Romans 3:1-20 (Wednesday Evening Bible Study)

Romans 3:1-20

• The Queen Mary was commissioned in 1936, twenty-four years after the Titanic. Like the Titanic it was the most awe-inspiring ship of its time. With twelve decks the Queen Mary was longer and heavier than the Titanic. But unlike the Titanic it didn’t hit an iceberg. During WWII it was transformed from a luxury liner to a troop transport and carried 750,000 members of the military to and from European war zones. The Queen Mary was retired in 1967 after making 1,001 trips across the Atlantic. The ship can now be found harbored in Long Beach, CA.
• After the decommissioning, work was done on the three smokestacks. The smokestacks, ranging in height from 62’ to 70’ tall, were made of sheets of steel one inch thick.  As the smokestacks were lowered onto the dock to be worked on they just crumbled. Over the years the thick steel had turned to rust. The only thing holding them together were the more than thirty coats of paint. The smokestacks looked good from the outside, but on the inside they had fallen apart.
• Sin does the same thing to us. It’s possible to look great on the outside while eaten up by sin on the inside. You’ll remember Jesus made similar comments about the Pharisees of his day comparing them to white washed tombs and dirty cups that had only been cleaned on the outside.
• Paul has said that the Jews were the most spiritually privileged people on earth, but they had become spiritual hypocrites and as a result God’s name was being blasphemed. They were more interested in the outside than the inside.
• Context:
• We are now in the third chapter of Romans. Just to remind you as we start this chapter, in chapter 1 Paul wrote that the Gentiles would be condemned because they rejected God who revealed himself in nature. In chapter 2 Paul wrote that the Jews would be condemned because they haven’t fully kept the law. So Paul has made everyone mad. There’s no one that’s not covered. Everyone deserves God’s judgment.
• What do we tend to do when someone criticizes you for doing something wrong? We defend ourselves. We make excuses. We try to place the blame somewhere else. Or we attack the one accusing us.
• In chapter 3 Paul begins by addressing four of these objections. These are probably comments he’d heard before. Ever since he’d started sharing the gospel some had offered excuses for why it was wrong or didn’t apply to them because they were Jews. The first argument asks if there’s any benefit to being a Jew if Jews are going to be judged.
• Romans 3:1-2
• So what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 2 Considerable in every way. First, they were entrusted with the very words of God.
  • How did the Jews view themselves in comparison to Gentiles?
    • That they were better and would be judged differently than the Gentiles. If the Jews have no advantage on Judgment Day what is the big deal about being a Jew?
  • What was the value of circumcision?
    • It was a sign you were in a covenant with God…well The Jews were counting on this special relationship with God to protect them from God’s judgment. They believed they wouldn’t face God’s judgment. But if they do face God’s judgment then what’s the advantage of being a Jew?
  • What does Paul say the advantage is?
    • The Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.  WHY is that an advantage? God had spoken to the Jews. He had given them his laws. He had shown them what he is like through his prophets. It gave opportunity to believe in The Lord and  know much of  His will…That is a very great advantage.
  • Do we ever hear a similar argument from the Christian?
    • They can’t believe that God would allow us to suffer. After all, we’re Americans. We’re Christians. If God is a God of love why would he allow…whatever terrible thing that happened.
• Romans 3:3-4
• 3 What then? If some were unfaithful, will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Absolutely not! Let God be true, even though everyone is a liar, as it is written: That you may be justified in your words and triumph when you judge.
  • What is the argument here?
    • Does the unfaithfulness of many of the Jews mean God has been unfaithful to His promises did His covenant promises fail?
  • Did God make promises to the Jews?
    • Yes; God had said that he would always love them, that they would always be his people, and that he would always be faithful. Again, because of these promises the Jews believed they would not face God’s judgment. In fact, there was a teaching that said Abraham sat at the gate to hell preventing any Jew from entering in. In other words, Jews wouldn’t face God’s judgment. However, if Jews will indeed be judged as Paul was saying, wouldn’t that mean that God wasn’t being faithful to the promises he had made to them?
    • There are many Christians that wonder about this.  There question could  be summed up; “Will God  save Jews in the  end  simply because  they are Jews?” But God’s word is clear; the only way to God is through Jesus. The truth is not all Jews even tried to obey God. Not all Jews even believed he was God. Why would God not judge them? Paul will answer this question in detail in chapter 9, but for now here is his answer: Of course not.
  • Is God faithful if judges those who have been unfaithful to Him?
    • Yes because that is what He said  He would do.  Paul quotes part of  Psalm 51:4 Here is what the entire  verse says Psalm 51:4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
    • One day God’s judgment will come. That won’t prove God’s unfaithfulness. Quite the contrary, it will prove that God is just and does what is right, for we all deserve God’s punishment. Even if God has to condemn the whole world for being liars he will still tell the truth.
  • This leads to the next argument which asks that if our sins point out God’s righteousness and glory then isn’t it unjust for God to judge us?
• Romans 3:5-6
• 5 But if our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, what are we to say? I am using a human argument: Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath? 6 Absolutely not! Otherwise, how will God judge the world?
  • I don’t think Paul is making up these arguments. These are questions that he faced before.
  • What is the argument?
    • How can we be punished by God if our sin points out God’s righteousness…if  that was the case God would unable to judge anyone
    • Notice-Paul is making clear that he is not speaking for himself or for the Holy Spirit and sees this as faulty thinking.
  • The fourth and final question is an even more extreme form of the third question. If our sins point out God’s glory then shouldn’t we sin all the more?
• Romans 3:7-8
• 7 But if by my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say, just as some people slanderously claim we say, “Let us do what is evil so that good may come”? Their condemnation is deserved!
  • Does this type of thinking buy into, “The end justify the means.”?
    • If my lies show God’s truthfulness…then I should keep on lying.  We are never instructed to do evil to glorify God.
    • Some argued the gospel message of being  saved by grace rather than law keeping, made people sin more rather than less.
  • Those are the 4 arguments; Now Paul gives his conclusion which reflect thinking from Chapter 1 and 2. Now Paul quotes from the Old Testament to prove his point. He quotes from the Psalms, Isaiah, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs 
• Romans 3:9-12
• 9 What then? Are we any better off? Not at all! For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin, 10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one. 11 There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.
  • Who all is included in this?
    • Everyone Jew- Gentile-all mankind
    • Everyone is…what? Guilty
• Romans 3:13-18
• Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers’ venom is under their lips. 14 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, 17 and the path of peace they have not known. 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
  • What is the picture that Paul paints of humanity here?
    • How lost we are…does this depict human history for the most part
• Romans 3:19-20
• 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment. 20 For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.
  • Has Paul been speaking how everyone is in trouble?
    • So who is he speaking to here in verses 19 & 20?  Still everyone!
  • So if it is everyone what “Law” does Paul have in mind?
    • 10 Commandments- O,T, Law, Law written on people’s heart and conscious (Gentiles). You everyone one is under some  kind of law…Everyone’s religion is about making yourself acceptable to some  god 
  • Why is it important that every mouth be silenced?
    • Every person is silenced when confronted by the evidence there is no defense, no excuse we are absolutely guilty.
  • Who is accountable to God?
    • The whole world…We are all guilty before God
  • Does the law make anyone righteous?
    • No…we best not use the law to do something which it can not do…save us
  • What does the law do?
    • We become conscious of our sin. 
  • How is the only way to be saved under law?
    • Keep it perfectly
• TAKE AWAY
  • Are we all in trouble when it comes to law breaking?
  • Do you see a universal need for grace, for the gift of God’s righteousness?
  • Is it important that people see themselves as sinners?
  • What would you say to someone who is trying to earn their salvation by keeping  some law?