Romans Chapter 3
The Advantage Jews Had
1 So, what advantage does a Jew have? What’s the benefit of circumcision? 2 A lot, in a lot of ways. The first advantage is that God entrusted the Jews with his messages. 3 So what if some Jews were unfaithful? Their unfaithfulness doesn’t do away with God’s faithfulness, does it? 4 Goodness, no! Let God be true and everyone else a liar, like the scripture says,
“ . . . that you can be regarded
as right in what you say
and correct in the judgments you make” [Ps 51:4].
5 If our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, we wouldn’t say, would we, that God’s not fair in inflicting his displeasure? (I’m speaking here for the sake of argument.) 6 Goodness, no! How would he judge the world? 7 We wouldn’t say, would we, that since our lie highlights God’s truth, he shouldn’t consider us sinners? 8 We wouldn’t say, would we—as some accuse us of saying, “Let’s do evil to bring about good”? (They deserve condemnation!)
Rom 3:1-8
Nobody’s Good
9 So are we any better than Gentiles? Not at all! We’ve already said that Jews and Gentiles are both sinners 10 like the scripture says,
“Not one is good,
not one.
11 Nobody understands;
nobody seeks God.
12 They’ve all turned away;
as a group they’ve become depraved.
None of them are kind,
not even one does good [Ps 14:1-3; 53:1-3].
13 Their throat’s an open grave;
they deceive with their tongues [Ps 5:9];
there’s snake venom behind their lips [Ps 140:3];
14 their mouth is full of cursing and spite [Ps 10:7];
15 their feet run to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery lie in their paths;
17 they don’t know the path to peace [Is 59:7-8].
18 There’s no respect for God in their eyes [Ps 36:1].
19 We know that what the Law is saying here, it’s saying to people that are under it; so by saying “not a one,” it shuts everybody up, including Jews. The whole world—Gentiles and Jews—becomes exposed to God’s condemnation, 20 because what people do under law doesn’t make them good; law only tells them what’s sinful.
Rom 3:9-20
Goodness by Trust
21 Now, aside from law, a goodness from God has come to light, a goodness the Law and prophets talk about: 22 a goodness from God through trusting in Jesus Christ whether by Jew or Gentile. 23 Everybody has sinned and falls short of God’s glory; 24 his grace freely justifies them through the redemption that comes through Christ Jesus. 25 He’s the One that God appointed as a basis for forgiveness by trusting in his blood. Putting him forward demonstrates God’s goodness in overlooking sins previously committed 26 during the time when he puts up with them. Putting Christ forward demonstrates God’s goodness now, so he’s both just and justifier of people that trust in Jesus.
Rom 3:21-26
Humility Under Justification by Trust
27 So where can boasting come in? It can’t. By what kind of “law”? Can it come by a “law” caused by what we do under law? No, it’s replaced by a “law” conditioned on trust in another—God. 28 We reason that trust justifies us apart from what we do under law. 29 Or is God the God over Jews only? Isn’t he God over Gentiles too? Yes. 30 Since there’s one God, he’s the One that justifies the Circumcision and the Uncircumcision and does it the same way—by trust. 31 So are we contradicting law by advocating trust? Goodness, no! We’re establishing the purpose of law another way. Rom 3:27-31