The Wrath of God Against All Unrighteous: Gentiles and Jews 1: 18 - 3:20

Romans 3: 1-20 

Paul has been beating up on the Jews, challenging their sacred and self-identifying tradition of circumcision, but at the beginning of this chapter, he softens a bit. There really is a good reason for being a Jew – these people have been given the “very words of God.” The Jews are rightly proud of their heritage. “What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today” (Deut 4:7-8). They have long known that God in his essence is faithful: “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands” (Deut 7:9). If a Jew is not faithful, does this mean God is unfaithful? No, says Paul. God is true and right whatever our response. This is true even of our sin. We are not doing God a favor when we sin, as if our unrighteousness makes his own righteousness look all the better. Some in Rome appear to argue that God is unjust in his judgment because our sin in some way magnifies God’s goodness. Paul says this is not so. God is judge of the world, and we are all condemned before him. We are all on a level playing field: “there is no one righteous, not even one.” Paul then returns to the law as the section concludes. No one achieves this illusive righteousness by observing law, though the law itself is not the problem. The law is good: “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul…giving joy to the heart…giving light to the eyes…The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb” (Ps 19:7-10). The psalmist also writes: “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts” (Ps 119:45). The point, therefore, is not to condemn the law but the human heart that mocks God and strays from his purposes. In the next chapter we turn a corner because Paul identifies the bridge between God and humanity – faith in Jesus.