| SUMMARY: | Having stated that God judges everybody on the basis of the standard of righteousness that they possess, Paul now deals with the questions inevitably raised about a Jew's special position. He declares that, while there is a great advantage in being a Jew, it does not make that one any more righteous than a Gentile because all men, Jews and Gentiles alike, stand condemned before God. |
| I. Is there any advantage in being a Jew? | VERSES 3:1-8 | |
| A. The Main Questions: Is there an advantage? Yes! | ||
| 1. The Questions: | Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? | (1) |
| 2. The Answers: | Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. | (2) |
| B. The Resulting Questions: | ||
| 1. Is God’s faithfulness negated? No, not at all! | ||
| a. The Question: | ||
| (1) IF: | What then? If some did not believe, | (3a) |
| (2) THEN: | their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? | (3b) |
| b. The Answer: | ||
| (1) The Statement: | May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, | (4a) |
| (2) The Scripture | “THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED.”Psalm 51:4 |
(4b) |
| 2. Is God unrighteous to judge then? No, Not at all! | ||
| a. The Question: | ||
| (1) IF: | But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, | (5a) |
| (2) THEN: | what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.) | (5b) |
| b. The Answer: | ||
| (1) The Statement: | May it never be! | (6a) |
| (2) The Reasoning: | For otherwise, how will God judge the world? | (6b) |
| 3. But why should the Jew be judged? | ||
| a. The Question: | ||
| (1) IF: | But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, | (7a) |
| (2) THEN: | ||
| (a) First: | why am I also still being judged as a sinner? | (7b) |
| (b) Second: | And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? | (8a) |
| b. The Answer: | Their condemnation is just. | (8b) |
| II. Is the Jew any better than the Gentile? | VERSES 3:9-20 | |
| A. The Question: Are Jews better then? No! | ||
| 1. The Question: | What then? Are we better than they? | (9a) |
| 2. The Answer: | ||
| a. The Statement: | Not at all; | (9b) |
| b. The Explanation: | for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; | (9c) |
| c. The Scriptures: | ||
| (1) Psalm 14:1-3 & 53:1-3 | “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” |
(10-12) |
| (2) Psalm 5:9 | “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” |
(13a) |
| (3) Psalm 104:3 | “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”; | (13b) |
| (4) Psalm 10:7 | “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”; | (14) |
| (5) Isaiah 59:7-8 | “THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.” |
(15-17) |
| (6) Psalm 36:1 | “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.” | (18) |
| B. The Conclusion – The Place of the Law: | ||
| 1. To whom the Law speaks: | Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, | (19a) |
| 2. Why the Law speaks: | so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; | (19b) |
| 3. What the Law accomplishes: | ||
| a. What it does not do: | because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; | (20a) |
| b. What it does accomplish: | for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. | (20b) |