Romans 3-4

 Romans 3

Romans 3:1 Jews carry a privileged responsibility. Having God’s direct revelation is something they should share with the world, but also implies a duty to live in accordance with it. And when they did, they were blessed in all the dimensions of life that they obeyed His word in. But the ultimate test, when they wanted to do their own thing, was that there were both natural and spiritual consequences. God gave them the whole gamut of truth. 

Romans 3:4-8 opens with a quote of Psalm 51:4, David’s song of repentance after he had been outed for his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah. David acknowledged that he had sinned against God, who was justified in judging him for his sins. This leads Paul into a brief tangent (3:5-8) about the idea that if sin was an occasion for God to reveal His righteousness through mercy, then we should sin to create opportunities for Him to do so. Paul agreed that this is an absurd idea.

Romans 3:10-18 The theme of all these quotes is that we have to go beyond saying we are sinful to truly believing it, so that we can truly repent. Repeating the words “I have sinned”    is superficial if our heart isn’t engaged. Paul was acquainted with this, having been at the stoning of Stephen, and approving it by guarding the cloaks of those who threw stones.

• 3:10 quotes Psalm 14:1, talking about the vile deeds of moral fools.
• 3:11 quotes Psalm 14:2, to the effect that no one understands this enough to seek God.
• 3:12 quotes Psalm 14:3, (and Ecclesiastes 7:20), emphasizing the universality of sin, leading up to Romans 3:23. (Most likely Solomon quoted David to support his rumination on the meaninglessness of life.)
• 3:13 quotes Psalms 5:9 & 140:3 Throats, tongues, and lips all participate in vile sin, from David’s day to our own. Whether it is deceit, poison, or verbal assassination.
• 3:14 quotes Psalm 10:7, continuing the assessment of the mouth.
• 3:15-17 quote Isaiah 59:7-8, slightly rearranged, on the utter depravity of humans, that God yet promises to redeem those who will be (Isaiah 59:16-21).
• 3:18 quotes Psalm 36:1, in which David contrasts the wickedness of evil men to the love of God.

Romans 3:21-22 If God were not holy, existence would be hideous, because evil would rule the roost. But God revealed righteousness in Jesus, and the new life He gives to those who believe. 

Romans 3:23-24 is just a statement of fact, not a condemnation. He already fully explained the universality of sin. The fact is, we can’t save ourselves. Does the word ‘all’ in verse 24 imply that ultimately everybody will be saved? Paul later explains that this means he is talking about all those who are justified by faith. (3:28)

Romans 3:25-26 God sacrificed Jesus to demonstrate His love for us. His righteousness is love. Justice becomes justification when God’s love takes action, as it did in Christ. 

Romans 3:27-31 returns to the question posed in 3:1. Jews having received God’s revelation cannot thereby boast being the chosen of God, His favorites, because it is faith that justifies. Faith in Jesus, although it justifies apart from works, nevertheless upholds the law, as he will explain.

Romans 4 Abraham’s faith

Romans 4:1-3 In Genesis 12:1, God took the initiative and Abraham responded in faith. We are told later in the Genesis account that his belief was credited to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)  As Hebrews 11:8-12 explains, Abraham journeyed by faith to a land he did not know, to live as an alien, before Isaac was born, but it was of the same fabric of faith.

Romans 4:4-8 God blesses us with faith in us, enabling us to respond in faith. Paul quotes Psalm 32:1-2 about the blessedness of being forgiven. This is the beginning of David’s psalm of  reflection, probably after the Bathsheba affair (see Psalm 51). In the subsequent verses of Psalm 32 David reflects on guilt, repentance, forgiveness, and God’s instruction. (Psalm 32:3-11).

Romans 4:9-11 Paul points out that Abraham’s circumcision came after his faith was reckoned to Him as righteousness. (Genesis 17:24) Hence, circumcision was an act of obedience, not a condition of God’s favor. This sign was a seal of the righteousness he already had by virtue of faith, and was passed on to his heirs in faith.

Romans 4:13-15 Righteousness that comes through faith, if perfected, needs no law because it is manifested as love. (13:10) Legalists completely miss the point because if they try to earn rewards by following the law, they will fail; and they miss out on the promises of faith.

Romans 4:16-21 It seems like Abraham sets a very high bar for faith. But in making him the father of nations, God’s obvious intention was for them to imitate him. (Genesis 17:5), so that these nations understand that they came about through Abraham’s faith, and that faith was credited to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:5-6) Paul is very explicit that bringing life from the dead, in referring to Abraham’s body and Sarah’s womb, is the focus of this faith. Paul will later explain about spiritual life.

Romans 4:22-23 Paul parallels Abraham’s fathering a child at age 99 and Sarah’s conceiving and giving birth at age 90 to Jesus’ death and resurrection. (He does not refer here to Abraham’s offering of Isaac - see Hebrews 11:17) Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead for our justification, in a fulfillment in greater power of the restoring of Abraham’s and Sarah’s reproductive capacity. Perhaps Paul was echoing in a slightly different perspective Jesus’ words that we must be born from above. (John 3:3-8)