ADDRESSES ON ROMANS
national blessing to Israel. and He will keep His Word. But God ever requires personal, individual faith on the sinner's part, whether he be Jew or Gentile. The answer to this third question is found in verse 4: "God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged." Then last of all Paul raises a fourth question that might come to the mind of a Jew: "But if our unrighteousness com- mend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance?" (3: 5). In other ~ords, if man's unrighteousness prepares the way for God's grace, and so exalts the righteousness of God, then is sin not a neces- sary part of the divine plan? If so, surely God will not ยท judge sin. Would God not be unjust in punishing Israel's unbelief. when His forbearance would be exalted by Israel's unbelief? And quickly Paul answers the question: "God forbid!" "Perish the thought!" The very fact that God will judge the world shows that sin was not fore-planned. "God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?" (verse 6). What a lawyer Paul was! A prosecuting attorney, as it were, against the sinful human racewhonad Utterly b~oken God's holy law, and fallen short of the righteousness He requires! THE VERDICT-"ALL HAVE SINNED" 3:9-20 "What then? are we (Jews) better than they (Gentiles)? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin" (3: 9). Then follows the humiliating picture of man's failure-all quoted from the Old Testament, with which the Jews were familiar! "As it is written" (3:10) in "the oracles of God," which the Jews claimed to believe, man is a total failure, as touching righteous- ness. Did you ever go to a photographer to have your picture - Page iO]
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online