Romans 3.1-8
We believe (chorus)
Call to worship:
OT:
pastor andrew loginow
Psalm 51.1-4
NT:
pastor andrew loginow
John 14.1-6
song:
Come behold the wondrous mystery
Historical:
dr. brett eckel
Apostles’ Creed
song:
Lord I need you
Confession & Pardon:
pastor zachary mcguire
song:
See the destined day arise
Sermon:
dr. alex loginow
Romans 3.1-8
Introduction
“I want the truth.” “You can’t handle the truth!” Name a better court room scene in the history of cinema. I don’t think you can.
Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson’s epic standoff in Rob Reiner’s masterpiece A Few Good Men; screenplay by Aaron Sorkin – chef-d'oeuvre. The intensity of this iconic court room scene pales in comparison to the case St. Paul has been building in Romans 1-3. If you’ve been here, you know what I mean. In these passages the Holy Spirit, who is the true author of Scripture, reveals humanity’s total depravity. We are guilty of breaking God’s Law.
Our text this morning continues to build the case. Remember in Romans 1 the indictment came against the gentiles and then starting in chapter 2, the focus shifted to the Jews. The wrath of God is not only revealed against the sins of the gentiles, but also the sin of the Jews. Pastor Kevin’s sermon last week was about how the Jewish people thought that they were safe from God’s wrath because they had been given God’s Law and the sign of circumcision – they were trusting in their heritage, their ethnicity, their history, their practices for their righteousness, but it’s still not enough, because it’s not perfection, and perfection is what’s required before God (Matt 5.48). Here in chapter 3, St. Paul continues his argument, anticipating or answering an objection that the Jews would have to his declaration of their depravity.
God’s Faithfulness Despite Our Unfaithfulness
In verse 1 he writes, then what advantage has the Jew, or what is the value of circumcision? What was the point? What was the significance of God calling Abraham of out the chaos of Babel; what was the meaning of yhwh calling Moses to lead Israel out of slavery from Egypt in the exodus; what was gained by God writing the 10 Commandments with His own finger on the mount; what of the covenant with King David that his throne would endure forever; the prophets, the priests, the temple, the sacrifices; what are they to make of their heritage, their history, the old covenant? What advantage has the Jew, or what is the value of circumcision?
The answer in verse 2 is much in every way. To begin with the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What a privilege; what honor; what grace! In space and time this group of people were given the oracles of God (τὰ λόγια τοῦ θεοῦ) – literally, His words, His sayings. Israel had been given the red pill – they knew the one true and living God; they knew His Law; they were marked out by circumcision. They were not blissfully ignorant in the matrix of idolatry, like the other nations – they were entrusted with the oracles of God.
It's easy to take that for granted, isn’t it? Like Old Testament Israel, the church has been entrusted with the full and final revelation of God in Jesus Christ, written for us in Holy Scripture. For 2,000 years the church has preserved the Word of God and in our modern Western context, we have full access to the oracles of God – apps and websites that provide free access to the Bible. If you want a physical copy of Scripture, you can order one on Amazon and it will be at your house tomorrow.
What a privilege; what honor; what grace! We come to church every week and the Word of God, the gospel, is preached to us. Preaching is my favorite thing – I love to preach, I love listening to preaching, I love preaching right now, I loved listening to Pastor Kevin last week, I look forward to hearing Dr. Brett, and Pastors Zack, Mike, Andrew, and Bobby starting next week. What a privilege to hear the preaching of God’s Word. What a privilege that we can read, listen to, study, meditate on Scripture literally whenever we want to!
Think also about the sign of circumcision? What is the benefit? Even though this pericope is presented as a rhetorical Q&A session, it’s more than likely based on conversations St. Paul had as he preached in Synagogues. He would preach the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace, and the Jews would then ask, “If this gospel you preach is true, then what’s the point of circumcision?”
There’s a continuity between the Old Covenant sign of circumcision and the New Covenant sign of holy baptism – both are signs and seals of a covenant. We know that baptism does not save us, does not regenerate us; we are justified by faith alone after God’s Holy Spirit regenerates us. So, what’s the benefit of baptism? Much in every way! Baptism is a sacrament, a sign of the death and resurrection of Christ, a means of grace, our first act of obedience, a demonstration of God’s sovereign salvation, an announcement of allegiance to Jesus. We don’t do away with baptism because it doesn’t save us.
Israel had these oracles of God; they knew what God said, and in verse 3 St. Paul anticipates their objection – what if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? His Jewish opponents Paul’s theology, rendered God unfaithful. If God condemned any Jews, that would make God unfaithful because they believed the Old Covenant promised universal salvation for ethnic Jews.
These antagonistic Jewish opponents were putting God in the dock, as C.S. Lewis would say, or I guess the Jews were saying St. Paul was putting God in the dock. Their misunderstanding is similar, though not the same, as the misunderstanding of Dispensational theology. These 1st century 2nd temple Jews, like a dispensationalist, misunderstand the meaning of the Old Testament. They believe the promises made in the Old Testament to be exclusive to the nation of Israel, ethnic Jewish people, and they miss what St. Paul says elsewhere that all the promises of God find their yes in [Christ] (2nd Cor 1.20). Because of their theological and hermeneutical faux pas, they charged St. Paul with saying God is unfaithful.
Is God unfaithful? Verse 4 says by no means – μὴ γένοιτο! It’s a strong Greek phrase. You won’t find any cuss words in your English translations, but if there’s any words or phrases that could be translated with the emphasis of a cuss word, this one would be at the top of the list. It’s a strong emphatic negative.
Is God unfaithful? Never! Let God be true, though everyone were a liar. Everyone is a liar; everyone does break the 9th commandment, but even if every person on the planet was convinced that the Bible wasn’t true, with all the intellectual prowess, and scientific evidence, and moral outrage, it would all be a lie; God is always true.
St. Paul defends his point quoting Scripture (Ps 51.4). He knows his audience; he’s arguing rhetorically against the Jews. They don’t have to be convinced that the Old Testament is true and so he quotes from their Scriptures, he quotes the Bible. “That you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged.”
In Psalm 51 King David is confessing his sin after he took Bathsheba, and the king confesses that ultimately, he has sinned against God alone – against you and you only have I sinned, that you may be justified in your words and prevail in your judgment. St. Paul quotes the LXX almost word-for-word. His emphasis is at least two-fold: (1) he uses King David, the man after God’s own heart, the greatest king in Israel’s history, the one given the covenant of the eternal throne, the embodiment of an Israelite, to emphasize the sinfulness of The Israelite; and (2) he’s reminding them that their own Scripture declares that David’s sin reveals, proves that God is justified in His word and that God prevails in His judgment. Our sin shows that God is justified in His words because God’s Word, God’s character is the standard against which sin is judged.
Sin is sin because it is rebellion, it falls short, misses the mark of God’s revealed character in the Law. For example, murder is not wrong because of group of people in the government, or in a community all agree it’s wrong for the benefit of society. Adultery is not wrong merely because it’s going to affect the company’s stock prices. These sins are sins because they are antithetical to the character of God revealed in His Law. The Greek word for prevail means, “to conquer;” it’s the word Nike branded themselves with (νικάω), and it’s a future tense verb, so it could be translated, you will prevail/conquer in your judgment. On the last day when God judges everyone, every Jew and every Gentile, God will conquer in His judgment.
This begs another question in 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? God is in the dock again. If we’re not actually righteous based on our Jewish heritage, or circumcision, or our obedience to the law, if we’re totally and utterly depraved and only made righteous by God’s sovereign election and regeneration, and if the condemnation of the unbeliever who cannot make themselves righteous shows God’s righteousness in His judgement of them, then God is unrighteous.
Basically, they’re saying, “it’s not fair.” This is not merely a 1st century Jewish rebuttal to Christian doctrine, but it has endured into modernity. How many times have you heard someone say something of the sort – “I could never believe in a God that would send someone to hell!” Maybe you’ve thought it yourself. Or maybe you’ve heard or even believed the Arminian position that God does not choose us, but we choose Him of our own free will because otherwise, it's not fair.
Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath on people who cannot choose God or earn salvation from their own deeds? Verse 6 responds with that strong emphatic negative again – μὴ γένοιτο! St. Paul then answers the question with a question: for then how could God judge the world? This answer may not satisfy a modern skeptic, but it was not a stumbling block to the ancient Jews; they knew God is judge of the world. The Old Testament is fit to burst with passages declaring God is judge of the world. God created and sustains the world. God’s rightful position as judge was not in question to them, they were convinced God would judge gentiles; their problem is they believed they were exempt from God’s judgment because they were Jewish.
Verse 7 responds with a question to that question: But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? If my lie, if my sin, serves to glorify God in the end, then why am I still condemned? If God will receive glory from judging sin, why am I condemned for it? There is a word play here in the word abounds. It’s the same Greek root as the word advantage in verse 1. The Jews were more concerned with their advantage as Jews then they were about the glory of God and if they merely trust in their Jewishness, the only advantage will be the glory of God in their condemnation.
In verse 8 St. Paul rebukes this self-righteous criticism of the gospel. They charged Paul with saying, “do evil that good may come.” But that is not what Paul says; that antinomianism is not the gospel. They are slanderously charging (βλασφημούμεθα) the gospel with antinomianism. And Scripture says their condemnation is just. The condemnation of Jews, like that of gentiles, is just because they have not perfectly kept God’s Law. They are guilty.
Even though this was originally written with 1st century Jews in mind, our contemporary Western situation isn’t far off. The Western world has inherited much of Christianity almost as a birthright. Many believe they are Christian because they’re American. We’re tempted to think because of the way we vote, or because we went to church, or have been baptized, or because we prayed a prayer, or because our parents or grandparents were religious that we are right with God. Our heritage, our history, our ethnicity, our practices do not save us. In and of ourselves we are guilty, and we justly deserve eternal conscious punishment in hell.
God’s Faithfulness in the Good News of Jesus
That begs the question how do we reconcile God’s faithful judgement with our unfaithfulness? Is there any good news? This is where we must remember that we are guided through this dark wilderness of Romans 1-3 by the pillar of fire that is Romans 1.16-17. The gospel is the power of God to salvation for the Jew and the Greek because in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed, beginning and ending with faith
The gospel is the announcement of the reversal of the curse. It is the announcement that the eternal 2nd person of the Holy Trinity, the only begotten Son of God took on flesh and dwelt among us. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. His name is Jesus of Nazareth, and he lived without sin. Jesus never broke God’s Law in thought, word, or deed, by what he did, never leaving anything undone. He always loved God with His whole heart, and He always loved His neighbor as Himself.
And on the cross God made him who knew no sin (Christ) to become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5.21). This is how the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel. Jesus is the righteousness of God because Jesus is the only righteous one. Jesus is the only one with active righteousness.
And so on the cross Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin. That means on the cross Jesus became every sin that the elect would ever commit – every sinful thought, every sinful word, every sinful deed, every evil ever done, every good work left undone – that is what Jesus became on the cross. God exhausted His wrath against the sins of the elect on Christ on the cross. And then Jesus submitted Himself to the curse of death. He was so dead they buried Him.
But because Jesus is righteous, death could not hold Him so on the 3rd day he resurrected from the dead, victorious, conquering, νικάω in His judgment. And all the elect are brought into union with Christ by faith. Faith is the knowledge of this good news, but not mere knowledge, but also assent – to confess and not deny this good news. And faith is complete through trust – utter reliance and rest in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone.
Those who have faith practice repentance. To repent is to humble yourself, confess your sin, and turn away from your sin to Jesus. Faith and repentance are not one-time acts, but they are the distinguishing marks of Christianity. Faith and repentance are the life-long fruit of regeneration.
Conclusion
The truth is that left to ourselves we’re all guilty and deserve hell. “You can’t handle the truth,” at least not on your own. But the Lord Jesus speaks words of grace and mercy to us when He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life and no man comes to the Father except through me. Ole’ Jack is right, we can’t handle the truth, but the good news is the Truth handled it for us – repent and believe the gospel.