Romans Chapter Three

[R. J.]

Romans Chapter Three

Romans 3:1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit [is there] of circumcision? 2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.

This passage is a continuation from Romans 2:28-29. Based upon the verses from the previous chapter, the question is as follows.

If the only real Jew is a Jew "which is one inwardly", then what good is it to be born a PHYSICAL Jew?

Why did God command outward circumcision when only the circumcision of the heart matters?

Paul states that the primary advantage is that God gave the Scriptures to the Jews.

Some folks claim that only those from the tribe of Judah are Jews. However, Romans 3:2 refutes that contention. Think about who have received the "oracles of God":

1. Moses did and he was of the tribe of LEVI,
2. Joshua did and he was of the tribe of EPHRAIM.
3. Several of the minor prophets were from the northern tribes.
4. Paul did and he was of the tribe of Benjamin.

Romans 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? 4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

The answer to the first question in verse 3 is the "oracles of God". The New Testament application pertains to Jews that didn't believe what Christ stated about Himself during His earthly ministry. Examples are found in:

1. Matthew 27:15-26,
2. Mark 5:16-17,
3. Luke 4:28-29, and
4. John 5 - 12, 18 - 19.

God's FAITH is effective because His truths are not subjective. His words are TRUE whether one believes them or not.

Verse 4 is a GREAT statement to go by in our lives. It is clear that a Christian should discard anything stated by man that contradicts God's words.

Verse 4 also contains a quote from Psalm 51:4. The "sayings" are the "oracles of God". Notice that it is God that is being judged according to Paul. Notice in Psalm 51:4 that David stated that God was doing the judging.

So, when you put part of David's passage from the Old Testament with Paul's revelation in the New Testament, you can draw the following conclusion.

When Almighty God brings the unbelieving dead before the Great White Throne Judgment, there will be those that accuse God of things to justify themselves. When they do this, Almighty God will answer them from "the oracles of God".

In other words, Almighty God will "throw the Book at them" and it will shut their mouths.
If you want to see the Book being thrown, check out Luke 4:1-13 and Matthew 22:31. If you are not sure it will shut their mouths, jump ahead to Romans 3:19.

Romans 3:5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? [Is] God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man) 6 God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world? 7 For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner? 8 And not [rather], (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.

Verse 5 is a TULIP Calvinist's favorite to prove that the Lord is responsible for everything, including SIN.

Paul is actually stating that if our unrighteousness demonstrates God's goodness, then doesn't God owe it to us to allow us to get away with our unrighteousness.

Look again at Psalm 51:4 where the inference is that David sinned in order to prove that God was right.

The question posed in verse 5 is the kind of question that would be asked by an unsaved person. That explains why Paul stated that he spoke "as a MAN". This is the kind of question that would be asked by a homosexual that is struting his unrighteousness in a "gay pride" parade.

Consider this next paragraph carefully, especially you Calvinists. God NEVER made any man sin (James 1:13-14). God gets NO pleasure out of sending a man to Hell (Ezekiel 18:23, 32). It is NOT God's will (2 Peter 3:9). Never the less, God will collect the glory DUE Him, even out of sin and Hell.

Paul's supposition in verse 7 is not true. He is making the point that the "truth of God" does NOT abound more through our unrighteousness and disobedience than by our OBEDIENCE. The fact that the Lord judges us and takes vengeance demonstrates that we are NOT to glorify Him by being disobedient.

Bible believers know that salvation is received NOT because of any WORKS but because of what Christ did for us on the cross. If salvation is not ours to be earned (Ephesians 2:8-9), then it is not ours to be keep (Philippians 1:6).

In other words, we do not RECEIVE salvation by WORKS and we do not RETAIN salvation by WORKS.

The Lord will take vengeance on a Christian or a lost person for sinning. The difference is He won't send the Christian to Hell.

A sinning Christian can lose his:

1. fellowship (1 John 1:6-7),
2. testimony (1 Corinthians 8:7-13),
3. service (1 Corinthians 9:27),
4. rewards (2 John 8; 1 Corinthians 3:15),
5. health (1 Corinthians 11:29-30), and even
6. physical life (1 Corinthians 11:30, 5:5),

BUT NEVER HIS SALVATION.


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[R. J.]

Romans Chapter Three (Continued)

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Romans 3:9 What then? are we better [than they]? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13 Their throat [is] an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps [is] under their lips: 14 Whose mouth [is] full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their feet [are] swift to shed blood: 16 Destruction and misery [are] in their ways: 17 And the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Paul proved that the Gentile nations were unrighteous in chapter 1 and that the Jews were unrighteous in chapter 2. Now he quotes Psalm 14:3, 53:3 by paraphrase in verse 10 and word for word in verse 12. He then speaks of various members of the body while continuing to quote from various Psalms.

Paul concludes God's indictment of the entire human race later in verse 23 of the following passage.


Romans 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin.

Now we come to a rather difficult passage that requires careful consideration and right division of the word of truth.


First we see the purpose of the Old Testament Law. It proves all the world guilty before God.


Then, in verse 20, the great New Testament doctrine of JUSTIFICATION is introduced. From the standpoint of salvation, justification is a legal declaration that members of the body of Christ are righteous before God. We will learn more about justification in chapters 4 and 5.


To demonstrate the difficulties with the precept of JUSTIFICATION, consider the following:

1. In Psalm 143:2, David states that when it came time for God to judge sin, "in thy sight shall no man living be justified".
2. Yet, in Romans 2:13 we noted that Paul stated that "the doers of the law shall be justified".
3. Moreover, James tells us that Abraham was "justified by works before the Law (James 2:21),
4. And, James also tells us that Rahab was "justified by works" under the Law

Now, let's reconcile verse 20 with these precepts just listed. In light of these precepts, it means that, Old Testament saints had to believe what God said and then DO IT. It is FAITH and WORKS in the Old Testament, just like James 2:17, 20 and 26 states. In the Old Testament, God justified a man who did what God told him to do.


Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

Look closely at verse 21. When Paul uses "But now . . .", he is making a distinction between other ages (i.e. past and future), and now (Church under grace). The scriptures confirm that the righteousness of God is Christ Jesus in Romans 10:3-4; 1 Corinthians 1:30. This righteousness "without the law" means that God gives us His righteousness without our having to keep the Law. Jesus Christ kept the Law for us during His earthly ministry which was witnessed by the Law and the prophets.


Verse 23 is the first verse of the Romans Road to Salvation verses. The others, in order, are Romans 6:23, 5:8, 10:13 and 10:9-10.

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[R. J.]

Romans Chapter Three (Continued)

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Starting in verse 24 we find several of the words that define salvation. Here is a complete list of the salvation words and their meanings:

1. Justification - the declaration that a person is righteous when he is not.
2. Redemption - the payment made to buy the sinner back from the wrath of God.
3. Propitiation - the price paid to satisfy the demands of an angry God against sin.
4. Remission - the payment for sin is applied to your account, and you are forgiven the debt that you owed.
5. Expiation - the act of CLEANSING of sin. Sin is TAKEN AWAY, not merely forgiven, based upon the actions of Christ on our behalf. This salvation word does not appear in the text but the precept most certainly does.
6. Imputation - the act of God whereby He charges the sinner's sins to Christ Jesus, and whereby He charges the righteousness of Christ to the sinner.
7. Regeneration - the act of salvation in which the Holy Spirit enters the sinner and gives him new life by a new birth. A new spirit, able to respond to the Holy Spirit, is created within the sinner.
8. Reconciliation - the act whereby two warring parties (you and God) are brought together in peace.
9. Spiritual Circumcision - the act of the Holy Spirit that divides the new nature in the Christian from his body of sinful flesh, so that no sin done in the flesh can affect the new spirit.
10. Adoption - the act whereby God takes a sinner and puts him into the family of God upon salvation.
11. Sanctification - the act whereby God sets a saved sinner apart, so that, from then on, he is dealt with as a son instead of as a stranger.
12. Glorification - the ultimate end of the saved sinner whereby he is made completely like Jesus Christ and given an inheritance with Him in His kingdom.

The term propitiation appears in verse 25 and in 1 John 2:2, 4:10. The precept of God being SATISFIED with His Son's blood sacrifice is prophecied in the following verses:


Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put [him] to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong [his] days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

Members of the body of Christ have appropriated that SATISFACTION when they TRUST in Christ's blood atonement for them.


Let's look at another salvation word, "remission", in verse 25. It appears in the phrase "for the remission of sins". This phrase occurs:

1. in the ministry of John the Baptist (Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3),
2. at the Last Supper (Matthew 26:28), and
3. in Peter's explanation of the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).

Romans 3:25, however, defines which sins are being remitted. "The remission of sins that are PAST" are the sins God forgave from Genesis 3 to Romans 3. We can know this by the following phrase, "through the FORBEARANCE of God".


Not one sin in the Old Testament was ever TAKEN AWAY (Hebrews 10:4) or CLEARED (Exodus 34:7). Almighty God put up with (that's forbearance) the Old Testament saint's sins and forgave them when they did what He asked them to do. God did this UNTIL the one, perfect, effectual sacrifice was made and His righteousness was applied to all of those forgiven sins to REMOVE THEM.


Romans 3:26 To declare, [I say], at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.


The phrase "for the remission of sins that are past" has to do with a PERIOD OF TIME (see verse 26), not the time of a man's life. So, the meaning of the phrase is "because the sins of the past have already been forgiven".


Not convinced concerning the "past sins"? Let's examine another cross reference to nail this precept down. Look at the last half of Hebrews 9:22. It states, "without shedding of blood is no remission". That blood was "the blood of calves and goats" (Hebrews 9:19).


In the Old Testament, under the Law, a person could have their SINS FORGIVEN if they made the proper sacrifice. BUT, "it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should TAKE AWAY sins" (Hebrews 10:4).
So, when Christ shed His blood, it does more than merely forgive sins. His shed blood REDEEMS the blood shed in the Old Testament and CLEARS away the sins that have already been forgiven. Here are the verses that substantiate:


Hebrews 9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions [that were] under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

Hebrews 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

So, verse 25 addresses the declaration of Christ's righteousness for Old Testament saints. Verse 26 addresses the declaration of Christ's righteousness for New Testament saints. These verses indicate that Almighty God has a "problem". His "problem" was how to declare people righteous when they weren't.
So, how did God solve His "problem"? How did He reconcile His holiness and wrath with His grace and mercy? God, the Father, sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to take man's place. Christ lived the righteous life required of a man and took the sins and the punishment that was due to a man for his sins.


That's the IMPUTED righteousness of God. We will see more of imputed righteousness in Romans Chapter Four.

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[R. J.]

Romans Chapter Three (Continued)

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Romans 3:27 Where [is] boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

When it comes to salvation, all boasting is OUT. The "law of faith" precludes it.

Verse 28 is the conclusion of Paul's precepts in this chapter. You are a sinner, whether you are Jew or Gentile. You need Christ's righteousness to do for you what you can not do for yourself. We will see in Romans Chapter Four that a person's FAITH is counted for righteousness.

Romans 3:29 [Is he] the God of the Jews only? [is he] not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: 30 Seeing [it is] one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

In this passage, notice that just because we trust Christ, we do not void the Law. We must remember that we are placing our FAITH in a man who has kept the Law for us.

Inasmuch, then, as Christ kept the Law on our behalf, and because of that we can receive His righteousness, we are confirming that the Law is right, or else Christ would not have needed to keep it.

So, the "new man" will strive to be LIKE Christ and keep those parts of the commandments that apply to him. The difference between Christians and the unsaved is that we are not keeping the commandments in an effort to JUSTIFY ourselves or even to try to stay saved. We are doing these things out of a heart of love for Christ who saved us by shedding His blood.

We understand that lying and cheating and coveting break our fellowship with Christ. So, a Christian lives right to stay in fellowship with Christ (John 14:15; Romans 13:10; Ephesians 2:10, 4:14-32; 1 John 1:7).

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