Rom 3:1-20

1. A history of suffering
a. 400 years of bondage in Egypt
b. In 40 years of wilderness wanderings, all those who were adults at the Exodus died in the desert
c. They had to fight for the promised land, to get it and keep it
d. They sinned time and time again
e. One civil war after another
f. The Northern Kingdom was destroyed
g. The Southern Kingdom had 70 years of slavery
h. The Greeks under Antiochus ravaged the temple and the Maccabees had to fight to keep it.
i. Rome put them in bondage
j. Roman legions destroyed Jerusalem and killed a million Jewish civilians in 70
k. In 115, the Jews revolted and Rome killed 600,000 of them
l. In Christian Europe, they were declared to be an inferior race of creature, and were persecuted and driven from place to place for 1500 years
m. They were oppressed in Russia
n. They were nearly annihilated by Hitler
o. They have faced 60 years of struggle in Palestine
p. And even now, the President of Iran and other Islamist leaders call for the annihilation of the Jews.

2. First Charge—no advantage for Jews—Rom 3:1-2
a. The implication of the charge here is that God was unfaithful in protecting His peopleèThe Truth is, God preserved Israel in spite of these attacks
b. The advantages of Israel
(1) The Advantage of better opportunity.
(a) As a nation, the Jews were Chosen by God—Deu 7:6, Deu 14:2, Psa 33:12, Ex 19:6, Deu 10:14-15, Ps 135:4, Is 43:21
(b) While most of the Gentile world was cut off from the Truth, the Jews had access to teaching that could lead to salvation—Eph 2:11-12
(c) They had other privileges Rom 9:4-5
(i) The (national) adoption
(ii) The Shekinah Glory
(iii) The Covenants
(iv) The Law
(v) The worship of the temple
(vi) The promises of God
(vii) And, most importantly, the Messiah had risen from their nation.
(2) The Advantage of the Word
(a) The Jews, and through them the church, were given the great gift of having God’s Word—
(b) Dt 4:1ff, 6:1ff

3. The Second Charge—that God was unfaithful to His people—Rom 3:3-4

a. The mistake the Jews made was to assume that being born into Israel guaranteed their salvation
(1) Application—many professing Christians believe that sort of thing today—but God has only children, no grandchildren.
(2) Salvation is and has always been through faith in God’s workèeither the work He was going to do (OT faith), or the work He has done (NT Faith). We cannot claim salvation based on family ties, nor could the Jews of OT times.
b. Some of the people of Israel did not believe—because the election of national Israel was not to salvation, but to be God’s representative nation.
(1) Some were true believers, even in the worst of times.
(2) There is a distinction between election for service and election for salvation.
(a) Cyrus was elected for service—Is 44:28, 45:1
(b) Israel was elected nationally
(c) But there is a distinction in dealing with the election of Grace—Rom 11:1-7
c. What if some did not believe? So what! Their unbelief was not a result of God not fulfilling a plan or a promise, because a remnant did believe for salvation.
(1) Just because the children of the covenant did not all believe savingly, that does not negate God’s promises.
(2) There will come a future day when “all Israel” will be saved (Romans 11)
(3) But in the current dispensation, not all Israel is of Israel—Rom 9:5-9
(4) There was always a remnant who believed in OT days, and even in the NT dispensation, there have been “completed Jews.”
(5) As in the ministry of Jesus, there was a remnant given by the Father to the Son.

d. The ultimate Judge
(1) Was God faithless? Paul’s reaction was definite—certainly not! This receives the strongest condemnation possible in Greek.
(2) Let God Be True—if we, at any time, think our way is better, our truth more truthful, or our view more accurate—we are a liar
(3) The Quote from Psalm 51—God is the One against Whom all sin is committed, and no one can judge Him—He is, by definition, right in all things.

4. The 3rd Charge—God’s unjust to condemn our sins since our sin makes Him look better—Rom 3:5-8.
a. Paul was obviously taking this line of thought because these things had been mentioned by some in opposition to his teachings.
b. This charge is also invalid

5. We Are All The Same—Rom 3:9, Rom 3:23, 6:23

a. The Previous Charge – “..they are all under sin.”
(1) I am a sinner
(2) You are a sinner
(3) If you are human, and if you are within the sound of my voice, you are a sinner.
(4) You may be a redeemed sinner, you may be a saved sinner, growing in the Grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, but you and I are sinners.
b. And this should not have been any news to the Hebrews of Paul’s day, because he commences to quote Old Testament passages to establish the fact that all of us are sinners

6. No One Is Righteous—3:10-12

a. To those who worship her—Mary is not righteous—except by substitution—Even she recognized God as her Savior—Luke 1:47
b. To those who believe in works righteousness, you are not righteous, except by substitution
c. To the self-satisfied and self-righteous, you are not righteous except by substitution—1 Cor 4:6-7
d. To the ones who believe they have achieved perfection—the same is true: we cannot be righteous on our own.

7. The details of the charges summarized

a. Man is unable and unwilling to seek God on his own—Rom 3:11, Isaiah 64:6-7, John 6:44-47, 3-65, 1 Cor 2:14, 2 Cor 4:3-4, Eph 2:1-3
b. Man has turned from God—3:12 è
(1) This is also from Ps 53—Psa 53:3
(2) The word “unprofitable” in the Greek, corresponds to the Hebrew word for “corrupt”, and it means “useless, like soured milk….”
c. Man cannot really even talk the game—3:13-14
d. Man is a killer—3:15-16
e. Man hates peace—3:17
f. Man does NOT fear God—3:18

8. The Law’s verdict—3:19-20

a. Whatever the law says—“let God be true, and every man a liar…..” Rom 3:4
b. Those under the law—this is everyone!
(1) The Jews had the law written on tablets of stone—Exodus 20
(2) The Gentiles had the law engraved on their hearts—they had the conscience that God gave them—(Romans 2) they had the witness of the book of nature (Ps 19)

c. The Law of God tells us to shut up
(1) Man says, “Well, I don’t think it’s anybody’s business who I sleep with…” 1 Cor 6:9-20— God says, Shut Up!
(2) Man says, “I have an alternative lifestyle, there is nothing wrong with what I do…” Rom 1:18-32, 1 Cor 6:9-11—God says—Shut up!
(3) Man says, “I am a good Missionary Southern Baptist, there is nothing wrong with me…” Mat 7:21-23—God says—Shut up!
(4) Man says, “A woman can do what she wants to with her body, there is nothing wrong with abortion—“God says—shut up! Luke 1:39-45, Ps 139
(5) Man says, “I don’t feel guilty about anything……….” God says—shut up! Rom 3:23, 6:23
(6) God says, shut up, and admit our guilt!

d. And finally, the statement toward which Paul has been heading since the beginning of Romans—3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
e. No one can fix their own problem
f. The Law and Grace-- “Christian” Legalism is a false doctrine!

(1) The Law and salvation—19-20
(2) The witness of other scriptures as to Law and grace
(a) The Law Cannot Justify/ Works Cannot Save è Only Faith can justify—Gal 2:16-21, 3:1-2
(b) Only Grace can save—Eph 2:8-9
Legalism is heresy—Col 2:16-23, Gal 1:6