The Word Made Fresh
1Then what advantage is there in being a Jew? And what is the value of being circumcised? 2Much, in every way! The Jews were the first to be entrusted with the word of God. 3What if some were unfaithful? Their faithlessness does not erase the faithfulness of God. 4Everyone can be a liar, but God is proven true, as it is written, “You are right in sentencing me. No one can challenge your judgment.” (Psalm 51:4)
5But, if our lack of judgment only confirms God’s judgment, what can we say? That God is wrong to make us suffer his wrath? (Of course, I’m speaking in a human sort of way.) 6Not at all! If that were the case, how could God judge the world? 7On the other hand, if God’s truth redounds to his glory, why am I condemned as a sinner? 8So, why not say (as some people claim we say), “Let us do evil so that good will come”? They deserve their condemnation!
9So what then? Does that make us better? No. We’ve already said that everyone, Jew and Greek, is under the power of sin. 10After all, it is written,
“Not a single one of us is righteous,
and no one understands or bothers to seek after God.
12Everyone has left the path and has become altogether
worthless.
No one, not a single soul, is kind.”
13“They use their tongues to deceive,
and their throats are like open graves.”
“The poison of snakes is behind their lips.”
14“Their voices are bitter and full of curses.”
15“They are in a rush to shed blood –
16their paths are filled with ruin and misery,
17and they do not know the ways of peace.”
18“Their eyes hold no fear of God.”
19We know that the law speaks to those who are under the law so that every voice might be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20None are justified in their own eyes by following the law, because the law only makes us aware of our sin.
21But the righteousness of God has been revealed apart from the law, as the law and the prophets tell us. 22The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ for those who believe. There is no difference between us, 23because all of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. 24But now we are justified by God’s grace given to us freely as a gift through the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God sent as a sacrifice of atonement through his blood and made effective through faith. God did this as a display of righteousness, because in his mercy he had overlooked the sins of the past. 26Today all of this is proven, for God himself is righteous and justifies those who have the faith of Jesus.
27This is the reason boasting is excluded, not by the law or by good deeds, but by faith. 28We believe that we are justified by faith, not by works, 29because God is not the God of the Jews alone, but of Gentiles also, 30and there is but one God. So, God will support those who are circumcised on the ground of faith, and those who are uncircumcised on the same ground. 31So, does this overturn the law? Absolutely not! To the contrary, it raises up the law!
Commentary
1-8: Paul is arguing here with an imaginary opponent who, based on what Paul has just said, wants to conclude that there is nothing special about being Jewish or about being circumcised. Paul counters by asserting that the people of Israel are the people whom God chose to receive his word. Just because some of them were not faithful does not mean that God is going to turn his back on the covenant he made with them. So, if their unfaithfulness or injustice serves to prove God’s faithfulness and justice, God ought to reward them, not punish them, right? We might as well sin, then, so God will do even more good. Well, no, that argument has no weight because God is just, and the wicked will ultimately be punished for their wickedness.
9-18: Still, the Jews are no better off than Gentiles because both Jews and Gentiles have sinned and broken God’s laws, an assertion that Paul backs up with multiple paraphrases from the Psalms and the prophet Isaiah (Psalm 14:1-3, Psalm 5:9, Psalm 140:3, Psalm 10:7, Isaiah 59:7 and Psalm 36:1).
19-20: Here is one of the major points Paul makes in several places – the law cannot save; the law can only condemn.
21-26: However, everything has changed with the coming of Jesus Christ. Christ, with the shedding of his blood, made atonement for the sins of all so that all who have faith in Jesus Christ are justified — that is to say, God has dropped all charges against those who believe.
27-31: Therefore, none of us have any reason or right to brag about how good we are because all of us fall short, but all of us, Jews and Gentiles, are justified by God through faith in Jesus and his atoning blood. Still, God’s law, which is known instinctively even by Gentiles (see 2:14), is not thereby diminished.
Takeaway
God called Abraham to establish a connection with humanity. God sent Jesus to spread that connection throughout the human race. But we, the believers, are the ones who are to do the spreading, and we do that in the way we treat others and in the way we live. What is your witness?