Romans

The Saving Righteousness of God. Since no one can be righteous before God by keeping the law, Paul now explains that right standing with God comes through faith in the atoning work of Jesus on the cross.

After arguing that the Spirit’s work in Gentiles renders them true Jews and the true circumcision, Paul raises the logical question of whether there is any advantage or value in being an ethnic Jew and physically circumcised. He probably means “value for salvation” since he uses a Greek noun (ōpheleia) that corresponds to the verb ōpheleō (“to give value, benefit”) in 2:25.

One might expect Paul to answer that no advantage or “value” results from being Jews. Instead, he claims that the Jews have great advantages, consisting chiefly in possessing the oracles of God, which refers to the OT Scriptures and may focus (given what Paul says in the verses following) on God’s promises to save Israel. On the Jews being entrusted with the oracles of God, see Deut. 4:8; 5:22–27; Ps. 147:20.

Even though the Jews were unfaithful and refused to trust and obey God, he remains faithful to them and therefore will fulfill his covenant promises, particularly his promise to save them. (Paul is speaking generally and does not mean that every single Jew will be saved; he further develops God’s faithfulness to the Jews in chs. 9–11.) Since every person is a liar and a sinner, God is justified, i.e., vindicated in the justice of his judgment, especially (in this context) his judgment of unbelieving Jews.

Paul considers a false implication that could be drawn from his argument. If the Jews could repent only by God’s grace, then it would be unrighteous, according to Paul’s Jewish opponents, for God to pour out his wrath on those who did not repent, since as sinners they were unable to respond to him.

Paul does not provide a full answer to the objection here (for that, see chs. 9–11). He shows that the Jewish objector’s position is untenable, for then God could not judge the (Gentile) world either, and no evil behavior would be punished.

Indeed, some of Paul’s Jewish opponents insisted that he taught a doctrine of “cheap grace,” i.e., that God receives more glory when Christians do evil and then are forgiven. Paul emphatically rejects such a view (as “slander”) but waits until ch. 6 to examine this charge in more detail.

The Unrighteousness of All People. The argument of the entire section, 1:18–3:20, is concluded here. Paul cites the OT to charge all with sin, both Jews and Gentiles, preparing the way for the claim that right standing with God is available only for those who trust in the atoning death of Christ.

Even though God has promised to fulfill his saving promises to the Jewish people (vv. 1–4), they do not possess any inherent advantages, for they too are under the power of sin. Greeks here refers to the entire Gentile world in contrast to the Jews.

That no one is righteous indicates human inability to secure salvation apart from God’s provision. This does not mean that people are as bad as they can be, or that they cannot do good things from a human perspective. However, with regard to eternal salvation, their situation is hopeless so long as they are left to themselves. God’s initiating grace must come first. Righteousness must come from God (vv. 21-22).

Paul focuses on the sinfulness of every human being, citing Ps. 14:1–3 and perhaps echoing Eccles. 7:20. When Paul says none is righteous, no one seeks for God, and no one does good, he means that no human being on his own seeks for God or does any good that merits salvation. Paul does not deny that human beings perform some actions that conform externally to goodness, but these actions, prior to salvation, are still stained by evil, since they are not done for God’s glory (Rom. 1:21) and do not come from faith (14:23).

Paul zeros in on sins of the tongue, quoting from Ps. 5:9 and 10:7. The reference to the grave highlights either the corruption of the heart or the deadly effects of sin. Human beings deceive through flattery or lying, and the venom of asps points to the poisonous effect of one’s speech. Nor is evil speech merely occasional, for people’s mouths are full of evil, so that cursing and malice characterize their lives before salvation.

Next Paul considers the impact of evil in terms of actions and in society, modifying and abridging Isa. 59:7–8. Human history is littered with murder and warfare. Sinners leave in their wake devastation, ruin, and misery. Instead of knowing peace (see note on Rom. 1:7) they have sown disorder and confusion into the world.

This citation from Ps. 36:1 identifies the root cause of sin as the failure to fear and honor God. Any society that commonly assumes that God will not discipline sin in this life or judge it in the next will have no fear of God and will therefore give itself increasingly to evil.

These verses represent the culmination and conclusion of vv. 9–18 and all of 1:18–3:20, showing that all, without exception, are sinners.

The law here, as is typically the case in Romans, refers to the Mosaic law. Those under the law are the Jews. But why is every mouth left without excuse and condemned before God if the law is addressed only to the Jews? Paul’s logic is that if the Jews, who are God’s special covenant people, cannot keep the law, then it follows that Gentiles, who are taught much of the law by their consciences, will not avoid God’s condemnation either.

Works of the law is understood by some to refer only to the ceremonial law, i.e., those laws that separate Jews from Gentiles (such as circumcision, food laws, and Sabbath). But the context gives no indication of such a restriction, and therefore the phrase should be taken to refer to all the works or deeds required by the law. The law required perfect obedience to God’s will. All people sin and fall short of this standard, therefore no one is justified by the law. Justified is a legal term and indicates that no one will be declared to be righteous by God, who is the divine judge by virtue of his own goodness, since all violate and none fulfill God’s requirements (see note on Gal. 2:16).

God’s Righteousness in the Death of Jesus. God’s saving righteousness has been manifested now in the death of Jesus Christ, so that God’s justice and love are reconciled in the cross.

The righteousness of God has been manifested now, i.e., in the period of salvation history inaugurated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. On the righteousness of God, see note on 1:17. Here in ch. 3 it refers to the morally right character of God that is clearly shown in his saving action by which human beings may stand in the right before God as the divine judge. This righteousness has been revealed apart from the law, which means that it is not based on human obedience to the works of the law. Paul may also intend to say it is not based on the Sinai covenant. Even though God’s saving righteousness is apart from the law, the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it. In other words, the OT Scriptures prophesied this very way of salvation (see 1:2).

This right standing with God is available to all who believe, whether Jew or Gentile. On the righteousness of God, see note on 1:17.

No one can stake a claim to this righteousness based on his or her own obedience, for all people have sinned and fall short of what God demands (see 1:21).

Therefore, all are justified (declared not guilty but righteous by the divine Judge) only by God’s grace (unmerited favor). The word redemption reaches back to the OT exodus and the blood of the Passover lamb (see Exodus 12–15), by which the Lord liberated Israel from Egypt; the exodus likewise points forward to the greater redemption Jesus won for his people through his blood by forgiving them their sins through his death on the cross (cf. Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14). On justification, see note on Gal. 2:16.

In Eden God threatened death as punishment for disobedience and sin (Gn 2:17). In the fall Adam and Eve died spiritually, being separated from God and subject to sin and death even though they did not immediately die physically. Implementing his plan to redeem his lost creatures, God sought out those who obediently trusted him (e.g., Abel, Gn 4:4; Enoch, Gn 5:24; Noah, Gn 6:9; Abram, Gn 15:6; and their spiritual successors). Though they were sinners, God spared them from eternal damnation, the just punishment for their sin. Paul explained God’s justice in passing over these sins: in due time, Christ would die in their place (Rm 5:6). Christ’s death covers the sins of all believers living during, prior to, and subsequent to his atoning death.

Jesus’ blood “propitiated” or satisfied God’s wrath (1:18), so that his holiness was not compromised in forgiving sinners. Some scholars have argued that the word propitiation should be translated expiation (the wiping away of sin), but the word cannot be restricted to the wiping away of sins as it also refers to the satisfaction or appeasement of God’s wrath, turning it to favor (cf. note on John 18:11). God’s righteous anger needed to be appeased before sin could be forgiven, and God in his love sent his Son (who offered himself willingly) to satisfy God’s holy anger against sin. In this way God demonstrated his righteousness, which here refers particularly to his holiness and justice. God’s justice was called into question because in his patience he had overlooked former sins. In other words, how could God as the utterly Holy One tolerate human sin without inflicting full punishment on human beings immediately? Paul’s answer is that God looked forward to the cross of Christ where the full payment for the guilt of sin would be made, where Christ would die in the place of sinners. In the OT, propitiation (or the complete satisfaction of the wrath of God) is symbolically foreshadowed in several incidents: e.g., Ex. 32:11–14; Num. 25:8, 11; Josh. 7:25–26.

Paul repeats again, because of its supreme importance, that God has demonstrated his righteousness, i.e., his holiness and justice, at the present time in salvation history. In the cross of Christ, God has shown himself to be just (utterly holy, so that the penalty demanded by the law is not removed but paid for by Christ) but also the justifier (the one who provides the means of justification and who declares people to be in right standing with himself) and the Savior of all those who trust in Jesus. Here is the heart of the Christian faith, for at the cross God’s justice and love meet.

Righteousness by Faith for Jews and Gentiles. Both Jews and Gentiles obtain a right standing with God by faith alone.

Since salvation is accomplished through Christ’s atoning death, all human boasting … is excluded. The word law in this verse probably means principle, though some think that a reference to the OT law is intended. If righteousness came through works, then human beings could brag about what they have done. But since salvation is through faith, no one can boast before God.

apart from. Justification is by faith alone and does not depend at all on doing any works of the law.

Since God is the Lord of all, whether Jews or Gentiles, there can only be one way of justification—by faith.

overthrow … uphold. Justification by faith does not nullify the law but establishes it. That is, the law itself points to the fact that human obedience to the law cannot save and that righteousness can be achieved only through faith in Christ; Christ has achieved this righteousness on behalf of all who believe in him, through his perfect fulfillment of the law and his atoning death on the cross for the salvation of all who believe. When Paul says, “we uphold the law,” he also affirms the abiding moral norms of the law and thus anticipates the charge of antinomianism, to which he responds more fully in chs. 6 and 7.