Romans 3:9 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

Navigator

Romans 3:9

Comments

The subject is acceptance with God. We have seen that the apostle is a gospel man through and through, because, even before he comes formally to the topic of grace and justification by faith alone, he is treating gospel themes. But now we come to this question: ‘What then? are we better than they?’ Have those advantages he has spoken of resulted in the Jew doing any better? Better than who? Better than the Gentiles: that is evident from the remainder of the verse. The Jews have not done any better because both Jews and Gentiles are in the same condition under sin. The case of the Gentiles has been considering in the first half of chapter 2, along with all human beings in general. The question is: given the genuine advantage that the Jew has – an advantage given by God – does this advantage succeed in making the Jew any better than the rest of fallen mankind? And the answer is emphatic: ‘No, in no wise.’ Regardless of how many and how great the advantages God gave to Israel, they did not profit from them. They remained for the most part – and Paul is talking here about the general case – unbelievers who were outside of God’s true blessing. One particular benefit, the chief one of all in a sense, is mentioned in the preceding verses, and that is that they have the oracles, the utterances of God, the word of God, and they were given many other things besides, great teachers and leaders and an entire system of worship and laws. Those laws were supposed to produce a refined and God-fearing nation. They were given many civil, local laws that would further be to their comfort and advantage. Then they were given mighty demonstrations of the power of God, miracles to behold, miraculous provisions as time went on, and the feeding in the wilderness, the parting of the Red Sea. All these great things were given to help their faith and their trust, and yet they went off into idolatry and the majority of them rejected the Lord. These advantages only served to prove that without the work of the Spirit in the heart, man is incapable of responding to God’s gifts in a genuine and living way.‘For we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin.’ Why does he refer back to what he had said earlier? Because the question he has just asked calls for the same answer, otherwise he would not mention it. The Jew cannot be considered better than the Gentile, because they are both under sin and therefore as bad as each other. He tells us what he has already concluded earlier in the epistle – and that might seem to make the question superfluous – but he repeats the answer given before, because now he has brought in a new factor to consider: the great and real advantages given to the Jews. That advantage has not achieved anything without grace, and it leaves all men, Jews and Gentiles in the condition to be described in verses 10-18.‘That they are all under sin.’ The word ‘under’ means under the control of, under the dominion of, under the sentence and condemnation of sin. That is very graphic language. It means two things. We are under the condemnation and the judgment of God for sin. We are also under the power of sin. Everyone is a sinner by nature and sin willingly, because the will is also captive to sin. There is only one exception and that is the person who was not just a man. Everybody who was just a man or a woman, a human being, is condemned. But there is one who is God as well as man, and that is Jesus Christ. He is the one exception, who lived a perfect and a holy life. Paul is referring to the general case of man, divided into the two major categories he has considered. If Paul meant to include Christians in their pre-conversion life, he would have to be more precise. Whoever it refers to, it refers to their present condition. That could not be said of believers who, whatever they were in the past, are now freed from sin (Romans 6).

Application

This is just the way that some of us, even as Gentiles, think today. We say, ‘Yes, but we are different from some people. If I vaguely believe the Bible, if I believe in God, and I am not an atheist, and if I been trained to worship, then there is something better about me.’ No, there is nothing better about you. If anything there is something worse about you, because you have got knowledge, and you have not acted on it.

Sometimes this applies to so-called class. There are some people who, because they are educated middle-class, think they do not need salvation, because there is something better about them than the working class. ‘Those common people,’ they may think – though this is not true today as it used to be years ago – ‘look at some of the things they do. Look how vulgar they can be. There is something better about us.’ That is exactly how the Jews thought between themselves and Gentiles. All that is rubbish, says the apostle.

Questions

What does the apostle mean by ‘we’? – ‘Are we better than they?’ It is said that the common interpretation – ‘Are we Jews better than Gentiles?’ – cannot be right, because Paul has already answered this question (Romans 2:1, 17-24; he has said that both are guilty before God. But this overlooks the fact that in chapter 3 verses 1-4 he has introduced a new consideration: the advantage given to the Jew. The question of the Jew being better than the Gentile very naturally arises again in view of this consideration. Has this advantage which the Jew has over the Gentile produced any real difference between them? ‘No, in no wise.’ Paul naturally identifies himself with his own people (as he does in Philippians 3:5) in asking this question. It is not hard to see that the second use of ‘we’ in the verse is something different, recognising him as the author of the epistle and teaching apostolic doctrine.

Some think that by ‘we’ he means, ‘Are we present-day Jews better than those Israelites in olden times?’ But he clearly doesn't mean that, because the denial that ‘we’ are better is supported by the proof that Jews and Gentiles are all under sin. This is obviously not just some Jews, but all Jews in all ages, so he cannot be comparing Jews from one age with those from another. Does he mean ‘we’ Gentiles? Although he personally is a Jew, is he identifying himself with the Gentiles (being the apostle to the Gentiles)? ‘Are we Gentiles, better than the Jews?’ The answer to that question would of course be no, also. But the context does not allow this as a serious possibility. Some feel that he means, ‘Are we Christians better than the Jews, because they had benefits and advantages that the non-Jews did not have, and yet they spurned them? But we Christians have received them and accepted them. Does that make us intrinsically better than the Jews?’ This view of the verse would require Paul to introduce a new category of person, not considered before, but his response to the question rules this out. He answers, ‘No, in no wise’, and he confirms his answer by referring back to what he had already proved: that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin. But that only confirms his negative response if those meant by ‘we’ are included in either Jews or Gentiles, otherwise that former proof does not cover the case. If some new category is introduced, then this former proof is not relevant. Furthermore, the introduction of Christians as a new category is only significant if they are being considered as believers. Only as believers can they claim this supposed superiority to the Jew in receiving and accepting these benefits. If he is thinking of Christians in their pre-conversion state, then they are already included in either Jews or Gentiles, and no genuinely new category has been introduced. Notably, the tense is present – ‘they are all under sin’ – and so cannot refer to the state of the Christian in the past. But anyway, it is too early in the flow of argument to be speaking of believers. Besides, it is certainly the case that believers would claim no credit for their faith. They would be the first to admit that they are no better, and would fully agree with the exposition of human depravity in verse 10-18, and the question would not need to be asked [Ed.].

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

Romans 3:9 Commentary and Bible Study

The meaning of Romans 3:9 explained