Paul's Epistle to the Romans — page 7

With the gospel propagated for almost 2,000 years, there is now a large portion of the world's population that is even more responsible than the Jews! These are merely professing Christians. (We distinguish them from those who are sincere professing Christians – true believers.) These profess to believe in the Word of God, including the New Testament (not like the Jews who accept only the Old Testament), and have been enlightened by the superior revelation of Christian truth, but they have no inward truthfulness. If, in the end, they prove to have no faith, they will receive the greatest judgment of all, because they had a greater degree of light, “And to whom much was given, much will be required” (Luke 12:48).

Christians Are Not Spiritual Jews

This passage in Romans 2 has been mistakenly taken to say that Christians are “spiritual Jews” because there would have been an inward work of faith in their souls. This idea comes from taking these verses out of context. It is a classic example of not “rightly dividing the Word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15 – KJV). Understanding the basic outline of the epistle to the Romans, with its various sections and subsections, would quickly correct this misunderstanding. It would show that Paul is not here speaking of Christians, but of Jews in their natural environment as Jews in the Jewish economy. The gospel and its blessings, by which a person becomes a Christian, do not even enter the discussion until Paul reaches chapter 3:21. Up to that point in the epistle, he is showing man's need of salvation – both among the Gentiles and among the Jews.

People think that this passage is teaching that every Christian is a Jew, but what it is really teaching is that not every Jew is a Jew! As mentioned, a true Jew in the Jews' religion must have an inward work of faith in the heart. Romans 2:28-29 is not speaking of Christians.

Four Objections That Jews Would Naturally Make in Defense

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We now come to what may be the most difficult passage to understand of all Paul's writings – some say of the whole Bible!

The Jews vehemently opposed Paul's teaching that they were under the sentence of judgment along with the rest of the world. Being seen as on the same level as the Gentiles offended them, as regards the need to be saved. In an effort to prove Paul wrong and discredit the gospel he preached, they raised numerous objections and criticisms. Being well acquainted with these objections, Paul reiterates four of their main arguments and answers them with wisdom and logic given by the Spirit.

Chap. 3:1 – After reading what Paul said in the previous chapter about the false security of the Jews in religious things, their natural inquiry would be: “What advantage then has the Jew? Or what is the profit of circumcision?” In other words, they would say: “Paul, you are disparaging the favors and privileges that God granted us, His chosen people. Surely, if these things were given by God, they must be right and good. And if they are precious to Him, we should not treat them as if they were useless.” Thus, they accused Paul of teaching that the privileges God gave to Israel in Judaism were meaningless. He was accused of belittling the sacred things of Judaism, and to them this was akin to blasphemy.

1. 2 – Paul answers by saying: “Much in every way,

because, first of all, the words of God were entrusted to them”. “Much in every way” means that he agreed there were many advantages in being a Jew – most importantly, that they received “the words of God”. This is the prophetic voice of God in the Old Testament Scriptures about the coming of Christ, the Messiah. The words of God enlightened the Jews regarding God's moral standards, God's ways, and the prophecies concerning Christ. But these things would not be of advantage to the Jews unless they were accompanied by an inward work of faith in the heart. That was their problem; they had not responded in faith to what the words of God had announced concerning Christ. Thus, their great advantage became that which condemned them, because, as a nation, they did not receive the Messiah when He came.

1. 3 – The Jews would respond to this with a second objection:

“What then? If some were unfaithful, will their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God?” They knew that the nation had not believed the words of God concerning Christ and responded saying: “Paul, you are saying that the unbelief of the Jews nullifies the faithfulness of God!”

1. 4 – Paul answers by saying: “By no means”. This is the

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first of the ten occurrences of this phrase in the epistle. It means “certainly not.” Thus, Paul agreed that the unbelief of the Jews could not nullify God's faithfulness regarding His promises to the nation. He then declares a principle that we should all use when dealing with the Scriptures: “Let God be true, and every man a liar [false – JND]”. That is: whenever we encounter a puzzle in God's ways, and the case arises as to whether it is man or God who is wrong, let us always follow the principle that God is true (right), and every man false (wrong). To take the opposite path would be to find faults in God and accuse Him of injustice – which is what the Jews were accusing Paul of.

Paul insisted that God maintains His Word and gives an example in David. He quotes him in Psalm 51:4: "As it is written: That You may be justified in Your words, and overcome when You are judged". David disregarded the warnings in God's Word concerning God's judgment against the sin of adultery, and discovered in the hardest way that God maintains His Word. He experienced the (governmental) judgment of God regarding his sin. David's sins only confirmed the truthfulness of God's Word in connection with the judgment of sin. Therefore, the unbelief of the Jews did not nullify God's promises – it only cleared the way for God to judge them for not having believed.

1. 5 – The Jews at this point would distort what Paul was

saying and would accuse him of undermining the blamelessness of God's character. Paul knew this and states his third objection: "And if our unrighteousness is the cause of God's righteousness, what shall we say? Is God unjust, bringing wrath upon us?" In other words, they were saying: "Paul, if you teach that God is glorified by the sins of the Jews, then you are saying that sin glorifies God! To say that God needs our sins for the praise of His righteousness is to present God as tolerant of sin! You are accusing God of injustice!" Thus, the Jews accused him of distorting God's character. In case anyone thought that Paul actually believed this absurd idea, he adds in a parenthesis: "I speak as a man". That is, he was merely presenting their perverted argument.

1. 6 – Paul answers this by saying: "By no means:

otherwise, how will God judge the world?" In fact, he was saying: "Such an argument is unworthy of serious consideration, for if it were true, then God would have no basis for judging the world. He could not rightly avenge sin and judge sinners". This could not be true, because God's words clearly affirm that God "will judge the world with righteousness" through the One whom the nation rejected (Ps 9:8, 96:13, 98:9, etc.).

1. 7 – The antagonistic Jews would continue pressing their objection

from before, adding a fourth objection: "But if through my lie the truth of God abounded more to His glory, why am I still judged also as a sinner?" In other words, they said: "If our sins help to glorify God, why would we be judged for them? If my sin vindicates the truth and glorifies God, then how can God find fault in me as a sinner? How can He inflict judgment on us for doing something that results in His glory?"

1. 8 – Paul answers this objection by saying: "And why not

say (as we are blasphemed, and as some say that we say): Let us do evil, that good may come?" He says: "No, that could not be right, because if you take that argument to its logical conclusion, it leads to the false philosophy that the end justifies the means". Paul interrupted the flow of the argument to say, in another parenthesis, that this is exactly what people were saying that he and his co-workers were preaching – but it was slander. Paul concludes the argument with a short answer: "The condemnation of these is just". Thus, he concludes that anyone who defends his justification along this line will receive his just judgment.

Thus, in chapters 2:17-3:8, Paul showed that all these human arguments are false and do not exempt the Jews from their responsibilities before God, nor from the sentence of judgment that is upon them. Their arguments did not deliver them from their responsibilities. The learned Jew, therefore, with all his religious advantages is also under judgment, just like the Gentiles, and all of them need a Savior.

A Summary of the Jews' Objections

• Paul attacked God's privileges in Judaism.

• Paul belittled God's promises.

• Paul blasphemed God's character.

• Paul contested God's ways.

Observing these three spheres in which Paul divided the human race, we see that:

• Ignoring God's testimony in creation makes men senseless (They will worship wood, stones and reptiles and reduce themselves to things that are morally despicable).

• Ignoring God's testimony in conscience makes men critical.

• Ignoring God's testimony in the Scriptures, while professing to believe in them, makes men hypocrites.