God Over All and Giver of Faith
Romans 3
Righteousness is a gift to those who cannot save themselves, and, instead, fall at the cross and confess Christ as Lord.
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#righteousness
#righteous
Published July 13th, 2018; Updated July 15th, 2018
Main point summary
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Main point summary
God makes no distinction, He justifies sinners freely, both the Jew and the Gentile who believe in the atonement and righteousness of Christ. This generous gift requires those with faith to respond with thanksgiving, namely, they are to [joyfully] obey the law.
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Romans 3:1-31
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Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, x the Jews were entrusted with y the oracles of God. z What if some were unfaithful? a Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! b Let God be true though c every one were a liar, as it is written, d “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you e are judged.” But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict f wrath on us? ( g I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could h God judge the world? But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, i why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not j do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.
To those entrusted with the law (Jews): you have been given every advantage to know God and to be blessed by Him through obedience to His commands, but you willingly spurned and disobeyed Him, and thus, He is just to punish you.
What then? Are we Jews 1 any better off? 2 No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both k Jews and l Greeks, are m under sin, as it is written: n “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” o “Their throat is p an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” q “The venom of asps is under their lips.” r “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” s “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and t the way of peace they have not known.” u “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Now we know that whatever v the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, w so that every mouth may be stopped, and x the whole world may be held accountable to God. For y by works of the law no human being 1 will be justified in his sight, since z through the law comes knowledge of sin.
[FURTHERMORE] The law is to show us that no one is righteous in His own sight. In other words, the law proves that God alone is righteous and worthy, and that we, every single person, have sinned against His holy commands, and are worthy of His condemnation.
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But now a the righteousness of God b has been manifested apart from the law, although c the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God d through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. e For there is no distinction: for f all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, g and are justified h by his grace as a gift, i through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God j put forward as k a propitiation l by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in m his divine forbearance he had passed over n former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Despite the fact that we are sinful and worthy of condemnation through the law, God fulfills His promise to judge sinners and save His people by sending His Son to be the satisfaction for His wrath and for their guilt of sin, so that whoever believes in this Christ shall not be condemned by the law, but justified by faith and His imputed righteousness.
o Then what becomes of our boasting?
AS A RESULT, what happens to the Jewish advantage or ability to assume we're safe from God's punishment?
It is excluded.
ANSWER: It is disregarded
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By what kind of law?
QUESTION: What law excludes the Jewish boasting?
By a law of works?
QUESTION: Is it the law that the Jews were given and required to obey?
No,
ANSWER: no
but by the law of faith.
BUT BY the working out of grace given by God to those who believe
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For we hold that one is justified by faith
BECAUSE we believe that righteousness is a gift
p apart from works of the law.
NOT something gained by doing things according to the law
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Or q is God the God of Jews only?
TO EXPLAIN, is God only creator and overseer of Jewish people?
Is he not the God of Gentiles also?
IN OTHER WORDS, didn't God create and oversee all of His creation?
ideaexplanation
Yes, of Gentiles also,
ANSWER: Yes, God is for both Jews and Gentiles, and, thus, all, including Gentiles, can be saved too
since r God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and s the uncircumcised through faith.
BECAUSE the very of nature of God's unity (that in him there is distinction of His godliness over all things) requires it - those who have faith shall be justified
Do we then overthrow the law by this faith?
AS A RESULT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH, QUESTION: is the law useless?
By no means!
ANSWER: No
On the contrary, we uphold the law.
RATHER, faith responds with thankful obedience
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the Jew already had the law - so the Jew only has to accept justification is by faith and not by works of the law Whereas, the gentile does not have the law (written form), and thus, must be saved through faith (not through an understanding or basis on the law)
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