Paul has sought to show the universality of sin.
He has shown that both Gentile and Jew are guilty before God.
He has shown that there is no inherent guiltlessness in being a Jew.
To the Jews were first committed the laws of God.
● Those who could read Hebrew could read the very word of God.
● Through the ordinance of circumcision, they were identified as God’s chosen people.
● Possession and understanding of the law did not make the Jew guiltless.
Circumcision was not a saving sacrament; what was needed was circumcision of the heart.
It seems as though Paul had reduced the Jew to the level of the Gentile in every way.
Jesus had said that, “…salvation is of the Jews.” (John 4:22)
Then what advantage was there in being a Jew?
I. Religious Objections To God’s Judgment Vs. 5-8
A. My Sin Magnifies God’s Righteousness Vs. 5, 6
1. Paul once again anticipates objections and arguments.
2. V. 5- In other words, as man rebels against God, argues against God, blasphemes God, and insists that God is wrong, in the end, God will be proven right.
3. If all of humanity disagreed with God, it would overwhelmingly prove that, in the end, God was right.
4. From v. 4- For example:
a. If one person disagrees with you but you are proven right, that is “X” validation.
b. If 10,000 disagree with you and you are proven right, it is 10k “X” validation.
c. If the whole world disagrees with you, and you are proven right, it is 6 billion “X”.
5. If man’s unrighteousness magnified the righteousness of God, then man’s sin makes God look good. Is God unjust to judge those who magnify His righteousness?
6. V. 6- Paul is answering the hypothetical or actual objections of Jewish religious people.
a. Those Jews would have agreed that God ought to judge the pagans in chapter 1, and the moral critics of chapter 2.
b. But now…they are suggesting that God would be unjust to judge the religious, but unfaithful Jew, who by virtue of his sin, helps exemplify the holiness of God.
c. At that point, the Jewish argument is faulty and inconsistent.
d. If the Jew’s sin makes God looks good if/when He judges them, then so much better for the people in chapter 1, who were grossly and openly sinful.
e. That Jewish thinking created a dilemma for the Jewish person.
B. If I Sin More, God’s Righteousness Is Further Magnified Vs. 7, 8
1. When displaying diamonds to sell, the clerks place the diamond on black, so as to create a contrast, and magnify the beauty of the diamond.
2. The Jewish objectors are suggesting a somewhat similar argument.
3. David Guzik– In theory, the most dramatic example of someone who might ask this question is Judas. Can you hear Judas make his case? “Lord, I know that I betrayed Jesus, but You used it for good. In fact, if I hadn’t done what I did, Jesus wouldn’t have gone to the cross at all. What I did even fulfilled the Scriptures. How can You judge me at all?” The answer to Judas might go like this: “Yes, God used your wickedness but it was still your wickedness. There was no good or pure motive in your heart at all. It is no credit to you that God brought good out of your evil. You stand guilty before God.”
4. Should the criminal not be judged because he makes the righteous judge look good?
5. The furthest step taken in this argument is that we should do evil to promote good.
a. Some were accusing Paul of preaching this.
b. When salvation by grace is correctly preached, this accusation often follows.
c. It is an extremely abusive and carnal approach to interpreting grace.
d. Instead of accepting the guilt of sin, the sinner turns it around and suggests more sin, and that for the sake of God’s glory.
e. Their condemnation is just- Paul doesn’t respond to this thinking, but condemns it
6. Guzik- Twisting the glorious free gift of God in Jesus into a supposed license to sin is perhaps the summit of man’s depravity. It takes the most beautiful gift of God and perverts it and mocks it. This twisting is so sinful Paul saves it for last, because it is beyond the depravity of the pagan (Romans 1:24-32), beyond the hypocrisy of the moralist (Romans 2:1-5), and beyond the false confidence of the Jew (Romans 2:17-29).
II. God’s Profile Of Sinful Man
A. All Peoples Are Guilty Before God
1. V. 9- All are under sin- The pagan, the moralist, and the religious person.
a. Under- not just involved in, but under the power, slavery, and judgment of sin
2. V. 10- None righteous (apart from Jesus).
a. Newell- Adam was not righteous: he was innocent, not knowing good and evil.
3. V. 11– None rightly understand or seek God on their own. They may practice religion, but unless the true God reveals Himself to man, man doesn’t know God.
4. V. 12- Unprofitable- speaks of rotten fruit. As man turns from God, there is an eternal corruption about him, and an eternal uselessness. He may accomplish things in the
human realm, but nothing is accomplished for God’s Kingdom.
5. Vs. 13, 14– Warren Wiersbe calls this passage “An X-ray study of the lost sinner, from head to foot.”
a. These verses describe man’s natural speech. Speech comes forth from the heart.
b. Luke 6:43-45 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
44For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45A good man out of the good treasure of his heart
brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
6. Vs. 15-17 These verses move from the wicked things that are said, to the wicked things that are done. Remember, this speaks of breaking the laws of God, and the natural
inclination of man towards sin.
7. V. 18- There may be verbal respect for God or religion, but it is not true and life changing. No honor for God, no fear of His judgment.
B. What The Law Does Vs. 19, 20
1. V. 19- The law is holy, just and good. Romans 7:12
a. If humanity lived by the 10 Commandments, there would be no need for armies or police. Lawyers would be out of business, and courthouses would close down.
b. The guilt of man isn’t a result of the law being bad, but of man’s inability to keep the law. Everyone breaks the Law of God at some point, and therefore, is a law breaker.
c. The Jews sought to be approved unto God by keeping the Law. The Law condemned them, and did not justify them.
2. V. 20- J. B. Phillips Bible– “…it is the straight-edge of the Law that shows us how crooked we are”.