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Rom.3:1. So, what is the advantage of being a Jew, or what is the benefit of being circumcised? Rom.3:2. A great advantage in all respects, but especially in the fact that they have been entrusted with the word of God. Rom.3:3. Because what? even if some were unfaithful, will their unfaithfulness destroy the faithfulness of God? Having rejected all the provisions of the law with the words “what is the advantage of being a Jew,” he sees a naturally arising objection and prevents it. What kind of objection is this? Next: if there is not the slightest benefit in those decrees, then why, finally, were the Jewish people chosen? This objection is resolved with his characteristic wisdom. In words he agrees and says that it is of great benefit to the Jews, and as proof of this he cites not the merits of the Jews, but the gifts of God. He did not say that the Jews were very superior to other nations, because they did this and that well, but that “the word of God was entrusted to them,” and this is a blessing from God, and not their superiority. What does "entrusted" mean? Given, entrusted; God recognized the Jews as worthy and therefore entrusted them with heavenly revelations. By saying this, he outwardly protects them; but with all this, he puts forward a new accusation, proving that they did not believe the words of God, which served to their honor. But he does not present this accusation on his own behalf. As if he were saying this: what good does it do to the Jews that they received the revelation of God when they did not believe it? It seems that this objection is resolved by justifying not the Jews, but God. If you do not believe, is it from God? Will their unfaithfulness “destroy the faithfulness of God,” that is, the revelations and good deeds entrusted to them? The unfaithfulness of the Jews not only does not cause God any harm, but, on the contrary, proves His great love for mankind, because He does not deprive those who subsequently dishonor Him of the good deeds. You see how he accused the Jews of the very thing that they boasted of, that is, that they received the law. Rom.3:4. No way. God is faithful, but every man is a liar, as it is written: Thou art righteous in Thy words, and thou shalt prevail in Thy judgment. I said above that some did not believe. Meanwhile, not some, but all, turn out to be unfaithful. Therefore, in order not to upset the Jews, he speaks wisely and presents what he has learned from experience in the form of an assumption. Let's say he says that everyone was unfaithful. What of this? And in this case, God is justified. That is: if we judge and compare what God gave to the Jews and how they behaved before Him, then righteousness remains on the side of God, as David says (Ps. 50:6). Rom.3:5. If our untruth reveals the truth of God, then what shall we say? won't God be unjust when he expresses anger? (I speak from human reasoning). Rom.3:6. No way. For how else can God judge the world? There is one objection here. Others could say: if because God has blessed us, and we have appeared ungrateful to Him, He turns out to be even more faithful; then why is He angry, that is, punishing us, if we became the reason for His justification and victory? This is the objection. The Apostle decides this very wisely and as a denunciation of the Jews. From the fact that God punishes you, it does not follow that you are the reason for God’s victory; for it is unfair for the winner to punish the one who was the cause of the victory. But God is not unjust: otherwise, how can God judge the world if He is unjust? Therefore, when God punishes you, and He is not unjust, it follows that you did not become the reason for His victory by sinning: for God could have won otherwise if you had not turned out to be evil. The words “I speak according to human reasoning” have this meaning. So, he says, I answer to justify God according to human reason, that is, as only a sane person can answer: for the actions of God have some reasons incomprehensible to us, surpass human reason and do not need our protection. Rom.3:7. For, if God’s faithfulness is elevated by my unfaithfulness to the glory of God, why else should I be judged as a sinner? Rom.3:8. and should we not do evil so that good may come out, as some slander us and say that we teach this way? The judgment against such is just. He repeats what was said before to make it clearer. If through my crime God appeared righteous and faithful; then why, finally, should I be condemned, having contributed to the glory of God? In this case, I deserve not condemnation, but reward. And if this is true, then what the pagans say about us will also be true. The pagans, hearing the words of Paul: “When sin abounded, grace abounded all the more” (Rom. 5:20), they ridiculed them and claimed that Christians were saying: let us do evil so that good may come, let us sin more so that grace may increase. These words of the pagans, spoken by them to mock and mock us, also apply in the present case, if we assume that God reveals His goodness thanks to our depravity and ingratitude. But that's not really the case. The speech of the pagans is the speech of those who always speak lies. “The judgment on such will be just,” that is, they will be punished fairly. So, by sinning, I do not become the reason for God’s justification, because I am condemned as a sinner; for if I had sinned for the glory of God, I would not have been condemned. Rom.3:9. So what? do we have an advantage? Not at all. For we have already proved that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin, Rom.3:10. as it is written: There is none righteous, not even one; Rom.3:11. there is no one who understands; no one seeks God; Rom.3:12. they have all turned aside from the path, they are worthless to one; there is no one who does good, not even one. Rom.3:13. Their larynx is an open tomb; they deceive with their tongue; the poison of asps is on their lips. Rom.3:14. Their lips are full of slander and bitterness. Rom.3:15. Their feet are quick to shed blood; Rom.3:16. destruction and destruction are in their ways; Rom.3:17. they do not know the way of the world. Rom.3:18. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Having said above that the Jews have some advantage because the law has been entrusted and handed over to them, he now proves that they have no advantage due to their deeds. For, as those who did not preserve what was entrusted to them, they will be subject to great condemnation. Therefore, although they had some advantage, as chosen by God, but since by their deeds they dishonored God, who honored them and chose them, they not only no longer have any advantage, but will also be subject to greater condemnation. He speaks as if on behalf of the Jews: “So, what? “Do we have an advantage,” are we superior to others, are we, the Jews, who received the law and circumcision, more pleasing to God than others? "Not at all". For the Jews, to say the least, sinned just as much as the Gentiles. Where can you see this? Of the prophets, namely David and Isaiah. For the speech that begins with the words: “no one is righteous” and ends with the following: “the essence is full of oaths and sorrows,” belongs to David (Ps. 13:3–5, 9:28, 139:4), and the speech from the words “their feet are swift” to the words “they do not know the way of peace” belongs to Isaiah (Is. 59:7–8); then the words of David follow again (Ps. 35:2). So, he presents the most significant prophets as accusers of the Jews, and shows that they speak completely in agreement. Why, after the words of Isaiah, are the words of David again cited? For Isaiah speaks clearly of the Jews; David also speaks about them. Further, as soon as someone deviates from good, he immediately becomes useless. For depravity is nothing more than a perversion of natural impulses towards good: why, stimulating a person to the unnatural, it makes him useless. For nature no longer uses it, just as it does not use it when administering the affairs of its sick. “Destruction and destruction” is sin, for nothing destroys the soul more than sin, in its wrong way. For virtue, as our natural good, arranges a straight and smooth path for us, and depravity, as an unnatural matter, known for shortcomings and excesses, sometimes forces us to rush up and sometimes down, and therefore makes our movement uneven and difficult; not to mention the fact that she is preparing punishment for us after this. “They do not know the way of peace,” that is, a godly life; for a godly life is the path of peace. “Take,” says the Lord, “My yoke... and you will find rest” (Matthew 11:29): this is the path to the true peace of Christ! Rom.3:19. But we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth is stopped, and the whole world becomes guilty before God, Rom.3:20. because by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin. So that the Jews could not object: this is not being said to us, he says: “If the law says anything, it speaks to those who are under the law.” What is the need, he says, to tell others when the law has been given to you? He calls the entire Old Testament law, and not just the Mosaic law, as he now calls the prophecies of Isaiah and David law. The words “every mouth is stopped” depicts the boasting of the Jews and the unstoppable striving of their tongue. With them the prophet curbed him like a rushing stream. The apostle does not mean that they sinned so that their lips would be blocked; but for this reason they were rebuked by the prophets, so that they would not represent their sins by their sins of ignorance and would not boast. And not only the Jews, but also “the whole world becomes guilty before God,” that is, condemned, alien to boldness, not justified by their own works, but in need of outside help, that is, in the grace of Christ. Why do you, Jew, boast of the law, when you, along with the rest of the world, are guilty of not being justified by the works of the law? Rom.3:21. But now, regardless of the law, the truth of God has appeared, to which the law and the prophets testify. If you, a Jew, boast about the law, then know that it is the reason for greater punishment for you. For through him you recognized sin, and whoever sins with consciousness faces greater punishment. But this happened due to your negligence, for you did not flee the sin that had become known to you, and therefore brought upon yourself greater punishment. How can you free yourself from this punishment? If you accept the truth of God, independent of the law. For God will justify us, even though we have no works; because God is omnipotent. He put it perfectly: “appeared” in order to show that the truth of God existed before, but was hidden. And the words “about which the law and the prophets testify” also shows that it is not something new, but that both the law of Moses and the prophets spoke about it, which is why it is worthy of acceptance; for although it is independent of the law, it is completely in accordance with the law and has the goal of justifying us. Rom.3:22. The truth of God through faith in Jesus Christ is in all and on all who believe, for there is no difference, Rom.3:23. because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Rom.3:24. being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. This truth, he says, that is, the justification by which God has justified us, descends on everyone through faith. When we bring faith, we are all justified, Jews and Gentiles. "For there is no difference". A Jew is not preferred to a Gentile because he has received the law. For he also sinned, since from the law he learned only how to recognize sin, and not how to avoid it. Even if he has not sinned as much as a pagan, he is equally deprived of glory, because he has offended God, and the offender reaps the fruit not of glory, but of dishonor. But don't despair. All are justified freely by the grace of God, and this grace comes through redemption, that is, through the perfect liberation made by Christ, for He justified us by giving Himself as a ransom for us. Rom.3:25. whom God offered as a propitiation by His blood through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness in the forgiveness of sins previously committed, Rom.3:26. during the longsuffering of God, to demonstrate His righteousness at this time, that He may appear righteous and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus. He mentioned cleansing (by the sacrifice of propitiation) and blood in order to convince the Jew that forgiveness and justification are accomplished through Christ. If, he reasons, you believed that sins were resolved by the blood of sheep; then all the more are they resolved by the Blood of Christ, and if legal cleansing, being the image of Christ, had such power, then the truth itself has much greater power. “Purification” (purification) was the name given to the cover of the ark, decorated with cherubs placed on both sides of it. It pointed to human nature, which was the veil of Divinity that covered Him, but was glorified by the angelic powers serving him because of his union with God the Word. He said “offered” in order to show that deliverance by the Blood of Christ was predestined from ancient times for healing from relaxation, that is, death from sins committed before, during the forbearance of God. For although we enjoyed much goodness, we became like those weakened and dead. And this happened “to demonstrate the truth” of God, so that not only God Himself would appear righteous, but also others who were dead in sin could be resurrected and justified, just as the manifestation of wealth consists in someone not only being rich himself, but also being able to make others rich. So, do not be ashamed, being justified in this way. If God appropriates this work to himself, that is, he exalts himself and boasts of it, as justifying us “at the present time,” that is, when sin has reached its extreme limit and when we have recognized ourselves as if weakened and dead, then why should you, Jew, be ashamed of such the glory of God? Rom.3:27. Where is something to boast about? destroyed. What law? the law of affairs? No, but by the law of faith. The Apostle proved that we will be justified through faith, why does the Jew rightly ask: where is that which you can boast about and be proud of? He doesn’t say: where is virtue? For the Jews had no virtue, but only boasting. And he continues: “destroyed,” which means: it’s no longer time to boast. Before Christ it was timely to boast about the law, but now it is no longer timely, for it has become clear that boasting about it is useless. For if the law could justify us, then there would be no need for us in Christ. By what law, he asks, was it “destroyed”? Is it the law of works, that is, the one that says that the person who does them will live (Lev.18:5)? (For this is what the law of Moses said.) No, he answers; but by the law of faith, which justifies by grace and not by works. So he calls faith law; because the word "law" was honored by the Jews. Boast therefore, O Jew, of the faith which can justify you. Rom.3:28. For we acknowledge that a person is justified by faith, apart from the works of the law. Rom.3:29. Is God really the God of the Jews only, and not of the pagans? Of course, pagans too, Rom.3:30. for there is one God, who will justify the circumcision through faith and the uncircumcision through faith. Having proved that justification is in the Blood of Christ, and not in works of the law, he ends his speech and says: from all that has been said, we conclude that every person is justified by faith. Do not be embarrassed by this, Jew, as if it were absurd. God is not a private God, to save only you and not every person. Here he shames the Jews and greatly frightens them, as fighters against God, if they do not allow that the pagans are saved through faith; for they do not believe that He is the God of all and provides equally for everyone. One, he says, is God, that is, the God of Jews and Gentiles, who justifies the circumcised, not by law, but by faith, and accepts the uncircumcised through faith. Having mentioned circumcision and uncircumcision, he also recalls what was said above, where he proved that neither circumcision brings benefit when there is no work, nor does uncircumcision harm in itself. So, with both, faith is needed. Rom.3:31. So, do we abolish the law by faith? No way; but we affirm the law (ἰστώμεν). The saying that the law is overthrown by faith led the Jews into confusion. Therefore, he heals them with his great wisdom, saying that faith confirms the law. For what the law desired, that is, to justify a person, but could not do, this is accomplished by faith. Whoever has just believed has already been justified. So, faith did not destroy, but established the law. The expression ίστώμεν suggests that the law lay, and the one who lies must be raised and put in place. You might be interested in: