CHAPTER 3

(A.D. 60)

THE JEW

¹What advantage then has the Jew? (This proclaims the Apostle asking such after he has shown that the mere possession of the Law does not exempt the Jew from Judgment.) or what profit is there of Circumcision? (The rite of Circumcision symbolizes the entirety of the Law.)

²Much every way (proclaims tremendous advantages, but none which could save their souls, other than simple Faith in Christ and the Cross, which all the Sacrifices of the Law symbolized): chiefly, because that unto them were committed the Oracles of God (presents the title for the Old Testament as given by the Holy Spirit).

³For what if some did not believe? (This proclaims the unbelief which rejected the Bible, but by no means nullified its Truthfulness.) shall their unbelief make the Faith of God without effect? (The unbelief of Israel in no way affected the Great Plan that God has provided for humanity, which is built on the premise of Faith.)

⁴God forbid (proclaims Pauls answer to the questions of Verse 3): yes, let God be true, but every man a liar (shows us that the problem is always of man, never of God); as it is written, That you might be justified in your sayings, and might overcome when you are judged ([Ps. 51:4] this statement is from Davids Repentance regarding the matter of Uriah, in which David absolves God from all blame and takes the blame on himself; this is a pattern for True Repentance).

⁵But if our unrighteousness commend the Righteousness of God, what shall we say? (In no way does this mean that God places an approval upon sin of any nature.)Is God unrighteous Who takes vengeance? (The answer is No!) (I speak as a man) (This is meant apologetically in that only a foolish man would ask such a question.)

⁶God forbid (once again serves as Pauls answer to the preposterous question of the previous Verse): for then how shall God Judge the world? (This is the Great White Throne Judgment [Rev. 20:11-15]. The fact that this Judgment cannot be avoided means the hypothesis of man is foolish indeed.)

⁷For if the Truth of God has more abounded through my lie unto His Glory (is meant to be answered in the negative, for such a thing cannot be done); why yet am I also judged as a sinner? (This is meant to portray the foolishness of such thinking.)

⁸And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? (This presents the reason Paul is addressing this subject. Because of his strong teaching on Grace, his detractors were slandering him by claiming he was teaching something he wasnt.) whose damnation is just (proclaims the Apostle saying that those who report such slander are liable to a just damnation).

GUILT

⁹What then? are we better thanthey?(Are Jews better than Gentiles?) No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin (points to the supposed claim of the Jews of superiority, which is refuted);

¹⁰As it is written (Ps. 14:1-3), There is none righteous, no, not one (addresses the complaint of the Jews and clinches the argument with the Scriptures, which the Jews could not deny):

¹¹There is none who understands (proclaims total depravity), there is none who seek after God (man left on his own will not seek God and, in fact, cannot seek God; he is spiritually dead).

¹²They are all gone out of the Way (speaks of the lost condition of all men; the Way is Gods Way), they are together become unprof itable (refers to the terrible loss in every capacity of wayward man); there is none who does good, no, not one (the Greek Text says, useless!).

¹³Their throat is an open sepulcher (the idea is of an open grave, with the rotting remains sending forth a putrid stench); with their tongues they have used deceit (speaks of guile, deception, hypocrisy, etc.); the poison of asps is under their lips (man cannot be trusted in anything he says):

¹⁴Whose mouth is full of cursing (wishing someone evil or hurt) and bitterness (bitter and reproachful language):

¹⁵Their feet are swift to shed blood (the world is filled with murder, killing, and violence):

¹⁶Destruction and misery are in their ways (all brought about by sin):

¹⁷And the way of peace have they not known (and cannot know until Christ returns):

¹⁸There is no fear of God before their eyes (there is no fear of God, because unbelieving man does not know God).

¹⁹Now we know that what things soever the Law says, it says to them who are under the Law (is meant first of all to inform the Jews that Verses 10 through 18 apply to them as well as the Gentiles): that every mouth may be stopped (the Gentiles were claiming ignorance, while the Jews were claiming exception from Judgment), and all the world may become guilty before God (states the case exactly as it is, meaning all need a Saviour).

²⁰Therefore by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight (should read, by works of the Law): for by the Law is the knowledge of sin (the Law in itself was only meant to define sin, it in no way delivered from sin, nor was it designed to do so!).

THE REMEDY

²¹But now the Righteousness of God without the Law is manifested (should read, apart from Law, i.e., from works of merit), being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets (Testimony of the Law to the Divine Principle of Justification by Faith is found in Gen. 15:6; the Testimony of the Prophets in Hab. 2:4);

²²Even the Righteousness of God which is by Faith of Jesus Christ (concerns Imputed Righteousness, and tells how it is obtained) unto all and upon all them who believe (the criteria is believing, and believing in Christ and Him Crucified): for there is no difference (Salvation is by Faith, whether the person is a Jew or a Gentile):

²³For all have sinned (presents all men placed in the same category), and come short of the Glory of God (the Greek Text infers that even the most Righteous among us continue to come short of the Glory of God on a continuing basis);

²⁴Being justified freely by His Grace (made possible by the Cross) through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus (carried out at the Cross):

²⁵Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation (Atonement or Reconciliation) through Faith in His Blood (again, all of this is made possible by the Cross), to declare His Righteousness for the remission of sins that are past (refers to all who trusted Christ before He actually came, which covers the entirety of the time from the Garden of Eden to the moment Jesus died on the Cross), through the forbearance (tolerance) of God (meaning that God tolerated the situation before Calvary, knowing the debt would be fully paid at that time);

²⁶To declare, I say, at this time His Righteousness (refers to Gods Righteousness which must be satisfied at all time, and is in Christ and only Christ): that He (God) might be just (not overlooking sin in any manner), and the Justifier of him which believes in Jesus (God can justify a believing [although guilty] sinner, and His Holiness not be impacted, providing the sinners Faith is exclusively in Christ; only in this manner can God be just and at the same time Justify the sinner).

²⁷Where is boasting then? (This refers primarily to the Jews boasting of themselves as a result of the Law of God given to them, but the principle is true for modern Christians as well!) It is excluded (not only means that God will not accept such boasting [outside of Christ], but that it actually serves to keep one from Salvation). By what Law? of works? (In a sense, this tells us where and how the boasting, God will not accept, originates). No: but by the Law of Faith (refers to trust exclusively in Christ and what He did at the Cross; Faith in Christ and Him Crucified is more than a principle; it is a Law, meaning that God will not deviate at all from this proclamation).

²⁸Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by Faith (and only by Faith, with the Cross ever being the Object of such Faith) without the deeds of the Law (faith in works is out).

²⁹Is He the God of the Jews only? is He not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also (it is one Salvation for all, and all gain this Salvation by Faith):

³⁰Seeing it is One God, which shall justify the Circumcision by Faith (places the Jew on the same level as the Gentile), and uncircumcision through faith (Jews and Gentiles are all Saved alike, through Faith in Christ and what Christ has done at the Cross).

³¹Do we then make void the Law (Law of Moses) through faith? God forbid: yes, we establish the Law (the Law ever pointed to Faith in Christ).