Page 26 - Romans Student Textbook.doc

about their behavior. These questions were directed at the Jewish believers in the congregations in
Rome who were taking pride in their Jewish heritage. With these questions he gave us a glimpse at
what they had communicated about how they thought about themselves.

They saw themselves as “the guide to the blind” (19), “an instructor to the foolish” (20), “a teacher of
children” (20), and “boasters in the law” (20). All of these phrases were being used to describe a self-
righteous attitude that was banking on a physical relationship to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) as the
source of their qualifications for leading, teaching and instructing the rest of the people (particularly the
Gentiles) in the church.

As he brought their attitudes out into the open Paul asked questions about their consistency in
living by the law themselves. Are you teaching but not being taught? Are you preaching against
stealing while you steal? Are you saying that people should not commit adultery while you are
committing adultery? Are you abhorring idols, but stealing the stuff out of the temples? He ended
his series of convicting questions by quoting a portion of Isaiah that laid out for them the result
of their inconsistency, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” 26

Paul’s confrontational questions were intended to get them to seriously consider the value of
keeping God’s law which the short-cut term “circumcision” represents. He states that circumcision
was only of value if the circumcised person consistently and continually kept the law of God. In
contrast, if they were breaking the law their outward form of obedience to the law was of no value.
What really matters was not outward marks made in the flesh of a man by other men to show
identity with the people of God but rather an inward Spirit-enacted cutting of the heart that
produced trust in God’s promises. With these statements Paul redefined what it meant to be a Jew
and to be circumcised. He moved the location from exterior flesh to interior responsiveness to God.
Law-keeping is valuable only when linked with a genuine Spirit-enabled trust in God.

Jewish faithlessness and unrighteousness do not nullify the faithfulness and righteousness of God. (3:1-
8)

A new question arises out of what Paul said: “If this is so, then what advantage does a Jewish person
have in relating properly to God?” Paul listed a significant advantage: God gave them his special
revelation first. By His mercy, in His grace God has made His heart known in His Word and He chose
to make that known through the Jewish nation and their prophets. The next question then logically
follows, “Since the majority of the Jews failed to faithfully follow God’s law given to them in His
oracles does that mean God doesn’t need to be faithful to His Word any longer?” Paul’s response to
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that idea was strong, “May it never be! But let God be true and every person a liar!” The point
being made was simply that God is always the same. He never changes. He is and will always be
faithful . . . even in the face of the unfaithfulness of those who say they serve him but are unfaithful.

Another hypothetical question flowed out of the pen of Paul. “If our unrighteousness serves to show the
creation the righteousness of God, is it right of God to punish us?” 28 The answer again began with “May
it never be!” Paul then pointed his readers to the fact that if those were the conditions for existence
then there would never ultimately be a resolution to the problem of sin. It is the unchangeable nature of
God’s character that forms the ground for truth and the basis on which sin will be judged completely and
done away with. God’s right and privilege to judge all things rests on his faithfulness to always being
Himself and never changing from that in any way. He is holy, true, righteous and faithful and can never be
anything other than that.

26 Romans 2:24, ESV. Quotation from Isaiah 52:5.
27 Romans 3:4, Author’s translation.
28 Romans 3:6-7.

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