A Righteous Judge | Romans 3:1-8
The Text
Romans 3:1-8 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written,
“That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”
But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.
Some Thoughts
As I grew up in a traditional Dispensational Baptist church, I was taught that Old Testament Jews were saved by keeping the laws and making sacrifices at the temple. This teaching goes great if you think that Gods plan for salvation was somehow different in the past, but the truth is that we have always lived in the age of God's grace and Salvation was always through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
How we respond to that truth also has not changed in that the law exposes our sin to the point that we must realize that we can't fulfill it in our own power and must turn to God in continual repentance and humbly ask for His forgiveness and salvation.
The only thing that has changed is the method we use to repent, whereas the O.T. saints offered sacrifices as part of their repentance, praises, and worship, waiting for the time when Messiah would deliver them ultimately from the futility of continual sacrifices, we in the N.T. look to Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice and give thanks with our devotion to him with our lives.
It's easy to see how the Jews looked to the outward symbols of faith for their salvation, things such as circumcision, sacrifices, and the law. Even our modern N.T. churches are trapped in the outward symbols of faith with things such as the "sinners prayer", communion, baptism, church attendance, tithing or offerings.
God's righteousness is displayed fully in the judgement of unrighteousness and this is what the Jews did not understand. It was a common teaching that father Abraham sits at the gates of Hell and will not permit any child of his to enter into Hell no matter what they had done in their lifetime. If this would have been true, then Abraham would make Gods judgement incomplete, God would be less than righteous, His holiness would be blemished by unrepentant sinners, and His grace and mercy would be unnecessary along with the sacrifice of Jesus.
Let the truth of the need for repentance and salvation by grace alone through faith alone stand even if everyone else were to disagree.
