#64. Romans 3:1 – The Tough Questions

Part II: The Conduct of Humanity

Welcome, one and all, to the beginning of chapter 3 of our study in Romans. It is, once again, such an honor to consider these chapters in light of the facts the Greek affords us, and I pray that you all are enlightened, as I am becoming day by day heartened and warmed by the truth of God’s word.

Though we have entered a new chapter, we have not left the argument Paul has crafted since his opening doctrinal remarks back in chapter 1:

For God’s indignation is being revealed from heaven on all the irreverence and injustice of men who are retaining the truth in injustice, because that which is known of God is apparent among them, for God manifests it to them.

Through the “if” clauses in the previous chapter, the Jews’ great need for salvation has been exposed; they, too, are charged with the above. Such will be Paul’s conclusion in Romans 3:9-10. But before we reach Paul’s conclusion, we must field a few rebuttals from the tribe of doubt!

At this point, the Christian of today struggles especially to apprehend the following verses. The argument, from Romans 1:18-2:24, may have been extraordinarily clear to the reader, even in a poor translation. Though the little nuances we have discussed are largely lost on the average expositor, the general, broad scope of the indictment can be grasped by them (further reinforced by the conclusion which even your most casual Bible student can cite: that “not one is just – not even one.”) Yet it is in fielding these objections that the questions, their implications, and especially their answers, face nearly as much scrutiny as the prior two verses.

As such, we may best begin by ignoring chapter/verse, here. The argument has not changed; merely its scope. Paul would rather remain on topic, thus three small waves of questions are admitted. Each is pinned, essentially, to the top of the chat, and Paul will return to them in later chapters to expose the futility of such questions in light of the new information presented.

Within the scope of the present argument, Paul has drawn a distinction between the “apparent” Jew – the Jew who believes outward rite and prestige merit blessing – and the “hidden” Jew – the true Jew (the small minority of the nation) who recognize that circumcision must align with faith. God’s kindness in face of man’s fault demonstrates the need for repentance, which the true Jew appreciates. Yet the “apparent” Jew (and in turn, the modern day religious zealot) are not yet ready to admit their unsatisfactory, unrighteous disposition. They still yet refuse to recognize God as God, and the objections herewith are meant to reason their refusals away.

God Called Israel

For the first eleven chapters of Genesis, we follow a narrative that, on its surface, is discordant, abrupt, and rushed. We trace the creation of the heavens and the earth, witness the earth’s destruction, read of the six days of the earth’s restoration, then we backtrack to the beginning of that sixth day, where God creates Adam, establishes Eve, gets them chatting with a serpent to be kicked out of their home, into the wilderness, we trace two different lineages, then we cover the progressive state of mankind during these lineages, followed by a flood, a brief event or two with Noah, trace the three lineages of his children, backtrack to the spread of mankind across the earth through our experiences at Babel, and, finally, we trace their dispersal all the way up to Terah, and his son, Abram.

Yet when we reach the twelfth chapter, the scriptures tighten up. Instead of covering broad swaths of history in disjointed fashion, we are suddenly given a front row seat to a series of major events in the life of Abram, who becomes Abraham. The narrative of this man’s life takes up around 25% of Genesis, from chapters 12-24. The plot, though taut, has rolled into view, and thus begins an account of the entire nation of Israel, which dominates almost all of the remainder of the text.

The narrative itself begins with a promise from God:

Yahweh said to Abram: Go by yourself from your land, from your kindred and from your father’s house to the land that I shall show you.

I shall make you into a great nation, And I shall bless you;

I shall indeed make your name great, And you will indeed be a blessing;

I shall indeed bless those blessing you, And I shall curse the one maledicting you.

In you all the families of the ground will be blessed.

Positively, this conveys the ultimate foreshadowing – a great nation which will come about through Abram. Negatively, this provides God a great challenge – in light of the havoc brought about thus far, how on earth is a great nation supposed to come about?

Thus begins the greatest story ever penned. Throughout the narrative, this promise is built upon, elaborated – yes, made even sweeter, believe it or not! Yet one of the most important additions was one which was brought about during Abram’s own lifetime – that of Genesis 17, which did not merely speak to Abram’s faith, but tested Abram’s walk–

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him: I am El Who-Suffices; walk before Me and become flawless.

…this is My covenant with you: You will become the father of a throng of nations. So your name shall no longer be called Abram; but your name will become Abraham, for a father of a throng of nations have I appointed you… I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you…

And I give to you and to your seed after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, as an eonian holding; and I will be Elohim to them… As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your seed after you, throughout their generations. This is My covenant that you shall keep between Me and yourselves and your seed after you: Every male among you is to be circumcised.

A further covenant which aligned with the aforementioned blessings – and to the seed of their recipient – was given at Sinai, a little over 400 years later. Here is Ex. 19:3-6–

Then Yahweh called to him from the mountain, saying: “Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and tell to the sons of Israel, ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians when I bore you on vultures’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now, if you shall hearken, yea hearken to My voice and observe My covenant then you will become Mine, a special possession, above all of the peoples, for Mine is all the earth. As for you, you shall become Mine, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

When these covenants are presented, there is much forethought evidently on display. Abram’s life was shaped around the dispensation of these blessings. It was prophesied to him that his offspring would be enslaved to Israel for a time (Gen. 15:12-14.) God certainly controlled and coordinated these events, so that the deliverance from Egypt would be demonstrated. The journey to Sinai required very careful planning and guidance. And, most importantly, God was evidently aware of man’s depravity long before the failures of Israel played out (Gen. 15:16.)

What conclusion are we to reach, in accord with these facts? Only that God clearly cared deeply if He were to coordinate these events with such specificity!

Yet, almost contrary to all of this grand fanfare, the apostle has appeared to take a rather adversarial stance to this whole affair. It should be enough to consider the argument thus far and recognize that the nation, as a whole, has failed to live up to the import of circumcision, which itself was a sign of true belief. This has led, in great contrast, to the nation’s apostasy. They have been set aside for the time being, especially in relation to Paul’s evangel. They are, according to Paul and Jesus, in need of greater judgment than the rest (Matt. 23, Rom. 2:17-24.) Paul instead tells us that his evangel is apart from law (Rom. 3:20-21.) We are told that we should not be circumcising, or Christ will benefit us nothing (Gal. 5:2, under a figure of metonymy – the figure representing the slavery that one is under when they try to follow Mosaic law.) In fact, neither circumcision or uncircumcision – anything pertaining to fleshy distinction – brings superiority in Christ Jesus (Gal. 5:6, 6:15.)

It is only in this sense that the circumcision has been discussed thus far – not in any way an indicator that the believer today is meant to expect the same blessings as the circumcision evangel. Yet a pressing matter arises: can the circumcision even be the circumcision? If the believing gentile were able to become circumcision by fulfilling the law’s demands, then is the circumcision a moot point? A null experiment? If he is stripped of any indication that he is a Jew, partaking of these blessings which cannot truly be appreciated without putting the law into practice, which no one has ever done, then… what is the point of being a Jew at all? Are the blessings from Abraham lost? Does the Jew have any special place in God’s program, or has the church truly become a “spiritual Israel,” in which all of the blessings promised to Israel translate to the religious today?

There are definitive answers to all of these questions in Holy Writ. The most intriguing is the last one, for to answer it will inevitably unravel the answers to the previous questions. Yet the only way to answer it is to press on in Romans, for Paul is astutely aware of this concern, and he confronts them both right at the start. He must answer to these objections, however briefly, before moving forward. This may seem small, but failing to answer these questions properly will discredit Paul, leaving the Pharisees with valid counter-arguments.

God Will

If God called Israel, and the vast majority of scripture’s plot directly involves them, then let our initial presumption not be that Israel is permanently forgotten. Let us instead trust that He Himself may have His own reasons for establishing the circumcision. Let us first acknowledge the objections and their temerity, then appreciate His responses to those objections.

- GerudoKing