Romans 3:1-8 "God's Unchanging Character"

1:20As Pastor Chris prayed, is it news of the latest natural disaster and all of the devastation that it's caused? Is it another hope doubt? Another dream that died, a bad medical test result. What is it for you? The reality is that we are all faced with these moments throughout our lives where we question everything that we thought we knew. We question ourselves. We question our circumstances. And brothers and sisters, for all of those of us who are trusting in Christ, we question God. Our questions are directed at God. We wonder if he's changed.

2:07We can question and ask, is he still faithful? Is he going to do what he said that he would do? Or we can doubt that he's good. We can question whether his promises apply to us. Sure, we have much faith in God's promises for other people, but we really doubt and question whether God's promises for us apply. Have you ever been there? Are you there right now? Well, the good news for you is if you are there, is that you're not alone. Christians throughout history have asked these questions, and in our passage, this is exactly where Paul's readers were. As Paul has finished up Romans chapter 2, his readers would have been questioning everything they thought they knew about. Who God is and everything that he has promised them. You see, for us to properly feel the weight of our passage this morning, we need to grasp the fact that in verses 17 to 29 of Romans chapter 2, what Pastor Alan preached on last week, those verses would have called into question everything that these Jewish Christians held dear.

3:24In verses 17 to 24, Paul tells them that being of Jewish descent means nothing if it is not combined with faith expressing itself in obedience. And in verses 25 to 29, he tells them the same thing with regard to circumcision. Circumcision, it was this sign of God's covenant, this mark of their identity as God's chosen people. It was a reminder of his promises to them. And Paul tells them that that means nothing if it's not joined with faith that expresses itself in obedience. In these two short paragraphs, Paul turns their world upside down.

4:11Hearing these words, everything that they thought they knew about themselves, about their world, and most importantly, everything that they thought they knew about God was called into question. Sensing that his hearers might have this response, maybe because these were questions. That Paul himself wrestled with after becoming a Christian, or maybe because he heard these questions over and over throughout the course of his ministry as he went from synagogue to synagogue preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to these Jewish to the Jewish people, Paul pushes pause on his argument in these verses, verses 1 through 8, so that he can care for his sisters and brothers who are questioning God's very character. He wants to acknowledge the validity of their questions, and he wants to reassure their hearts that despite all appearances, that God's character remains unchanged.

5:12In the midst of their questioning, in the midst of their doubting, in the midst of the world around them crumbling, God wants to reassure each and every Christian that no matter what life looks like, despite appearances, his character remains unchanged. In this passage here, God is going to reassure our hearts as he defends two particular aspects of God's unchanging character. These two characteristics that are at the core, we're at the very center of who God is, his faithfulness and his righteousness. This morning, we're going to see that even when it doesn't seem like Like it, God remains faithful and righteous so that in times of doubting and questioning, we can have great confidence in God's constant and consistent character towards you and me. The first thing that God wants to do in our passage here is: God wants us to see that despite appearances, he remains faithful to his people and his promises. Despite appearances, he remains faithful to his people and his promises. Look with me at verse 1. Paul writes, Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Again, the background here of verses 17 to 29 or chapter 2 are in question here. Paul has said these things don't mean anything, and so an observant listener asks this question: well, then, what advantage is there? Why did you give us those things if they don't mean anything? And for the listener who's been tracking with Paul, you can almost imagining them either answering this question out loud or perhaps wiggling it around like Hermione and Harry Potter, just confident that they have the answer.

7:17They're ready to go. Paul, if being a Jew outwardly, if receiving circumcision don't save you, then of course they're of no value. They are of no saving advantage. This is obvious. Why are you even asking the question? But to everyone's surprise, in verse 2 we read, much in every way. While everything that Paul said in chapter 2 is correct, being of Jewish descent and receiving the sign of circumcision would not protect them from God's judgment if they disobeyed. That didn't mean that those things were worthless. It didn't mean that there was no benefit to having received those things.

8:04As he continues, he begins to unpack all of the advantages that the Israelites had. To begin with, or he says, to begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. See that there in verse 2? Out of all the nations on the earth, it was only the Jews who were given what Paul calls here the oracles of God. It's possible that your translation says the very words of God. Now, in saying this, it's possible that Paul had in mind all of the Old Testament, and I'm sure that that was there to some extent. But it is more likely here in referring to these oracles of God, the very words of God, that Paul specifically has in mind the promises of God that he made to the people in the various covenants. Covenant that he instituted with Israel. You can think of the Abrahamic covenant or the Mosaic covenant or the Davidic covenant. These were, the Israelites had been entrusted with the very words of God, these promises of God, to bring salvation to his people.

9:19What's the benefit of being Jewish? His listeners ask. And Paul answers, much in every way. It's the nation of Israel alone who received God's direct revelation of himself. It was the Jews that God chose out of all the nations on the earth to become his people, that he chose to set his love on, and that he gave these great promises of salvation to. Israel had great advantages, advantages that no one else had. Now, in verse 2, when Paul says to begin with, it seems like he's about to start a list of all the advantages that they had, where receiving the oracles of God was simply the first in the beginning of a long list. But perhaps it seems that his reference to the promises of God, to these oracles of God, it causes him to stop and to now address another question that someone might be asking, this reference to the promises to save. His people seems like it's prompted another question. And so here in verse 3, we read, what if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? In asking this question, Paul is really getting to the heart of the matter for his readers. They wanted to know, they were wondering, perhaps the same question that you're asking this morning, and that is, Is God still faithful? You made all of these promises to me. You've made all of these promises, but it doesn't look like you're being faithful to them. For the Israelites, for Paul's readers, as they heard this, they would have seen, look, you're saying that these people who received these promises of salvation, you're saying that they are going to be judged. And so if some are unfaithful and are judged, well then, God, are you still faithful? Are you tracking with his logic here? He's saying in verse 2, they received these great promises. But in the back of his mind, in Romans chapter 2, he's already told them that because of the unfaithfulness of some, that they will not receive salvation, but instead they're going to face judgment. And so they wanted to know, does the faithfulness of some nullify the faithfulness of God?

11:55Because some will receive judgment and not salvation, does that call into Question all of God's great promises to his people. Well, Paul can barely think these words, yet alone write them out. And so he immediately answers, by no means. Is God unfaithful? By no means. Now, in Greek, where Paul is writing, there's no punctuation marks or anything like that. And so he writes these words in the strongest, most forceful way possible, just using the tenses that he uses. But if he were writing this today, he would write these words for us in all caps. They would be bolded, underlined, italicized, whatever else you can do to them. And there would be at least three exclamation points after this, by no means.

12:53He doesn't want us to miss the force of this point here that you question, is God faithful? The immediate response is, by no means. Eugene Peterson, in his excellent translation of the Bible, The Message, he translates this, not on your life. Is God unfaithful? Not on your life. Brothers and sisters, you sitting here this morning and you're wondering, you're questioning. Man, it doesn't really look like God's being faithful right now. Man, if God were really faithful, this wouldn't be happening, or this would be happening, or I wouldn't be in this situation, or these people that I love and care about wouldn't be facing these hard things that they're going through as we ask ourselves this very human and understandable question: is God faithful?

13:55But Paul, let the Spirit encourage your hearts through Paul this morning, not on your life. Brothers and sisters, God is faithful. He has been faithful, he is being faithful, and he will continue to be faithful to you no matter what the circumstances of your life look like. Wanting to make sure that this point is not misunderstood, that no one is unclear about where Paul stands when it comes to the faithfulness of God. Paul continues in verse 4.

14:35Follow along with me. He says, Let God be true, though everyone were a liar, as it is written, that you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged. In verse 3, it's asked whether the unfaithfulness of some can cause God to be unfaithful. And here in verse 4, Paul ups the ante, and he says that if everyone, if everyone in the world were a liar, that God would still be true. Everyone could be unfaithful, and God would still be faithful.

15:20The reason for this here becomes perfectly clear in the second half of verse 4 when Paul quotes from Psalm 51. As we're going to see, and this point cannot be understated, God's faithfulness is not in jeopardy when his people are unfaithful, because God's faithfulness to you and to me is not limited simply to his promises to save. Because as Paul wants to make very clear right here, God is also faithful when he punishes our sin. To prove this point, he quotes Psalm 51, verse 4. If you'll remember, Psalm 51 is David's prayer of confession after he raped Bathsheba and murdered her husband Uriah. In his prayer referring to God's just judgment on his sin, Paul says, or David prays, that you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged. David here wanted to be perfectly clear that God's judgment is not just a judgment God is justified in punishing his sin because this is exactly what God has promised to do. You see, all throughout the Old Testament, but particularly in the book of Deuteronomy, God makes it very clear what he promises to do if the people obey and if they disobey. To put it briefly, the long story short, is that if the people obey, if the people obey God's word, he promises to bless them and to save them. But if they disobey, if the people are unfaithful, then he promises to punish their sin. But the people of Israel had conveniently forgotten that last part. It's almost like they thought they had diplomatic immunity. That because they were God's chosen people, because they had received the sign of circumcision, because they had received his promise of salvation, that they were immune from his judgments. You see, the people thought that they had received a get-out-of-judgment free card. But here, quoting Psalm 51, Paul wants to be absolutely 100% crystal clear that that is just not the case. Because God is faithful when he promises to save, and God is also faithful when he is faithful to his promise to punish our sin. In fact, it would be unfaithful if God did. Punish our sin, because if that was the case, then God would no longer be faithful to his promises. Chapter 3 opens here with Paul's listeners questioning God's faithfulness. And here in these first four verses, he makes it clear that despite appearances, God remains faithful to his people and to his promises. The problem wasn't God's faithfulness, but it was the people's failure to rightly remember and rightly interpret all of God's promises to his people. Can you imagine how reassuring and comforting this would have been for them to hear? Their whole world is turned upside down. They're questioning everything. And here, God in His Word seeks to comfort them by reassuring them that no matter what life looks like, that He is still faithful. Though everyone were a liar, God would still be true. They could still count on God. They could breathe a sigh of relief knowing that no matter what life looked like, God remained faithful. And sisters and brothers, the same is true for you and for me. In those moments where we face those Copernican revolutions in our lives, those moments where we question everything we thought we knew about God, God in Romans 3 wants to reassure our hearts that He is faithful and He will continue to be faithful. So those times when we look at the circumstances of our lives and all we can do is just throw up our hands. In those times when we're convinced that somewhere along the line God has forgotten to be faithful to us, in these times of doubt, here Romans 3, God wants to reassure our hearts that he is faithful. So brothers and sisters, remember and cling to God's promises. Cling to his promise that he will never leave you or forsake you in those moments when you feel alone and abandoned. In those moments when you feel like no one gets you, no one understands. Know that God is present, that he is near, that he cares, and he will never, ever forget you or forsake you. In those moments where you doubt his love for you, remember God's promise that nothing can separate you from his love. Because of what Christ has done in his life, death, and resurrection, be absolutely assured of his great love for you. There's no sin that you can commit. There is nothing that can be done to you or that you could do that can separate you from God's love. Rest and cling to those promises.

21:01Brothers and sisters, despite appearances, God remains faithful to you and to his promises to you. That's the first thing that God wants us to see. In the second half of our passage, we see that God wants to remind us that despite appearances, that he remains righteous in his judgments. Before I read the first couple of verses here, verses 5 and 6, I want to point out that it appears that there has been a shift in the objector. In verses 1 and 3, the objector, the person has been asking Paul these questions, and Paul has been taking them very sincerely, seeking to thoughtfully respond to them. But apparently, something he said along the way, probably him quoting Psalm 51, has seemed to agitate this objector. Because now we see that Paul's response to the objector here in verses 5 and 7, as they raise these questions about God, he's no longer being very sensitive or very thoughtful with them. Instead, he's actually pretty short with the objector and really not wanting to give much credit to their objections, just as Paul can see how cynical in nature they are. So in verses 1 through 4 here, we see that Paul takes their questions sincerely, but here it seems that that's just gone. Out the window. Let's follow along as I read verses 5 and 6. So hearing Paul quote Psalm 51, verse 4 in Romans 3, verse 4, the objector responds, he says, but if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? I speak in a human way. By no means. For then, how could God judge the world?

23:03Hearing Paul's point in verse 4, that even their unfaithfulness proves the faithfulness of God, or using the terms he uses here in verse 5, that even their unrighteousness proves God's righteousness, then surely if that's the case, then doesn't that mean that God is unrighteous to judge them? Now, I'm not saying that they're using good logic here, but they're certainly making an objection that we can wrap our minds around. In essence, they are saying, if our sin makes God look good, if our sin makes much of God's righteousness, if it magnifies his righteousness, then isn't it wrong of him to judge us for our sin? Our sin is making God look good. I'm sure you can just imagine them sitting there saying, like, instead of judging us, shouldn't he be like commending us? Like, I should be getting a message. Of honor or something for all of my sin, because every time I sin, that is simply magnifying your faithfulness. It's magnifying your righteousness. But as we see in verse 6, Paul is just having none of it. As he responds, he says, by no means, again, this is not on your life. By no means, for then, how could God judge the world? Here, Paul is using their flawed logic to make the point that if what they were saying was true, then that would mean that God wouldn't judge the world. And particularly there, he wouldn't judge the Gentiles because their sin also makes him look good. If the sins of the Jewish people magnify God's faithfulness, then the sins of the Gentile people would also magnify his faithfulness. And this was simply just too much for these Jewish Christians to hear. Because if there was one thing that they were convinced of, it was that God was going to judge the Gentiles. They thought that there was this exception for the Jewish people, but for the Gentiles, they were absolutely going to face God's judgment. And here, Paul is just simply saying that if we follow your logic, that if sin makes God look good, so therefore you shouldn't be judged, then you know what, then that applies to the Gentiles as well. And that was just too much to bear. They would have retracted that objection very quickly. But this is just the first one that they raise against God's righteousness. Because in verses 7 and 8, we find their second one, and their final objection that Paul will raise at this point in his argument. Starting in verse 7, we read, But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come? As some people slanderously charge us with saying, their condemnation is just.

26:04This objection here in verses 7 and 8 is very similar to the one that he made in verse 5, essentially arguing that if their sin enhances God's glory because it shows his righteousness, his commitment to always do what is right, either in blessing or in cursing, then again, shouldn't they be commended as sinners? Because their sin is simply making God look good. But again, Paul isn't having any of it. Here is his response. And in verse 8, he simply does the same thing that he does in verse 6. He takes their argument to its logical conclusion, showing how absurd their argument is. As he says in verse 8 here, he says, and why not do evil that good may come? If they're right, if their sin enhances God's glory, then it actually means that they should keep on sinning so that God will get more. And more glory. In fact, you can probably hear one of them saying, if we fail to be sinful, if we're not sinful, then actually we're sinning because by not sinning, we're not magnifying God's glory. It's when we sin that we're magnifying His glory. And their argument is just simply so ridiculous, so contradictory to the character of God that's been revealed in Scripture that Paul doesn't even think it's worthy of a defense. He simply responds: Their condemnation is just.

27:36Here in these verses, we see that just like they did with God's promises in verses 1 through 4, his listeners had a one-sided understanding of God's righteousness. To them, for God to be righteous meant that no matter what they did, that God would always be on their side. It meant that they would never face his just judgment on their sin, and that at the end of the day, that things would always go well for them, no matter what they did. But as Paul shows us here, God's righteousness isn't a promise to never judge sin. No, God's righteousness is his commitment to always act according to his character. God's righteousness means that he will always do what is good and Right, and this means that he must judge our sin. While on the face of it, this might not seem all that reassuring, but the reality is the complete opposite. As Paul's hearers were questioning everything they thought they knew about God, it would have been a great comfort to them to know that his character hadn't changed, that even his judgment on sin proves his righteousness. It confirms that God's good and that he always and only does what is good. And this reality, brothers and sisters, is meant to be a great comfort to you and to me. God remains righteous despite appearances, and that he always does what is good and what is right. No matter what we are facing in life right now, the challenges and the trials, the hurts and the sufferings, in the midst of the situations that we just simply cannot make sense of, we don't know why things are happening the way they are, during these times, we can be assured in the midst of all of it that God is and that God remains righteous. He is good and he does what is good, no matter what life looks like. Now, please don't hear me saying that this takes away the pain that you might be experiencing or that it causes. Causes all of your questions to go away. It doesn't and it won't. But it can change how you experience these challenging times. And that's what God desires it to do. As you face these moments in your life when you have more questions and answers, here in Romans 3, God is wanting to reassure your hearts, to give you great comfort, so that in the midst of the challenging times, you can just have a settled confidence that God is who He says He is, that He will be faithful to His promises, that whatever is happening in life, that God is good and He does what is good. And this settled confidence can give us much trust and hope in the midst of those situations. Brothers and sisters, here in Romans chapter 3, Paul is wanting us to see that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. In the midst of our questioning, we can know that God was faithful, that He is faithful, and that He will continue to be faithful to you and to His promises to you. And we can know that He is righteous, that He will continue to be righteous. He will always do what is good and what is right.

31:16Brothers and sisters, not only do we know this because of Romans chapter 3, but we know this because of Jesus. Because it's in Jesus that the faithfulness and the righteousness of God are most clearly on display. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1, Jesus is the fulfillment of all of God's promises. All of God's promises are yes and amen in Jesus. It's in Jesus that God faithfully fulfills all of his promises to his people, beginning with his promise in the garden to Eve that one day her son would crush the head of the serpent. This is a promise that was repeated to Abraham and to all of God's people. And if you are questioning any of God's promises to you, we can look to Jesus and we can see that in Jesus, God has been faithful to all of his promises. He hasn't been unfaithful yet, and he will not be. And it's also in Jesus, especially in his sacrificial death on the cross for the sins of his people, that we see God's righteousness most clearly. As Paul says in Romans 3, 26, he says it, referring to Jesus' death, it was to show his, it was to show God's righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Jesus displays God's righteousness by taking the punishment that our sins deserved so that all who trust in him can be saved. As we saw earlier, if God did not punish sin, then he would not be faithful. He would not be righteous. But the beauty of the gospel, the glory of the gospel, is that in Jesus, God is both faithful and righteous in saving sinners like you and me because Jesus experienced the just punishment that our sins deserved. And now we will only ever know His faithfulness to us. So for all of those of you who are here this morning who have yet to trust in Jesus, I just want to invite you to look to Jesus, to trust in him. God is faithful. He will punish the sins. He will punish all of our sins. The option that we have is: do we want to trust in Jesus and trust that he bore the punishment for our sins that we deserved? Or are we going to experience the punishment that those sins deserve ourselves? I invite you to look to Jesus, to see that he is faithful and righteous. Trust in him and know that you can experience the righteousness of God because Jesus experienced the penalty for your sin. Brothers and sisters, let us continue to trust in God's faithfulness and his righteousness to us. Let's pray.

34:18Oh, Father, we come before you, grateful that you care for us. Grateful that in the midst of our questioning, You slow down. You draw near to us. You invite us to look to you, to look to your righteousness and your faithfulness. Oh, Father, you are so kind to us. Spirit of God, I pray that you would give each and every one of us the faith that we need to look to you, the faithful one. To look to you, the righteous one, in the midst of whatever we are facing in life. Give us the faith that you know that we need. Give us the grace to live in the good of it.

35:12And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.