But what about…?
Bible Text: Romans 3:5-8 | Preacher: Alan Conner | Series: 2003, Romans
Worship Service Alan Conner Jan. 5, 2003 Northwest Bible Church
Romans 3:5-8
“But, what about . . .” – More objections answered
INTRO
PAUL’S ARGUMENT: The Jews are condemned by the Law as sinners and will be judged by God. Romans 2:9 in fact says they will have first place in judgment. This was blasphemous to the self-righteous Jew, so they bombard Paul with a number of objections.
REVIEW OF OBJECTIONS:
#1 If God is going to judge His covenant people then what advantage is it of being a Jew? Ans. They have the oracles of God which promised the Messiah and His kingdom which they rejected.
#2 Is not God unfaithful to His promise if He judges the Jews? “May it never be.” God cannot be unfaithful, all His promises are true and will come to pass no matter what man says or does. But God’s judgment of the Jews is justified as David affirmed in Ps. 51.
#3 deals with God’s righteousness; #4 deals with an attempt to make evil a positive good.
OBJECTION #3 (Romans 3:5-6)- IS GOD UNRIGHTEOUS?
In other words, if the sin of the Jews demonstrates God’s righteousness, is God unrighteous if He judges them (Romans 3:5)? If God benefits from our sin, how can He judge us? What right does God have to judge us?
Paul’s answer is found in Romans 3:6. He opens with another “May it never be.” He points out that their objection, if valid, then HOW WILL GOD JUDGE THE WORLD.
If God can’t righteously judge the Jews when they sin, then he can’t judge any sinner, not even Gentiles.
OBJECTION #4 (Romans 3:7-8)- DOES THIS MAKE EVIL GOOD?
In other words, Paul, you teach that God is going to judge the Jews even though their sin demonstrates God’s righteousness. But, based on your teaching, if my lie (see Romans 3:4 as an example of sin) brings glory to God, why is it evil? Is it not really good? And should we not do evil so that good may come of it?
This objection has two points: #1 if my sin glorifies God, then how can God judge me for it? #2 If my sin glorifies God, then why not do more evil because this will bring more glory to God. This accuses Paul of teaching a twisted view of antinomianism (= Anti-law), which says that we don’t have to live according to God’s moral law, we can sin all we want because the more we sin the more God is glorified.
Paul’s answer is brief and in the form of a rebuke, “Their condemnation is just.” In other words, their objection was so vile and sinful that it didn’t even deserve an answer only a rebuke.
LESSONS:
1) Sinners are always trying to think of ways to nullify God’s judgment. But the fact is that God will judge all sinners and He will be perfectly just in doing so. Even if our sin brings Him glory, it is not wrong for God to judge sin. “God makes even the wickedness of man to praise Him.”
2) Don’t be surprised if the gospel and the church are attacked. Let us take courage from this and defend the cause of Christ. Speak the truth in love and remember 1 Pet. 3:15.
3) We can learn from Paul’s method of argumentation here that there are times when we must pronounce their objections to be utter non-sense, “May it never be.” He did this when the objection tampered with God’s character: His faithfulness (Romans 3:3), and His righteousness (Romans 3:5).
4) “Let us do evil that good may come,” shows how much people can twist the Bible. Legalists will always consider the gospel to be antinomian and therefore hate it because of their love for works righteousness. Salvation by grace and not works is anathema to them.