God was faithful to His creation through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:1-31)

June 26th, 2009 by Dustin

Sorry that the file is in .wma. Feel free to convert it if you wish (long story).

http://www.timberlandbiblechurch.org/audio/dustin’s%20personal%20mp3s/romansaudio4.wma

Here are the notes:

Summary

3:1-8 - Questions which are raised based on what Paul has just said about being Jewish and having circumcision. 

3:9-20 - Citations from the OT concerning the witness within Torah that Jews are just a guilty as everyone else (due to their faithlessness).

3:21-31 - Christ reveals God’s faithfulness

 

(PLEASE NOTE THAT THE NIV HORRIBLY TRANSLATES THE GREEK IN THIS CHAPTER, I RECOMMEND THE NASB)

 

5 Questions are raised by Paul

3:1 What is the point of being a Jew? (9:1-5)

3:3 Has Israel’s failure nullified God’s covenant purposes? (9:6-13)

3:5 Is God then unjust? (9:14-18)

3:7 Why am I still being condemned? (9:19-29)

3:9 Are we better than they are? (9:30-10:21)

 

3:4

Quote from the Psalms, #51

When David sinned against Uriah and Bathsheba, he accepted his sins and did not argue for a special status as a Jew.

 

3:20

The people of God should no longer be recognized as those who observe the works of the Law (circumcision, purity laws, Sabbath, etc.). How they are to now be recognized Paul will get to in 3:21-31.

 

3:22, 26

Pistis of Jesus

3 options:

                -Faith in Jesus Christ

                -Jesus’ own faith/beliefs (faith of Jesus)

                -Jesus’ own faithfulness (faithfulness of                               Jesus)

 

3:24

“Redemption”

Would easily be understood by Jews to refer to the redeeming act of God in the book of Exodus. As Ex. 2:24 states, this redemption was an act of God’s faithfulness to the covenant.

 

3:25

“Propitiation”

A sacrifice which was to cover sins. The Jews had a special holiday, Yom Kippur, on which the people’s sins were covered. Yet this sacrifice did not deal with any other nations. Why might the sacrifice of Jesus Christ represent all of humanity?

 

3:27

Boasting

Again, we ask…

                -boasting in moral achievements?

                -boasting in status of Jew over Gentile?

 

What kind of law? A law of works? No, rather a law of faith.

Remember 2:13 “the doers of the Law will be justified” and 2:29 “the in the secret Jew has circumcision of the heart via the Spirit.”

Paul will elaborate further in chs. 7, 8, 9, and 10.

 

 

One Response to “God was faithful to His creation through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:1-31)”

  1. on 30 Jun 2009 at 12:44 pm1 Mark C.

    I would say “faith of Jesus” means all three options. We have faith in Jesus because of the faith and the faithfulness that he had.

    In 3:22, “faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe” isn’t redundant, because it’s talking about the righteousness of God that comes through faith in Jesus Christ, and it’s for all those who have that faith.

    This is especially important in light of all the recent debate about the Law. The Law, while it was good and perfect, didn’t accomplish its desired end, i.e. righteousness, because neither Jew nor Gentile kept it. Thus it had to be by faith in Jesus.

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