing on. Verse 9: “What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “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.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”” (Romans 3:9-18, ESV)
Even though the Jews had been given God’s commandants, as far as their own righteousness goes, this has not given them any advantage in being righteous before God. We know that the Law cannot make a person become righteous. And why’s that? Well, of course, it’s because of the sin nature that is in every person. Paul says whether we are of Jewish descent or Gentile descent, it doesn’t matter, in this regard, because we are all “worthless; no one does good, not even one.” I think it’s interesting how Paul spends the next three Scripture references (for Paul does quote a lot of Scripture here), he uses the next three references to focus on the tongue. Yes, he focuses on our mouths, and the things we say with our months. He says, ““Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”” That’s some pretty dramatic terminology.
So, why does Paul focus on our tongues when describing the evilness of people? What is it about our tongues that make them uniquely evil? It is with our tongues that we communicate. Or, as Jesus put it is out of the abundance of our hearts that our mouths speak things. Our mouths show what is in our hearts. The tongue is the doorway to see what is really inside of us. God only uses his mouth for good purposes. Even if he is pronouncing a judgment or a curse, it’s based and has its home in righteousness. We, as humans, are supposed to like God. But we often have used our tongues for evil purposes. But there is hope. Jesus said, “The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil” (Matthew 12:35, ESV). Without a person saying something, we could not know what that person really thinks—whether his allegiance is to God or whether it lies somewhere with Satan.
What do people do with their tongues? Paul emphasizes four things here primarily. He says we use our tongues to deceive, spew venom, curse others, and not forgive our fellow person. So, people are liars. They, like Satan originally did in the Garden of Eden, work to deceive their fellow person. The spew violent things toward others. They say things that poison others, that paralyze them. They pronounce unjust curses on others. Not that pronouncing a curse is always bad (more on this some other time). And perhaps most evil and debilitating for themselves, they refuse to forgive their fellow person when they themselves do the very same things. God offers forgiveness to all, and Christians have received God’s forgiveness through Christ, and yet unforgiveness is still present. Not that forgiveness is always easy. It isn’t always easy. In certain situations for people, it can be very hard. But it’s a decision people have to make even when their emotions don’t agree.
Next, Paul says, ““Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.”” What does rage and unforgiveness lead to? Well it leads to murder. Even if a person doesn’t physically murder another, a person can mentally murder another. He or she can keep the offense in view toward that person whenever they see or think about the person. They can refuse to let the offense go. And where does bitterness, which results from unforgiveness, where does that lead to? Bitterness leads to ruin and misery. Life is more than any one offense that has occurred against you. Are you willing to give up your life because someone has done something against you? Isn’t it right to move on and set out enjoying the life that God has given you? People will let their lives be ruined for years because their spouse left them for another person. They are now divorced and by themselves. Perhaps with kids, perhaps not. But they hold a grudge and sacrifice their life saturated in anger and bitterness. It’s only natural to feel those emotions initially, but then it’s time to move on. Don’t give up your life when you could have a new life, one that leads you in a good, new direction. God will certainly help you. You cannot know peace, the way of peace, when you are seeking to hurt others, or are ruined, or are miserable.
The peace of God—the peace that God provides—the way of peace—what is this that Paul is talking about? Notice how Paul contrast the way of sinful persons with the way of peace. On God’s side, then, there is peace. Doing things God’s way gives you peace. And peace is so important. I heard a minister say one time, “If you are without peace, you are without power.” That hits at the heart of this. You cannot have a powerful life, you cannot be confident and move in a positive direction without peace. You have to have peace. Lack of peace prohibits power. No peace, no confidence. No peace, no feeling good about yourself. No peace, no moving forward in a good way. I think a big part of having peace is being familiar with God’s mercy and grace. We need God’s mercy to forgive us of our sins and move on when we do incorrect things, and we need God’s grace to enable us to do what we cannot do ourselves. We need both. We cannot and should not try to move ahead in our lives under our own power. Thankfully, though, God will help us when we seek for him and wait for him to do so. We got to have faith.
The human who is ultimately depraved is he who has “no fear of God before [his] eyes.” We see this in people who are most rebellious. I’m sure many of you are familiar with the old movie from the 1950s, ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ which starred James Dean. There is something about the movie that has an evil, rebellious aroma about it. Even for today, and it’s been some time now, it has an evil feel. And there have been questions over the years as to whether that movie was cursed, after what happened with the three main actors. And undoubtedly it was. A few may remember, Mr. Dean was killed in his Porsche Spyder on a backcountry California road at the age of 24. That was 63 years ago, actually to this very day. James Dean’s character, while he is often seen as cool (the person every guy wanted to be like), is not someone that we really want to be like. Sure, his look might have been cool, but his actions are not something we want to follow. And it was really the movie ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ that captured the rebellious spirit that was moving across America in the 1950s with young people. It would be these same people who would be heavily involved in things like Woodstock some ten years later. And Satan started all the way back here to get what we have today.
Moving on. Verse 19: “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:19-20, ESV)
Thus, Jewish people are without excuse. They were the ones who received God’s law, so they should know better. Paul says, “so that every mouth may be stopped” and this appears to refer to anything a Jewish person might say in order to try to justify themselves. No, every Jewish person, because the law from Moses was readily available to them, had the opportunity to follow it. They were responsible to do what was right in God’s eyes. And even the Gentile person, though he or she didn’t have God’s law written down in a physical form, had God’s law written on their heart, as Paul told us earlier. So, they too, the Gentiles, knew what was right and wrong. They too then are responsible. In the final analysis, whoever we consider, anyone in the world, you and me, all of us are “held accountable to God.”
But, even with God’s Law, whether we are considering the written form given to the Jews, or whether was are considering the heart implanted form that the Gentiles have, in either case, no one is able to keep God’s Law with his own will alone. It’s just not possible. All these laws do is show us where we sin. They make sin known and clear to us. We see our sin, our unrighteousness, by knowing what is right, by knowing what God requires from us. Our sin natures prohibit us from actually carrying out the law in perfect obedience. We just can’t do it no matter how hard we try. Because Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, and we all have inherited that seed of sin from Adam, and then through Noah and his family, there is no hope for us by ourselves. Actually, though, there is hope, which is outside of ourselves, and that comes through Jesus Christ.
Now we come to one of the most important passages of Scripture in the whole entire Bible. Verse 21: “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-26, ESV)
We understand that “the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.” We can be righteous before God without following the Jewish Law, without keeping every part of it. And this is possible through faith in Jesus Christ. Those who believe in him, in his sacrifice of himself on the cross, and his rising from death, can become righteous before God. This is huge. It means nothing is required of a person to gain God’s approval on a daily basis. All one has to do, to gain God’s approval, is believe in Jesus, and that is a one-time decision. That’s a one-time, life-changing choice with consequences. It was tremendously gracious of God to help us in this way, to make us his own people. Without this offer of salvation, none of us, again, can reach God’s standard, which he required from us in the Law. There was only one man who was able to accomplish that, and that was Jesus. That’s why he could die on the cross for our sins.
The salvation from our sins that we receive from God is by faith, and it is a gift. A gift is not something you earn. You do not work for a gift. If you have to work for it, then it is rightfully yours. You have a right to it. But if you do not work for it, it is not rightfully yours. It is not within your right to have it. In giving us a gift then, for all of us who will receive it, God gives us redemption from our sins, gives us new inner-selves instantaneously, and will give us new physical bodies in the future. Paul uses the word “propitiation.” What does propitiation mean? God gave Christ as a propitiation: he met God’s legal requirement for a payment for sin. Even though he had never sinned in his life, he took the sin of all persons: past, present, and future upon himself. He died for our sins so that we would have an acceptable payment before God. Pretty humbling to think that someone had to die due to our disobedience, due to my disobedience. That’s the way it had to be if you and I were ever to be made right with God. It was either that or eternal, constant torment in Hell. And that’s where many will end up.
We have to receive this gift from God by faith. By faith. We have to accept what Jesus has done for us and count on that for our approval with God. Again, very humbling. It’s very humbling because in my sin nature I want to be responsible for making myself right with God. I want to think it is by something I have done that I have earned God’s approval. To think someone had to die for me, and I have to trust in what that Person did to be made right with God, that means I’m dependent on him. I have no way to solve the problem myself. Everyone who comes to Jesus must have a realization of their sin. Take away sin and you have no Gospel. No sins committed means no need for a sacrifice for sin. Take away sin and you take away the cross. We cannot do it ourselves, folks. For the Jews, God put dealing with the sins of the people from the Old Testament times on hold until they could be dealt with in the future. God is righteous because he was faithful to provide his people a way out, a way out of their sin.
All of this leads Paul to conclude: “Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” (Romans 3:27-31, ESV)
Our obedience to God by faith, by faith in Jesus Christ, actually shows that we uphold the old Jewish Law. Our faith doesn’t remove it. It doesn’t replace it. It shows that the Law is good, and that the Law can be fulfilled by our faith. Remember what Jesus said: ““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17, ESV). Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law. He didn’t replace it. We can fulfill the righteous decrees of the Law now in Jesus. The church does not replace God’s chosen people, but rather it is so that all people can live in the righteousness of the spirit of the Law. The Law showed people that they could not do it themselves, and by Jesus we can be pleasing to God. Anyone can be approved by God, no exceptions. The Jewish person does this by building upon their already present faith, and the Gentile person through gaining a new faith which they didn't previously have.
If you would like to come into personal relationship with God today, to be approved by God, to live the way you are really meant to live, whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, the only way to do that is by trusting in, having faith in, Christ’s sacrifice on your behalf, on the cross, and his rising from death to life, so that we can have life.
-Daniel Litton