Romans
Chapter 3 Verse 1 ,2
Is there any profit to being a Jew? Is there any profit to having circumcision? The profit is that the Jew has the knowledge of the one true God and has the writing of the men of God. The Hebrew/Jews were given the blessing and responsibility of having this knowledge to share.
Romans Chapter 3 Verse 3, 4
What if some of the Jews did not believe? Does that mean that faith in God will not be enough? Does it mean that God will not honor faith?
No–let God stop such thinking! God is true. Men are unfaithful and live a lie. In Psalms 51:4 It says: “ God is right when He speaks and He is clear when He judges.”
Romans Chapter 3 Verse 5-9
Paul says, I’m going to speak like some people making an argument.
If our sin makes God look good, then people will see how good God is. If our sins make Him look good—why does He judge me as a sinner?
If our sins make Him look good—He should not punish us.
Paul says: Some people are saying that I am preaching for people to sin more—-so it will make God look good.
If that kind of reason goes on—then the more we sin the better God likes it because it makes Him look good!
That kind of thinking is foolish! We are all sinners—Jews and Gentiles.
Romans Chapter 3 Verse 10-18
It is written in the scriptures— “There is not one righteous (good), no, not one.”
“There is not one that understands, there is not one that seek God.”
‘”hey are all gone out of the way, they are all dirty, there is not that does good, no not one.” Psalms 14:1-3
“They speak words that stink like an open grave, they use their tongues to lie and fool others, their words are like the poison of a snake.”
Psalms 5:9
“Their mouth is full of bitter words and curses.” Psalms 10:7
“Their feet are fast to hurt so blood comes.” Proverbs 1:16
“Their ways are to destroy and bring pain. They have not known the way of peace.” Isaiah 59: 7,8
“They have no fear of God.” Psalms 36:1
Romans Chapter 3 Verse 19-31
We know that the law is talking to those people who know and have the law—the Jews. They have no excuse. God told them what to do.
The Jews are guilty of sin before God. The whole world is guilty of sin before God.
The law of God shows us that we have sinned. No one stands without sin before God.
But now (through Jesus) we have been given a way to be righteous and without sin. This righteousness does not come by obeying the law.
The writings of the prophets in the Old Testament tell about a Messiah coming.
Isaiah 53:5
“He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities (sin), he was punished so we could have peace, and with his stripes (marks where he was beaten) we are healed.”
This is the righteousness that is given to us by faith in Christ Jesus.
It is for all them that believe—there is no difference if they are Jew or Gentile.
“For all have sinned, and we have come short of showing glory to God.”
We are made right (justified) freely by His grace.” “It is because Jesus redeemed us (pay the price) on the cross..
God sent Jesus to be our substitute (take our place) and because of faith in His blood, we can be made right, and have the sins of our past removed.
God is the one who is just (right), and He is the One who can make us right before Him.
Can we be proud of ourselves that we kept the law? No! We broke the laws of God. Is it because of our works of doing good or right? No! Because we did not keep all the laws. It is only our faith.
So we say, Man is made right (justified) by faith—not by obeying the Old Testament law.
Is He the God of the Jews only? No! He is also the God of the Gentiles.
It is God who makes us right (justifies) if we are Jews having faith with circumcision, or if we are Gentiles having faith with no circumcision.
Does that mean we throw away the law? No, our faith makes us live in a way that we do the law.
To explain Paul’s words in verse 31: Our faith in God brings us close to God. By the Spirit of God we learn the ways of God. We learn how to behave toward God and we learn how to behave toward other people.
The 10 Commandments were about our relationship to God and our relationship to others.
The first of the 10 Commandments said that we were to love God only. We are not to worship any other God. We are not to worship idols.
God is to be first and only.
The other commandments have to do with the way we behave to other people. We are not to steal, kill, lie, take someone else’s wife or husband, etc. As we learn to love God more and more, and as we learn how to behave toward God—we know how we are to behave to other people.
If we love God with all our hearts and He is first—we will not be telling lies, stealing, killing or doing sexual sins.
As Christians, we do not have in our minds about obeying the 10 Commandments. We have in our minds about walking with God trying to please Him. By pleasing Him, we automatically obey the 10 Commandments.
Circumcision was an outward sign that the Hebrews/Jews chose to show they followed and obeyed God. That they were followers of the true God of heaven and not a worshipper of an idol.
Paul is trying to explain that when we give our life to Jesus to walk with Him, the “mark” of our obedience is in our hearts and spirits. God’s Spirit in us speaks to others that we belong to God. Paul speaks of it as “circumcision” of the heart.
The way we think, feel, and live show that we belong to God. Our spirit is different from non-believers. We think differently, we do differently than non-believers. They see we are different because of what we believe.