Romans Chapter 3
Imagine if you were a Jew in Paul’s time and you have been told your whole life that you must keep the law and now Paul is saying that possession of the law will not save you. One can empathize with the Jew when we think of the similar problem we have in our culture. Our culture here in the United States believes that if a person is a good person, then he or she will be saved. If people would think about that presupposition - that is so scary, because how can one know if they are being good enough until it is too late?
Paul wanted the Jews to know that it was the work of Jesus on the cross that brought justification to mankind. Salvation is available to both those who possessed the law (the Jews) and those who did not possess the law (the Gentiles). God is the God of the whole world and He provided a means of salvation for the whole world.
My study Bible gives the best definition of justification that I have ever read. To be justified means to be declared righteous before God. It means that, as the divine judge, God looks on those who are in Jesus and declares them “guilty as charged, but pardoned and accepted.” [Women’s Study Bible English Standard Version]
Let's Reflect
1. We know that the Jewish people were God’s chosen people. What were they chosen for?
2. Since they are the chosen people and they at times were unfaithful to God, does that mean that God made a mistake? Was God ever unfaithful to His Word?
3. Paul argues that some people might think that God is acting in an unrighteous manner because He has wrath towards us when we sin. But he quickly points out that the logic of that is false because God could not be the judge of the whole world if He acted in an unrighteous manner. Even if every man, woman and child rejected what God has said – God would still be God, and mankind would be a liar. While it is true that our sin and unrighteousness points to God’s righteousness and His glory; it does not give us a license to do what? Paul was falsely accused of teaching that we can live any way we want just so that God will be glorified.
4. Will Jews get preferential treatment before God when answering for their sins? The answer that Paul expounds upon in verses 10-18, can be summed up by what is said in verse 23.
5. When you read through the description of the condition of man, a condemned sinner, in verses 10-18, what stands out to you?
6. Paul stated that no man will be justified by keeping the law. What is the purpose of the law?
7. Verses 21-22 are the key to this chapter. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law…the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. The Jews were in possession of the law, and they thought that they were righteous for that fact alone and that the Gentiles were the unrighteous condemned people on the earth. But the law could not be kept completely. And no man can be justified by keeping the law nor in performing good works. The law can only condemn us. What is it then that allows us to obtain the righteousness of God?
8. His grace is a _____________ through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. See verse 24.
9. Jesus was put on that cross for us to be our propitiation – Jesus satisfied the wrath of God through His sacrificial death. The satisfaction of God required the shed ___________ of Jesus.
10. This is the part I love, when we have faith and believe that Jesus died for our sin, Paul states that the shed blood of Jesus on the cross caused God to pass over our past sins. What other example can you think of when blood was a symbol that caused the forbearance of God to “pass over” sinful people?
11. The New Covenant is a covenant of faith in Jesus, not in our works. Paul argues that if justification came through works of the law, then who only could be saved?
12. We can be thankful because under the New Covenant God will justify the circumcised and the uncircumcised. And the chapter ends with another rhetorical question from Paul, “should we throw out the law then?” What is his answer?
Devotionals
