'Ro 3:1-8

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Some Jewish objections (Ro 3:1-8)

Many Jews might argue with Paul by putting to him a fairly obvious question. If what he said was true, why did God choose Israel as his special people (Ro 3:1)?

Paul replies that God chose them so that through them he could make himself known to the people of the world. The Old Testament Scriptures, for example, were given to the human race by way of the Jews (Ro 3:2).

The sad truth is that many of these favoured Jewish people have proved unfaithful to God, but he is still willing to save them. In fact, their unfaithfulness only shows how faithful God is (Ro 3:3-4).

There are some, however, who dispute the truth of Paul’s teaching. They argue, irreverently, that if their unbelief has shown God’s righteousness more clearly, it has been of service to God, and God is therefore unjust in punishing them (Ro 3:5).

Certainly not, replies Paul. If that were the case there could never be any standards of judgment. Consequently, God could never judge the world (Ro 3:6).

If the Jews are going to argue like that, says Paul, why do they accuse him of being a sinner because of the things he teaches? By their argument, Paul’s ‘sin’ would help display God’s righteousness just the same (Ro 3:7).

In the end this reasoning would lead people to the dangerous belief that they may do evil in order to get a favourable result (Ro 3:8).