Romans 3:1-31

Paul’s letter to the *Romans

Romans

Hilda Bright and Keith Simons

Chapter 3

Some *Jewish protests against Paul’s thoughts 3:1-8

v1 Someone might ask whether the *Jews received any real advantage. Or, someone might ask whether *circumcision provides any real benefit. v2 But these are good things, for every reason. First, God has given his own message to the *Jews. v3 But some *Jews did not believe. Their lack of *faith will certainly not change God’s *faithfulness. v4 That could never happen. God is true, even if every man tells lies. The *scripture said,

‘You are right when you speak.

You overcome when men accuse you.’

v5 So our wicked deeds prove more clearly that God is good. But God is not unfair when he is angry with us. (I am using just human ways to speak.) v6 We certainly cannot argue with that! If he were not fair, he could not *judge the world. v7 Someone might argue like this, ‘God is truthful. This becomes clearer when I tell a lie. So his *glory actually increases. Therefore, it is unfair that he will *judge me for my *sin. v8 We should do evil things, so that good things will happen.’ In fact, some people pretend that we are saying such things. But this is a lie. Such people will receive the punishment that they deserve.

Verse 1 Paul imagines that a *Jew is protesting about Paul’s thoughts. If Paul’s thoughts were correct, then *circumcision seemed unnecessary.

Verse 2 Paul was proud that he was a *Jew. So he answered that there were many advantages. He spoke first about the honour that God had given to the *Jews. He had trusted the *Jews with all his messages (Deuteronomy 4:8). God wanted to use the *Jews in order to benefit the whole world (Genesis 12:2-3). God wanted the *Jews to show the rest of the world what God is like. Paul mentioned some other advantages later in his letter (Romans 9:4-5).

Verse 3 Some *Jews did not obey the *covenant. They did not remain loyal to God. But God always does everything that he promises to do.

Verse 4 Paul emphasised that God’s promises are certain. God’s words are always true, even if every person tells lies. Paul refers to two passages from the Book of Psalms in this verse. Psalms 116:11 says, ‘All men tell lies.’ And in Psalms 51:4, David became aware of his *sin. So he prayed to God, ‘You are right when you speak. You are right when you *judge.’

Verses 5-6 If people did not *sin, they might not appreciate God’s goodness. So people might argue that even their evil deeds give honour to God. And they might argue that God is not fair to punish people for such deeds. This idea may seem clever, but it is wrong. People who say such things are foolish. They are speaking as if God is a mere man. But God is perfect. He is never unfair. Paul was sorry even to mention such an idea. If God is true to his nature, he must *judge human *sin. ‘The judge of the entire world shall do what is right’ (Genesis 18:25).

Verses 7-8 Someone might argue like this. God ought to be grateful when people tell lies. Such lies show how truthful God is. The result is that his *glory becomes even greater. So it would not be fair for God to describe these people as guilty. In fact, Paul’s enemies pretended that Paul taught such ideas. So Paul explained to the Christians in Rome that this report was untrue. Paul had many such enemies. But Paul did not need to prove what he was teaching. God knew the truth about Paul’s work. And that fact was enough to satisfy Paul (2 Corinthians 11:30-31).

Everyone has *sinned 3:9-20

v9 We certainly cannot argue that *Jews are any better. We have already said that everybody, both *Jews and *Gentiles, is under the power of *sin. v10 The *scripture says:

‘Nobody is *righteous, not even one person.

v11 Nobody understands. Nobody looks for God.

v12 They are like travellers who have wandered onto the wrong path.

Together, they have become evil.

Nobody, not even one person, does anything good.

v13 Their *throats are like open graves.

With their tongues, they tell lies.

The words from their lips are like the poison from a snake.

v14 They use their mouths to speak angry and bad words.

v15 They are quick to attack and they even kill other people.

v16 Wherever they go, they cause loss and pain.

v17 They do not know how to be kind.

v18 They do not respect God.’

v19 We know that the law has complete power. Its commands control everyone who lives by its rules. Nobody can argue against it. Everybody will suffer God’s judgement. v20 And God will not declare anyone to be *righteous because that person obeyed the law. Instead, the law proves that everyone has *sinned.

Verse 9 Paul said in verse 1 that *Jews had advantages. Now he said that they were not better than *Gentiles. They were better if they thought about their honour and responsibility. But they had no real advantage. They did not realise that God’s judgement was on them too. God would not show his kindness to one group of people more than to another. ‘Under the power of *sin’ means this. *Sin was like a master who had complete control over his slave. Everybody – both *Jews and *Gentiles – is like a slave because of the power of *sin.

Verses 10-18 Paul used verses from the *Old Testament. These verses show how wicked people can be. He put the verses together in a way that *Jewish teachers called ‘a string of precious stones’. Paul wanted to emphasise that *sin controls everybody. So he repeated the word ‘all’. He also said ‘nobody’ and ‘not even one person’ more than once.

Verses 10-12 are from Ecclesiastes 7:20 and Psalms 14:1-3. These verses explain the nature of *sin. *Sin is the result of actions against God. Nobody tries to discover what God is like. Nobody cares about what God wants. Everyone has turned away from the right way to live. And that is why people *sin.

Verses 13-14 These verses describe the *sins of speech. In other words, these verses show how people *sin by their words. Such *sins are the result when people use the *throat, mouth, tongue and lips in the wrong way. Paul uses Psalms 5:9; Psalms 10:7 and Psalms 140:3. People tell lies. Their words are like poison that can destroy other people’s happiness and character. In his letter, James also compared the tongue with something poisonous (James 3:8).

Verses 15-17 Evil actions are often the result of evil words (James 3:5-6). Isaiah 59:7-8 emphasises how people are quick to attack and to hurt other people. They are even ready to kill them. They do not try to live at *peace. They cause trouble and pain wherever they go. Injury may hurt one person first. But such behaviour soon damages the rest of society too.

Verse 18 Paul repeats his thought from verse 11. All *sin is against God. Psalms 36:1 speaks about a man who has no fear of God. All *sin comes from people’s lack of honour for God who created them.

Verses 19-20 Some *Jews would think that these verses were only about wicked *Gentiles. *Gentiles did not have the law. But Paul explains that the law cannot make people *righteous. That was not its purpose. The purpose of the law was to show the meaning of *sin to people. The law proves that everyone is guilty. So the *Jews could not become *righteous by means of their *Jewish ceremonies. And they had many such ceremonies, for example *circumcision, the *Sabbath, and the food laws. And nobody can become *righteous by means of their own good works. Everybody has *sinned. And *sin controls everybody’s life.

The only way to become *righteous 3:21-26

v21 But now, God has provided a way for people to be *righteous. This way does not depend on the law. But the *scriptures, both the law and the *prophets, show that this is true. v22 God gives this *righteousness to everyone who trusts in Jesus *Christ. It is his gift to everyone who believes. There is no difference between *Jews and *Gentiles. v23 Everyone has *sinned. Nobody is good enough because God’s standards are perfect. v24 But now, God makes people *righteous by his free and generous gift. He frees people from *sin by means of *Christ Jesus. v25-26 God gave Jesus as a *sacrifice so that people would receive a right *relationship with himself. Jesus achieved this by the gift of his life (in other words, when he died for us). And people receive a right *relationship with God by *faith in what Jesus did. So we see that God is *righteous. He did not punish former *sins because he is patient. This now proves that he is *righteous. And also, that he makes *righteous anyone who has *faith in Jesus.

Verses 21-22 ‘Now’ can mean: 1) the next part of Paul’s discussion, 2) the time at which Paul was writing, 3) the new age that had come with Jesus. The law and the *prophets are the two main parts of the *Jewish *Old Testament. People wrote down the *Old Testament centuries before Jesus was born. But they did not merely write their own ideas. The *Holy Spirit guided them (1 Peter 1:10-11). The Holy Spirit showed them what Jesus would do (for example, Psalms 22 and Isaiah chapter 53). And Jesus’ death is the only way for people to become *righteous. This was God’s plan. And everyone who receives Jesus into their lives receives God’s gift of *righteousness.

People need God’s *righteousness. And everybody needs it, because everybody has *sinned. This is a more important matter than anything else in a person’s life. Jesus taught that *righteousness is even more important than food and drink (Matthew 6:31-33). Moreover, it is impossible for anyone to earn *righteousness. But God offers it as a free gift to everyone who trusts him.

Verses 23-24 *Sin is the greatest problem that people have. It is a problem that affects everyone, from every nation. It is a terrible problem, because *sin ruins the *relationship between people and God. Because of *sin, people have lost their right to enter heaven. *Sin is the reason why people suffer in this world. *Sin controls the lives of everyone. It even controls the lives of the best people.

People have tried to free themselves from the power of *sin. They have tried to do this in many different ways. But all their efforts have failed. Good works cannot free anyone from the power of *sin. Moral behaviour cannot free anyone from *sin’s power. Even religion cannot succeed. People may be very sincere when they do such things. And it is better to be a good person than a bad person. But these methods still cannot make a person *righteous. They cannot make a person perfect. And God’s standards are perfect. So even the best person’s efforts are hopeless.

But the wonderful news is that God himself is willing to free us from the power of *sin. People have worked so hard to become *righteous, and they have all failed. But God offers *righteousness as a free gift.

Nobody deserves this *righteousness. But Jesus died in order to suffer the punishment for *sin. People simply need to trust him. They should confess their *sins to God. And they should invite him into their lives. Then God will forgive them. In other words, he will make them *righteous. Nobody could earn *righteousness. But it is God’s free and generous gift. And he offers it to everyone, from every nation.

Verses 25-26 Paul uses three descriptions to explain what God has done by means of Jesus.

1. In a law court, a judge will free a person if he is not guilty. God is the judge of the whole world. All people are guilty in front of him. But Jesus showed how much God loves us. God forgives those people who trust in Jesus. They have become *righteous because of *faith in Christ. *Faith is not a kind of work. It is to trust God because of what he has done by Jesus.

2. Someone could pay to free a slave. People are in the power of *sin, as slaves were in the power of their masters. Jesus paid the price to set us free. He frees us from *sin. So we can live as God wants. Jesus did this at the cost of his life. In other words, he died so that we can be free from *sin (Mark 10:45).

3. People used to offer animals as *sacrifices when they asked God to forgive their *sins. The law told them to do this. But even at that time, people knew that the death of an animal was not sufficient to pay for their *sin. (See Psalms 51:17; Micah 6:6-8.) So sincere people realised that they needed to have a humble attitude. And they knew that they needed to trust God. They knew that God would provide the perfect *sacrifice. And this happened when Jesus died (Hebrews 10:11-12).

God is *holy but he also loves us. So he gave himself by means of Jesus to make people *righteous. Our translation says, ‘the gift of his life’. In the original language, these words are: ‘the gift of his blood’. A person cannot live without blood. And one of the purposes of blood in the body is to remove anything impure (not pure). So Jesus gave his life and he makes us free from our *sins. God shows by means of Jesus that he is a perfect judge. He punishes *sin. But he himself suffered that punishment. So he is a perfect *Saviour (Isaiah 45:21). Paul said that by means of *Christ, God was ‘making the world at *peace with himself’ (2 Corinthians 5:18).

The results of God’s *grace 3:27-31

v27 There is no reason for human pride. There is no reason whatever. God does not consider us *righteous in order to reward our good works. No! The only thing that we need to do, is to have *faith. v28 So we say that God makes a person *righteous by *faith in Jesus *Christ. And that person does not have to live by the law.

v29 God does not *save only the *Jews in this way. He is the God of the *Gentiles too. Yes, he is the God of people from every nation. There is only one God. v30 So God will establish again his friendship with both *Jews and *Gentiles. He will do this by the same *faith.

v31 Well then, *faith does not make the law of no use. Quite the opposite! Rather we make the law stronger.

Verses 27-28 Nobody can *boast. Nobody deserves to be *righteous. Nobody earns *peace with God by means of that person’s own good actions. A person becomes *righteous only when he accepts God’s gift by means of Jesus. Paul said that he would be proud of only one thing. Jesus had died on the *cross for him (Galatians 6:14).

Verses 29-30 *Faith is the same for everyone. There is only one God. *Jews said this every day in the words in Deuteronomy 6:4. ‘Listen, *Israel, the *Lord our God, the *Lord is one.’ *Gentiles do not have a separate God. So *Jews and *Gentiles all have the same way of *faith. ‘Without *faith, it is impossible to please God’ (Hebrews 11:6).

Verse 31 The law still has value. Paul imagines someone who would oppose him about *faith. That person would say that Paul was telling people not to obey the law. But Paul was not saying that. Actually, Paul was teaching people that the law was very important. In fact, the law teaches us that we need *faith. And we can only obey the law by means of *faith.

‘The law’ can mean:

a) the law of Moses, which is in the first five books of the *Old Testament. The purpose of the law was to show what *sin is. So people will know that they need God. They must confess their *sin to God, and they must trust him. Then God by means of *Christ will forgive their *sin. When a person knows this, he will want to obey the law. He will no longer obey because he is afraid of God’s punishment. Instead, that person will gladly obey because he loves God. So he is making the law stronger.

b) all the *Old Testament. *Jews sometimes meant this when they spoke about ‘the law’. It is *faith that makes a person at *peace with God. In chapter 4, Paul will talk about the *faith of Abraham and David. So the law itself encourages *faith.

But the real meaning of the law is how God wants people to live. He wants people to show love and kindness. He wants people to be fair. He wants people to have a humble attitude and to respect him. The rules in the *Old Testament exist in order to teach people about this. But these rules are less important than the law itself (Micah 6:8; Psalms 51:16-17). And *faith does not make the law weaker. *Faith makes it possible for people to love God with their whole heart. *Faith teaches people to live as God wants them to live. So *faith makes the law stronger.

Roman ~ a person from the city called Rome, or a description of anything that has a relationship with Rome. Rome was the most important city in the world at the time when Paul wrote this letter. It was the capital city where the Emperor lived.
Emperor ~ ruler over many countries.

'Jew, Jewish ~ a person whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people or members of the family or nation in the past.'Jew, Jewish ~ a person whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people or members of the family or nation in the past.
circumcision ~ a sign of the covenant between God and the Jews. When a baby boy is 8 days old, the Jews circumcise that boy. They do this in order to obey the covenant between God and the Jews.
covenant ~ agreement between God and a person or people.

Jew, Jewish ~ a person whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
circumcise ~ cut off the loose skin from the end of the sex part of a boy or man. But the word ‘circumcise’ also has another meaning. By circumcision, the Jews showed that they wanted to obey God. But some people circumcised their boys merely because of tradition. Such people did not really want to obey God. So, the Bible says that these people should ‘circumcise their hearts’. In other words, they should learn how to obey God.
ancestors ~ people or members of the family or nation in the past.
faith ~ trust in someone or something; the things that Christians believe about Jesus.
judge ~ to act as a judge; to accuse other people; to pretend to be a judge.
glory ~ great beauty and honour. Only God (or Christ) has perfect glory.
Christ ~ the Greek word for Messiah, that is, Jesus.
Greek ~ the language in which the authors wrote the New Testament; or a word that describes anything that came from the country called Greece; or the people who came from Greece; or anyone who followed the same culture as people from Greece.
Messiah ~ the Jews’ word for the king who would come to rescue them; the Christ (that is, Jesus).

New Testament ~ the last part of the Bible, about Jesus and the early church.

Jew, Jewish ~ a person whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people or members of the family or nation in the past.
sin ~ evil deeds against God’s law; or to do such deeds.
covenant ~ agreement between God and a person or people.
Gentile ~ someone hwo is not a Jew, or, a description of anything that has a relationship to people who are not Jews.

Jew, Jewish ~ a person whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people or members of the family or nation in the past.
righteous ~ good, holy.
holy ~ something or someone that is special for God.
throat ~ the passage from the mouth which makes people able to speak.
sin ~ evil deeds against God’s law; or to do such deeds.'Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible. The authors of the books in the Old Testament wrote their books centuries before Christ’s birth.
Christ ~ the Greek word for Messiah, that is, Jesus.
Greek ~ the language in which the authors wrote the New Testament; or a word that describes anything that came from the country called Greece; or the people who came from Greece; or anyone who followed the same culture as people from Greece.
Messiah ~ the Jews’ word for the king who would come to rescue them; the Christ (that is, Jesus).

New Testament ~ the last part of the Bible, about Jesus and the early church.

Jew, Jewish ~ a person whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people or members of the family or nation in the past.
peace ~ a calm and content attitude.
Sabbath ~ seventh (7th) day of the week (that is, Saturday); the Jewish day for rest.

Jew, Jewish ~ a person whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people or members of the family or nation in the past.
prophet ~ a person who told the people what God wanted.
righteousness ~ goodness; a right relationship with God.
relationship ~ a friendship; or way in which people know each other.
Christ ~ the Greek word for Messiah, that is, Jesus.
Greek ~ the language in which the authors wrote the New Testament; or a word that describes anything that came from the country called Greece; or the people who came from Greece; or anyone who followed the same culture as people from Greece.
Messiah ~ the Jews’ word for the king who would come to rescue them; the Christ (that is, Jesus).

New Testament ~ the last part of the Bible, about Jesus and the early church.

Jew, Jewish ~ a person whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people or members of the family or nation in the past.
sacrifice ~ something which people offer to God, especially an animal that they killed as a gift to God. Jesus’ death was the perfect sacrifice because, by his death, he freed people from sin.
sin ~ evil deeds against God’s law; or to do such deeds.
relationship ~ a friendship; or way in which people know each other.
holy ~ something or someone that is special for God.
faith ~ trust in someone or something; the things that Christians believe about Jesus.
holy ~ something or someone that is special for God.
Saviour ~ Jesus, who rescues people from sin.
sin ~ evil deeds against God’s law; or to do such deeds.
grace ~ God’s love that people do not deserve.
save ~ to rescue from the power of sin.
sin ~ evil deeds against God’s law; or to do such deeds.
boast ~ to praise oneself.
cross ~ two pieces of wood that people have fixed together in the shape of a cross. Soldiers would attach a criminal to a cross in order to kill that person.
Israel ~ another name for Jacob, who was an ancestor of the Israelites. Israel became a name for the country where the Israelites lived. And Israel is also a name for all the Israelites.
ancestors ~ people or members of the family or nation in the past.
Israelite ~ the people that are Jews.

Jew, Jewish ~ a person whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Lord ~ God; the word that we may use for Jesus when we obey him; someone who rules or who is a master.