Romans 3:1-20
Romans 3:1-20
Background
Last week, we left with Paul saying that true circumcision was an inward, spiritual matter, not merely a physical one. In other words, belonging to the people and promises of God wasn’t so much a matter of “external decorum,” and more a matter of genuine, living faith that loved “the spirit of the Law,” not merely followed “the letter of the Law.” In other words, you didn’t need to be or live like a Jew in order to be a part of God’s family.
This would’ve been hard to hear for some of the Jewish Christians, who had been living according to the Law - the sabbath, food restrictions, circumcision, etc. - for as long as they’d been a people! And these weren’t merely preferences; it’s how God himself had told them they needed to live in order to commune with, worship, and enjoy him in the Old Covenant. Even for people who know faith in Christ is all that’s needed to believe in the New Covenant, it would be hard to let go of the Law’s importance in belonging and practicing the faith.
The Benefit of God’s Word
Michael Bird wrote this in his commentary about the beginning of Romans 3: “Paul’s argument in Romans 2 has raised the question as to whether Jewish identity can ever be grounds for assurance. To put it bluntly, one could ask of Paul, ‘What is the point of being Jewish then?’” This is what Paul addresses here, and he says that Jewish Christians have the benefit of a rich history, familiarity with, and practices that point to the faithfulness of God across every generation.
Paul says that being part of God’s historic covenant people - the Jews! - is still a benefit in every way today. In particular, he calls out the fact that they were entrusted with the very words of God. Of all things, why would Paul say that God’s words were the most important benefit Jewish Christians have over Gentile Christians?
How familiar are you with the Old Testament? Do you like studying it? Why is it important when it comes to understanding the New Testament?
Consider the Gentile Christians who may not have had any exposure to the Old Testament (and who didn’t yet have most of the New Testament!). What might they have a harder time understanding without a connection to Jewish history?
Do you take advantage of having God’s very own words accessible to you 24/7? How do you put yourself in spaces where God’s word is heralded? How do you put it in front of you throughout your week?
The Emptiness of Excuses
Paul continues to play the part of a hypothetical Jewish Christian. If God’s very own words are really that big of a benefit, then why have so many of the Jewish people been unfaithful - even to the point of rejecting Jesus? How is God faithful in including all of these Gentile Christians who have no idea about the Law, while letting Jewish folks who have tried to follow the Law fall by the wayside? Isn’t God being unfaithful to his people? And even if God’s people were unfaithful, doesn’t that just make God look all the better? How could God judge them (let alone get mad!) if even their lies only serve to make him look truthful?
Paul doesn’t have much patience with questions like this. To answer the first round of questions, he quotes Psalm 51 - David’s Psalm of contrition over his sin. How is this a particularly strong rebuttal to the thought that Jewish folks should be a shoe-in to the kingdom simply because of their Jewishness?
What does Paul say about the nature of God, no matter what we say or do?
How does Paul answer the second round of questions about doing evil that good may abound?
To bring this to bear on our own lives, consider how we might to right write-off our own sin. Specifically, the way we excuse and minimize our sin:
How are you prone to not take responsibility for your sin? Do you make excuses by blaming it on your circumstances, another person’s attitude, what you do / don’t have, etc.? How are these thing - whether you think explicitly about God or not - actually accusing God of not giving you want you need to be faithful?
How are you prone to sweep your sin under the rug? What makes you treat your sin as if it’s no big deal? How do you rationalize it, as if it’s in service of some greater good - or simply not offensive to others or the Lord?
Paul himself says he’s accused of saying that people can do evil and good will still abound. While Paul obviously doesn’t preach this, what about Paul’s commitment to God’s grace might make people say that about him?
Would people ever say that about you? That the company you keep, the people you invite to church, or the folks you pray for, show compassion, or refuse to speak evil of would somehow give people the impression that you don’t care about good and evil?
Is this a good thing or a bad thing? What might this say about you?
The Great Equalizer
After demonstrating the a person’s Jewishness didn’t make them a shoe-in for the kingdom, Paul re-asks the question he opened with: what’s the advantage of being a Jewish Christian? This time, however, he answers it differently: it doesn’t give them any advantage in being less sinful or less in need of God’s grace. In fact, Jews and Greeks are all in the same in terms of their unrighteousness before the Lord. To make his case, Paul threads together a number of Psalms and other Old Testament passages that speak about the unrighteousness of both Israel’s enemies - and Israel itself.
How can Paul answer the same question two different ways? How can being a Jewish Christian be both a benefit and not a benefit?
Consider a modern example of this. How would someone who is raised in the church both have an advantage and no advantage over anyone else in relationship to God?
Paul talks about the function of the law. What does it do? What does it pass on to the people who know it?
If the Law is part of the very words of God, how could something like this be a benefit?
Does this make the Law good? …bad? …neither?
What affect should the Law have on us? What should the church’s posture of heart be in light of what the Law says about us? How should that actually make us distinct from the world around us?
How is the Law insufficient to do what we’re called to do as Christians? How can the Law lead us to the universal hope the world has in Christ?