Therefore what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the
value of circumcision? – Romans 3:1
(NET)
This questions flows from the presentation of the first two
chapters of Romans (there wouldn’t be any chapter divisions in the
letter). Paul builds from his question
of “what advantage does the Jew have…?” (3:1a), which leads to his declaration
that “Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin” (3:9b). With this, Paul accelerates the process,
important to him, of leveling out all people before God, thus contributing to
his efforts towards Gentile inclusion under the covenant through the
declaration of faith in Jesus rather than the works of the law (current
covenant markers), as he pieces together disparate statements from the Psalms
and from Isaiah, writing “There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no
one who understands, there is no one who seeks God” (3:10-11). This would
certainly be more than a bit deflationary to his Jewish listeners.
He continues with “All have turned away,” as we note the importance
of “all” to Paul both in Romans and in the remainder of the Pauline corpus
(always remembering, in all that he writes, that he is the Apostle to the
Gentiles), “together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows
kindness, not even one” (3:12). This is quite the accusation, and it
probably deserves to be heard together with the ringing accusations of the
first chapter, which can be applied to Jew and Gentile alike.
Because these verses are prefaced by reference to “Jews and
Greeks,” we also hear Paul co-opting words from the Psalms that were originally
penned as polemics against the enemies of the king of Israel, so also enemies
against Israel and Israel’s God, and re-deploying them as polemics against all
peoples, both Jews and Greeks. All are placed under God’s judgment.
Even in judgment, the equality of all peoples before God is paramount,
regardless of the sources of equality. So, regardless of what Israel may
say or think about itself, Paul, by utilizing the language used by members of
Israel and reserved for their enemies or the enemies of their covenant God,
groups Jews and Greeks together and universally insists that “Their throats are
open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their
lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness” (3:13-14).
Borrowing from Isaiah, and from words directed to an Israel
that was failing to live up to its covenant responsibilities, Paul adds: “Their
feet are swift to shed blood, ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way
of peace they have not known” (3:16-17). He rounds out his rhetorical
flourish with a return to the Psalms and finishes with “There is no fear of God
before they eyes” (3:18). So yes, even though Israel has their covenant
markers, and by those covenant markers can be identified as members of the
covenant, they are not truly participating with God under that covenant and are
therefore truly indistinguishable, in God’s eyes, from Gentiles that bear no
covenant markers. Consequently, a new covenant mark is needed and it is
one that is going to apply to all people.
Having said what he has said, and having utilized the words
from the Psalms and from Isaiah, Paul wastes no words, continuing on to write
“Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the
law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held
accountable to God” (3:19). Generally, our focus when we look upon that
verse is the law and the silencing of mouths, with this presumably directed to
those who, because of the source of their righteousness (the covenant markers
that indicates their status as “justified”), believe themselves to have some
type of claim on God that is owing to the “good works” by which they believe
themselves to have attained unto righteousness. Of course, we know that
this idea of “good works” as a means to attain righteousness, set in
juxtaposition to a position of “grace alone,” is a foreign concept that really
has no place in consideration of the messages of Jesus and of Paul.
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