3:9–20 Paul concludes his indictment of mankind with this summary: Jew and Gentile alike stand guilty before God (see note on 1:18—3:20).
3:9 Are we better? “We” probably refers to the Christians in Rome who will receive this letter. Christians do not have an intrinsically superior nature to all those Paul has shown to stand under God’s condemnation. Greeks. See note on 1:14. under sin. Completely enslaved and dominated by sin.
3:10–17 Paul strings together a series of OT quotations that indict the character (vv. 10–12), conversation (vv. 13, 14), and conduct (vv. 15–17) of all men. Nine times he uses words such as “none” and “all” to show the universality of human sin and rebellion.
3:10–12 This is quoted from Pss. 14:1–3; 53:1–3.
3:10 As it is written. The common introduction to OT quotations (cf. 1:17; 2:24; 3:4; Matt. 4:4, 6, 7, 10). The tense of the Gr. verb stresses continuity and permanence, and implies its divine authority. none righteous. Man is universally evil (cf. Ps. 14:1; see notes on 1:17).
3:11 none…understands. Man is unable to comprehend the truth of God or grasp His standard of righteousness (see Pss. 14:2; 53:3; cf. 1 Cor. 2:14). Sadly, his spiritual ignorance does not result from a lack of opportunity (1:19, 20; 2:15), but is an expression of his depravity and rebellion (Eph. 4:18). none…seeks. See Ps. 14:2. This verse clearly implies that the world’s false religions are fallen man’s attempts to escape the true God—not to seek Him. Man’s natural tendency is to seek his own interests (cf. Phil. 2:21), but his only hope is for God to seek him (John 6:37, 44). It is only as a result of God’s work in the heart that anyone seeks Him (Ps. 16:8; Matt. 6:33).
3:12 turned aside. See Ps. 14:3. This word basically means “to lean in the wrong direction.” It was used to describe a soldier’s running the wrong way, or deserting. All men are inclined to leave God’s way and pursue their own (cf. Is. 53:6). none who does good. See note on v. 10.
3:13 open tomb. See Ps. 5:9. Tombs were sealed not only to show respect for the deceased, but to hide the sight and stench of the body’s decay. As an unsealed tomb allows those who pass to see and smell what is inside, the unregenerate man’s open throat—that is, the foul words that come from it—reveal the decay of his heart (cf. Prov. 10:31, 32; 15:2, 28; Jer. 17:9; Matt. 12:34, 35; 15:18; James 3:1–12). asps. See Ps. 140:3; cf. Matt. 3:7; 12:34.
3:14 cursing. This is quoted from Ps. 10:7. It refers to wanting the worst for someone and publicly expressing that desire in caustic, derisive language. bitterness. The open, public expression of emotional hostility against one’s enemy (cf. Ps. 64:3, 4).
3:15–17 This is quoted from Is. 59:7, 8.
3:16 Destruction and misery. Man damages and destroys everything he touches, leaving a trail of pain and suffering in his wake.
3:17 way of peace. Not the lack of an inner sense of peace, but man’s tendency toward strife and conflict, whether between individuals or nations (cf. Jer. 6:14).
3:18 fear of God. See Ps. 36:1. Man’s true spiritual condition is nowhere more clearly seen than in the absence of a proper submission to and reverence for God. Biblical fear for God consists of : 1) awe of His greatness and glory, and 2) dread of the results of violating that holy nature (see note on Prov. 1:7; cf. Prov. 9:10; 16:6; Acts 5:1–11; 1 Cor. 11:30).
3:19 those…under the law. Every unredeemed human being. Jews received the written law through Moses (3:2), and Gentiles have the works of the law written on their hearts (2:15), so that both groups are accountable to God. every mouth…stopped…guilty. There is no defense against the guilty verdict God pronounces on the entire human race.
3:20 deeds of the law. Doing perfectly what God’s moral law requires is impossible, so that every person is cursed by that inability (see notes on Gal. 3:10, 13). justified. See note on v. 24. by the law is the knowledge of sin. The law makes sin known, but can’t save. See note on 7:7.
3:21—5:21 Having conclusively proved the universal sinfulness of man and his need for righteousness (1:18–3:20), Paul develops the theme he introduced in 1:17, i.e., God has graciously provided a righteousness that comes from Him on the basis of faith alone (3:21—5:21).
3:21 But now. Not a reference to time, but a change in the flow of the apostle’s argument. Having shown the impossibility of gaining righteousness by human effort, he turns to explain the righteousness that God Himself has provided. righteousness. See note on 1:17. This righteousness is unique: 1) God is its source (Is. 45:8); 2) it fulfills both the penalty and precept of God’s law. Christ’s death as a substitute pays the penalty exacted on those who failed to keep God’s law, and His perfect obedience to every requirement of God’s law fulfills God’s demand for comprehensive righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:24; cf. Heb. 9:28); and 3) because God’s righteousness is eternal (Ps. 119:142; Is. 51:8; Dan. 9:24), the one who receives it from Him enjoys it forever. apart from the law. Entirely apart from obedience to any law (4:15; Gal. 2:16; 3:10, 11; 5:1, 2, 6; Eph. 2:8, 9; cf. Phil. 3:9; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5). witnessed by the Law and the Prophets. See note on 1:2.
3:22 through faith…all…who believe. See note on 1:16.
3:22, 23 there is no difference…glory of God. A parenthetical comment explaining that God can bestow His righteousness on all who believe, Jew or Gentile, because all men—without distinction—fail miserably to live up to the divine standard.
3:23 all have sinned. Paul has already made this case (1:18—3:20).
3:24 justified. This verb, and related words from the same Gr. root (e.g., justification), occur some 30 times in Romans and are concentrated in 2:13—5:1. This legal or forensic term comes from the Gr. word for “righteous” and means “to declare righteous.” This verdict includes: pardon from the guilt and penalty of sin, and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to the believer’s account, which provides for the positive righteousness man needs to be accepted by God. God declares a sinner righteous solely on the basis of the merits of Christ’s righteousness. God imputed a believer’s sin to Christ’s account in His sacrificial death (Is. 53:4, 5; 1 Pet. 2:24), and He imputes Christ’s perfect obedience to God’s law to Christians (cf. 5:19; 1 Cor. 1:30; see notes on 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9). The sinner receives this gift of God’s grace by faith alone (3:22, 25; see notes on 4:1–25). Sanctification, the work of God by which He makes righteous those whom He has already justified, is distinct from justification but without exception, always follows it (8:30). freely by His grace. Justification is a gracious gift God extends to the repentant, believing sinner, wholly apart from human merit or work (see note on 1:5). redemption. The imagery behind this Gr. word comes from the ancient slave market. It meant paying the necessary ransom to obtain the prisoner or slave’s release. The only adequate payment to redeem sinners from sin’s slavery and its deserved punishment was “in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:6; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19), and was paid to God to satisfy His justice.
3:25 whom God set forth. This great sacrifice was not accomplished in secret, but God publicly displayed His Son on Calvary for all to see. propitiation. Crucial to the significance of Christ’s sacrifice, this word carries the idea of appeasement or satisfaction—in this case Christ’s violent death satisfied the offended holiness and wrath of God against those for whom Christ died (Is. 53:11; Col. 2:11–14). The Heb. equivalent of this word was used to describe the mercy seat—the cover to the ark of the covenant—where the High-Priest sprinkled the blood of the slaughtered animal on the Day of Atonement to make atonement for the sins of the people. In pagan religions, it is the worshiper not the god who is responsible to appease the wrath of the offended deity. But in reality, man is incapable of satisfying God’s justice apart from Christ, except by spending eternity in hell. Cf. 1 John 2:2. through faith. See note on 1:16. forbearance. See note on 2:4. passed over the sins. This means neither indifference nor remission. God’s justice demands that every sin and sinner be punished. God would have been just, when Adam and Eve sinned, to destroy them, and with them, the entire human race. But in His
goodness and forbearance (see 2:4), He withheld His judgment for a certain period of time (cf. Ps. 78:38, 39; Acts 17:30, 31; 2 Pet. 3:9).
3:26 to demonstrate…His righteousness. Through the incarnation, sinless life, and substitutionary death of Christ. just and the justifier. The wisdom of God’s plan allowed Him to punish Jesus in the place of sinners and thereby justify those who are guilty without compromising His justice.
3:27 Where is boasting then? Cf. 4:1, 2; 1 Cor. 1:26–29.
3:28 justified by faith. See note on v. 24. Although the word “alone” does not appear in the Gr. text, that is Paul’s clear meaning (cf. 4:3–5; see note on James 2:21). deeds of the law. See note on v. 20.
3:29 God of the Gentiles. There is only one true God (cf. 1 Cor. 8:5, 6).
3:31 Knowing he would be accused of antinomianism (being against the law) for arguing that a man was justified apart from keeping the law, Paul introduced here the defense he later developed in chaps. 6, 7. through faith…we establish the law. Salvation by grace through faith does not denigrate the law, but underscores its true importance: 1) by providing a payment for the penalty of death, which the law required for failing to keep it; 2) by fulfilling the law’s original purpose, which is to serve as a tutor to show mankind’s utter inability to obey God’s righteous demands and to drive people to Christ (Gal. 3:24); and 3) by giving believers the capacity to obey it (8:3, 4).
Romans 4
4:1 Abraham our father. Paul uses the model of Abraham to prove justification by faith alone because the Jews held him up as the supreme example of a righteous man (John 8:39), and because it clearly showed that Judaism with its works-righteousness had deviated from the faith of the Jews’ patriarchal ancestors. In a spiritual sense, Abraham was the forerunner of the primarily Gentile church in Rome as well (see notes on 1:13; 4:11, 16; cf. Gal. 3:6, 7).
4:2 justified by works. Declared righteous on the basis of human effort (see note on 3:24). boast. If Abraham’s own works had been the basis of his justification, he would have had every right to boast in God’s presence. That makes the hypothetical premise of v. 2 unthinkable (Eph. 2:8, 9; 1 Cor. 1:29).
4:3 A quotation of Gen. 15:6, one of the clearest statements in all Scripture about justification (see note on 3:24). believed. Abraham was a man of faith (see note on 1:16; cf. 4:18–21; Gal. 3:6, 7, 9; Heb. 11:8–10). But faith is not a meritorious work. It is never the ground of justification—it is simply the channel through which it is received and it, too, is a gift. See note on Eph. 2:8. accounted. Cf. vv. 5, 9, 10, 22. Also translated “imputed” (vv. 6, 8, 11, 23, 24). Used in both financial and legal settings, this Gr. word, which occurs 9 times in chap. 4 alone, means to take something that belongs to someone and credit to another’s account. It is a one-sided transaction—Abraham did nothing to accumulate it; God simply credited it to him. God took His own righteousness and credited it to Abraham as if it were actually his. This God did because Abraham believed in Him (see note on Gen. 15:6). righteousness. See notes on 1:17; 3:21.
4:4, 5 Broadening his argument from Abraham to all men, the apostle here makes it clear that the forensic act of declaring a man righteous is completely apart from any kind of human work. If salvation were on the basis of one’s own effort, God would owe salvation as a debt—but salvation is always a sovereignly given gift of God’s grace (3:24; Eph. 2:8, 9) to those who believe (cf. 1:16). Since faith is contrasted with work, faith must mean the end of any attempt to earn God’s favor through personal merit.
4:5 justifies the ungodly. Only those who relinquish all claims to goodness and acknowledge they are ungodly are candidates for justification (cf. Luke 5:32). accounted. See note on v. 3.
4:6–8 Paul turns for support of his argument to Ps. 32:1, 2, a penitential psalm written by David after his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband (2 Sam. 11). In spite of the enormity of his sin and the utter absence of personal merit, David knew the blessing of imputed righteousness.
4:9–12 Paul anticipated what his Jewish readers would be thinking: If Abraham was justified by his faith alone, why did God command him and his descendants to be circumcised? His response not only answers those concerned with circumcision, but the millions who still cling to some other kind of religious ceremony or activity as their basis for righteousness. See notes on Gen. 15:6.
4:9 circumcised. This refers to Jews (see notes on Gen. 17:11–14; cf. Acts 15:19–29; Rom. 2:25–29; 4:11; Gal. 5:1–4; 6:12; Phil. 3:2–5). uncircumcised. All Gentiles (see notes on 2:25–29).
4:10 Not while…but while uncircumcised. The chronology of Genesis proves Paul’s case. Abraham was 86 when Ishmael was born (Gen. 16:16), and Abraham was 99 when he was circumcised. But God declared him righteous before Ishmael had even been conceived (Gen. 15:6; 16:2–4)—at least 14 years before Abraham’s circumcision.
4:11, 12 the father of all those who believe. Racially, Abraham is the father of all Jews (circumcised); spiritually, he is the father of both believing Jews (v. 12) and believing Gentiles (uncircumcised; v. 11). Cf. 4:16; Gal. 3:29.
4:11 sign. This indicates man’s need for spiritual cleansing (cf. 2:28, 29; Jer. 4:3, 4; 9:24–26) and of the covenant relationship between God and His people (see note on Gen. 17:11). seal. An outward demonstration of the righteousness God had credited to him by faith.
4:13–15 Just as Abraham was not justified by the rite of circumcision (vv. 9–12), neither was he justified by keeping the Mosaic law (vv. 13–15).
4:13 promise…heir of the world. This refers to Christ and is the essence of the covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants (see notes on Gen. 12:3; cf. Gen. 15:5; 18:18; 22:18). The final provision of that covenant was that through Abraham’s seed all the world would be blessed (Gen. 12:3). Paul argues that “the seed” refers specifically to Christ and that this promise really constituted the gospel (Gal. 3:8, 16; cf. John 8:56). All believers, by being in Christ, become heirs of the promise (Gal. 3:29; cf. 1 Cor. 3:21–23). not…through the law. That is, not as a result of Abraham’s keeping the law. righteousness of faith. Righteousness received from God by faith (see note on 1:17).
4:14 those who are of the law. If only those who perfectly keep the law—an impossibility—receive the promise, faith has no value. promise…of no effect. Making a promise contingent on an impossible condition nullifies the promise (see note on v. 13).
4:15 law brings about wrath. By exposing man’s sinfulness (cf. 7:7–11; Gal. 3:19, 24).
4:16 of faith. Justification is through faith alone (see notes on 1:16, 17 and 3:24). according to grace. But the power of justification is God’s great grace (see note on 1:5), not man’s faith. promise. See note on v. 13. those who are of the law. Believing Jews. those who are of the faith of Abraham. Believing Gentiles. father of us all. See note on v. 11.
4:17 as it is written. Quoted from Gen. 17:5. gives life to the dead. Abraham had experienced this firsthand (Heb. 11:11, 12; cf. Rom. 4:19). calls those things which do not exist as though they did. This is another reference to the forensic nature of justification. God can declare believing sinners to be righteous even though they are not, by imputing His righteousness to them, just as God made or declared Jesus “sin” and punished Him, though He was not a sinner. Those whom He justifies, He will conform to the image of His Son (8:29, 30).
4:18–25 Having shown that justification is through faith not works (vv. 1–8), and that it is by grace, not the keeping of law (vv. 9–17), Paul now concludes by showing that it results from divine power, not human effort (vv. 18–25).
4:18 contrary to hope. From the human perspective, it seemed impossible (cf. v. 19). Cf. Gen. 17:5. what was spoken. Quoted from Gen. 15:5.
4:19 weak in faith. When doubt erodes one’s confidence in God’s Word. the deadness of Sarah’s womb. She was only 10 years younger than Abraham (Gen. 17:17), 90 years old (well past childbearing age) when they received the promise of Isaac.
4:20 the promise. Of the birth of a son (Gen. 15:4; 17:16; 18:10). giving glory to
God. Believing God affirms His existence and character and thus gives Him glory (cf. Heb. 11:6; 1 John 5:10).
4:22 therefore. Because of his genuine faith (see Gen. 15:6).
4:23 not…for his sake alone. All Scripture has universal application (cf. 15:4; 2 Tim. 3:16, 17), and Abraham’s experience is no exception. If Abraham was justified by faith, then all others are justified on the same basis.
4:25 A paraphrase of the LXX (Gr. translation of the OT) rendering of Is. 53:12. Perhaps these words were adapted to and quoted from an early Christian confession or hymn. delivered up. I.e., crucified. because of our justification. The resurrection provided proof that God had accepted the sacrifice of His Son and would be able to be just and yet justify the ungodly.
Romans 5
5:1–11 Paul completed his case that God justifies sinners on the basis of faith alone, and he turned his pen to counter the notion that although believers receive salvation by faith, they will preserve it by good works. He argues that they are bound eternally to Jesus Christ, preserved by His power and not by human effort (cf. Is. 11:5; Ps. 36:5; Lam. 3:23; Eph. 1:18–20; 2 Tim. 2:13; Heb. 10:23). For the Christian, the evidences of that eternal tie are: 1) his peace with God (v. 1); 2) his standing in grace (v. 2a); 3) his hope of glory (vv. 2b–5a); 4) his receiving of divine love (vv. 5b–8); 5) his certain escape of divine wrath (vv. 9, 10); and 6) his joy in the Lord (v. 11).
5:1 having been justified. The Gr. construction—and its Eng. translation—underscores that justification is a one-time legal declaration with continuing results (see note on 3:24), not an ongoing process. peace with God. Not a subjective, internal sense of calm and serenity, but an external, objective reality. God has declared Himself to be at war with every human being because of man’s sinful rebellion against Him and His laws (v. 10; cf. 1:18; 8:7; Ex. 22:24; Deut. 32:21, 22; Ps. 7:11; John 3:36; Eph. 5:6). But the first great result of justification is that the sinner’s war with God is ended forever (Col. 1:21, 22). Scripture refers to the end of this conflict as a person’s being reconciled to God (vv. 10, 11; 2 Cor. 5:18–20).
The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV Page 565
